Entrepreneurship development in Tomsk in the early 20th century

Entrepreneurship is an integral element of national economies. Historians began to pay much attention to the question of business development in different time spans at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries. Research of the phenomenon of business in Tomsk at the beginning of the 20th century is presented in this article. The policy of the government in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries promoted favorable economic development in the country, and the adopted laws an increase in the number of businessmen. For example, "Polozhenie" of 1898 led to high-quality changes in the social composition of businessmen and gave an opportunity for representatives of different classes to engage in trading activities. For this purpose, it was necessary to purchase a trade certificate for every commercial or industrial type of business. Merchant privileges were canceled and the term "businessman" ceased to be associated with merchants. The increasing number of commerce and industry enterprises is connected with rapid growth of the city population: in 1896 the population of Tomsk was 50 023 people, in 1902 it was 65 301, in 1908 it was 79 293. Among the population, burghers dominated who also included merchants and the peasantry. A widespread phenomenon was an association of several persons for conducting trade activity. In this case representatives of a family had an opportunity of developing and increasing capitals, still maintaining the continuity of generations; people from different classes could start trade activity merging their capitals. Such forms of entrepreneurship were called trading houses or associations, their activity was regulated by the Manifest of 1807.There were the following directions of economic development in Tomsk: trade, industry, credit and bank, insurance and mediation. The main characteristic for Tomsk was prevalence of trading capital over industrial. Statistical data show the city had 189 factory enterprises (1910) and 1001 trade enterprises (1911). The development of credit and banking system allowed a greater number of entrepreneurs to open commercial establishments. At the beginning of the 20th century Tomsk was considered a large bank center of Siberia with six banks. In the market, there was a large number of branches of larger and medium-sized commercial establishments from Central Russia, including foreign representative offices. In turn, the economic policy led to the growth of commerce and industry enterprises in the city, rapid development of small and medium-sized businesses, promoted competition. Entrepreneurs also engaged in patronage and charity, promoting cultural development and education. They influenced the development of the city, its architectural look. Nowadays these constructions represent historical and cultural heritage of the city of Tomsk.

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