22.12.2012 Views

Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 3 - From Marx to Mao

Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 3 - From Marx to Mao

Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 3 - From Marx to Mao

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITALISM IN RUSSIA<br />

561<br />

Thus, the percentage <strong>of</strong> urban population is constantly<br />

growing, that is, the population is being diverted from<br />

agriculture in<strong>to</strong> commercial and industrial occupations.*<br />

The population <strong>of</strong> the <strong>to</strong>wns is growing twice as fast as<br />

that <strong>of</strong> the rest <strong>of</strong> the country: from 1863 <strong>to</strong> 1897 the <strong>to</strong>tal<br />

population increased 53.3%, the rural 48.5%, while the urban<br />

increased 97%. Over a period <strong>of</strong> 11 years (1885-1897) “the<br />

influx, at a minimum, <strong>of</strong> the rural population in<strong>to</strong> the <strong>to</strong>wns”<br />

was 22 million persons, according <strong>to</strong> Mr. V. Mikhailovsky’s<br />

estimate,** i.e., more than 200,000 per annum.<br />

The population <strong>of</strong> <strong>to</strong>wns that are important industrial<br />

and commercial centres is growing much more rapidly than<br />

the urban population generally. The number <strong>of</strong> <strong>to</strong>wns with<br />

50,000 and more inhabitants more than trebled between<br />

1863 and 1897 (13 and 44). In 1863, <strong>of</strong> the <strong>to</strong>tal urban<br />

population only about 27% (1.7 million out <strong>of</strong> 6.1) were<br />

concentrated in such large centres; in 1885 it was nearly<br />

41% (4.1 million out <strong>of</strong> 9.9),*** and in 1897 it was already<br />

more than half, about 53% (6.4 million out <strong>of</strong> 12 million). In<br />

the 1860s, therefore, the smaller <strong>to</strong>wns provided the general<br />

pattern <strong>of</strong> the urban population, but in the 1890s they were<br />

completely outweighed by the big cities. The population <strong>of</strong><br />

the 14 <strong>to</strong>wns that had been the biggest in 1863 increased<br />

from 1.7 million inhabitants <strong>to</strong> 4.3 million, i.e., by 153%,<br />

whereas the overall urban population increased by only<br />

97%. Hence, the enormous growth <strong>of</strong> large industrial<br />

centres and the emergence <strong>of</strong> a large number <strong>of</strong> new centres<br />

is one <strong>of</strong> the most characteristic features <strong>of</strong> the post-Reform<br />

period.<br />

* “The number <strong>of</strong> urban settlements <strong>of</strong> an agricultural character<br />

is extremely small and the number <strong>of</strong> their inhabitants is quite<br />

insignificant compared with the <strong>to</strong>tal number <strong>of</strong> <strong>to</strong>wn-dwellers.” (Mr.<br />

Grigoryev in The Influence <strong>of</strong> Harvests and Grain Prices, <strong>Vol</strong>. II,<br />

p. 126.)<br />

** Novoye Slovo, June 1897, p. 113.<br />

*** Mr. Grigoryev gives a table (loc, cit., 140) which shows that<br />

in 1885 <strong>of</strong> all <strong>to</strong>wns 85.6% had less than 20,000 inhabitants each;<br />

38% <strong>of</strong> all <strong>to</strong>wn-dwellers were living in them; 12.4% <strong>of</strong> the <strong>to</strong>wns<br />

(82 out <strong>of</strong> 660) had less than 2,000 inhabitants each, and only 1.1%<br />

<strong>of</strong> all <strong>to</strong>wn-dwellers (110,000 out <strong>of</strong> 9,962,000) were living in<br />

them.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!