Prior to the “five year plans”, Russia had mostly a peasant farming economy. The 1750 to 1914 period in Russia was met by a large increase in the available labor force. Coupled with an increase in population, Russia's emancipation of the serfs freed many of Russia's serfdom from perpetual slavery. However, the emancipation process was planned so as to put the freed serfs deeply in debt to the original owners of the land. In fact, many of the serfs were so deeply indebted that they relocated to Russia's cities in search of better work opportunities.
The Khan of the Golden Horde attempted to introduce paper money as a response to currency shortage. The citizens rejected the paper money, and it pushed the economy into a depression. Paper money was also introduced in China, Iraq, and Iran. The Russian language also became important during this time. Due to the contributions of some of the Russian princes who cooperated with the Mongols by acting as agents for them and collecting taxes, the Mongols provided protection for them and the land they came from.
The effect of Mongol rule on Russia and China was similar in some respects and different in others economically. The Mongols affected both civilizations similarly in that the Mongols demanded tribute from both empires. Although it was similar that Russia and China both had to give tribute to the Mongols, it affected both civilizations differently. For example in Russia, the peasants were taxed very harshly, turning them into serfs. Also in Russia, all of the tax went to Moscow because Moscow was the tax collector because Chinggis Khan did not live directly in Russia, so this helped build Russia’s wealth.
In 1861, Tsar Alexander II began to emancipate the serf community and in the following two years over twenty-five million serfs were given their freedom. At first this was seen by the working lower class as a step in the right direction in gaining political representation and basic human rights. Alexander’s reforms, however, suited only the needs of the wealthy Romanov dynasty whilst the people of Russia continued to suffer. Industrialisation brought the working class into urban centres where they worked long hours in factories with terrible conditions for a less-than meagre pay. Essentially, by the turn of the century, the majority of the population of Russia was made up of a poor, working lower class who suffered immensely at the hands of the Romanov dynasty.
(1) Lords seized more peasant land for their own estates and demanded more unpaid labor. 6. The re-emergence of Serfdom in Eastern Europe cannot be explained by economic factors alone. m) Western Europe experienced similar agricultural and population decline in the 14th and 15th centuries, but its peasants won better rather than harsher conditions. n) Eastern lords enjoyed much greater political power than did their Western counterparts.
The rule of the Mongol people in Asia affected both Russia and China in many ways both economically and politically, however, because the Mongols directly ruled China, they had a greater impact on the country of China. One economic similarity the Chinese and Russians shared under Mongol rule was that using the rule of the Mongols, the reinventing of the Silk Road helped both countries economically by increasing safe trade between countries, trading mainly silk from China and fur from Russia. The Mongols also affected China and Russia in the new types of political system or the trade of power that occurred: the Chinese created a bureaucracy while the Russians ruled their people with feudalistic tactics such as princes/vassals of the Mongols. The Mongols also created sufism in Russia. The political impact from the Mongols was much more centralized and uncompromising in China rather than in Russia, where political impact was didn’t have as much effect.
Plantations were a big part of the economy in the South because that’s where they grew their cotton, and without slaves, the plantations would die. The economy was a cause in the Civil War because the North and South started to realize who wanted slaves and who didn’t. Another important cause of the Civil War was conflict between the North and the South about the issue of slavery. Slavery was a big issue in the South, whereas the North yearned for the abolish of slave labor. According to Document 1, Railroads were slim in the South, for the reason that slaves would have an easy way to escape.
In Russia, the peasants were treated very poorly, Russian princes did not want to pay their share of the tribute, so they raised taxes on the peasants and kept some of the money for themselves. Unlike the Russians, Chinese peasants were treated fairly better had restored granaries and reduced taxes. While securing the empire in China, they secured the most valued trade region in all of Asia; the Silk Road. It was necessary for the Silk Road to be protected from bandits and thieves. It would be a great risk if travelers did not have a secure route to trade on.
This was due to the inefficiency of Serfdom, and by this time, roughly 60% of Serfs had been mortgaged to the government. What this essentially means is that Serfdom was already beginning to come to a natural end. As the Nobles were the Tsar’s staunchest supporters, he was forced to emancipate the Serfs to allow the Nobles to refill their coffers and get out of their debt. As well as this, with the rest of Europe beginning to make large economic progress, Russia was beginning to look inferior economically and industrially, and it was Serfdom that was holding them back, with the simplest solution to just emancipate the Serfs and allow them to become more productive. The main reason that the Serfs were inefficient was due to oppression from the Nobles, which, coupled with poor farming methods, gave inferior results
ENGLISH COLONIAL EXPANSION Sixteenth-century England was a tumultuous place. Because they could make more money from selling wool than from selling food, many of the nation’s landowners were converting farmers’ fields into pastures for sheep. This led to a food shortage; at the same time, many agricultural workers lost their jobs. The 16th century was also the age of mercantilism, an extremely competitive economic philosophy that pushed European nations to acquire as many colonies as they could. As a result, for the most part, the English colonies in North America were business ventures.