Russia Before the Revolution

From The Thinking Housewife:

Russia Before the Revolution

January 21, 2016

The State Bank of the Russian Empire in Moscow. This building now houses the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION took place at a time of remarkable financial stability and progress in the Russian Empire. Russia was the only major power in the world not indebted to central bankers concentrated around the famous Rothschild banks. The Russian government printed the nation’s money, regulated the money supply (unlike the monetary system in America today) and issued low interest loans through commercial banks.

Festival in a Siberian village, c. 1900

In his book, “A History of Central Banking and the Enslavement of Mankind,” (Black House Publishing, 2014) Stephen Mitford Goodson describes the state of Russia before the Bolshevik uprising:

On June 12, 1860 The State Bank of the Russian Empire was founded with the aim of boosting trade turnovers and the strengthening of the monetary system. Up to 1894 it was an auxiliary institution under the direct control of the Ministry of Finance. In that year it was transformed into being the banker of the bankers and operated as an instrument of government’s policy. It minted and printed the nation’s coins and notes, regulated the money supply and through commercial banks provided industry and commerce with low interest rate loans. Its vast gold reserves, the largest in the world, exceeded the bank note issue by more than 100%, except for the year 1906. By 1914 it had become one of the most influential lending institutions in Europe.

Not unexpectedly Russia had the smallest national debt in the world. The following table reflects the number of rubles of debt per inhabitant.

[From table: France: 288.0; Great Britain: 169.8; Germany 135.6; Russia, 58.7]

By 1914 83% of the interest and amortization of the national debt, of which less than 2% was held abroad, was funded by the profits of the Russian State Railways. In 1916 the total length of the main lines was 100,817 verst or kilometers. Russian commercial and canal tonnage of 11,130,000 in 1910 exceeded British merchant tonnage of 10,750,000.

In 1861 Tsar Alexander II (1855-81) abolished serfdom, which at that time affected 30% of the population. By 1914 very little land remained in the possession of the Russian estate owners, who were mainly the nobility. 80% of the arable land was in the hands of the peasants, which had been ceded to them for a very small sum. This land was held in trust by the village commune or mir. However, after the passing of the Stolypin Act in 1906, peasants could obtain individual title with hereditary rights. By 1913, two million families had availed themselves of this opportunity to ac1uire what became known as “Stolypin farms.” Nearly 19,000,000 acres (7,689,027 hectares) were alloted to these individual peasant proprietors by the land committees. The Peasants’ State Bank, which was described at that time as the “greatest and most socially beneficent institution of land credit in the world” granted loans at a low rate of interest, which was in effect a handling charge. Between 1901 and 1912 these loans increased from 222 million rubles to 1,168 billion rubles.

Agricultural production soared so that by 1913, Russia had become the world’s bread basket as the following table reveals. [Not included. The table shows that Russia produced 42 percent of the world’s barley, 67 percent of its rye, 31 percent of its wheat and 30 percent of its oats].

Russian agricultural production of cereals exceeded the combined production of Argentina, Canada and the United States by 25%. In 1913 Russia had 37.5 million horses – more than half of all those in the world. She also produced 80% of the world’s flax and provided more than 50% of the world’s egg imports. Mining and industrial output also expanded by huge margins. Between 1885 and 1913 coal production increased from 259.6 million poods (16.38 kg) to 2,159.8 million poods, cast iron production rose from 25 million poods in 1890 to 1,378 million poods in 1913 and petroleum production rose from 491.2 million poods in 1906 to 602.1 million poods in 1916. From 1870 to 1914 industrial output grew by 1% per annum in Great Britain, 2.75% per annum in the United States and 3.5% per annum in Russia. During the period from 1890 to 1913 industrial production quadrupled and Russian industries were able to satisfy 80% of internal demand for manufactured goods – a perfect example of autarky. Throughout the last 20 years of peacetime imperial rule (1895-1914) the increase in Gross Domestic Product averaged 10% per annum.

With the Russian State bank creating the people’s money out of nothing at almost zero interest; as opposed to the rest of the world where central banks allowed parasitic private banks to create their nation’s money supply at usurious rates of interest, it comes as no surprise to find that in 1912 Russia had the lowest levels of taxation in the world. These very low rates of taxation also attest to the efficiency of the Russian government. Furthermore throughout this period of state banking there was no inflation and no unemployment.

[Table not include. Total tax rate in Great Britain was 26.75 percent per inhabitant, compared to 2.66 percent per inhabitant Russia.]

An independent study by British lawyers concluded that the Russian Code of Laws and judiciary were “the most advanced and impartial in the world.”

Elementary education was obligatory and free right up to university level, where only nominal fees were charged. Between 1906 and 1914 10,000 schools were opened annually. Russian universities were renowned for their high academic standards.

In labor relations the Russians were pioneers. Child labor was abolished over 100 years before it was abolished in Great Britain in 1867. Russia was the first industrialized country to pass laws limiting the hours of work in factories and mines. Strikes, which were forbidden in the Soviet Union, were permitted and minimal in Tsarist times. Trade union rights were recognized in 1906, while an Inspectorate of Labor strictly controlled working conditions in factories. In 1912 social insurance was introduced. Labor laws were so advanced and humane that President William Taft of the United States was moved to say that “the Emperor of Russia has passed workers’ legislation which was nearer to perfection than that of any democratic country.”

The people of all races in the Russian empire had an equality of status and opportunity, which was unparalleled in the modern world. His Imperial majesty Tsar Nicholas II (1894-1917) and his state bank had created a workers’ paradise that was unrivaled in the history of mankind.

On November 7, 1917, the Rothschilds, fearful that replication of this extraordinary example of freedom and prosperity would destroy their malevolent banking empire, instigated and financed a Judeo-Bolshevik revolution in Russia (50), which wrecked and ruined a wonderful country and resulted in the deaths by murder and starvation, according to Alexander Solzhenitsyn, of 66 million innocent people. (51)

[A History of Central Banking and the Enslavement of Mankind, Stephen Mitford Goodson, Black House Publishing, London, 2014; pp. 77-83]