Protectionist policies and

Mercantilism. Financial

Reform

The accelerated pace of development of Russian industry required the development of trade. In the theoretical works of F. Saltykov (“Propositions”), I. Pososhkov (“The Book of Poverty and Wealth”), Russian economic thought was further developed, the theory of mercantilism, which provided for the economic policy of the state, aimed at attracting as much money as possible to the country through the export of goods. With such an unprecedented scale of construction of various manufactories, money was constantly needed. Moreover, the money had to be kept in the country. In this regard, Peter I creates conditions for encouraging domestic producers. Industrial, commercial companies, agricultural workers are given various privileges so that the export of products exceeds the import. He imposed high duties on imported goods (37%), In order to develop domestic trade, he adopted a special document on fairs.

In 1698, the construction of the Volga-Don Canal began, which was supposed to connect the largest water arteries of Russia and contribute to the expansion of domestic trade. The Vyshnevolotsky canal was built, which connected the Caspian and the Baltic through the rivers.

In the first quarter of the XVIII century. branches expanded not only in the field of industry, but also in the field of agriculture. New agricultural crops were imported into Russia, the development of which led to the creation of viticulture, tobacco growing, the breeding of new breeds of livestock, medicinal herbs, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. d.

At the same time, the encouragement of state-owned industry and trade led to the restriction of "unspecified" trade by landlords and peasants, which prevented the free development of market relations in the Petrine era. The management of industry and trade was carried out by the Berg Manufactory College and the Commerce College.

The continuous growth of government spending on the development of industry, military needs determined the financial policy. Financial functions were carried out by three institutions: the Chamber College was engaged in the collection of income, the Staff Office College - the distribution of funds, the Audit College - controlled the first two institutions, that is, collection and distribution.

In accordance with the requirements of the time and the search for funds, the Russian Tsar strengthened the state monopoly on a number of goods: tobacco, salt, fur, caviar, resin, etc. By decree of Peter I, special persons - the staff of profiteers - looked for new, most diverse sources of income. Taxes were imposed on windows, pipes, doors, frames, duties were set for mooring and mooring, for places in bazaars, etc. In total, there were up to 40 such taxes. In addition, direct taxes were introduced on the purchase of horses, on provisions for the fleet, etc. In order to replenishment of the treasury was carried out monetary reform.

Ever since the end of the 17th century. the restructuring of the monetary system of Russia began. A new monetary system was created, reducing the weight of the coin, replacing small silver coins with copper ones, and degrading the fineness of silver. As a result of the financial reform, coins of various denominations appeared: copper ruble, half a ruble, half a half, hryvnia, kopeck, money, half a piece, etc. Gold coins (single, double chervonets, two-rouble coins) and silver coins (kryvnia, piglet, penny, altyn, kopeck) were also preserved. Gold chervonets and silver rubles became hard convertible currencies.

The reform had both positive and negative consequences. Firstly, it led to significant state revenues, replenished the treasury. If in 1700 the Russian treasury totaled 2.5 million rubles, then in 1703 - 4.4 million rubles. And, secondly, monetary transactions caused a fall in the ruble exchange rate and a 2-fold increase in prices for goods.

Social politics

The legacy of Peter the Great from the Muscovite state inherited the underdeveloped rudiments of industry, planted and supported by the government, poorly developed trade associated with the poor organization of the state economy. Were inherited from the Muscovite state and its tasks - to win access to the sea and return the state to its natural borders. Peter quickly set about solving these problems, starting a war with Sweden and deciding to wage it in a new way and with new means. There is a new regular army, a fleet is being built. All this, of course, required huge financial outlays. The Muscovite state, with the growth of state needs, covered them with new taxes. Peter also did not shy away from this old method, but next to it he put one innovation that Muscovite Russia did not know: Peter cared not only about taking from the people everything that could be taken, but also thought about the payer himself - the people, about where he can get the money to pay heavy taxes.

Peter saw the path to raising the people's well-being in the development of trade and industry. It is difficult to say how and when the tsar had this idea, but it probably happened during the Great Embassy, when Peter clearly saw the technical backlog of Russia from the leading European states.

At the same time, the desire to reduce the cost of maintaining the army and navy naturally led to the idea that it would be cheaper to produce everything that was needed to equip and arm the army and navy. And since there were no factories and factories that could fulfill this task, the idea arose that they should be built, inviting knowledgeable foreigners for this and giving them to science. "their subjects" as it was then expressed. These thoughts were not new and have been known since the time of Tsar Michael, but only a person with an iron will and indestructible energy, such as Tsar Peter, could carry it out.

Having set himself the goal of arming people's labor with the best folk methods of production and directing it to new, more profitable industries in the area of the country's wealth not yet touched by the development of the country's wealth, Peter "went over" all branches of national labor. During the Great Embassy, the tsar studied all aspects of European life, including technical ones. Abroad, Peter learned the basics of the economic thought of that time - mercantilism. Mercantilism based its economic doctrine on two propositions: first, each people, in order not to become impoverished, must produce everything it needs, without resorting to the help of other people's labor, the labor of other peoples; second, every nation, in order to grow rich, must export as much of its own products as possible from its own country and import as little foreign products as possible.

Realizing that Russia was not only not inferior, but even superior to other countries in the abundance of natural resources, Peter decided that the state should take over the development of the country's industry and trade. "Our Russian state, Peter said, before other lands it abounds and the necessary metals and minerals are most blessedly, which until now have been searched for without any diligence ".

Thus, realizing the importance of trade and industry and having assimilated the ideas of mercantilism in the West, Peter set about reforming these areas, forcing his subjects to do so, even if by force.

Industrial Development Measures

Geological exploration of ore resources and those manufacturing industries that could, with support, could develop into large enterprises, was undertaken throughout Russia. By his order, connoisseurs of various crafts dispersed throughout the country. Deposits of rock crystal, carnelian, saltpeter, peat, coal were discovered, about which Peter said that “This mineral, if not for us, then for our descendants, will be very useful”. The Ryumin brothers opened a plant in the Ryazan region for the extraction of coal. The foreigner von Azmus developed peat.

Peter also strenuously attracted foreigners to the cause. In 1698, when he returned from his first trip abroad, he was followed by many artisans and craftsmen hired by him. In Amsterdam alone, he employed about 1,000 people. In 1702, Peter's decree was published throughout Europe, inviting foreigners to industrial service in Russia on very favorable terms for them. Peter ordered Russian residents at European courts to seek out and hire experts in various industries and craftsmen for the Russian service. So, for example, the French engineer Leblon - "straight curiosity", as Peter called him, he was invited to a salary of 45 thousand rubles a year with a gift apartment, with the right to go home in five years with all the acquired property, without paying any taxes.

At the same time, Peter took measures to strengthen the training of Russian young people, sending them to study abroad.

Under Peter, the number of manufactories, which became technical schools and practical schools, increased significantly. We agreed with visiting foreign masters, “so that they, from Russian students, would have with them and teach their skills, setting for that the price of the award and the time, what time to learn”. People of all free classes were accepted as apprentices at factories and factories, and serfs - with a vacation pay from the landowner, but from the 1720s they began to accept fugitive peasants, but not soldiers. Since there were few volunteers, Peter from time to time, by decree, recruited students for training at manufactories. In 1711 “The sovereign ordered to send 100 people from the clergy and from the servants of the monastery and from their children, who would be 15 or 20 years old, and would be able to write, so that they could go into teaching to the masters of various deeds”. Such sets were repeated in subsequent years.

For military needs and for the extraction of metals, Peter especially needed mining and ironworks. In 1719, to the Olonets factories, where iron was smelted, cannons and cannonballs were poured, Peter ordered to recruit 300 students. Mining schools also arose at the Ural factories, where they recruited literate soldiers', clerks' and priests' children as students. In these schools they wanted to teach not only the practical knowledge of mining, but also theory, arithmetic and geometry. The students were paid a salary - one and a half pounds of flour per month and a ruble per year for a dress, and those who had wealthy fathers or received a salary of more than 10 rubles a year were not given anything from the treasury, "until they begin to teach the triple rule", then they were given a salary.

At the factory founded in St. Petersburg, where braids, braid, cords were made, Peter appointed young people from Novgorod townsmen and poor nobles as training for French masters. He often visited this factory and was interested in the success of the students. The older ones had to come to the palace every Saturday afternoon with samples of their work.

In 1714, a silk factory was founded under the leadership of a certain Milyutin, a self-taught man who studied silk weaving. In need of good wool for cloth factories, Peter thought about introducing the right methods of sheep breeding and for this he ordered rules to be drawn up - "Regulations on how to keep sheep according to the Slesian (Silesian) custom". Then in 1724 Major Kologrivov, two nobles and several Russian sheepdogs were sent to Silesia to study sheep breeding.

Leather production has long been developed in Russia, but the methods of processing were rather imperfect. In 1715, Peter issued a decree on this subject: “Because the yuft that is used for shoes is very unprofitable to wear, because it is made with tar and when there is enough sputum, it spreads, and the water passes; for the sake of it, it is necessary to do it with torn bacon and a different order, for the sake of which masters were sent from Revel to Moscow to teach that business, for which it is commanded to all industrialists (tanners) throughout the state, so that from each city several people would go to Moscow and study; this training is given a period of two years". Several young men were sent to England to work in tanneries.

The government not only entered into the industrial needs of the population and took care of educating the people in crafts, it generally took production and consumption under its supervision. The decrees of His Majesty prescribed not only what goods to produce, but also in what quantity, what size, what material, what tools and techniques, and for non-fulfillment, severe fines were always threatened, up to the death penalty.

Peter greatly appreciated the forests he needed for the needs of the fleet, and issued the strictest forest protection laws: it was forbidden to cut forests suitable for shipbuilding under pain of death.

Not content with spreading one practical teaching of technology, Peter also took care of theoretical education by translating and distributing relevant books. The "Lexicon of Commerce" by Jacques Savary ("Savarian Lexicon") was translated and printed. True, in 24 years only 112 copies of this book were sold, but this circumstance did not frighten the king-publisher. In the list of books published under Peter, you can find many guides to teaching various technical knowledge. Many of these books have been strictly edited by the Emperor himself.

On August 30, 1723, Peter was at Mass at the Trinity Cathedral and gave an order here to the vice-president of the Synod, His Grace Theodosius, that “translate three economic books in the German dialect into Slovenian and, having first translated the table of contents, offer them for consideration by His Imperial Majesty”.

Usually those plants that were especially needed, i.e. mining and weapons, as well as cloth, linen and sailing factories were arranged by the treasury and then transferred to private entrepreneurs. For the establishment of manufactories of secondary importance to the treasury, Peter willingly loaned quite significant capital without interest and ordered that private individuals who set up factories at their own peril and risk be provided with tools and workers. Masters were discharged from abroad, the manufacturers themselves received great privileges: they were exempted from service with their children and craftsmen, they were only subject to the court of the Manufactory Collegium, they got rid of taxes and internal duties, they could bring duty-free from abroad the tools and materials they needed, houses they were exempted from military posting.

Creation of company enterprises

Concerned about the most stable setting of industrial enterprises in the sense of providing them with sufficient fixed and circulating capital, Peter greatly encouraged the company organization of factories along the lines of the structure of Western European companies. In Holland, company enterprises then brought a huge income to the participants, the success of the East India Company in England and the French for trade with America was then on everyone's lips. In Holland, Peter became well acquainted with the companies of those times and vividly arranged all the benefits of such a device for industry and trade. Back in the year, he was submitted projects on the organization of companies in Russia. At the core, the company organization was not alien to Russian life. Even the Moscow government, giving at the mercy of its various income items, always gave them to several persons so that each would vouch for the other. The artels of the Russian industrialists of the north have long been companies of people who, for a common purpose, have combined the means and forces of individual people and divided the profits according to the calculation of the shares, or shares, contributed by each participant to the artel. In 1699, Peter issued a decree to trade people in the same way as they trade in other states.

No matter how the war distracted Peter, from time to time he continued to insist on the establishment of companies, reminding him of this at every opportunity, forcing him to do so by force.

In a decree of 1724, Peter prescribes the pattern that companies should follow in their organization, commanding "make certain shares of shareholders with the example of the East India Company". Following the example of Western European governments, Peter proposes to involve wealthy, “capital” people in company enterprises, regardless of their origin and position. The government was always ready to help with money and materials, and many companies received rather large sums of help. By lending large sums of money to the companies, often by transferring ready-made manufacturing facilities to their use, the treasury became the banker of large-scale industry and thus acquired the right to strictly monitor the activities of the companies. This intervention in private enterprise, the government not only "forced" its subjects to "build companies," but strictly supervised their "decent maintenance." Not a single reorganization, even the smallest one, in the company's economy could be done without a corresponding "report" to the Manufactory and the Berg Collegium. Manufacturers were required to annually deliver samples of their products to the Manufacture College. The government established the type, form, prices for those goods that were supplied to the treasury, and forbade selling them at retail. The government rewarded good factory owners and severely punished negligent ones. This is how it was written in the decrees when a plant was transferred to private hands: “If they (companion workers) multiply this plant with their zeal and make profit in it, and for that they will receive mercy from him, the great sovereign, but if they do not multiply and diminish by negligence, and for that they will be fined 1000 rubles per human". Unsuccessful factory owners were even simply "deprived" of factories by the government.

Only fragmentary information has been preserved about how the companies arranged their activities. The companies included not only people who could participate in the business by personal labor, but also "interested parties", i.e. those who gave only money in order to receive a certain income from them. In the projects of those times (back in 1698), there was already talk of such a structure of companies, in which every “particular” person who contributed a certain capital to it, by purchasing a certain amount "portion, or shares", could be a member of the company. But before 1757-1758, not a single joint-stock company was formed in Russia. Business in the companies was conducted “according to the merchant’s habit, according to his own invention, with general advice, the elder of the jury and several elected ones - whom it would be prudent to choose for what business”.

Creation of new manufactories

Some manufactories that arose under Peter were quite large. The Petrovsky factories in the Olonetsky region, founded by Menshikov and led by Genning, were distinguished by their broad organization of work, excellent equipment, a large composition of workers and the organization of the technical part.

State-owned mining plants were also distinguished by especially large size and crowding. 25,000 peasants were assigned to nine Perm factories. To manage the Perm and Ural factories, a whole city arose, named after the queen Yekaterinburg. Here, in the Urals, back in the 17th century, they tried to dig something, to mine something, but copper, iron, silver did not go further than finding various "curiosities" - they bought everything, mainly from the Swedes. It is only from the time of Peter that the real work begins here. In 1719, the “Berg Privilege” was issued, according to which everyone was given the right to search, melt, boil and clean metals and minerals everywhere, subject to the payment of a “mountain tax” of 1/10 of the cost of production and 32 shares in favor of the owner of that land where ore deposits are found. For hiding the ore and trying to prevent the finder from arranging the development of the perpetrators, land confiscation, corporal punishment and even the death penalty “through the fault of looking” threatened. In 1702, the Verkhoturye factories, built by the sovereign's money treasury and city county people, were given for ransom to Nikita Demidov. But the Urals at first could not yet compete with the Olonets factories, which were closer to St. Petersburg and the place of hostilities. Only after peace was established, Peter paid more attention to the Urals and sent Colonel Genning there, who put the entire production of the Olonets factories on their feet. By the end of Peter's reign, about 7 million poods of cast iron and over 200,000 poods of copper were smelted annually at all his factories. The development of gold and silver deposits also began.

After the mining factories, the weapons factories - Tula and Sestroretsky - were distinguished by their vastness. These weapons factories supplied guns, cannons and edged weapons to the entire army and freed the treasury from having to buy weapons abroad. In total, under Peter, more than 20 thousand cannons were cast. The first rapid-fire guns appeared. At Petrovsky factories, they even used “fiery” machines as a driving force - that was the name of the progenitors of steam engines at that time. 1162 workers worked at the state-owned sailing factory in Moscow. Of the private factories, Shchegolin's cloth factory with his comrades in Moscow, which had 130 mills and employed 730 workers, was distinguished by its vastness. Miklyaev's Kazan cloth factory employed 740 people.

Workers in the Age of Peter

The factory workers of the time of Peter the Great came from a wide variety of strata of the population: runaway serfs, vagabonds, beggars, even criminals - all of them, according to strict orders, were taken and sent to “work” in factories. Peter could not stand "walking" people who were not attached to any business, he was ordered to seize them, not sparing even the monastic rank, and sent them to factories. There were very few freelance workers, because in general there were few free people in Russia at that time. The rural population was not free; . When a factory was established, the manufacturer was usually given the privilege of freely hiring Russian and foreign craftsmen and apprentices, "paying them a decent wage for their work". If a manufacturer received a factory arranged by the treasury, then workers were transferred to him along with the factory buildings.

There were frequent cases when, in order to supply factories, and especially factories, with working hands, villages and villages of peasants were attributed to factories and factories, as was still practiced in the 17th century. Such assigned to the factory worked for it and in it by order of the owner. But in most cases, the manufacturers themselves had to find workers for themselves by hiring. It was very difficult, and the dregs of the population usually ended up in the factories - all those who had nowhere else to go. There were not enough workers. The factory owners constantly complained about the lack of workers and, above all, that there were no workers. Workers were so rare also because the dressing was then predominantly manual, and it was not always easy to learn how to do it. A skillful worker who knew his job was highly valued for this reason; the factory owners lured such workers away from each other, and under no circumstances did they release well-trained workers. He who learned the skill in a factory undertook not to leave the factory that taught him for ten or fifteen years, depending on the agreement. Experienced workers lived in one place for a long time and rarely became unemployed. For "calling" working people from one factory to another before the expiration of the fixed period of work, a very large fine was imposed by law on the guilty manufacturer, while the enticed worker returned to the former owner and was subjected to corporal punishment.

But all this did not save the factories from desertion. Then the government of Peter decided that work in factories could be carried out in the same way as rural work on the estates of private landowners, i.e. through hard labor. In 1721, a decree followed, which stated that although previously "merchant people" were forbidden to buy villages, now many of them wished to start various manufactories both in companies and one by one. “For this reason, it is allowed for the reproduction of such factories, both for the nobility and merchant people, to those village factories to buy without restriction with the permission of the Berg and Manufactory Collegium, only under such a condition, so that those villages were always already at those factories inseparably. And in order not to sell or mortgage to anyone, to the gentry, and to the merchants of those villages especially without factories, and not to secure anyone for anyone by any fiction, and not to give such villages to anyone at the ransom, unless someone wants for their necessary needs those villages and with those sell the factories, then sell them with the permission of the Berg Collegium. And if anyone acts against this, then it will be irrevocably deprived of all that ... " After this decree, all factories quickly acquired serf workers, and the factory owners liked it so much that they began to seek assignment to the factories and free workers who worked for them in free employment. In 1736, i.e. already after the death of Peter, they received this, and according to the decree, all those artisans who were at the factories at the time the decree was issued had to “forever” with their families remain strong in the factory. Even under Peter, the factory owners were already judges of their workers. From 1736, this was granted to them by law.

Serf workers did not always receive a monetary salary, but only food and clothing. Civilian workers, of course, received a salary in money, usually on a monthly basis in state-owned factories, and piecework in private ones. In addition to money, grubs also went to civilian employees. The amounts of cash salaries and grain dachas were small. The labor of workers was best paid in silk factories, worse in paper factories, even worse in cloth factories, and the least paid in linen factories. In general, in state-owned manufactories, wages were higher than in private ones.

Work in some factories was precisely and thoroughly established by company regulations. In 1741, a fourteen-hour working day was established by law.

The workers depended on the manufacturers for everything. True, the law ordered them “decently maintain artisans and students and repair them with rewards at their true worth”, but these rules were poorly enforced. The factory owners, having bought a village for the factory, often registered as workers and drove all the “full workers” to the factory, so that only the old men, women and minors remained on the ground. The wages of the workers were often delayed, so that they “came into poverty and even suffered from diseases”.

Product quality

Goods produced by Russian factories did not differ in high quality and processing. Only rough soldier's cloths were relatively good, and everything that was needed for military supplies, up to and including cannons, but purely industrial goods that were looking for sales among the people were bad.

Thus, the majority of Russian factories produced, according to merchants, goods of poor quality, which could not count on a quick sale, especially in the presence of foreign competition. Then Peter, in order to encourage his manufacturers and give their goods at least some kind of sale, began to impose heavy duties on foreign manufacturers. In accordance with the teachings of mercantilism he had learned, Peter was convinced that his manufacturers were tolerating “from goods brought from abroad; for example, one peasant discovered the paint of bakan, I ordered the painters to try it, and they said that it would yield to one Venetian, and equal to German, and another better: they made it from abroad; other manufacturers also complain…” Until 1724, Peter issued orders from time to time prohibiting the import of either individual foreign goods that began to be produced in Russia, or entire groups of both “manufacturing” and “metal products”. From time to time, it was forbidden even inside Russia to produce any linen or silk fabric for anyone, except for one factory that had just opened, of course, with the direct goal of giving it the opportunity to get on its feet and accustom the consumer to its production.

In 1724, a general tariff was issued, strictly protective of its industry, in part even directly prohibitive in relation to foreign goods.

With industry and trade, the same thing happened as with all the reforms of Peter, begun by him from 1715-1719: conceived broadly and boldly, they were brought to life by the performers sluggishly and tediously. Peter himself, not having worked out a general definite plan for himself, but for his life full of wartime anxieties and not accustomed to working systematically and consistently, hurried a lot and sometimes started from the end and middle of a business that should have been carried out carefully from the very foundation, and therefore certain aspects of his reforms withered like early ripening flowers, and when he died, the reforms stopped.

Development of trade

Peter also paid attention to trade, to the better organization and facilitation of trade on the part of the state, for a very long time. Back in the 1690s, he was busy talking about commerce with knowledgeable foreigners and, of course, became interested in trading European companies no less than industrial ones.

By decree of the College of Commerce in 1723, Peter ordered “Send the children of merchants to foreign lands, so that there will never be less than 15 people in foreign lands, and when they are trained, take back and in their place new ones, and order those trained to teach here, it’s impossible to send everyone; why take from all the noble cities, so that this could be done everywhere; and send 20 people to Riga and Revel and distribute them to the capitalists; these are both numbers from the townspeople; besides, the collegium of labor has to teach commerce certain of the noble children ".

The conquest of the sea coast, the founding of St. Petersburg with the direct appointment of it as a port, the teaching of mercantilism, adopted by Peter - all this made him think about commerce, about its development in Russia. In the first 10 years of the 18th century, the development of trade with the West was hampered by the fact that many goods were declared a state monopoly and were sold only through government agents. But Peter did not consider this measure, caused by the extreme need for money, to be useful, and therefore, when the military alarm calmed down somewhat, he again turned to the thought of companies of trading people. In July 1712, he ordered the Senate - “Immediately rush in the merchant’s business, the best order to do”. The Senate began to try to arrange a company of merchants for trade with China, but Moscow merchants “they refused to take on the bargain with the company”. On February 12, 1712, Peter ordered “to set up a collegium for the commercial business of correction, so that it can be brought to a better state; Why is it necessary for one or two people of foreigners who need to be pleased, so that they show the truth and jealousy in that with an oath, so that it is better to show the truth and jealousy in that with an oath, in order to better arrange order, for there is no doubt that their bargaining is incomparably better ours". The collegium was formed, worked out the rules of its existence and actions. The collegium worked first in Moscow, then in St. Petersburg. With the establishment of the College of Commerce, all the affairs of this prototype of it were transferred to the new department of trade.

In 1723, Peter ordered a company of merchants to trade with Spain. It was also planned to arrange a company for trade with France. To begin with, Russian state-owned ships with goods were sent to the ports of these states, but this was the end of the matter. Trading companies did not take root and began to appear in Russia no earlier than the middle of the 18th century, and even then under the condition of great privileges and patronage from the treasury. Russian merchants preferred to trade personally or through clerks alone, without entering into companies with others.

Since 1715, the first Russian consulates appeared abroad. On April 8, 1719, Peter issued a decree on the freedom of trade. For a better arrangement of river merchant ships, Peter forbade the construction of old-fashioned ships, various boards and plows.

Peter saw the basis of the commercial significance of Russia in the fact that nature judged her to be a trading intermediary between Europe and Asia.

After the capture of Azov, when the Azov fleet was created, it was supposed to direct the entire trade movement of Russia to the Black Sea. Then the connection of the waterways of Central Russia with the Black Sea by two channels was undertaken. One was supposed to connect the tributaries of the Don and the Volga, the Kamyshinka and the Ilovley, and the other would approach the small Ivan Lake in the Epifansky district, Tula province, from which the Don flows on one side, and on the other, the Shash River, a tributary of the Upa, which flows into the Oka. But the Prut failure forced them to leave Azov and give up all hopes of mastering the Black Sea coast.

Having established himself on the Baltic coast, having founded the new capital of St. Petersburg, Peter decided to connect the Baltic Sea with the Caspian Sea, using the rivers and canals that he intended to build. Already in 1706, he ordered the Tvertsa River to be connected by a canal to the Tsna, which, forming Lake Mstino with its expansion, leaves it with the name of the Msta River and flows into Lake Ilmen. This was the beginning of the famous Vyshnevolotsk system. The main obstacle to connecting the Neva and the Volga was the stormy Lake Ladoga, and Peter decided to build a bypass canal to bypass its inhospitable waters. Peter planned to connect the Volga with the Neva, breaking through the watershed between the rivers Vytegra, which flows into Lake Onega, and Kovzha, which flows into Beloozero, and thus outlined the network of the Mariinsky system already implemented in the 19th century.

Simultaneously with the efforts to connect the Baltic and Caspian rivers with a network of canals, Peter took decisive measures to ensure that the movement of foreign trade left its former habitual path to the White Sea and Arkhangelsk and took a new direction to St. Petersburg. Government measures in this direction began in 1712, but the protests of foreign merchants, who complained about the inconvenience of living in a new city like Petersburg, the considerable danger of sailing in wartime on the Baltic Sea, the high cost of the route itself, because the Danes took a fee for the passage of ships , - all this made Peter postpone the abrupt transfer of trade with Europe from Arkhangelsk to St. Petersburg: but already in 1718 he issued a decree allowing only hemp trade in Arkhangelsk, all the grain trade was ordered to move to St. Petersburg. Thanks to these and other measures of the same nature, St. Petersburg became a significant place for holiday and import trade. Concerned about raising the commercial importance of his new capital, Peter is negotiating with his future son-in-law, the Duke of Holstein, regarding the possibility of digging a canal from Kiel to the North Sea in order to be independent from the Danes, and, taking advantage of the confusion in Mecklenburg and wartime in general, he thinks to establish himself more firmly near the possible entrance to the projected channel. But this project was carried out much later, after the death of Peter.

The subject of export from Russian ports were mainly raw products: fur goods, honey, wax. Since the 17th century, Russian timber, tar, tar, sailcloth, hemp, and ropes have been especially valued in the West. At the same time, livestock products - leather, lard, bristles - were intensively exported; from the time of Peter the Great, mining products, mainly iron and copper, went abroad. Flax and hemp were in particular demand; trade in bread was weak due to lack of roads and government bans on selling bread abroad.

Instead of Russian raw materials, Europe could supply us with the products of its manufacturing industry. But, patronizing his factories and plants, Peter, with almost prohibitive duties, greatly reduced the import of foreign manufactured goods into Russia, allowing only those that were not produced in Russia at all, or only those that Russian factories and plants needed (this was a policy of protectionism)

Peter also paid tribute to the enthusiasm characteristic of his time to trade with the countries of the far south, with India. He dreamed of an expedition to Madagascar, and he thought of directing Indian trade through Khiva and Bukhara to Russia. A.P. Volynsky was sent to Persia as an ambassador, and Peter instructed him to find out if there was any river in Persia that would flow from India through Persia and flow into the Caspian Sea. Volynsky had to work so that the Shah would direct the entire trade of Persia in raw silk not through the cities of the Turkish Sultan - Smyrna and Aleppo, but through Astrakhan. In 1715, a trade agreement was concluded with Persia, and Astrakhan trade became very active. Realizing the importance of the Caspian Sea for his broad plans, Peter took advantage of the intervention in Persia, when the rebels killed the Russian merchants there, and occupied the coast of the Caspian Sea from Baku and Derbent inclusive. In Central Asia, on the Amu Darya, Peter sent a military expedition under the command of Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky. In order to establish themselves there, it was supposed to find the old channel of the Amu Darya River and direct its course to the Caspian Sea, but this attempt failed: exhausted by the difficulty of the path through the desert scorched by the sun, the Russian detachment fell into an ambush set by the Khiva, and was all exterminated.

Transformation results

Thus, under Peter the foundation of Russian industry was laid. Many new industries entered the circulation of people's labor, i.e. the sources of people's well-being increased quantitatively and qualitatively improved. This improvement was achieved by a terrible strain on the people's forces, but only thanks to this strain was the country able to endure the burden of the twenty-year uninterrupted war. In the future, the intensive development of national wealth, which began under Peter, led to the enrichment and economic development of Russia.

Domestic trade under Peter also revived significantly, but, in general, continued to have the same caravan and fair character. But even this side of the economic life of Russia was stirred up by Peter and brought out of that calmness of inertia and lack of enterprise, which was different in the 17th century and earlier. The spread of commercial knowledge, the emergence of factories and factories, communication with foreigners - all this gave a new meaning and direction to Russian trade, forcing it to revive inside and, thereby, becoming an increasingly active participant in world trade, to assimilate its principles and rules.

History of Russia in the 18th-19th centuries Milov Leonid Vasilyevich

§ 4. Trade

Internal trade based on the geographical division of labor relied heavily on the grain trade. At the beginning of the XVIII century. the main grain flow was connected with Moscow and the Moscow region. Grain products, hemp, hemp oil, honey, lard, skins, etc. were delivered here from the nearest Black Earth region along the Oka and the Moscow River. The flow of grain through Nizhny Novgorod and the Vyshnevolotsk Canal rushed to St. Petersburg. Bread from the Volga region went to the central provinces. Hemp, wool, lard and other livestock products, as well as wax, potash, saltpeter were brought from Ukraine to the center of the country.

The internal trade of the Petrine era, as in the 17th century, consisted of several levels. Its lowest level is rural and county auctions. where one, less often two or three times a week, the peasantry, small local merchants, gathered. And the highest level of trade is the wholesale trade of large merchants. Fairs were its main conductors. The most important of them in the first quarter of the XVIII century. - this is the Makarievskaya Fair near Nizhny Novgorod and the Svenskaya Fair near the walls of the Svensky Monastery near Bryansk.

Of course, along with them, there was a huge network of small fair trade throughout Russia. However, the saturation of trade operations in certain areas was different. The most saturated was the huge region of the Industrial Center of Russia.

An indirect indicator of the intensity of the movement of goods can be the size of the annual amounts of customs payments, since under Peter I an extensive network of internal customs continued to operate. According to the data for 1724–1726, among the inner provinces, the Moscow province had the largest amount of fees (141.7 thousand rubles), which far exceeded the fees in other areas. In the Nizhny Novgorod province, the collection was equal to 40 thousand rubles, in the Sevsk province - 30.1 thousand rubles, in the Yaroslavl province - 27.7 thousand rubles. Next come the Novgorod province (17.5 thousand rubles), Kaluga (16.5 thousand rubles). Simbirskaya (13.8 thousand rubles). Orlovskaya (13.7 thousand rubles). Smolensk (12.9 thousand rubles) and Kazan (11 thousand rubles) (our calculation. - L. M.). In other Russian provinces, the intensity of trade turnover is generally 2–3 times weaker (3–6 thousand rubles in customs duties).

For the development of trade, Peter I undertakes the construction of a number of canals that unite the waterways of different river basins. So, in 1703-1708. The Vyshnevolotsky Canal was built in the 1920s. The basins of the Oka and Don rivers were connected through Ivanovskoye Lake, the projects of the Tikhvin and Mariinsky canals were completed, and the construction of the Volga-Don Canal began. True, the last construction stalled, but a defensive line was built that blocked the way for the Nogai hordes to raid the Russian villages of the Volga region.

Foreign trade began to play a huge role in the Russian economy of the Petrine era. Until 1719, the port of Arkhangelsk had an annual turnover of 2 million 942 thousand rubles. (of which export is 74.5%). By 1726, the turnover of the St. Petersburg port reached 3 million 953 thousand rubles. (export about 60%). True, the turnover of Arkhangelsk had fallen by this time by about 12 times.

Astrakhan was the traditional center of trade with the countries of the East. In the mid 20s. 18th century the customs annual fee here reached 47.7 thousand rubles. If you name the amount of such a fee for St. Petersburg (218.8 thousand rubles), it will become clear that the turnover of the Astrakhan port was four times less. But at the same time, up to 44.2 thousand rubles were paid here alone in "fish duties", which is almost as good as the customs fee and emphasizes the enormous role of the Astrakhan fisheries.

Of particular note is the growing role of the port of Riga, the annual turnover of which in the mid-20s. was over 2 million rubles. (the amount of customs fees is 143.3 thousand rubles). After St. Petersburg, it became the most important center of Russia's foreign trade, opening the way to the European market for the vast southwestern region of the country. Large quantities of such bulky goods (unfavorable in land trade) as hemp, flax, canvas, leather, lard, honey, wax, grain, etc. went abroad through the Western Dvina. Indeed, in those days, the trade route along the Dnieper was a dead end not only because of the Dnieper rapids, but also because of the hostility of neighboring states. However, in the Left-bank Ukraine there were a number of cities that had foreign bargaining through Greek merchants who settled there and local merchants (Kyiv, Nizhyn, Chernihiv, etc.).

On the Baltic coast, Russia began to use such ports as Revel (customs duty 15.7 thousand rubles), Narva (10.4 thousand rubles), Vyborg (13.9 thousand rubles).

Treasury goods and trade monopolies. Foreign trade played a very significant role in the revenues of the treasury. Under Peter I, the number of goods traded only by the treasury increased markedly. This is not only caviar, fish glue, rhubarb, tar, potash, but also hemp, linseed and hemp seeds, tobacco, yuft, chalk, salt, tar, torn and pickled lard, cowhide, bristles, fish oil, etc. Merchants, when they could, they bought the right to trade this or that commodity from the treasury and became monopolists. Not infrequently the tsar himself handed out such monopoly rights. So, AD Menshikov had a monopoly on the export of tar, seal skins and Arkhangelsk fish products. Since 1719, the list of state-owned goods began to decline rapidly. In the event of a crop failure, the state forbade the export of grain abroad (it is true that grain trade was still very small). The export of Ukrainian saltpeter was banned.

Already during the construction of large manufactories, Peter I sought to protect young entrepreneurship, by separate decrees he prohibited the import of certain products from abroad. The ban on the import of metal needles followed immediately after the construction of the needle factory by the Ryumins and I. Tomilin. As soon as the Russian production of linen, silk products and stockings was established, the import of these goods from abroad was immediately banned. In the interests of the domestic cloth industry, the export of wool was banned. The patronizing policy towards Russian industrialists (coinciding with the principles of mercantilism) ended with the creation of the Customs Tariff of 1724. This most interesting piece of legislation was a very flexible instrument of trade and industrial policy. He put a strong barrier against the penetration of even high-quality products of Western countries, if the domestic industry fully satisfied domestic demand (the duty in this case was 75%).

This tariff, of course, did not meet the needs of the nobility, who were interested in foreign goods, and the merchants also wanted other tariffs. In 1731, a different tariff was adopted, which did not have such a pronounced protective character.

From the book History of Ancient Greece author Andreev Yury Viktorovich

4. Trade A fairly populous population of trade and craft policies with its diverse needs, which are growing more and more as urban life becomes more complex, lack of grain and various types of raw materials for crafts, on the one hand, surpluses of wine and oil, stocks

From the book A Short Course in Russian History author Klyuchevsky Vasily Osipovich

XI. Trade From the underdevelopment of the arts and crafts and from the predominance of the original industry, one can already conclude what items of trade the country put on the market and what it itself needed: it put agricultural products, furs and raw products in general, needed

author Kovalev Sergey Ivanovich

Trade The gradual separation of handicrafts from agriculture, which can be traced throughout the first four centuries of Roman history, is inextricably linked with the development of domestic trade. A professional craftsman usually sold his products himself.

From the book History of Rome (with illustrations) author Kovalev Sergey Ivanovich

Trade The growth of local production against the background of a general improvement in the situation of the provinces, the development of transport, the increase in the safety of communications, and so on. led in the era of the Empire to a significant revival of Italo-provincial and interprovincial trade. In the 1st century

From the book History of Russia from the beginning of the XVIII to the end of the XIX century author Bokhanov Alexander Nikolaevich

§ 4. Trade Domestic trade, based on the geographical division of labor, relied heavily on grain trade. At the beginning of the XVIII century. the main grain flow was connected with Moscow and the Moscow region. Along the Oka and the Moscow River, grain products, hemp, hemp oil,

From the book Ireland. Country history by Neville Peter

TRADE In the 16th century, economic development was hampered by the position of the leaders of the Gaelic clans. This happened because of the financial rent they imposed on merchants who tried to trade with the Gaelic areas. Therefore trade within and outside of Ireland (always small)

From the book "Illustrated History of Ukraine" author Grushevsky Mikhail Sergeevich

15. Trade For the same reasons that made decotr places over the other, over the big cities, trade and trade roads were of great importance. On the Ukrainian land, as we already know, there has long been trade with the Black Sea coastal places, and with the Caspian

From the book History of Denmark the author Paludan Helge

Trade Skone fairs, which in the XIII and XIV centuries. represented an international market for all kinds of goods, in the XV century. limited to the herring trade. The Dutch passed by on their ships, buying grain from Prussia, primarily from Danzig; Prussian merchants

From the book of Galla by Bruno Jean-Louis

TRADE The Gauls are not merchants. They don't have that spirit. They prefer to provide themselves with natural resources or plunder what they themselves cannot produce. At the same time, trading networks were based in Gaul from the Neolithic era. First of all, for transportation to the south

From the book Mayan people author Rus Alberto

Trade Differences in geological, orographic, hydrographic and climatic conditions between individual areas of the Maya region determined a noticeable diversity of natural resources in each of them. Although, in order to satisfy their elementary needs, the peoples of this

From the book Mayan people author Rus Alberto

Trade Often, ethnographers describe Maya communities as completely or almost completely isolated, as if they were excluded from the life of the country. In fact, the Maya through trade is drawn into the regional economy and, accordingly, into national life. In the Indian markets

author Golubets Nikolay

Trade "Mothers of Ukrainian cities" - Kiev, vyrisshі zmogutnіv up to the level of the capital of the largest European state of the country, is located at such an important trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks" like the Dnipro with a university of doplivіv. Trade and bula tim chinnik, sho instilled

From the book Great History of Ukraine author Golubets Nikolay

Trade In the world of that, like a viklikan of Khmelnytsky region, the revolutionary praise will calm down, Ukrainian trade will return to normal. By the road to the Baltic piers, and headly Koenigsberg and Danzig, go from Ukraine to the wide world of Syria in exchange for crafts and crafts

From the book World History. Volume 3 Age of Iron author Badak Alexander Nikolaevich

Trade The production of products specially intended for sale was very poorly developed in Homeric society. True, the poems contain mention of individual cases of exchange, for example, the exchange of captives for bulls, weapons, wine. exchange item in

author Kerov Valery Vsevolodovich

4. Trading 4.1. Domestic trade expanded rapidly. The most important factor in the rapid growth of trade was the development of small-scale commodity production, the increase in the agrarian specialization of the regions, and the increase in demand. Peasant trade in craft products and

From the book A Short Course in the History of Russia from Ancient Times to the Beginning of the 21st Century author Kerov Valery Vsevolodovich

5. Trade In the post-reform era, the growth of domestic and foreign trade accelerated. Commodity economy was getting bigger and bigger.5.1. Domestic trade in the 60-90s. increased many times. The most significant was the grain market, which provided a 3-fold increase in

Domestic activities of Peter since 1700

(continuation)

Measures of Peter I for the development of the national economy

Concerns about the national economy in the activities of Peter the Great always occupied a very prominent place. We notice signs of such concerns in the 17th century. And the predecessors of Peter I were preoccupied with raising the economic well-being of Russia, shattered by turmoil. But before Peter no results had been achieved in this regard. State finances, which for the Muscovite government were a sure indicator of the people's well-being, were in an unsatisfactory position both before Peter and during the first period of his reign. Peter needed money and had to find new sources of government revenue. Concern about replenishing the state treasury was a constant burden on him and led Peter to the idea that it was possible to raise the country's finances only through fundamental improvements in the national economy. Peter I saw the way to such improvements in the development of national industry and trade. It was to the development of trade and industry that he directed his entire economic policy. In this respect, he paid tribute to the ideas of his age, which created the well-known mercantile-protective system in the West. The novelty of the economic measures of Peter I was in Peter's desire to create trade and industry in Russia and thereby show the people a new source of wealth. only a few individuals (Krizhanich, Ordin-Nashchokin) dreamed of economic reforms in Russia under the influence of Western European life. The government itself, issuing the New Trade Charter of 1667, expressed the idea of the importance of trade in public life. But the conscious need did not lead to almost no practical measures to satisfy it until the time of transformation.

It is difficult to say exactly when Peter had the idea of the need to develop industrial and commercial activities in Russia. It is most likely that he learned it already on his first trip abroad. Already in 1699, he took care of the commercial and industrial class (Burmister chambers), and in the remarkable manifesto of 1702, by which Peter summoned foreigners to Russia, the idea of \u200b\u200bthe enormous importance of trade and industry in state life was already clearly expressed. With the passage of time, Peter I went more and more energetically towards his goal, making it one of the main tasks of his internal activity. We see a number of diverse measures of the reformer aimed at the development of economic life. Their presentation would take too much time, and we will limit ourselves to listing the most important of them:

a) Peter I constantly undertook reconnaissance in order to get to know better those natural resources that Russia possessed. Under him, many such riches were found: silver and other ores, which caused the development of the mining industry; saltpeter, peat, coal, etc. So Peter created new types of industrial and commercial labor.

b) Peter I strongly encouraged the development of industry. He called in foreign technicians, put them in an excellent position in Russia, gave them a lot of benefits with one indispensable condition: to teach the Russians their production. He sent Russians abroad to study various branches of Western industry. And at home, in the workshops, the masters had to properly train their students. The benefits of technical education and industry itself, Peter I, strenuously proved in his decrees. He gave entrepreneurs all sorts of benefits; among other things, the right to own land and peasants. Sometimes the government itself was the initiator in this or that kind of production and, having founded an industrial business, handed it over to a private person. But, creating a privileged position for industrialists, Peter I established strict supervision over the entire industry and monitored both the conscientiousness of production and the fact that it was consistent with the types of government. Such supervision often turned into petty regulation of production (for example, the obligatory width of linen and cloth was precisely determined), but tended in general to the benefit of industry. The results of Peter's measures in relation to industry were expressed in the fact that in Russia under Peter more than 200 factories and plants were founded and many branches of production that exist today (mining, etc.) were laid.

c) Peter I encouraged Russian trade by all means. Both in relation to industry and in relation to trade, Peter kept a patronizing system, striving to develop trade to such an extent that the export of goods from Russia exceeded their import from other countries. Just as Peter tried to explain to his subjects the benefits of the development of crafts by means of decrees, so he tried to arouse in them commercial enterprise. According to one researcher; under Peter, "the throne often turned into a pulpit," with which the monarch explained to the people the beginnings of social progress. The same regulation that was applied to the industrial business, Peter applied to the business of trade. He persistently recommended that the trading people form trading companies in the manner of Western European ones. Having built St. Petersburg, he artificially diverted goods from the port of Arkhangelsk to St. Petersburg. Taking care that Russian merchants themselves traded abroad, Peter sought to start a Russian merchant fleet. Not hoping for quick trading successes of the small urban class, which seemed to Peter to be a "scattered temple", he attracted other classes of the population to trade. He argued that even a nobleman can engage in commercial and industrial affairs without shame. Understanding the importance of communication routes for trade, Peter was in a hurry to connect his new harbor of St. Petersburg with the center of the state by waterways, arranged (in 1711) the Vyshnevolotsky canal, and after Ladoga.

Breaking the Ladoga Canal

However, Peter did not wait for the results of his trade policy. Internal trade revived, some internal trading companies were established, even a Russian merchant (Soloviev), who traded in Amsterdam, appeared; but in general the matter of Russian foreign trade did not noticeably change, and Russian exports remained predominantly in the hands of foreigners. There were no noticeable successes in trade with the East, which greatly interested Peter. However, in the absence of drastic changes in the trading life of Russia, the revival of trade took place before Peter's eyes, and he did not give up his hopes to the end.

Addition

Industrial and commercial activities of Peter I (according to lectures by V. O. Klyuchevsky)

Industry and trade under Peter I

The poll census found many new tax payers for the treasury and increased the amount of hard work. The measures aimed at industry and trade were aimed at raising the quality of this labor and strengthening the productive work of the people. This was the area of transformative activity, after the army, the most concerned about the reformer, the most akin to his mind and character, and no less military rich in results. Here he discovered both amazing clarity, and breadth of vision, and resourceful diligence, and tireless energy, and was not only the true successor of the Moscow tsars, patrimonial owners who knew how to acquire and save, but also a statesman, a master-economist, capable of creating new means and put them into public circulation. Peter's predecessors left him only thoughts and timid undertakings in this area; Peter found a plan and means for the broad development of the cause.

Plan and techniques

One of the most fruitful ideas that began to stir in the minds of Moscow in the 17th century was the awareness of the fundamental shortcoming that the financial system of the Moscow state suffered from. This system, raising taxes as the needs of the treasury increased, burdened the labor of the people, without helping it to become more productive. The idea of a preliminary rise in the country's productive forces, as a necessary condition for the enrichment of the treasury, formed the basis of Peter's economic policy. He set himself the task of equipping people's labor with the best technical methods and tools of production and introducing new industries into the national economic circulation, turning people's labor to develop the country's still untouched wealth. Having asked himself this matter, he affected all branches of the national economy; there does not seem to be a single industry left, even the smallest one, to which Peter would not pay keen attention: agriculture in all its branches, cattle breeding, horse breeding, sheep breeding, sericulture, horticulture, hop growing, winemaking, fishing, etc. - everything touched his hand. But most of all he spent his efforts on the development of the manufacturing industry, manufactories, especially mining, as the most necessary for the army. He could not pass by useful work, no matter how modest it was, so as not to stop, not to go into details. In a French village he saw a priest working in a garden; now with questions and with a practical conclusion for myself: I will force my lazy village priests to till the gardens and fields so that they get the most reliable bread and a better life.

The wise man avoids all extremes.
Lao Tzu

The Russian economy in the 17th century lagged far behind European countries. Therefore, the economic policy of Peter 1 was aimed at creating conditions for the economic development of the country in the present and future. Separately, it should be noted that the main direction of the development of the economy of that era was the development, first of all, of the military industry. It is important to understand this, since the entire reign of Peter 1 took place during the period of wars, the main one of which was the Northern War.

The economy of the era of Peter and should be considered from the point of view of the following components:

The state of the economy at the beginning of the era

The Russian economy before Peter 1 came to power had a huge number of problems. Suffice it to say that in a country with a huge amount of natural resources, there was no necessary material for their own provision, even for the needs of the army. For example, metal for cannons and artillery was purchased in Sweden. The industry was in decline. Throughout Russia there were only 25 manufactories. For comparison, in England during the same period there were more than 100 manufactories. As for agriculture and trade, the old rules were in effect and these industries practically did not develop.

Features of economic development

Peter's great embassy to Europe opened up to the tsar the problems that were in the Russian economy. These problems were exacerbated with the start of the Northern War, when Sweden cut off the supply of iron (metal). As a result, Peter I was forced to melt church bells into cannons, for which the church called him almost the Antichrist.

The economic development of Russia during the reign of Peter the Great was aimed primarily at the development of the army and navy. It was around these two components that the development of industry and other objects took place. It is important to note that since 1715, individual entrepreneurship has been encouraged in Russia. Moreover, part of the manufactories and factories were transferred to private hands.

The basic principles of the economic policy of Peter 1 developed in two directions:

Protectionism. This is support for domestic producers and encouragement of the export of goods abroad.
Mercantilism. Predominance of exports of goods over imports. In economic terms, exports prevail over imports. This is done to concentrate funds within the country.

Industry development

By the beginning of the reign of Peter I, there were only 25 manufactories in Russia. This is extremely small. The country could not provide itself even with the most necessary. That is why the beginning of the Northern War was so sad for Russia, since the lack of supplies of the same iron from Sweden made it impossible to wage war.

The main directions of the economic policy of Peter 1 fluttered in 3 main areas: the metallurgical industry, the mining industry, and shipbuilding. In total, by the end of Peter's reign in Russia, there were already 200 manufactories. The best indicator that the economic management system worked is the fact that before Peter came to power, Russia was one of the largest importers of iron, and after Peter 1, Russia came out on the 3rd place in the world in iron production and became an exporting country.

Under Peter the Great, the first industrial centers in the country began to form. Rather, there were such industrial centers, but their significance was insignificant. It was under Peter that the formation and rise of industry in the Urals and Donbass took place. The reverse side of industrial growth is the attraction of private capital and difficult conditions for workers. During this period, ascribed and sessional peasants appeared.

Posession peasants appeared by decree of Peter 1 in 1721. They became the property of the manufactory and were obliged to work there all their lives. Posessional peasants replaced the ascribed ones, who were recruited from among the urban peasants and assigned to a specific factory.
History reference

The problem of the peasants, expressed in the creation of a possessive peasantry, was associated with the lack of a skilled workforce in Russia.

The development of industry in the Petrine era was distinguished by the following features:

The rapid development of the metallurgical industry.
Active participation of the state in economic life. The state acted as the customer of all industrial facilities.
Employment of forced labor. From 1721 factories were allowed to buy peasants.
Lack of competition. As a result, large entrepreneurs had no desire to develop their industry, which is why there was a long stagnation in Russia.

In the development of industry, Peter had 2 problems: the weak efficiency of public administration, as well as the lack of interests of large entrepreneurs for development. All this was solved simply - the tsar began to transfer, including large enterprises, to the management of private owners. Suffice it to say that by the end of the 17th century, the well-known Demidov family controlled 1/3 of all Russian iron.

The figure shows a map of the economic development of Russia under Peter 1, as well as the development of industry in the European part of the country.

Agriculture

Consider what changes took place in Russian agriculture during the reign of Peter. The Russian economy under Peter I in the field of agriculture developed along an extensive path. The extensive path, in contrast to the intensive one, did not imply an improvement in working conditions, but an expansion of opportunities. Therefore, under Peter, active development of new arable land began. The most quickly developed lands were in the Volga region, in the Urals, in Siberia. At the same time, Russia continued to be an agrarian country. Approximately 90% of the population lived in villages and was engaged in agriculture.

The orientation of the country's economy towards the army and navy was also reflected in the agriculture of Russia in the 17th century. In particular, it was precisely because of this direction in the development of the country that the development of sheep and horse breeding began. Sheep were needed to supply the fleet, and horses to form the cavalry.

It was during the Petrine era that new tools of labor began to be used in agriculture: a scythe and a rake. These tools were purchased from abroad and imposed on the local economy. Since 1715, what year did Peter I issue a decree to expand the sowing of tobacco and hemp.

As a result, an agricultural system was created in which Russia could feed itself on its own, and also, for the first time in history, began to sell grain abroad.

Trade

The economic policy of Peter 1 in the field of trade generally corresponds to the general development of the country. Trade also developed along a protectionist path of development.

Until the Petrine era, all major trade was conducted through the port in Astrakhan. But Peter the Great, who loved St. Petersburg terribly, by his own decree forbade trading through Astrakhan (the Decree was signed in 1713), and demanded a complete transfer of trade to St. Petersburg. This did not bring any special effect for Russia, but it was an important factor in strengthening the position of St. Petersburg as a city and capital of the Empire. Suffice it to say that as a result of these changes, Astrakhan reduced its trade turnover by about 15 times, and the city gradually began to lose its rich status. Simultaneously with the development of the port in st. petersburg, ports in Riga, Vyborg, Narva and Revel were actively developing. At the same time, St. Petersburg accounted for approximately 2/3 of the foreign trade turnover.

Support for domestic production was achieved through the introduction of high customs duties. So, if the goods were produced in Russia, then its customs duty was 75%. If the imported goods were not produced in Russia, then its duty varied in the range from 20% to 30%. At the same time, the payment of the duty was made exclusively in foreign currency at a favorable exchange rate for Russia. This was necessary to obtain foreign capital and to be able to purchase the necessary equipment. Already in 1726, the volume of exports of products from Russia was 2 times higher than the volume of imports.

The main countries with which Russia traded at that time were England and Holland.

In many respects, the development of transport went on for the development of trade. In particular, 2 large canals were built:

Vyshnevolotsky Canal (1709). This canal connected the Tvertsa River (a tributary of the Volga) with the Msta River. From there, through Lake Ilmen, a path to the Baltic Sea opened.
Ladoga Bypass Canal (1718). Went around Lake Ladoga. This detour was necessary because the lake was turbulent and ships could not move on it.

Development of finance

Peter 1 had one oddity - he loved taxes very much and in every possible way encouraged people who came up with new taxes. It was during this era that taxes were introduced on almost everything: on stoves, on salt, on government forms, and even on beards. In those days, they even joked that there were no taxes only on air, but such taxes would soon appear. The increase in taxes and their expansion led to popular unrest. For example, the Astrakhan uprising and the uprising of Kondraty Bulavin were the main major discontents of the masses of that era, but there were also dozens of minor uprisings.

In 1718, the tsar carried out his well-known reform, introducing a poll tax in the country. If earlier taxes were paid from the yard, now from every male soul.

Also, one of the main undertakings was the financial reform of 1700-1704. The main attention in this reform was paid to the minting of new coins, equating the amount of silver in the ruble with silver. The very weight of the Russian ruble was equated to the Dutch guilder.

As a result of financial changes, the growth of revenues to the treasury was increased by about 3 times. This was a great help for the development of the state, but made it almost impossible to live in the country. Suffice it to say that during the Petrine era, the population of Russia decreased by 25%, taking into account all the new territories that this tsar conquered.

Consequences of economic development

The main results of the economic development of Russia in the first quarter of the 18th century, during the reign of Peter 1, which can be considered the main ones:

Growth in the number of manufactories by 7 times.
Expansion of the volume of manufactured products within the country.
Russia has taken the 3rd place in the world in metal smelting.
In agriculture, new tools began to be used, which later proved their effectiveness.
The founding of St. Petersburg and the conquest of the Baltic states expanded trade and economic ties with European countries.
St. Petersburg has become the main commercial and financial center of Russia.
Due to the state's attention to trade, the importance of the merchant class has grown. It was during this period that they established themselves as a strong and influential class.

If we consider these points, then a positive reaction to the economic reforms of Peter 1 suggests itself, but here it is important to understand at what cost all this was achieved. The tax burden on the population increased greatly, which automatically caused the impoverishment of most peasant farms. In addition, the need to develop the economy at a rapid pace actually contributed to the strengthening of serfdom.

New and old in the Petrine economy

Consider a table that presents the main aspects of the economic development of Russia in the era of the reign of Peter 1, indicating which aspects were before Peter and which appeared under him.

Table: features of the socio-economic life of Russia: what appeared and what was preserved under Peter 1.

Factor	Appeared or survived
Agriculture as the basis of the country's economy	Preserved
Specialization of economic regions	Appeared. Prior to Peter, specialization was insignificant.
Active industrial development of the Urals	Appeared
Development of local land tenure	Preserved
Formation of a single all-Russian market	Appeared
Manufactory production	Preserved, but greatly expanded
Protectionist policy	Appeared
Registration of peasants to factories	Appeared
Excess of exports of goods over imports	Appeared
Canal construction	Appeared
Growth in the number of entrepreneurs	Appeared

Regarding the growth in the number of entrepreneurs, it should be noted that Peter 1 actively contributed to this. In particular, he allowed any person, regardless of his origin, to conduct research on finding minerals and establish their own factories at the location.