Industrial Capitalism in Russia developed late. It reinforced and prolonged features of institutional backwardness. The onus of overcoming these limitations fell on an ambitious state and an overburdened peasantry.

Despite these limitations, the Russian industry managed spurts of high growth. A limited market for consumer goods focused industrial growth mainly on heavy industry. The industrialization of Russia occurred several decades after Russia’s leading economic and political rivals, England, France, and Germany. – From the 1890s

The Lateness offered the benefit of borrowing rather than originating industrial strategies. But penalties of dependence on the state and foreign investors for entrepreneurship, Capital, and markets.

[Lateness of industrialization was thus complementary with dependent automation.]

The factors that delayed the Industrialization of Russia reinforced and prolonged features of environmental and institutional backwardness. Moreover, the delay in industrialization and the lack of prerequisites widened the gulf between intention and achievement.

Since the political strength of the nation-states comes to be measured by economic indices, Industrial criteria underscored Russia’s ability to maintain her independence from Western Europe and assert her voice in the politics of nineteenth-century Europe.

In Russia, the responsibility for industrialization was borne by the peasants. They did this by paying high taxes, exporting grain to pay these taxes, and postponing their demand for Consumer manufactured items.

A typical feature of Russian industrial capitalism was its relatively greater Concentration on heavy rather than light industries, leading to postponing of consumer-manufactured items.

Environmental factors for backwardness in Russia.

A constant imbalance between the vast size of her territory and the sparseness and small size of her population. Limited population prevented sufficient productive activity, which the state could tax.

Distant locations of Administrative and population centers of central and Northern Russia from southern and eastern raw material deposits. High cost of transportation. The situation began to be corrected only with the railways.

Trade throughout the empire was constricted. Because most of the output was consumed rather than exchanged. Lack of Capital among the peasants hindered investment in better agricultural inputs like fertilizer, seed, and machinery.

Faced with the naturally ungenerous lands of northern Europe, Russian rulers turned to colonization, a country that colonized itself.