ABSTRACT
Economic and political developments of the mid-19th century in Europe, and in the Eastern Europe and Russian Empire in particular, serve as a solid informative starting point for our analysis. In his letter dated January 11, 1860, Karl Marx wrote to Friedrich Engels n my opinion, the biggest things that are happening in the world today are, on the one hand, the movement of the slaves in America started by the death of John Brown and, on the other, the movement of the serfs in Russia. The provinces in the Caucasus and Central Asia, albeit with considerable time and effectiveness lag, followed the center's transformation. In transportation, to allow speedy and efficient delivery of raw and agricultural materials to the industrializing and administrative urban centers, Count Sergei Witte forcefully reformed the railroad network by acquiring private networks, reducing bottlenecks, and spearheading construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway in the Russian Far East.
