PREREQUISITES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAPITALISM AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN UKRAINE IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 19th CENTURY

The middle of the 19th century became an important turning point of modernization for many countries. A series of European revolutions (notably in Austria in 1848) pushed governments into reforms that liberalized the economy. This became the main prerequisite for the formation of full-fledged capitalism. And the beginning of the construction of the railway network, which required the creation of metallurgical enterprises, became an impetus for the development of industrial capitalism. In Ukraine, the reforms of the 1860s, in particular the abolition of serfdom, became the turning point of modernization. After that, the landowners re‑ ceived significant compensation, they had free capital that they could invest in capitalist enterprises. And the freed peasants migrat‑ ed in search of work to the cities, creating a labor force reserve for new enterprises. After the reforms of the 1860s, new ideas of free trade, entrepreneurship, and commerce were in the center of society's attention — all that is clearly connected with capitalism. And the reforms themselves determined a new path of economic growth, oriented on business initiative and capitalist market relations.