ABSTRACT
Modernization proceeded unevenly, driven by the conflicts involved in territiorial expansion, such as the Crimean War, which played a crucial role; it was triggered by tsarist ambitions to expand towards the Mediterranean, and saw Russia opposed by the Western powers. The fall of Sebastopol following an eleven-month siege showed the world that Russia was no longer the power that had defeated Napoleon, and the humiliating Treaty of Paris imposed an urgent need for change on Tsar Alexander II. The Russian model of modernization combined the agents of industrialization typical of the most backward nations and foreign capital, in a way that would subsequently be repeated in many developing countries. Before the October Revolution, 36% of all Russian shares were in foreign hands; the greatest proportion was held by French investors, but there were also British and Belgian investors.
