Industry, crafts, trade and credit in North Asia in the 1820s - 1880s

The paper focuses on the development of industry, crafts, trade and credit in Siberia in the 19^th century. Its objective is to highlight the main parameters of Siberian economic development in the 19th century. The authors argue that the whole period from the 1820s to the 1890s was marked in Siberia with the development of capitalism and the growth of the elements of a new industrial world. The authors show that at that time capitalist manufactory replaced feudal manufactory, the industrial revolution began in manufacture, resource extraction and transport and the permanent cadre of industrial workers was formed. Simultaneously Siberian towns had been transforming into centers of trade and crafts, capitalist relations had been penetrating into fishery and forestry, modern forms of credit had appeared. The concentration of industry in cities was complicated by a ban on building heat operating plants in wood-built towns. The plants were built around the towns and multiple settlements known as zaimki were growing. The authors analyze social and economic developments in Siberia through central and local statistics, materials of the press and written testimonies of the officials who took part in governing Siberia. Despite substantial deficiencies of the pre-revolutionary statistics, it allows defining the major trends of regional economic development. The authors argue that capitalist relations in Siberia were consolidating throughout the 1820s - 1890s at the expense of the dilution of estate property, Treasury's entrepreneurial functions and Cabinet-run industry. The role of the reform of 1861 in Siberia consisted mainly in depriving the Cabinet industry of unpaid labor force of assigned peasants and craftsmen. In industry capitalist manufactory rose to domination and the initial steps to introduce steam machines into mining, metallurgy, milling, sawmilling, distillery and other spheres of production. Transit river transport shifted to steam power. The Yekaterinburg - Tyumen railroad built in the 1880s connected the river basins of the Volga and the Ob and facilitated the transportation of cargo between the European and Asian parts of Russia. However, the season nature of transportation by water conditioned the domination of seasonal and periodic forms of trade, such as fairs and bazaars. Siberia was the transit territory for European Russia's trade with China and Mongolia. The main trade route was the Great Siberian Tract, the main point of exchange was Kyachta-Maimachen, the main goods were tea exchanged for fur and precious metals.

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