On the eve of the World War the gold reserve attained 1,604 
million rubles, without counting the gold deposited abroad in one 
form or another; this at the time was the largest. amount of gold 
held by any central bank and it slightly exceeded the amount of 
notes in circulation. The growth of the gold reserve was a result 
of good harvests, of a skillful foreign exchange policy, which con- 
sisted of acquiring foreign bills at the height of the grain export 
season, when their supply was most abundant and of the practice 
of placing at the disposal of the railway companies the equivalent in 
rubles of the proceeds of their loans placed abroad. 
The following table shows the Russian gold reserve (whether 
held in Russia or abroad) as of January Ist of each of the fifteen 
vears preceding the World War: 
January 1: 
1900 
1901 
1902 
1903 
1904 
1905 
1906 
1907 
1908 
1909 
1910 
1911 
1912 
1913 
1914 
Millions of rubles 
843 
7317 
709 
769 
909 
1,082 
927 
1,191 
1,169 
1,220 
1,416 
1.450 
,436 
1,656 
1.695 
GoLp SHIPMENTS TO ENGLAND AND TO SWEDEN 
Notwithstanding the fact that Russia had entered the war 
with a gold reserve of this magnitude, her financial position was much 
weaker than that of any other belligerent country. The bulk of the 
Russian rural population were not accustomed. to subscribe to public 
loans, and as a result of the relatively small amounts of capital 
funds available within the country, the government was compelled 
to meet the greater part of its war expenditures by large issues of 
paper money. The government was not disposed to spend any part 
of the gold reserve of the State Bank, as it was afraid that an un- 
favorable impression might be produced, if the metallic cover of 
the notes in circulation became impaired. There was, however, no 
other way. On the one hand, Russia required considerable funds 
abroad to assure the service of her loans and to pay for her war 
orders. On the other hand, it proved impossible to secure any credits 
in the Allied countries during the first months of the war. The 
L 3