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History of the world economy - Polyak GB

21.3. The beginning of the disintegration of feudal economy (second half of the 18th century)

General characteristics of the economy

In the second half of the XVIII century. As a result of successful foreign policy - the annexation of the Crimea, the northern Black Sea region, the Azov Sea, the Ciscaucasia (the outcome of the war with Turkey), the Right-Bank Ukraine, Belarus, Lithuania, Kurland (after the sections of Poland), the Kalmyk steppes, Gorny Altai, Alaska, the Kurile and Aleutian Islands to Russia (Discovered by Russian pioneers) - the territory of the country and its population have increased significantly. Accordingly, its economic base expanded.

Along with this, in the country where feudal-serf relations prevailed, the emerging capitalist system asserted itself more and more aggressively. Significantly expanded the scope of commodity-money relations. The process of the initial accumulation of capital was further developed. Employed labor began to be used more actively both in industry and in agriculture. Expanded the scope of the capitalist manufactory. The merchant class and the well-to-do part of the peasantry increased the proportion of their capital invested in industry. The social differentiation of the peasantry has been determined.

Agriculture

The main features of the development of the agricultural sector of the economy in the second half of the XVIII century. Began to increase its marketability and completion of the process of regional division of labor with agricultural specialization. The demand for bread and other agricultural products increased both inside the country and abroad. Along with the traditional extensive methods, the intensive use has also started to expand. In agricultural practice, especially in the largest and richest farms , plow and fertilizer have found application. Crops of agricultural crops expanded, more valuable - wheat, potatoes, buckwheat, technical and medicinal plants, etc.

At that time, a certain interest of the "enlightened" nobility to the improvement of the agrarian sector was revealed. The founding of the Free Economic Society (1765) promoted the propagation of the achievements of agronomical science, though, while in a "focal" order. The largest agricultural producing areas were the Chernozem Center, the Middle Volga region, and the non-Black Earth region.

Specialization has come to the end. The main suppliers of marketable grain were the Central Black Earth region, meat - Middle Volga region, flax - North-West region, tobacco - Ukraine. In the Voronezh province, Orlov trotters were famous for the horse farm of Count A. Orlov.

The bulk of the peasants were landowners, state and palace. Transferred to the jurisdiction of the College of Economics (1764), monastic peasants began to be called economic. Later they were ranked as state. At this time, there were 6.5 million landowners, 4.9 million state and 0.6 million palace peasants. Second half of the XVIII century. Became the epoch of mass grants of state peasants to noblemen. So, if under Peter the First, the estates with 175 thousand peasants were distributed, then Catherine II increased their number to 800 thousand.

Meanwhile, the development of commodity-money relations, a significant expansion of the grain market, led to an intensification of feudal exploitation. There was a definite division of agricultural regions into corvee and quitrent. So, in the Central Chernozem and Western areas, the corvée prevailed, sometimes four to five days a week. In turn, in the northern, northeastern, non-chernozem regions and large patrimonies, money rent was established , the amount of which has steadily increased. The emergence of money rent with specialization in various trades and walks of life signaled the development of trade and urban industry, commodity production, money circulation, the beginning of the formation of the capitalist way of life. The landlord economy, large equestrian and sheep breeding plants became more and more confident on a commercial basis.

At the same time, the peasants still carried numerous duties-deliveries, provision and delivery of the "table reserve" to the landowner, etc. The landlords had the right to expose their peasants to the most cruel punishments, to exile to Siberia, to hard labor, to recruit, and so on. The peasant serfs sometimes had a semi-slavery existence.

Stratification of the peasantry

All the more noticeable has begun to reveal the property stratification. Some peasants were even more penniless, offering only their own hands for sale. They left to work in the city or hired to work in the village. Others began to run a commodity-type economy. They took up trade and usury. They became owners of industrial enterprises and industries (mills, distilleries, fisheries, inns, etc.). Sometimes, for a considerable ransom, they acquired "free" and were attributed to the merchant class or the philistine class.

Still, the main, overwhelming majority of the peasantry experienced a toughening of serfdom, even called the second edition. Strengthening serfdom led to the struggle of the peasants against feudal oppression. The peasant war led by Emelian Pugachev in 1773-1775. Covered the Urals, Bashkiria, the Volga region. In it for the first time along with the peasants, Cossacks, urban population took part the working people of the Urals, Bashkirs, Kalmyks, etc. The Pugachev manifestoes already more clearly formulated the demands of the insurgents - liberation from serf bondage, empowerment and land. Paul! And the detachments were led by capable commanders. The captured areas were controlled by military colleges, the city by commandants, etc. And although the defeat of the insurrection was inevitable and cruel, the lessons of the 18th century uprisings. In their own way pushed to the beginning of the liberation of the peasants and the prevention of their complete de-land immobilization, intensified the crisis of the feudal system, accelerated its death.

Formation of the capitalist way of life in industry. Manufactory

Second half of the XVIII century. Characterized by the further development of industry. The number of manufactories increased considerably from 200 in the 1920s to 1200 in the 1990s, that is, Six times.

Still the priority remained for metallurgy. The number of blast furnaces has doubled. The Ural blast furnaces featured better quality and larger production volumes than in England or Sweden. It melted up to 85% of the metal in the country. However, in the production of iron, wood, and not coal, was still used. By the end of the century, Russia smelted 10 million poods of iron and came out on top in the world in this indicator. A large part of it was exported, especially to England, the home of an industrial revolution. In addition, copper smelting increased more than 60 times in the Southern Urals. Here, the first gold-mining enterprises were founded .

High rates of development were typical for textile production. By the end of the century of textile manufactories, there were more than a thousand. The cloth and sailcloth production prevailed, which provided for the considerable internal needs of the army and navy. Russian canvas was also in great demand among European maritime powers. Many textile enterprises, except Moscow, were located in the areas of development of peasant crafts. Ivanovo Cotton Manufactory enjoyed special popularity.

By the end of the century, the geography and nomenclature of Russian industry expanded. The role of Altai and Siberia in the production of ferrous and non-ferrous metal increased. The chemical industry (potash plants), glass, paper, gunpowder and other industries were developed. Worked shipyards, brick, leather, rope and other factories. Transport was developing. The canals and roads were built.

During this period, capitalist manufactory becomes increasingly important. By the end of the century, large industrial enterprises employed more than 40% of wage earners, and even more, taking into account homeworkers. Hired labor was especially widespread in textile production and exceeded 90% of the employed. In the non-chernozem zone, the capitalist manufactory was supplemented by peasant crafts and urban crafts. Along with the textile specialization, metal and woodworking, pottery, brick, soap, sugar, candle and other industries were also distributed. Employees were increasingly involved.

In addition to the capitalist manufactories that used freelance work, there were also state manufactories -mining and military plants, shipyards , and so on. As already noted, in some cases they were transferred to private owners. New enterprises were also created, the owners of which were merchants and industrialists.

A certain place was occupied also by the enterprises belonging to noblemen (patrimonial manufactories) and to the large rich peasants, who specialized mainly in cloth production and distilling, which was explained by the availability of appropriate raw materials and cheap labor, and the introduction of the monopoly of the nobility for distilling (1754).

Decrees of Catherine II on the ban on the purchase of serfs and their addition to enterprises (1762), on the free establishment of industrial enterprises by representatives of all strata of society (1775), intensified the process of attracting hired workers. The pre-sessional manufactories continued to use both hired and non-free labor. In them the conditional property was made not only by workers' hands, but also by the land, its subsoil. Serf labor continued to dominate mining and metallurgical production, especially in the Urals.

Scientific technical idea

Russia has always been famous for folk craftsmen, masters, scientists. In the history of the Russian and world economy and scientific and technical thought of the XVIII century. Included the names: I. Polzunov, ahead of two decades (1765), the creation of a universal steam engine by the Englishman J. Watt; A. Nartova - the creator of a variety of machine tools; K. Frolov, who built a complex of hydraulic power plants at the Altai mine to mechanize production processes; I. Kulibina - the author of various useful mechanisms, a semaphore telegraph, a searchlight, an arch bridge across the Neva (a span length of about 300 m). Russian scientific and technical thought in many ways contributed to the development of military production, so relevant in those years.

High-speed battery Nartova

World renown was given to the name of MV Lomonosov, who possessed tremendous knowledge and abilities in the field of physics, chemistry, astronomy and other sciences, the first Russian academician.

However, unfettered labor in feudal Russia largely prevented the transition to factory production. And therefore the ingenious inventions of Russian masters remained sometimes unclaimed by their era.