The main task of the country's economy in the first half of the 17th century. consisted of overcoming the consequences of the “great Moscow ruin.” Solving this problem was made difficult by the following factors:
heavy human and territorial losses suffered by the country as a result of the “turmoil”;
low soil fertility in the Non-Black Earth Region, where until the middle of the 17th century. housed the bulk of the population;
the strengthening of serfdom, which did not create interest among the peasants in the results of their labor (landowners, with an increase in their needs, confiscated not only surplus, but also part of the necessary product, increasing corvee and quitrent);
the consumer nature of the peasant economy, which developed under the influence of the Orthodox communal tradition, which focused on the simple satisfaction of needs, and not on the expansion of production in order to generate income and enrichment;
increasing the tax burden.
Agriculture
From the end of the 10s to the beginning of the 20s, after the Peace of Stolbovo and the Deulin truce, the expulsion of gangs of marauding interventionists, the end of the actions of rebel groups, the Russian people began to restore normal economic life. The Zamoskovny region, the center of European Russia, comes to life, the counties around the Russian capital, in the west and northwest, northeast and east. The Russian peasant is moving to the outskirts - south of the Oka River, in the Volga region and the Urals, in Western Siberia. New settlements are springing up here. Peasants who fled here from the center from their owners - landowners and patrimonial owners, monasteries and palace departments, or were transferred to these places, are developing new land masses, entering into economic, marriage, and everyday contacts with the local population. A mutual exchange of management experience is being established: local residents adopt the steam farming system, haymaking, apiary beekeeping, plows and other devices from the Russians; Russians, in turn, learn from local residents about the method of long-term storage of unthreshed bread and much more.
Agriculture did not recover quickly; the reasons for this were the low capacity of small peasant farms, low yields, natural disasters, and crop shortages. The development of this sector of the economy was greatly and long hampered by the consequences of the “Lithuanian ruin”. This is evidenced by scribal books - land inventories of that time. Thus, in 1622, in three districts south of the Oka - Belevsky, Mtsensky and Yeletsk - local nobles owned 1,187 peasants and 2,563 bobyls on their lands, i.e. there were twice as many landless or very low-powered peasants as there were actual peasants. Agriculture, which experienced extreme decline at the beginning of the century, returned to its previous state very slowly.
This was reflected in the economic situation of the nobles and their suitability for service. In a number of southern counties, many of them did not have land and peasants (odnodvortsy), or even estates. Some, due to poverty, became Cossacks, slaves for rich boyars, monastery servants, or, according to documents of that time, lay around taverns.
By the middle of the century in the Zamoskovny region, about half of the land, in some places more than half, was classified by scribes as “living” rather than empty arable land.
The main way of development of agriculture at this time was extensive: farmers included an increasing number of new territories into economic turnover. Popular colonization of the outskirts is proceeding at a rapid pace.
Since the late 50s and 60s, immigrants in large numbers have gone to the Volga region, Bashkiria, and Siberia. With their arrival, agriculture began to be practiced in places where it had not existed before, for example, in Siberia.
In European Russia, the dominant farming system was three-field farming. But in the forest areas of Zamoskovny Krai, Pomerania, and even in the northern regions of the southern outskirts, cutting, fallowing, two-field, and variegated fields were used. In Siberia, fallow land was gradually replaced by three-field farming in the second half of the century.
Rye and oats were sown most of all. Next came barley and wheat, spring rye (egg) and millet, buckwheat and spelt, peas and hemp. The same is true in Siberia. More wheat was sown in the south than in the north. In the gardens they grew turnips and cucumbers, cabbage and carrots, radishes and beets, onions and garlic, even watermelons and pumpkins. In the gardens there are cherries, red currants, gooseberries, raspberries, strawberries, apple trees, pears, and plums. Productivity was low. Crop failures, shortages, and famines recurred frequently.
The basis for the development of livestock farming was peasant farming. From it the feudal lords received draft horses for working in their fields and table supplies: meat, live and killed poultry, eggs, butter, etc. Among the peasants there were, on the one hand, those with many horses and many cows; on the other hand, deprived of any livestock. Cattle breeding especially developed in Pomerania, the Yaroslavl region, and the southern districts.
Fish were caught everywhere, but especially in Pomerania. In the northern regions, the White and Barents Seas, cod and halibut, herring and salmon were caught; hunted seals, walruses, and whales. On the Volga and Yaik, red fish and caviar were of particular value.
Subsistence agriculture was dominated by small-scale production. Hence the poor food supply for the peasants and chronic hunger strikes. But even then, the growth of the social division of labor and the economic specialization of certain regions of the country contributed to an increase in commodity circulation. The surplus of grain coming to the market was supplied by the southern and Volga districts.
In a number of cases, the tsar, boyars, nobles, and monasteries expanded their own ploughing, and at the same time engaged in entrepreneurial activities and trade.
CraftIn the process of economic recovery of the country, crafts occupied an important place. Its share in the country's economy increased, the number of craft specialties increased, and the level of qualifications of workers noticeably increased. Craftsmen increasingly began to work for the market, and not for orders, i.e. production became small-scale. Feudal lords preferred to buy handicrafts in city markets rather than use the low-quality products of their rural artisans. Increasingly, peasants also bought urban products, which led to an increase in domestic demand and supply.
In some cities, 30–40% of residents were engaged in crafts. The growth of handicraft production and the expansion of markets led to the specialization of individual areas and the territorial division of labor:
Metal processing was carried out in Moscow, Yaroslavl, Veliky Ustyug; leather was processed in Vologda and Yaroslavl, Kazan and Kaluga; pottery production was concentrated in Moscow, Yaroslavl, Veliky Ustyug; wood processing was widespread in the Dvina district, Solvychegodsk, Veliky Ustyug and Vyatka lands. The jewelry business flourished in Veliky Ustyug, Moscow, Novgorod, Tikhvin, and Nizhny Novgorod. The Novgorod-Pskov region, Moscow, Yaroslavl became significant centers for the production of textile products; flax - Yaroslavl and Kostroma; salt - Solvychegorsk, Soligalich, Prikamye with Solikamsk, and from the second half of the 17th century. – salt lakes of the Caspian region. Not only cities, but also a number of quitrent villages (Pavlovo on Oka, Ivanovo, Lyskovo, Murashkino, etc.) became centers of handicraft production.
Among the artisans, the largest group were tax workers - artisans of urban suburbs and black-mown volosts. They carried out private orders or worked for the market. Palace artisans served the needs of the royal court; state and registered employees worked on orders from the treasury (construction work, procurement of materials, etc.); privately owned - from peasants, peasants and slaves - produced everything necessary for landowners and patrimonial owners. Handicraft developed on a fairly large scale, primarily among draft traders, into commercial production. But this happened differently in different industries.
The master, as an independent manufacturer-craftsman, had students. According to the “everyday record”, the latter dressed up to study and work with the master for five to eight years. The student lived with the owner, ate and drank with him, received clothes, and did all kinds of work. Upon completion of training, the student worked for a period of time with the master, sometimes “for hire.” Students who acquired the necessary and significant experience or were tested by specialists became masters themselves.
The corps of artisans was also replenished by exporting townspeople from other cities to Moscow for permanent or temporary work. For the needs of the treasury and the palace, gunsmiths and icon painters, silversmiths, masons and carpenters were sent to the capital from other cities.
ManufacturesThe noticeable growth of Russian crafts in the 17th century, the transformation of a significant part of it into small-scale commodity production, consolidation, the use of hired labor, the specialization of certain regions of the country, and the emergence of the labor market created the conditions for the development of manufacturing production.
The number of manufactories - large enterprises based on the division of labor, which remains predominantly manual, and the use of mechanisms driven by water - has increased. This indicates the beginning of the transition to early capitalist industrial production, which was still heavily entangled in serf relations.
If in Western Europe the development of manufactories took place on the basis of hiring free workers, then in Russia there were almost no free people, therefore the so-called patrimonial manufactories based on the use of serf labor. Serf artisans and peasants were forced to work in enterprises as a feudal service, and they received almost no wages. Entire villages were often assigned to manufactories, and then serf peasants became serf workers. In serf manufactories, bourgeois and feudal relations were intertwined: the entrepreneur was at the same time a landowner - he owned the manufactory, land and workers, and the worker did not have the means of production and existed through the forced sale of his labor power. Such manufactories existed in Russia until the middle of the 19th century.
Manufacturing production (“factories”) developed mainly in metallurgy (casting cannons, cannonballs, bells). Some labor processes were mechanized using water engines, so these factories were usually built on rivers blocked by dams.
The first manufactory was built in 1631 in the Urals: the Nitsinsky copper smelter. Metallurgical plants of the Dutch A. Vinius, P. Marcelis,
F. Akema and others. In Moscow there were several state (state, possession) manufactories belonging to the Palace Prikaz: Coin, Printing, Khamovny (linen) yards. But in general, manufactories did not yet occupy a large share among enterprises; their total number by the end of the 17th century was only two dozen.
During the same period, dispersed manufacture (manufacture at home) developed. A new figure appeared - a buyer, that is, a trade intermediary between artisans and the market. Buyers from among the rich artisans and merchants distributed orders to the houses of manufacturers, presenting certain quantitative and qualitative requirements for the products.
Buying customers supplied manufacturers with raw materials and tools, often on credit, against future products. Thus, buyers gradually cut off producers both from the sales market and from the market for raw materials. This type of manufactory existed in Russia until the end of the 19th century, especially around large cities, where there was a constantly high demand for everyday products: leather and felted shoes, wooden spoons and dishes, tubs, pottery, etc.
Waste fisheries began to occupy a prominent place, especially in the Non-Black Earth Region. In the fall and winter, peasants went to work in the cities, to build churches and bridges, and became river barge haulers and workers in the salt mines, but in the spring they returned to the village for field work. The feudal lords encouraged such activity because the peasants paid them a cash rent, which was beneficial in the conditions of the emerging market.
Along with patrimonial and state property, there appeared merchant manufactories, which used the labor of free townspeople, quit-rent peasants released to latrine trades, and also attracted foreign craftsmen. Thus, about 10 thousand free people were employed in various Stroganov industries (salt, potash).
Trade. The beginning of the formation of the all-Russian marketThe 17th century is the most important stage in the development of market trade relations, the beginning of the formation of an all-Russian national market. As trade developed, the merchant class continued to develop. The highest privileged corporation of merchants in Russia were the guests. They conducted large trade operations both within the country and abroad, and were appointed to responsible positions in central and local economic and financial bodies. For example, in Moscow there were about thirty of them. In addition, there were merchant corporations - the Living Hundred and the Cloth Hundred.
Understanding that foreign trade is an important source of income, the government of Alexei Mikhailovich in every possible way encouraged its development. This had a beneficial effect on the development of trade with European (Sweden, England) and Asian countries (Iran, India, China).
Russia exported furs, timber, tar, potash, leather, ropes, and canvas. She imported (for the feudal elite) wines, spices, mirrors, cloth, weapons, metal products, paper, paints and other goods.
Showing concern for the development of domestic trade, the government fully supported the merchants, which was reflected in the law adopted in 1653. Customs regulations. The various duties levied on sellers of goods were replaced by a single ruble duty of 5% of turnover. In the domains of secular and ecclesiastical feudal lords, the collection of tolls was prohibited.
In the domestic markets of Russia in the second half of the 17th century. the dominance of foreign capital has developed. Experiencing the difficulties of competition, Russian merchants repeatedly turned to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich with a request to limit the access of foreign traders to Russian markets. In this regard, in 1667 it was adopted New Trade Charter, which provided for a number of restrictions for foreigners: they were not allowed to carry out trading operations in the internal cities of Russia; they could trade only in the border cities: Arkhangelsk, Novgorod, and Pskov and only during fairs. To trade outside these cities, a special permit (letter) was required. Foreign merchants had to pay a duty of 6% on the sale price, and 15% on luxury goods (for example, wines).
The new trade charter, the draft of which was prepared by the outstanding economist and major statesman A. L. Ordyn-Nashchekin, was protectionist in nature and aimed at monopolizing the domestic market in the hands of large Russian merchant wholesalers.
Economic development of the country in the 17th century. led to the merger of all lands and principalities into one economic whole, predetermined by the increasing volume of goods, the unification of small local markets into one all-Russian market. Fairs such as Makaryevskaya near Nizhny Novgorod, Svenskaya near Bryansk, and Irbitskaya beyond the Urals were known throughout the country.
The formation of an all-Russian market meant overcoming the economic isolation of individual territories and merging them into a single economic system. This completed the long process of formation of the Russian centralized state.
In the West, Russia's foreign policy did not have any serious success. This was evidenced by the unsuccessful war with Poland for Smolensk (1632 - 1634). However, things were different in the east. In an unusually short time Russian explorers, continuing the campaigns of the Cossack ataman Ermak, walked from the Ob to the Pacific Ocean, Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands. In 1645, V. Poyarkov went to the Amur and sailed the Sea of Okhotsk. S. Dezhnev with twenty-five Cossacks rounded the northeastern tip of Asia and opened the strait between Asia and North America (1648 - 1649). In 1649 – 1653 E. Khabarov with a detachment of Cossacks made a number of trips to the Amur.
Pioneer Cossacks founded cities and forts. They were followed by enterprising merchants, industrialists, peasants and various “free” people. At the end of the 17th century. The Russian population of Siberia was about 150 thousand people. The local population had to pay yasak to the state. By the end of the 17th century. Siberian agriculture began to produce so much bread that it was enough to feed the entire population of Siberia.
At the end of the 17th century. Russia occupied a vast territory from Arkhangelsk to the Caspian Sea and from Left Bank Ukraine to the Pacific Ocean. The country's population was 10.5 million people.
The completion of the economic unification of the country, the formation of the all-Russian market, and the beginning of manufacturing production created objective opportunities for overcoming the relative backwardness of Russia.
The country found itself in a state of ruin. Many cities and villages were devastated and depopulated. However, gradually the economy began to recover. Russia was an agricultural country. Since the 30s XVII century The development of vacant lands began south of the “Zamoskovsky region”, in the Middle Volga region, in Western Siberia.
The land was owned by the state, the royal family, the church, boyars and nobles. State-owned lands were cultivated by black-growing peasants, who were personally free and paid taxes to the treasury. In the economy of the boyars and nobles, the labor of serfs was used. They worked in the lord's field (corvée), paid rent in food or money to the landowner and taxed it to the treasury. In the 17th century the number of granted lands increased, the estate turned into a fiefdom (hereditary estate). The boyars and nobility had equal rights to land.
By the 30s. Cities were restored as centers of crafts and trade. Their population increased. By the middle of the century, there were more than 220 cities in the Russian state, the largest (about 200 thousand inhabitants) was Moscow. Craftsmen constituted the main category of the urban population. There were up to 270 different craft specialties. Crafts also developed in villages (Pavlovo, Kimry).
Manufacturing production with the division of manual labor was gaining strength. Large state-owned manufactories in Moscow were Cannon, Printing, and Money yards. Private manufactories also appeared. In 1632, the Dutch merchant A.D. Vinius, having received royal permission, built three ironworks near Tula that used water engines.
The improvement of the economy and trade was facilitated by the allocation of centers for metalworking (Moscow, Tula, Kashira, Ustyuzhna-Zheleznopolskaya), woodworking (Northwest and West), leather production and processing (Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Mozhaisk), soap production (Kostroma, Moscow, Yaroslavl) , salt mining (Solvychegodsk, Sol-Iletsk).
This specialization stimulated trade. Fairs appeared (Irbitskaya, Nizhny Novgorod, etc.), and the merchant class developed. The merchants were divided into three categories - “guests”, trading people of the living room and cloth hundreds. The state pursued a policy of protectionism and mercantilism. In 1653, the Customs Charter was introduced, which promoted domestic trade by abolishing internal trade taxes, and the New Trade Charter of 1667 prohibited foreigners from retail trade in Russian cities. Foreign goods were subject to heavy duties.
The overall result of the economic development of Russia in the 17th century was the stabilization and rise of agriculture, the growth of manufacturing production, the strengthening of the country's financial position, and the expansion of trade.
The formation of the Russian state is associated with numerous economic and social upheavals. One of the most global and significant was the change of ruling dynasties in the country at the end of the 16th century, which became one of the leading causes of the Time of Troubles. It was the elimination of the consequences of the Time of Troubles in the history of the state that became the basis for how the socio-economic development of Russia took place in the 17th century.
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Consequences of the Troubles
The Russian economy of the 17th century underwent global changes. The directions of socio-economic development were first determined by the Time of Troubles. The results of the change of ruling dynasties were a noticeable impoverishment of the people and a deterioration in the financial situation of the entire country. The territory and population decreased noticeably during these years.
The state continued to be, in fact, in a state of war with Poland and Sweden. It was not peace agreements that were concluded with these countries, but the Zapolsky and Plyussky armistice agreements. The consequences of the Troubles in the country took about thirty years to eliminate. They were finally overcome only during the reign of Peter the Great (1682-1725).
An important milestone in the economic development of the state was carrying out economic innovations. Significant events that contributed to the gradual recovery of the economy included measures taken at the state level.
Deepening the economic specialization of regions, highlighting:
- Focused on grain production in the Volga and Black Earth regions;
- Those who produced flax from the Pskov, Novgorod and Smolensk lands;
- Those engaged in livestock farming in the Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, and Kazan lands.
In the country formation begins capitalist economy. First of all, this is expressed in the prohibitions enshrined in the Novgorod Charter 1667 in the conduct of retail trade by overseas merchants on the territory of Russia. The formation of manufactories begins. In the first half of the 17th century, their total number on the territory of the state did not exceed 30, but already in this period the following were discovered and began to operate:
- Cannon Yard and Khamovny Yard, located in Moscow;
- Rope factory opened on the territory of Arkhangelsk;
- Ironworks in Tula and some others.
At the same time the final consolidation of the institution, recorded in the Council Code of 1649, which prohibited the transfer of peasants. Moreover, serfs are assigned to production.
With the adoption of the Council Code, civilian labor was finally eradicated in manufactories. All activities are carried out only by those assigned to a specific manufactory.
The beginning of large trade fairs played a major role in the prosperity of the state. Including the largest ones, Irbitskaya and Makaryevskaya. Such trading platforms have become the optimal place to sell products and establish interregional economic ties.
With the emergence of capitalist relations at the level of production, the 17th century maintained the tendency to preserve and develop feudal-serf relations. This order was finally enshrined in the Council Code. Experts note the negative role of this type of relationship for the flourishing of the agro-industrial sector of the economy.
The nuances of the emergence of manufactories
A striking feature of the economic prosperity of the state was not just the emergence and development of manufactories. Their creation at the state level played a colossal role. In fact, all such productions were founded and subsequently worked under government orders. The directions of activity were also determined by state needs.
The official level of approach to the emergence and development of the capitalist market determined the nature of the development of production in Russia for many centuries. An important distinguishing feature performance of work under a government order becomes a virtual absence of competition for manufactured goods.
All manufactured products are carried out according to official orders and in strictly defined quantities. This approach, on the one hand, guarantees the customer’s purchase of manufactured goods, on the other hand, there is no need to achieve improved quality of performance in order to fight competitors.
At the state level, this approach to products made in large industrial production continues to this day. According to economists, the choice of developing manufactories to fulfill government orders has become an obstacle to the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Attention! Outside of large manufactories, in the 17th century only the development of small-scale production took place. Commodity production is concentrated in manufactories.
Territorial features
An important factor in the development of the state in the 17th century was the further expansion of the territory of the state. During this period, new features in the economy were associated with additional expansion.
This trend had its own Advantages and disadvantages for the prosperity of the state. The peculiarities of Russia's economic development in the seventeenth century also affected this area.
According to the humiliating truce of December 1, 1617, the so-called Deulin Truce, significant western territories, including the city of Smolensk, left the country. The result of the Stolbovo Peace was the loss of Ivangorod, Korela, the cities of Yam and Koporye. The situation persisted until the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov (1645-1676). Lands lost during the Time of Troubles were returned and the foundation of the Truce of Andrusovo in 1667. On its basis, the territory, as well as the population of Russia, further expanded in the 17th century at the expense of Left Bank Ukraine and Kyiv.
At the same time, there was an active expansion of space to the East. In the 17th century Russia included spaces rich in natural resources beyond the Urals and in Yakutia. The expedition led by I.Yu. Moskitina (1639-1641) reached the shores of the Pacific Ocean and reported on the lands that later received the name “Sakhalin”. The development of mineral-rich territories in Siberia and the Far East contributed to the strengthening of the country's economic potential. In the second half of the 17th century, industrial production based on extracted minerals was actively developing in Russia. A significant part of it begins to flow to other states.
Attention! The negative consequences of the expansion of the territory of the Russian Empire include a decrease in the level of control by state authorities over new spaces. The lack of quality transport links led to the separation of local authorities into structures with minimal subordination to the center.
The order of economic development of Russia in the 17th century
A detailed map of the “economic development of Russia in the 17th century” clearly shows the formed production zones. With its help, areas of production of raw materials, bread, flax are clearly identified, and mining development territories are clearly defined.
At the same time, in the 17th century, a significant part of the territory of Russia retained the status of areas of nomadic cattle breeding. In the 17th century replacement takes place the boyar class becomes the nobility, and a merger of the estate and the estate takes place. It will finally take shape during the reign.
The social development of the state during this period was primarily focused on identifying the class of serfs. Such workers were hereditarily and for life assigned to their owner. Their duties included: paying property dues to the owner and working on the owner’s plots from two to five days a week in the form of corvee.
Similar situation had a negative impact on the development of the state's economy. At the level of the serf peasant, the worker became disinterested in obtaining a significant result of his labor. As a result, in agriculture the order of economic relationships was determined not by the competitive struggle of different producers, but by the order of the owner of the serf farm.
Features of social development
It was the final consolidation of serfdom that determined the order of the country's social development, which led to the enrichment of the nobility and the impoverishment of the peasantry. This century is called by scientists an era of powerful social upheavals. The negative impact on the standard of living of the population during the Time of Troubles, the consolidation of serfdom, made the 17th century a time largest peasant uprisings. Such as the uprisings of Bolotnikov, Khlopok and others. Increasing social inequality became the cause of the major Ryazan uprising. Additionally, the schism of the Church that occurred at this time had an impact on the decline in living standards.
Russian economy in the 17th century
Economic development of Russia in the 17th century
The end of the Time of Troubles and Russia's acquisition of its own stable political course gave impetus to the active economic development of the country. The economic recovery was also facilitated by the end of the crisis, caused primarily by natural causes.
The state's financial system, primarily the taxation system, has undergone significant changes. The poll tax was gradually replaced by land taxes, which the state began to collect not in kind, but in money.
The development of agriculture has had a beneficial effect on the overall level of the economy: Russia is gradually becoming a significant supplier of grain to the European market. The emergence of free money due to increased internal trade led to the development of crafts; In addition, the first manufactories began to penetrate from Europe into Russia, mainly in the field of metalworking. All these factors gradually strengthened the role of the merchants in the life of society. In the future, it was the merchants who would become the main driving force behind the country's economic development. In general, the 17th century became a kind of preparatory stage for the economic breakthrough stimulated by Peter I.
Way out of the crisis | Stretched out to the 1650s. Desolation of the central districts. Causes:
| |
Financial system and tax policy | Land system of direct taxation. In the first decade after the Time of Troubles, all direct taxes were levied on land, i.e. on the basis of the “sonic letter”. | Yamskaya duty, previously served only in kind, was now replaced by monetary fees for the landowner peasants and townspeople. 1614 - collection of Streltsy bread - a tax going towards the salaries of service people (from 1630 to 1663 the Streltsy tax increased 10 times). The introduction of request and five-dollar money (Zemsky Sobor - 1614), this tax was assigned mainly to guests, the merchant and townspeople, as well as black-growing peasants. 1646 – new general population census. |
Feudal land tenure and economy | The growth of production occurred due to the development of new lands. The basis of relations between feudal lords and serfs was the corvee system:
In some places, cuttings and fallow areas were preserved. Traditional agricultural crops, tools. The plow was introduced slowly. Both peasant and landowner economies were slowly drawn into market relations: peasants were in the complete power of the feudal lords, unable to freely dispose of their labor; increase in duties. | 1. Formation of regions that produced commercial grain (Middle Volga region, Chernozem Center); 2. Three-field dominance. The government issues decrees prohibiting Moscow ranks from acquiring land on the southern outskirts of the state (1637) and the transfer of estates and estates of district service people to service people from the Duma and Moscow ranks (1639). Transformation of the estate as conditioned by the service of land ownership into hereditary patrimonial possession (decrees of 1611-1618, prohibiting the transfer of vacated estates to anyone other than relatives of the previous owner, from 1634 - “family estate”, decree of 1642 prohibited widows of service people from transferring their “subsistence allowance” "an estate in someone else's family). |
Craft and industry | Craft could not become a source of accumulation. Production is not based on wage labor (serfdom). The creation was accelerated by state needs | 1) The division of labor deepened, the commercial and industrial specialization of the regions intensified; 2) Handicrafts developed, handicraft production acquired a small-scale character; 3) The first manufactories. First - in metallurgy. |
Trade | 1. foreign trade developed slowly (the only seaport was Arkhangelsk); 2. the structure of exports is not typical for a developed country (linen, leather, hemp, lard, etc. in exchange for industrial products); 3. the state monopoly on trade in many goods and the dominance of foreign merchants restrained the accumulation of private capital not associated with the state. | 1. the beginning of the formation of a single market. Fairs are centers of wholesale inter-district trade. Makaryevskaya - Nizhny Novgorod. 2. The Russian merchants, losing the role of an inconspicuous intermediary, are making themselves known more and more loudly; they do not yet seek to penetrate industry or participate in large financial transactions, but they resolutely and stubbornly defend their interests in the fight against foreign competition. In 1653 The Customs Charter was adopted, and a single, so-called ruble duty was introduced. 1667 – New trading charter. |
New elements appeared against the background of the progressive development of feudalism. They experienced its deforming effect. The genesis of capitalism is no earlier than the middle of the 18th century. | “Primitive accumulation” took place, but using unique methods. There was no land deprivation, and foreign trade developed little. The STATE saved (internal taxes, farming, contracts, usury). |
16. Socio-economic development of Russia in the 17th century.
The paths of development of the state after the Time of Troubles were determined by the tasks of restoring the country. The restoration process after the Troubles took approximately three decades and was completed by the middle of the century.
The territory of Russia in the 17th century. compared to the 16th century, it expanded to include new lands of Siberia, the Southern Urals and Left Bank Ukraine, and the further development of the Wild Field. The territory of the country was divided into counties, the number of which reached 250. The counties, in turn, were divided into volosts and camps, the center of which was the village. In a number of lands, especially those that were recently included in Russia, the previous administrative system was maintained. According to the number of inhabitants, Russia within the borders of the 17th century. ranked fourth among European countries. In the 17th century, the position of Muscovite Rus' was in many respects better than that of European states. The 17th century for Europe is the time of the bloody Thirty Years' War, which brought ruin, hunger and extinction to peoples (the result of the war, for example, in Germany was a reduction in the population from 18 million to 4 million).
Economic development.
In the 17th century The foundation of the country's economy, as before, was agriculture, which was of a subsistence nature. The growth of agricultural production was achieved through the development of new lands, that is extensive way. By the middle of the 17th century. the devastation and devastation of the times of unrest were overcome. But there was something to restore - in 14 districts of the center of the country in the 40s, the plowed land was only 42% of what was previously cultivated, and the number of the peasant population, fleeing the horrors of timelessness, also decreased. The economy recovered slowly in the conditions of the preservation of traditional forms of farming, the sharply continental climate and low soil fertility in the Non-Black Earth Region, the most developed part of the country.
Agriculture remained the leading sector of the economy. The main tools of labor were a plow, a plow, a harrow, and a sickle. Three-field farming prevailed, but undercutting also remained, especially in the north of the country. They sowed rye, oats, wheat, barley, buckwheat, peas, and flax and hemp among industrial crops. The yield was sam-3, in the south - sam-4. The economy was still subsistence in nature. Under these conditions, an increase in production volumes was achieved through the involvement of new lands in economic circulation. Black Earth Region, Middle Volga Region, Siberia.
At the same time, the growth of territory and differences in natural conditions gave rise to economic specialization of the country's regions.
It was with specialization that such an important process in the economy of the period under review as the development of commodity-money relations was associated. Specialization was observed not only in agriculture, but also in crafts. In the 17th century Small-scale production is spreading, that is, the production of products not to order, but to the market. Pomorie specialized in the creation of wooden products, Pskov, Novgorod, Smolensk made linen fabrics, salt making developed in the North, etc.
Thus, the role of the merchants in the life of the country increased. The constantly gathering fairs acquired great importance: Makaryevskaya near Nizhny Novgorod, Svenskaya fair in the Bryansk region, Irbitskaya in Siberia, the fair in Arkhangelsk, etc., where merchants carried out large-scale wholesale and retail trade.
Along with the development of domestic trade, foreign trade also grew. Until the middle of the century, foreign merchants extracted huge benefits from foreign trade, exporting timber, furs, hemp, potash, etc. from Russia. Suffice it to say that the English fleet was built from Russian timber, and the ropes for its ships were made from Russian hemp. Arkhangelsk was the center of Russian trade with Western Europe. There were English and Dutch trading yards here. Close ties were established with the countries of the East through Astrakhan, where the Indian and Persian trading yards were located.
The Russian government supported the growing merchant class. In 1667, the New Trade Charter was published, developing the provisions of the Trade Charter of 1653. The New Trade Charter increased duties on foreign goods. Foreign merchants had the right to conduct wholesale trade only in border trading centers.
In the 17th century The exchange of goods between individual regions of the country expanded significantly, which indicated the beginning of the formation of an all-Russian market. The merging of individual lands into a single economic system began. Growing economic ties strengthened the country's political unity.
On the basis of small-scale production, large enterprises are formed, based on the division of labor and handcraft techniques - manufactories. Unlike Western Europe, where the formation of manufacturing production took place in the privately owned sector, as capital accumulated among the owners, in Russia the initiator of the creation of manufactories was the state. In the 17th century There were approximately 30 manufactories in Russia. The first state-owned manufactories arose in the 16th century.
(Pushkarsky Dvor. Mint). In the 17th century metallurgical plants were built in the Urals and in the Tula region, tanneries in Yaroslavl and Kazan, and the Khamovny (textile) yard in Moscow.
The Nitsinsky copper smelter in the Urals, built in 1631, is usually considered the first privately owned manufactory.
Since there were no free workers in the country, the state began to assign, and later (1721) allowed, the purchase of peasants to factories. The assigned peasants had to work off their taxes to the state at a factory or plant at certain prices. The state provided enterprise owners with assistance with land, timber, and money. Manufactories founded with the support of the state later received the name “possession” (from the Latin word “possession” - possession).
Social development.
According to Vernadsky, to restore the country, the government needed a very large amount of money. To do this, it was necessary to restore old taxes and introduce a number of new ones.
All classes were obliged to serve the state and differed only in the nature of the duties assigned to them. The population was divided into service people and tax people.
At the head of the service class were about a hundred boyar families - descendants of the former Great and appanage princes. They occupied the highest positions in military and civil administration, but during the 17th century they were gradually replaced by people from the middle service strata. There was a merger of boyars and nobles into one class of “state servants.” In terms of its social and ethnic roots, it was distinguished by noticeable diversity: initially, access to public service was open to all free people. As the state organization took shape, the service class acquired an increasingly closed character.
The ability of the nobles to fulfill their military duties depended on the supply of labor on their estates and on the transfer of peasants from one owner to another. In addition, the spontaneous mass migration of peasants to new lands (Ukraine, Wild Steppe, Siberia) led to disruptions in the tax system. The government saw the stabilization of the situation in the attachment of peasants to the land, that is, in enslavement 2. Attachment to the land did not mean the enslavement of the peasants; they were still considered free people and could complain about the oppression of the landowners in court. However, the power of the landowners over the peasants gradually increased. More favorable was the position of the state and palace peasants, who did not obey the landowners.
The rural peasant population consisted of two main categories. The peasants who lived on the lands of estates and estates were called possessory or privately owned. They bore taxes (a set of duties) in favor of the state and their feudal lord. The landowner received the right to speak in court on behalf of his peasants; he also had the right of patrimonial court over the population of his estate. The state reserved the right to trial only for the most serious crimes. Monastic peasants occupied a place close to privately owned peasants.
Another large category of the peasant population was the black-sown peasantry. They lived on the outskirts of the country (Pomeranian North, Ural, Siberia, South), united into communities. Black-footed peasants did not have the right to leave their lands unless they found replacements. They bore taxes for the benefit of the state. Their situation was easier than that of privately owned ones. “Black lands” could be sold, mortgaged, and inherited.
The middle position between the black-sown and privately owned peasants was occupied by the palace peasants, who served the economic needs of the royal court. They had self-government and were subordinate to palace clerks.
Attachment to the tax also affected other classes, and certain categories of the townsfolk population were assigned locally. The nobles in Russia were no more free than the peasants and townspeople; they were bound by the obligation of lifelong service. Each social group was assigned a specific place in the national structure. Using flexible tactics, the central government managed to consolidate the Cossacks in the structure of the state. Moscow recognized the Cossacks’ right to self-government, to own land, and provided them with assistance with food, money and weapons. The Cossacks, for their part, pledged to serve on the borders of the Moscow kingdom.
An influential class in the 17th century was the clergy, which held a monopoly in the sphere of education, culture, and ideology. The Orthodox understanding of class duties as a form of religious service led to the fact that the entire population bore universal state service: nobles personally, and peasants and townspeople through taxes for the maintenance of troops. A unique system of Russian state serfdom is being created.
During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, changes were made to the judicial system. The Zemsky Sobor of 1649 developed a new set of laws, called the “Cathedral Code”. The most important directions of the Code were the protection of the interests of nobles and townspeople against the background of some restrictions on the privileges of the boyars and clergy, as well as protectionism in favor of Russian merchants and industrialists. Peasants were legally bound to the land.
Thus, the process of consolidation of classes occurs, their social framework is more clearly delineated. The dominant role belonged to the boyars and nobles. Regardless of the form of land ownership, they were required to perform military service. There is a convergence of the socio-political position of the nobles and the boyars. The difference between an estate and a fiefdom is reduced to a minimum. A nobleman, even having sold or mortgaged the land to a monastery or an “unserviceable” person, could pull it back. The nobles owned most of the peasant households (57% according to the 1678 census).
The position of the archers, gunners, and state blacksmiths (the so-called “instrument servants”) became more difficult. Their salaries were reduced, many of the servicemen were transferred to the category of townspeople and lost their previous privileges (for example, the right to purchase land).
The number of townspeople - townspeople - grew. A significant part of the artisans worked for the state. Some artisans served the needs of landowners (patrimonial artisans). According to the Council Code of 1649, only townspeople could engage in crafts and trade in the city. They entered communities and bore various duties, paid taxes, the totality of which was called tax The “best” people of the posad - merchants - led the posad communities, became deputies of Zemsky Sobors, and were in charge of collecting taxes and duties.
The peasant class became more closed. The social strata of serfs and “children” of the monasteries disappeared. The legal status of privately owned peasants came closer to the position of state-owned peasants, who were increasingly regarded as serfs.
As a result, by the middle of the 17th century, the devastation of the Time of Troubles was overcome.
By the second half of the 17th century, the economic situation had changed. The state needed money. Taxes increased. The government of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich increased indirect taxes. raising the price of salt 4 times in 1646. However, the increase in the salt tax did not lead to replenishment of the treasury, since the solvency of the population was undermined. The salt tax was abolished in 1647. It was decided to collect arrears for the last three years. n. In 1648 it resulted in an open uprising in Moscow. The uprising in Moscow, called the “salt riot,” was not the only one. Over the course of twenty years (from 1630 to 1650), uprisings took place in 30 Russian cities: Veliky Ustyug, Novgorod, Voronezh, Kursk, Vladimir, Pskov, and Siberian cities.
According to the modern historian A.P. Toroptsev, the state had no other choice but to issue copper coins into circulation. With this, the state wanted to accumulate silver to pay salaries to soldiers. This had a negative impact on the economy. Merchants tried not to take copper money for goods. As a result, money depreciated. In addition, counterfeiters have appeared in Moscow. This led to a whole series of discontent and uprisings. In the summer of 1662, for one silver ruble they gave eight copper ones. The government collected taxes in silver, while the population had to sell and buy products with copper money. Salaries were also paid in copper money. The high cost of bread and other products that arose under these conditions led to famine. Driven to despair, the Moscow people rose in rebellion.
Thus, by the middle of the 17th century, the state managed to overcome the consequences of the turmoil, but already in the second half of the 17th century, increased taxes and the exhausting wars waged by Russia depleted the treasury. In response, the state took a number of measures that caused a series of popular discontent.