The Politics of Industrial Mobilization in Russia, 1914-17 [electronic resource] : A Study of the War-Industries Committees

The First World War necessitated not only the mobilization of troops, but the industrial resources of all the Great Powers. This book analyses the political constraints and ramifications of industrial mobilization in Russia. It focuses on the War-Industries Committees, an organization founded in 1915 ostensibly to assist in the war effort but also incorporating the aspirations of the Russian industrial bourgeoisie for greater control over the administration of the war economy and, ultimately, political power. Drawing on Soviet and Western archives, contemporary newspapers, the publications of the War-Industries Committees, and a wide range of monographic literature, the author pieces together the ways in which industrial mobilization became a highly charged political issue, one that contributed towards the downfall of the old regime. After an introductory chapter on the 'making' of the Russian industrial bourgeoisie, the author examines initial efforts to mobilize industry, the crisis which brought about the creation of a network of War-Industries Committees, and the challenge they posed to the Tsarist government. The next two chapters explore the Committees' involvement in war-industrial production and the regulation of the war economy. This is followed by a consideration of the workers' groups and their attempts to put industrial relations on a 'European' footing. A final chapter discusses the role of both the Committees and their workers' groups in the social and political upheavals which preceded the February Revolution, and their respective fates in 1917. Front Matter....Pages i-xix Russian Industry and the Making of a Russian Industrial Bourgeoisie....Pages 1-19 Russian Industrialists and the Initial Mobilization, 1914–15....Pages 20-39 Moscow to the Rescue: the Formation of the War-Industries Committees....Pages 40-68 The High Politics of Defence, June–September 1915....Pages 69-84 The War-Industries Committees and the Production of Military Supplies....Pages 85-120 The War-Industries Committees and the Regulation of the War Economy....Pages 121-158 The Labour Question — the Workers’ Groups of the War-Industries Committees....Pages 159-182 The Challenge of Revolution....Pages 183-208 Conclusion....Pages 209-212 Epilogue....Pages 213-214 Back Matter....Pages 215-312