The development of trading in the industrial centers of the Vyatka province by the example of the Izhevsk and Kama-Votkinsk factories in the pre-reform period

Research of socio-economic history are focused on the studying of life conditions of various strata of the Russian society in different regions and epochs. The Russian historical science studies the problems of the development of agriculture and industry, commodity-money relations in the peasant and urban environment, formation of the home market and trading capital and etc. Therefore, the initial history of the formation of trade on the example of the mining factory population in the large industrial settlements of the Kama-Vyatka region is topical. The study of local processes complements the picture of the country’s socio-economic development. The purpose of this research is to determine the specifics of trade in the industrial centers of the mining and military departments. The objects of the study are to describe the forms of trade, the range of products in local markets, the transit routes for goods, the social composition of entrepreneurs, and the prerogatives of the factory’s administration in the commercial sphere. The study is limited to the chronologically pre-reform period (the end of the 18th century - 1860). The first chronological boundary is determined by the dates of the foundation of the Izhevsk and Kama-Votkinsk factories (1759-1760). The second time fence is limited by the beginning of the “Great Reforms”, since the abolition of serfdom led to a radical change in the position of the mining po pulation. The territorial scope of the study includes industrial settlements at the Izhevsk and Kama-Votkinsk factories which are analyzed in the context of the Kama-Vyatka region (Vyatka province). The work is based mainly on regional archival materials of the Central State Archives of the Udmurt Republic and the State Archive of the Kirov Region. These are the documents of the funds of the Izhevsk arms and steel factory, the Kama-Votkinsk iron-making factory and the office of the Vyatka governor (statistical descriptions, books of goods and market prices compiled by the factories police, lists of entrepreneurs, office documentation). The article considers the following aspects of the topic. First, the works of some historians have been analyzed and paid attention to the specifics of the trade sphere in the Kama-Vyatka region. Secondly, the population of the Izhevsk and Kama-Votkinsk factories, the number, social composition and main sources of income were studied. Thirdly, stationary and periodic forms of trade (shops, fairs and markets), the range of goods and prices, the social composition of merchants in these industrial centers were analyzed. The conclusion about the presence of common and special features of trade in the Izhevsk and Kama-Votkinsk factories was made. Common features were the forms of trade, the range of goods, transit routes, the predominance of merchants, townspeople and peasants in the commercial sphere. A specific feature was the small development of market relations among factory workers. The trade existed only in the form of a home need. In addition, the factories’ administration practiced wholesale purchases, had full power and could regulate local trade through permits and prohibitions.

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