
In the late 19th Century, Russia’s domestic vulnerability and backwardness in foreign affairs reached crisis proportions. At home a famine claimed a half-million lives in 1891, and activities by Japan and China near Russia’s borders were perceived as foreign aggravation. In reaction, the regime was bound to adopt the ambitious but costly economic programs of Sergey Witte, the country’s strong-willed minister of finance. Witte methods rely heavily on foreign loans, conversion to the gold standard, heavy taxation of the peasantry, accelerated development of heavy industry, and a trans-Siberian railroad. These policies were designed to elevate the modernization of the country, secure the Russian Far East, and placing Russia at a commanding position with means to exploit the resources of China’s northern territories, Korea, and Siberia. This foreign policy expansion was Russia’s version of the imperialist logic shown in the 19th century by other large countries with vast undeveloped territories such as the United States and other Western countries. In 1894 the accession of the docile Nicholas II upon the death of Alexander III gave Witte and other powerful ministers the opportunity to dominate the government.