High Voltage of the City: The Development of Siberian Historical Urban Studies in the Works of an Irkutsk Historian (to the 70th Anniversary of the Birth of Professor Vadim Shakherov)

The article provides the analysis of the main stages in the research career of the famous historian, urbanist and expert in the history of Siberian entrepreneurship, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor V. Shakherov. The evolution of the scholar’s scientific interests is highlighted in the text. The author outlines the main areas of the scientist’s research: studying the role of the city in building economic and socio-cultural environment of Siberia in the period from the 18th to the early 20th century, history of merchant class and entrepreneurship in pre-revolutionary Siberia, history of banking and credit system of the region, historic and cultural monuments of Siberia. The article presents the analysis of Shakherov’s major works, which reflect his contribution to the development of Siberian studies. Special attention is paid to his scientific, pedagogical and social activity aimed at preserving historical heritage of Irkutsk. The author of the article emphasizes that the research career of V. Shakherov and History Faculty of Irkutsk State University are tightly connected.

European Lightweight Parcels vs. Russian Trade in Persia in the Early 20th Century

The main issue the article considers is the transit of European goods through the territory of the Russian Empire to Persia in the form of lightweight postal parcels in the beginning of the 20th century. The main objectives of the research include defining the impact of existing practice on the Russian trade in Persia in conditions of high competition between Russian and foreign exporters; finding out how the government representatives and Russian entrepreneurs, sending goods to Middle-East market, saw the existing situation. The author showed that there were some disagreements on transit of European postal parcels to Persia between the government officials and Russian entrepreneurs. Starting from 1905, when the two states joined the international Washington Convention, the disagreements were the most obvious during the first years after the transit launch. Both sides regarded its impact on the Russian trade as negative. However, while government representatives related the situation to inactivity of the Russian merchant class, the latter pointed to existing drawbacks in the operation of transit system. By 1913, the Russian government acknowledged the necessity of limiting the flow of European parcels to Persia, but they did not make up their mind to stop the transit completely for restoring the monopoly of the Russian trade in the north of Persia.

THE UYEZD CENTER OF THE VYATKA PROVINCE IN THE CONDITIONS OF ETHNOCULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND URBAN REFORM OF THE 70s OF THE 19th CENTURY

The relevance of the chosen topic is due to the change in the attitude of domestic historians to the problem of self-governance of towns in pre-revolutionary Russia. The new vision is mediated by the influence of foreign historiography, the renewal of historical methodology, and a long period of forgetting the theme. Addressing to the study of the imperial period in the history of urban self-governance is also determined by modern trends: ongoing search for optimal structural models of current local authorities and a keen interest in the domestic experience in the formation of urban self-governance bodies in the conditions of the country’s capitalist development. The local aspect is interesting in the context of insufficient coverage of the preserved complex of historical sources. The article considers the activities of municipal self-governance bodies of Yelabuga, one of uyezd centers of the Vyatka province, during the period of the City Regulation of 1870. The main changes introduced by the new law in the organization and activities of local self-governance bodies are described, the weaknesses of the pre-reform legislation are identified, against the background of which the progressive nature of innovations is noted. The conclusion is made about providing the country’s towns with equal opportunities for further development. Special attention is paid to changing hiring rules of municipal self-governance bodies; the social composition of Yelabuga City Duma is examined, as well as its features that manifested in the predominance of the merchant class. The influence of the commercial and industrial population strata on the development of Yelabuga during the time under study is revealed. By a comparative analysis of mandatory resolutions of Yelabuga (Vyatka province) and Chistopol (Kazan province) City Dumas, the approaches of self-governance bodies of uyezd centers to conducting economic activities and regulating public relations are studied. The conclusion is formulated that the absence of compulsory (police) power reduced the effectiveness of the regulatory function performed by the City Dumas, but the use of the law-based right to develop and implement mandatory regulations gave positive results. The structure of municipal budgets determined by the Regulation of 1870 is examined, the incomes and expenses of Yelabuga are analyzed, the conclusion is made about limited budgetary rights of city authorities that led to infringement of public interests.

The trends in the formation of the elite of the merchant class of tobolsk province (the last quarter of the XVIII – first quarter of the XIX centuries)

Merchants as the main subject of the business world of the Russian state in the last quarter of the 18th first part of the 19th centuries. was distinguished by ambiguity: on the one hand, its social status corresponded to national legislation, on the other hand, it was distinguished by regional characteristics. The subject of the research is the social gradation and the identification of the leading group of the merchant class of the Tobolsk province in the last quarter of the 18th first part of the 19th centuries: determining the principles of its separation and existence. The purpose of the article is to highlight the features of the group of hereditary merchants as the leading sub-class of the Tobolsk province (last quarter of the 18th first quarter of the 19th centuries) Methods. In preparing this work, we developed a research algorithm, which consisted in determining the total number of the merchant class of the Tobolsk province (610 separate surnames), which were divided using the historical-comparative method and the modeling method into separate social subgroups. Results: the research illustrates the heterogeneity of the guild merchants of the cities of the Tobolsk province in the last quarter of the 18th first part of the 19th centuries. as a participant in the business world of Western Siberia. Conclusions: There is traced the dependence of the social status of the merchant not so much on the size of the capital, but on the length of stay in the hereditary merchant. The Siberian merchant was distinguished in many ways by his isolation and practicality during his stay in the guild organization. At the same time, representatives of the leading sub-class preferred transit trade on the border with China or at all-Russian fairs. In this case, the merchant must be known both in his hometown and abroad for his commercial and social activities. Considering that the capital belonged to a merchant family, therefore, its members were distributed among various fields of activity. Thus, the trading class of the Tobolsk province had many common features, but due to internal gradation it was distinguished by fluidity, a clear division of responsibilities, and capital differentiation. Hereditary merchants represented a separate social subgroup, in which the title of merchant ... was preferred to everything in the world.

How the Russian-British commercial treaty of 1734 was prepared (based on the materials of diplomatic correspondence)

Based on the analysis of diplomatic correspondence of British ambassador in Russia at the court of Empress Anna Ioannovna highlights the process of preparation for the conclusion of the Russian-British commercial treaty in 1734. In foreign and Russian historiography, the treaty was actively discussed, but the plot related to its preparatory stage was poorly covered, or not touched at all. The author draws attention to the complex nature of the negotiations, the persistence and skill of the British negotiators in achieving their goals, and the weakness and inability to protect the national interests of certain high-ranking Russian officials. The treaty of 1734 is estimated by the author as unequal and the most profitable for the English merchant class.

Making the local and the decentralized governable: a study of the implementation of the Chinese Temples Ordinance

Purpose This paper aims at illustrating how the local and the decentralized temple management bodies were made governable and governed through law. Design/methodology/approach This paper examines the implementation of Chinese Temples Ordinances (the Ordinance) and the activities of the Chinese Temples Committee (the Committee) in Hong Kong during colonial times by analyzing official archival records from 1920s to 1970s. Findings This paper delineates how the local and decentralized temple management bodies were made governable under the Ordinance. The Ordinance and the Committee translated Chinese temples into financial resources for Chinese charity activities managed by the elite merchant class. Chinese temples were also sometimes translated as obstacles for land development. Though there existed different representations of Chinese temples in practices, the Committee and related officials provided legal reasons under the same legal framework suggested by the Ordinance. Originality/value This paper suggests that folk religion as a research topic is not only relevant to studies of religious doctrine, belief and ritual performances. A study of the history of temple management bodies is also highly relevant to the study of colonial governance in Hong Kong. It adds value to the discussion on the trajectory of the development of local communities.

NEW CONDITION STRUCTURE IN KAZAKH SOCIETY: MERCHANT AND THEIR SOCIAL AND LEGAL FEATURES

The article deals with changes in Kazakh society during the reign of the Russian Empire in the XIX century. Justifying the problem of forming a new class structure in Kazakh society, the author defines the socio-economic conditions of the formation of merchant guilds. The role of trade, entrepreneurship, and urban growth in the transformation of merchants into large entrepreneurs is revealed. Legal documents reflecting social and legal privileges of merchant guilds are analyzed. Attention is drawn to the role of Tatar merchants in the development of local trade and economic relations. Using statistical data, the quantitative growth of the merchant class in individual regions is analyzed.

Seeing the “Country” of Tsugaru in Northeastern Japan

This chapter chronicles the history of Hirosaki domain to late-Tokugawa times, charting rule by the Tsugaru clan and developments in the local politics, economy, society, and military defense of Ezo, which was inhabited by the Indigenous Ainu. Hirosaki domain represents a fascinating case of a “country” that underwent transformation within an evolving Japanese state. In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the Tsugaru family asserted its dominance over its conquered territory on the northeastern edge of Japan's main island. They ingratiated themselves with the rulers of Japan by forming political alliances. The chapter also follows the story of how two merchant-class scholars navigated history: Hirao Rosen established himself as a painter and ethnographic researcher, and Tsuruya Ariyo made his name as a poet in local literati circles. The chapter traces how these young men learned from notable teachers, while yearning for the advanced scholarship of Edo. Through their artistic and scholarly works, Rosen and Ariyo expressed visions of their local “country” of Tsugaru embedded in a larger Japan.

Inventing a Prosthetic Bourgeoisie: Romania and the Aromanians, 1848–1906

The present article focuses on the period between 1848 and 1906—between the politicized “discovery” of Balkan Aromanians as a kinfolk by Romanian nation-state builders and the aftermath of the community’s recognition by the Ottoman government. Examining how Romania imagined its own entanglement in the Macedonian Question, the article aims to raise the broader question of how a nation-state imagined the agency of kinfolk beyond its borders and, as part of a geographically distributed national division of labor, ascribed a specific task to one part of its ethnic body. In Romania’s case, this had a double thrust. One, Aromanians were imagined as the natural bourgeoisie of the southern Balkans, a people superior in their origins, culture, and mores to other ethnic groups—and a natural vanguard for Romania’s economic interests in the region. Two, they were imagined as a vanguard for catalyzing the internal development of a native merchant class in Romania proper, which was understood as a primary agent for economic and social progress but perceived to be problematically absent. Thus, this study hones in on the process of ascribing the status of a “prosthetic bourgeoisie” to the Aromanians, and its insistent discursive recurrence.

The law ensuring of the activities of the accounting and loan committees at the branches of the State Bank of the Russian Empire in the post-reform period (On the materials of the charter of the State Bank of 1860)

This article is devoted to the law ensuring of the activities of the accounting and loan committees at the branches of the State Bank of the Russian Empire in the post-reform period. On May 31 (old style) (June 12 new style), 1860, Emperor Alexander II signed a decree establishing the State Bank of the Russian Empire. At the same time, the charter of the State Bank was adopted. 13 articles of the charter were devoted to the activities of the accounting and loan committees at local branches of the State Bank. The authors cite extracts from these articles of the charter that regulate the activities of the committees and attempt to analyse them. The provisions of the articles of the charter of the State Bank are confirmed by examples from the documents of the State Archives of Ivanovo and Vladimir regions. A study of the articles of the charter showed that industrialists and merchants – representatives of the merchant class of the region of the branch – were approved as the members of the committees at the local branches of the State Bank. Industrialists and traders, who worked as members of the committee at the branch of the State Bank, informed the bank about the state of various branches of trade and industry, they gave recommendations on the issuance of a loan by the bank and they were guarantors of the loan repayment to the bank. For their useful activities for the committee's affairs, the State Bank awarded them with honorary awards, recognising their merits in the public activities of the city. At the end of the article, the authors conclude that the accounting and loan committees at the branches of the State Bank were created and functioned on the basis of the institution of public-private partnership.