The crisis of 1904-1906 brought constitutional reform, industrial growth, and greater railway development, followed by an economic boom before 1914. Only a small share of Russia's enormous population consisted of urban workers and citizens, while most of the country remained poorly connected by roads and railways. Aristocratic capital often went abroad rather than into Russian transport, yards, and factories. One landowner rejected a useful railway across his property while investing in a South American road project. Naval expansion therefore depended on a state that could announce ambitious programs more easily than it could sustain the industrial system beneath them.
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Post-1905 growth could not erase Russia's infrastructure gap
Economic growth and railway construction followed the 1905 crisis, but Russia's social and investment structure constrained naval recovery.