The impact of war on Russian and Soviet development 1850–1950

This article discusses the magnitude of wartime losses to Russian capital stock and population, the prospect of benefits from wartime developments and the burden imposed by the transfer of resources to the war effort. Total losses of manpower and capital, and the deprivation of civilian consumers, were greater in the Civil War (1918–1920) than in 1914–1917, but were exceeded by the impact of the Second World War (1941–1945). Potential benefits are not found to be significant. This article also examines the losses of population and capital during the ‘internal war’ of the 1930s.