| Summary/Abstract |
WHAT WAS THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE in the early twentieth century? As a great power it was a rival of other powers - Germany, the UK, France, the North American United States (the USA), and Austria-Hungary. It was not the most developed country industrially and financially; its population was not well educated and was not rich; its elite were no longer close-knit. Its potential, however, was huge; development rates were fast, military might colossal, domestic market vast, cultural and scientific achievements unrivalled, the business circles passionary, and the intelligentsia unselfish, politically active and opposed to the crown.
|