ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the economic aspect of the Revolution. The revolutionary movements of 19051907 formed the first stage of the Russian Revolution, and were followed by a period of seven years of political reaction and economic prosperity, during which the prestige of the Tsar Nicholas II steadily declined. The Government of Russia in the year of the outbreak of war was unquestionably in the hands of ministers who lacked both vigour and foresight. This circumstance was undoubtedly known to German Government, but if that Government counted upon Russia's refraining from war on the ground that adequate preparation for such a contingency had not been made, it failed to realize the influence of Russian fatalism. The Russian problem cannot be understood without taking into account the rapidity of the growth in numbers of the Russian people. The disintegration of Russia, apart from the peculiar economic system which she has adopted, produced for each of her former constituent parts important economic consequences.
