ABSTRACT
While Alexander III and his son Nicholas II ( 1894-1917) remained resolutely committed to unvarnished autocracy, Russia's traditional social structure passed through a process of profound transformation. Underlying much of this change was the rapid industrial development of the period. In large measure this was the result of the steady spread of market relations. The peasantry were being drawn into the money economy, thereby raising consumer demand. Both handicraft production - the great bulk of which was done by village peasants rather than urban artisans - and the major light industries, headed by textiles and sugar, expanded fast. Even more striking was the upsurge in heavy industry, and for this the State itself was primarily responsible. The focal point of the policy developed by the government was the construction of a railway network. A major stimulus in the industrialization of most European countries, railways held out particular promise to an economy uniquely handicapped by vast distances and poor communications. They would link the Empire's far-flung mineral resources with each other and with the centres of population; they would enormously increase the volume of both domestic and foreign trade; and their construction would create a massive new demand for coal, iron, steel, and manufactures.
