After 1905, the regime identified infrastructure and industry as central weaknesses and pursued economic expansion alongside railway projects. A four-year boom supports the counterfactual that a few additional prewar years could have changed Russia's trajectory, even though deep political tensions remained. The work was still unfinished: too few reliable lines, weak north-south and Trans-Siberian links, and a largely rural economy restricted what the state could move and produce. Russian aristocrats were willing to invest abroad but often resisted financing roads and productive capacity at home. Growing cities therefore imported food during an agricultural boom because produce could not be moved efficiently to industrial centres. Naval reconstruction depended on the wider national systems for transport, investment, and industry.
Chapter · 24:37-29:38
Industrial reform could not outrun the railway gap
Postwar economic growth and railway investment addressed the roots of Russian weakness, but the transport network still limited industry, mobilization, and naval power.