INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I. INITIAL SETTLEMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF THE RUSSIAN REGIONS
§ 1. Initial settlement of the Russian Plain
§ 2. Features of the economic development of the Russian Plain in the VI - XI centuries.
§ 3. Russian regions within Kievan Rus
§ 4. Formation of feudal Russian principalities in the XII - XIII centuries.
§ 5. Colonization of lands and growth of cities in the 12th and early 13th centuries.
§ 6. Seizure of Russian lands by the Tatar-Mongols
§ 7. The influence of the Golden Horde on the socio-economic development of Russian regions
CHAPTER II. FORMATION OF THE RUSSIAN STATE, SETTLEMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ITS TERRITORY IN THE XIV-XVI centuries.
§ 1. Formation of the territory of the Russian (Moscow) state in the XIV-XVI centuries.
§ 2. Feudalization of the Golden Horde in the XV-XVI centuries.
§ 3. The situation on the western borders of the Russian state in the 15th – early 16th centuries.
§ 4. The situation on the eastern borders of Russia in the second half of the 16th century.
§ 5. Economic development and settlement of the territory of Russia in the XIV – XVI centuries.
§ 6. The structure of the economy of the Russian state in the 15th – 16th centuries.
CHAPTER III. HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF RUSSIA XVII – XVIII centuries.
§ 1. Formation of the territory of the Russian state in Siberia and the Far East
§ 2. Formation of the western borders of the Russian state in the 17th – 18th centuries.
§ 3. Settlement of forest-steppe and steppe territories countries in the process of constructing fortification lines in the XVII – XVIII.
§ 4. Demographic and ethnic development Russia in the 17th – 18th centuries.
§ 5. Economic development of Russia in the 17th – 18th centuries.
CHAPTER IV. HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF RUSSIA XIX century.
§ 1. Formation of the territory of European Russia in the 19th century.
§ 2. Formation of the territory of Asian Russia in the 19th century.
§ 3. Internal migrations and settlement of the population of Russia in the 19th century.
§ 4. Reforms and economic development of Russia in the 19th century.
§ 5. Transport construction in Russia in the 19th century.
§ 6. Agriculture in Russia in the 19th century.
§ 7. Industry of Russia in the 19th century.
CHAPTER V. DEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMY AND POPULATION, DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY’S TERRITORY (USSR and Russia) in the 20th century.
§ 1. Formation of the territory of Russia and the USSR in 1917 – 1938.
§ 2. Formation of the territory of Russia and the USSR in 1939 – 1945.
§ 3. Administrative and political structure of the country at the stage of formation of the USSR
§ 4. Changes in the administrative and political division of the country in the 20s and 30s.
§ 5. Changes in the administrative and political division of the country in the 40s and 50s
§ 6. Administrative and territorial structure of the Russian regions of the country
§ 7. Population dynamics of the USSR
§ 8. Main changes in the social structure of the population
§ 9. Formation of the scientific and cultural potential of the country
§ 10. Main trends in the country's urbanization
§ 11. Inter-district migrations of the population and the development of the country’s territory in the pre-war years
§ 12. Inter-district migrations of the population and the development of the country’s territory in the post-war years
§ 13. Formation of a system of planned socialist economy
§ 14. Industrialization of the country and the development of Soviet industry
§ 15. Collectivization of agriculture and its development in Soviet period
§ 16. Formation of a unified transport system and a unified national economic complex of the country
INTRODUCTION
The curricula of historical and natural geography departments of pedagogical institutes and universities in Russia provide for the study of the course “Historical Geography”. This science is one of the oldest in the systems of geographical and historical sciences. It arose back in the era of the Renaissance and the Great Geographical Discoveries. In the second half of the 16th century. The Atlas of the Ancient World, compiled by the Flemish geographer A. Ortelius, became widely known in Europe. In the XVII - XVIII centuries. Historical and geographical research in Western Europe was carried out by the Dutchman F. Kluver and the Frenchman J.B. D’Anville, and in Russia - the famous historian and geographer V.N. Tatishchev.
From the second half of the 19th century. The subject of historical geography research is expanding. If earlier it was looked at as an auxiliary science for history, the meaning of which was to describe the places of historical events taking place, then in the works of the late 19th century. - beginning of the 20th century deep socio-economic problems of the past are explored. Darby's work on the historical geography of Great Britain was carried out in this vein. However, in general, in pre-revolutionary Russian and foreign science, the subject of historical geography was reduced to determining the political and ethnic boundaries of the past, the location of cities and other settlements, and places of historical events.
The specificity of the Soviet period in the field of historical geography was an integrated approach to the study of past historical eras. Among the most thorough studies in this area are monographs by A.N. Nanosov “Russian land and the formation of the territory of the ancient Russian state” (1951) and M.N. Tikhomirov “Russia in the 16th century” (1962). The methodological foundations of historical geography were studied by V.K. Yatsunsky in his work “Historical Geography. The history of its origin and development in the XIV - XVIII centuries." (1955).
Historical geography began to be understood as a section at the intersection of historical and geographical sciences that studies the physical, economic and political geography of a particular country or territory in the past. At the same time, historical and geographical research concretizes data on the development of production in certain areas at various stages of the development of society, illuminates the geography of internal and external borders, the location of cities and rural settlements, various fortifications, and also studies specific historical events - marching routes, places of military battles, the most important trade routes. An independent and fairly large section of historical geography is the history of geographical discoveries. Thus, in the process of its formation and development, historical geography was invariably associated with the solution of general problems of both history and geography. According to research methods, historical geography is complex. Its sources are written and archaeological sites, information on toponymy and linguistics. A special area is historical cartography.
Over the past 150 years, the most difficult problem of historical geography has been the study of the territorial organization of the economy and population settlement of the countries and regions being studied, and the determination of the patterns of such territorial organization at the junctions of various socio-economic formations. Therefore, within the framework of historical geography, two directions have been formed - historical and geographical. This can also be seen at the local Voronezh level. Geographical wing of historical geography in the 50s - 80s of the XX century. developed by geographer Professor G.T. Grishin. He believed that historical geography is a geographical science, and the subject of its research is the location of production (as the unity of productive forces and production relations) in a historical, temporal aspect. Within the framework of this understanding of the essence of historical geography, his work on the city of Voronezh and the Voronezh region was carried out. A major contribution to the formation of the regional historical geography of the Central Black Earth Region was made by the historian Professor V.P. Zagorovsky, known for his research on the Belgorod protective line.
IN last years There is an increasingly broad interpretation of the subject of historical geography, associated with the processes of formation of systems of historical and geographical sciences and fundamental global changes in social development. Thus, the greening of science led to the formation of such a point of view that the subject of historical geography is the study of the process of anthropogenization of landscapes, that is, the process of their economic development. With an even broader interpretation, historical geography studies the changes occurring in the geographical envelope of the Earth. With this understanding, part of historical geography is paleogeography - the science of the physical and geographical conditions of the geological past of the Earth. From our point of view, such a broad interpretation of the essence of historical geography is hardly advisable, since it completely blurs the boundaries between social science and natural science.
Throughout the 80s and 90s of the XX century. Russian economic geography has finally transformed into socio-economic geography, the object of study of which is the territorial organization of society. In this regard, the subject of historical geography as a science developing at the intersection of history and socio-economic geography can be considered the study of the processes of territorial organization of society in their temporal aspect. At the same time, the territorial organization of society implies territorial processes of development of production, population and settlement, environmental management, development of culture and science, formation of government, external and internal borders. This comprehensive approach allows us to identify sustainable trends development of the country and on this basis determine its national geopolitical interests. Consequently, the historical-geographical approach is inherently constructive, since it allows us to understand the current situation.
CHAPTERI. INITIAL SETTLEMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE TERRITORY OF RUSSIAN REGIONS
Many features of Russia that distinguish it from other Eurasian states (for example, long-term extensive development, sharp territorial differences in the level of economic development and anthropogenization of landscapes, variegated national composition, complex territorial structure population and economy) are a natural result of the long history of the Russian state. IN. Klyuchevsky accurately noticed the main historical feature of our country when he wrote that the history of Russia is the history of the country in the process of its colonization.
§ 1. Initial settlement of the Russian Plain
The original source of Russia is located in the first state formations of the Eastern Slavs, which arose as a result of their settlement across the Russian Plain. From the 6th century to the 11th century Eastern Slavs settled not only the Dnieper basin (modern Ukraine and Belarus), but also the extreme western part of modern Russia. In the north in the river basin. Volkhov and Fr. Ilmen was inhabited by Ilmen Slovenians. The northern borders of their settlement reached the Gulf of Finland, the river. Neva, Lake Ladoga, r. Svir and Lake Onega. In the east, the area of their settlement extended to the island. Beloe and upper tributaries of the Volga. To the south of the Ilmen Slovenes, the Krivichi settled in a long strip along the upper reaches of the Dnieper, western Dvina and Volga, and the Vyatichi occupied the Upper Oka basin. Along the left bank of the Dnieper, along the river. The Sozh and its tributaries formed the area of settlement of the Radimichi, and in the valley of the Desna, Seim and Vorskla - the northerners.
In the northwest, the Eastern Slavs bordered on the Letto-Lithuanian tribes (ancestors of modern Lithuanians and Latvians) and Finnish-speaking Estonians (modern Estonians). In the north and northeast, the Eastern Slavs bordered on numerous small Finno-Ugric tribes (Karelians, Sami, Perm - the ancestors of modern Komi, Ugra - the ancestors of modern Khanty and Mansi). The Merya lived in the Volga-Oka interfluve, to the east of them, in the interfluve of the Volga and Vetluga and along the right bank of the Volga, the Cheremis (modern Mari). A large territory from the right bank of the Middle Volga to the lower reaches of the Oka, Tsna and the upper reaches of the Khopr was occupied by the Mordovians, to the south of which the Burtases, related to them, lived along the Volga. In the Oksko-Klyazma interfluve lived the Murom and Meshchera, related to the Mordovians. Already in the process of their initial settlement to the northeast, the Eastern Slavs mixed and assimilated small Finno-Ugric tribes (Vod, Izhora, Meshchera), whose names are now preserved only in geographical names.
The middle part of the Volga from the confluence of the Kama to Samara was inhabited by a large Turkic-speaking people - the Volga-Kama Bulgars (the ancestors of the modern Volga Tatars), to the east of whom in the Southern Urals lived the Bashkirs, who were close to them in language. The wide strip of steppes of the Russian Plain represented the area of settlement of nomadic tribes that replaced each other here (Ugric-speaking Magyars - the ancestors of modern Hungarians, Turkic-speaking Pechenegs and Cumans). In the 7th century On the northwestern coast of the Caspian Sea and in the lower reaches of the Volga, a powerful state arose - the Khazar Kaganate, whose military class was made up of nomadic Turks, and trade and diplomacy were in the hands of Jews. During the period of the highest prosperity of this state, in the middle of the 9th century, tribute was paid to the Khazars not only by the Finnish-speaking Burtases, Mordovians and Cheremises, but also Volga-Kama Bulgars and those close to them Slavic tribes. The economic orbit of the Khazar Kaganate included not only the Lower and Middle Volga basin, but also the forest Trans-Kama region.
§ 2. Features of the economic development of the Russian Plain in the VI - XI centuries.
Initially, the East Slavic population settled in the zone of mixed forests and partly along the forest-steppe of the Russian Plain. The predominant type of economic activity was arable farming with fallow and fallow land use systems in the forest-steppe zone and fire slash farming in the mixed forest zone. Agriculture was extensive and required large areas of land. Under the fallow system, plowed areas were abandoned for 8 to 15 years to restore fertility. In fire slash farming, a selected area of forest was cut down. On soils fertilized with ash, farming was practiced for 2-3 years, and then the plot was abandoned and overgrown with forest. With a small population, focal settlement prevailed. First of all, we mastered river valleys, fields within forests and lakeside lands. Livestock farming was closely related to agriculture. Hunting, fishing and beekeeping played a major role in the life of the Eastern Slavs.
Unlike the Slavs, the northern and northeastern Finno-Ugric peoples living in the taiga zone had extensive activities such as hunting and fishing as the economic basis of their lives. Nomadic livestock farming developed in the steppe zone of the Russian Plain. As the number of Slavs grew, they needed more and more lands. All this predetermined the initial migration of the Slavs to the north east direction, in the zone of settlement of Finno-Ugric tribes. At the same time, the Slavic and Finno-Ugric populations as a whole coexisted peacefully and economically complemented each other, since they used various economic lands: the Slavs - local areas in river valleys, on the banks of lakes and a few forest fields, and the Finno-Ugric peoples - huge areas of watersheds . This pattern of ethnic settlement has clearly manifested itself throughout Russian history.
§ 3. Russian regions within Kievan Rus
Rivers played an important role in the life of the Slavs; they were the main transport routes of that time. In the 9th century. arose, and in the 10th century. - beginning of the 11th century The trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” flourished most - from the Baltic coast to the Black Sea coast. It passed along the Neva, Volkhov, Lovat, Western Dvina and Dnieper rivers. The route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” became the transport axis of the first large East Slavic state - Kievan Rus, which arose in the 9th century. under the princely dynasty of Rurikovich. The Volga route to the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and Arab countries was also important. The importance of the Volga Route for the Eastern Slavs increased in the 10th century. in connection with the defeat prince of Kyiv Svyatoslav of the Khazar Kaganate, who after that disappears from the political scene.
The first, most ancient Russian cities arose on transport waterways. Of these, on the territory of modern Russia - Novgorod, Smolensk, Rostov, Murom and Belozersk - go back to the 9th century. The number of cities in Rus' is growing rapidly with the development of trade and craft activities and the colonization of new territories.
The close economic and political ties of the Eastern Slavs with Byzantium, the largest power in the Eastern Mediterranean, whose capital Constantinople (or Constantinople) was one of the largest cities in the world at that time, predetermined the religious orientation of Kievan Rus. Since 988, under Prince Vladimir, instead of paganism, Greek Orthodox Christianity became the state religion of Kievan Rus. Orthodoxy for the Eastern Slavs acted as a powerful consolidating factor and had a decisive influence on the formation of a single ancient Russian nation, Russian national character and spiritual culture. Although the subsequent historical paths of Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians as successors of the Old Russian people diverged, they still have a lot in common. Orthodoxy is gradually spreading among other, primarily Finno-Ugric peoples of Russia, forming a common spiritual culture throughout the country.
§ 4. Formation of feudal Russian principalities in the XII - XIII centuries.
By the middle of the 12th century. a significant expansion of arable farming, the development of crafts, an increase in the number of cities, and their rapid formation as local centers of trade and economic relations split Kievan Rus into several practically independent feudal regions, where local princely dynasties began to take shape. Within the boundaries of modern Russia were the Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, Smolensk, Murom-Ryazan lands, a significant part of the Chernigov-Seversk land and the Tmutorokan principality located in the Azov region.
The largest principality of Russia XII - mid-XIII centuries. was the Vladimir-Suzdal land. The city of Rostov initially acted as its center; from the end of the 11th century. - Suzdal, and from the end of the 12th century. -G. Vladimir. In the south, the borders of the Vladimir-Suzdal land ran along the interfluve of the Oka and Klyazma, including the lower and middle reaches of the Moscow River. In the west, the principality covered the upper reaches of the Volga, including the lower reaches of the Tvertsa. In the north, the Vladimir-Suzdal land included two large protrusions in the area of White Lake and the lower reaches of the Sukhona. In the east, the border of the land ran along the Unzha and Volga until the Oka flowed into it.
Vast territories were occupied by Novgorod land - from the Gulf of Finland in the west and the Ural Mountains in the east, from Volokolamsk in the south and to the coasts of the White and Barents Seas in the north. However, the Novgorod feudal republic itself covered only a relatively small southwestern part of this territory - the Volkhov basin and Lake Ilmen. Initially, Novgorod included the Pskov land, which later became an independent feudal possession. And most of the northern and eastern lands of “Mr. Veliky Novgorod” were the arena economic activity Novgorodians and depended on Novgorod only for the payment of tribute.
Smolensk land covered the upper reaches of the Dnieper and Western Dvina, and therefore occupied internal position in relation to other Russian principalities. Deprived of the possibility of territorial expansion, the Smolensk principality entered the stage of feudal fragmentation very early. In the south, the Chernigov-Seversk land stretches out in a wide strip. Its historical core took shape in the river basin. Desnas within modern Ukraine. At the end of the 11th century. The Seversky principality was separated from the Chernigov land. Its center was the city of Novgorod-Seversky, located on the modern border of Ukraine and the Bryansk region of Russia. The lands of the Seversky Principality extended far to the east. Here the Seversky lands included the entire right bank of the Don up to the confluence of the river. Voronezh. Further, the border went along the steppe to the upper reaches of the Seim.
At the end of the 11th century. From the Chernigov-Seversky lands, the Murom-Ryazan land was separated, which included the Lower and Middle Oka basin, the lower reaches of the Moscow River with the city of Kolomna. At the mouth of the river Kuban, the enclave Tmutorokan principality was formed on the Taman Peninsula. During Kievan Rus, its eastern border almost coincided with the modern eastern border of Kuban. But already from the 11th century. The ties of the Tmutorokan principality, cut off from the rest of the Russian lands by warlike nomadic peoples, are gradually fading.
By the XII - mid-XIII centuries. significant changes are taking place in the immediate surroundings of Russian lands. Between the Neman and Western Dvina, a dynamic early feudal Lithuanian state was formed, where paganism was preserved. For the preservation of national independence Lithuanian princes fought a fierce battle with the German crusaders. A different political situation has developed in the Baltic states. The area where the Estonians settled was captured by the Danes, and the Lithuanian Order arose on Latvian lands - a Catholic military state of German knights - crusaders. In the east of the Russian lands, in the basin of the Middle Volga and lower Kama, a large state formation is being formed - the Volga-Kama Bulgaria. Its western border runs along Vetluga and Sura, its southern border runs along the Zhiguli “mountains” and the Samara River to its source. The Bulgars (like the Slavs) abandoned paganism, but adopted another world religion - Islam. Therefore, Volga Bulgaria was formed as the northernmost outpost of Muslim culture and in its external relations focused on the Middle and Middle East, Central Asia.
§ 5. Colonization of lands and growth of cities in the 12th and early 13th centuries.
An important phenomenon in the life of the Russian regions of the 12th – early 13th centuries. there was a significant outflow of population from the Dnieper region to the northeast to the Vladimir-Suzdal and Murom-Ryazan lands. The extensive nature of agriculture required more and more land. In addition, the forest-steppe regions experienced increasing pressure from nomads. The influx of population caused the rapid development of agriculture in the Vladimir-Suzdal land. The focal nature of settlement is especially clearly formed here. The population was concentrated in patches in small areas most suitable for settlement. The area between the Volga and Klyazma rivers becomes the most populated. In this “Zalessky land” the population is concentrated in “opoles” - local forest-steppe areas. The largest of them were the Rostov, Suzdal, Pere-Yaslavl-Zalessky and Yuryev-Polsky regions. The fields along the right bank of the Oka in the Murom-Ryazan land were even more fertile. At the same time, the Smolensk and Novgorod lands were not distinguished by their fertility. For this reason, “Mr. Veliky Novgorod,” the largest trading city on Russian soil, was heavily dependent on imported grain from the “Lower Lands.”
The “polesye” - huge expanses of forests and swamps that were used as hunting grounds, for fishing and beekeeping - were characterized by low population density. Huge tracts of forests were located in the Meshchora lowland between the Murom-Ryazan and Chernigov lands, on the southern borders of the Ryazan land, in the southwest of the Novgorod land, in the Trans-Volga regions of the Vladimir-Suzdal land. In the forest-steppe zone, the population developed only the northern sides of the forests, shielding themselves from nomads with forests.
In the XII - first half of the XIII centuries. In addition to the further settlement of old development areas, new territories are being developed. Thus, the migration of Novgorodians to the north and northeast to the Ladoga-Onega interlake region, to the Onega, Northern Dvina, Mezen basins and further east to Ural mountains. From the Northern Dvina basin, Russian settlers penetrate through the Northern Uvaly into the Upper Vyatka basin into the area of settlement of the Udmurts. From the “Zalessky lands” there is a resettlement to the forested Trans-Volga region and down the Volga to the lands of the Cheremis and Mordovians.
The concentration of the population in opoles and the colonization of new lands are the basis for the growth of cities. In the first third of the 13th century. There were already about 60 cities in Russian regions. A significant part of them (about 40%) were located in the Vladimir-Suzdal land, mainly along the fields and along the Volga. Among the largest cities in the Russian regions was Novgorod, which was home to 20 - 30 thousand inhabitants. In addition, the largest cities were Vladimir and Smolensk, as well as Rostov, Suzdal and Ryazan.
§ 6. Seizure of Russian lands by the Tatar-Mongols
The process of settlement and economic development of the Russian Plain at the end of the 30s of the 13th century. was interrupted as a result of the Tatar-Mongol invasion. At that time, all the nomadic tribes of Central Asia, united and conquered by Genghis Khan, the founder of the huge Mongol Empire, were called Mongols. Moreover, the term “Tatars”, which became widespread in Arab, Persian, Russian and Western European sources, was associated with one of the Mongol tribes. Therefore, the Tatar-Mongols as an ethnic entity represented a complex conglomerate of various nomads, in which it was not the Mongol-speaking, but the Turkic-speaking population of the steppe zone of Eurasia that predominated.
Mongol Empire first half XIII V. occupied vast territories of Asia: in addition to Mongolia, it belonged Northern China, Korea, Central and Middle Asia, Iran, Afghanistan and Transcaucasia. As a result of the conquests of Batu Khan in 1236 - 1240. it included Eastern Europe, including the Russian principalities. In 1236, a huge army of Tatar-Mongols defeated the Volga-Kama Bulgaria and invaded the Vladimir-Suzdal and Ryazan lands. The Tatar-Mongol army destroyed everything here big cities, including in the Volga-Oka interfluve, went to the upper Volga, where the Novgorod city of Torzhok was taken, and devastated the eastern lands of the Smolensk principality. Only the Novgorod and Pskov lands, reliably protected by impenetrable forests and swamps of the Valdai Upland, escaped destruction. In addition, the Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky, busy defending the western borders of the Novgorod land from the Swedes and German crusading knights, concluded a military
a political union with Batu Khan, preventing the destruction of the Russian northwestern lands and subsequently making them the basis of national revival. Descendants appreciated this far-sighted political act, and the Russian Orthodox Church canonized Alexander Nevsky.
Russian lands become the scene of constant military raids by the Tatar-Mongols. Only in the last quarter of the 13th century. there were 14 military raids on North-Eastern Rus'. First of all, the cities suffered, the population of which was either slaughtered or driven into slavery. For example, Pereyaslavl-Zalessky was destroyed four times, Suzdal, Murom, Ryazan - three times, Vladimir - twice.
§ 7. The influence of the Golden Horde on the socio-economic development of Russian regions
The Tatar-Mongol invasion and the subsequent one hundred and fifty-year yoke made significant changes in the migration movement of the population. The southern forest-steppe regions were deserted, from where to the forest areas of the Smolensk region, beyond the Oka and Klyazma in the Vladimir-Suzdal land until the 15th century. there was a continuous migration. In the Vladimir-Suzdal land itself, there was an outflow of population from the polities of the Zalessk lands to the western, more forested part of the Volga-Oka interfluve, to the Upper Volga and to the forested Trans-Volga region. The White Lake region, the basins of the southwestern tributaries of the Northern Dvina (Sukhona, Yuga), the left Volga tributaries - the Unzha and Vetluga, are being populated, and the colonization of the Vyatka basin is intensifying. Along with the Vladimir-Suzdal colonization of the northern lands, the Novgorod colonization is also increasing. If the city of Ustyug the Great became the stronghold of Vladimir-Suzdal migration, then Vologda became the stronghold of Novgorod colonization.
As a result of the military campaigns of the Tatar-Mongols, the Russian lands fell into vassal dependence on one of the Mongol khanates - the Golden Horde (or the Jochi ulus). The Golden Horde included Western Siberia, the North-West of modern Kazakhstan to the Aral and Caspian Seas, the Trans-Urals and Southern Urals, the Volga region, the Polovtsian steppes to the Danube, the North Caucasus and Crimea. The Golden Horde completely controlled the Volga trade route. In the lower reaches of the Volga there was Batu's headquarters - Sarai.
The Russian lands of the Dnieper region (modern Ukraine and Belarus), weakened by the attacks of the Tatar-Mongols, during the XIII - XV centuries. conquered by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which at its peak stretched from the Baltic to the Black Seas and of which Lithuanian lands constituted less than a tenth. Lithuania carried out active territorial expansion in the eastern direction. In the second half of the XTV century. The lands in the upper reaches of the Volga and in the region of the island go to Lithuania. Seliger, in the first third of the 15th century. - Smolensk land. The so-called Verkhovsky principalities in the Upper Oka basin became politically dependent on Lithuania.
The Tatar-Mongol yoke strengthened the feudal fragmentation of North-Eastern Rus'. On the basis of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir until the end of the 13th century. six new ones arose - Suzdal, Starodubskoe, Kostroma, Galichskoe, Gorodetskoe and Moscowskoe. From the Pereyaslavl principality, Tverskoye and Dmitrovskoye are distinguished, from Rostov - Belozerskoye. The Yaroslavl, Uglich, Yuryevsk, Ryazan, Murom and Pron principalities underwent some territorial changes. In turn, within these principalities there was a division into even smaller possessions - appanages.
From the second half of the 13th century. Russian lands entered a long period of economic backwardness. The destruction of cities and the destruction of their inhabitants led to the irreversible loss of many craft skills. Vast territories south of the Oka River turned into a Wild Field. Economic ties with Europe were largely severed. Culturally, although Rus' retained its originality, it was forcibly oriented towards the eastern nomadic culture, in national character“Asianism” is intensifying among Russians.
CHAPTER II. FORMATION OF THE RUSSIAN STATE, SETTLEMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ITS TERRITORY INXIV- XVIcenturies
§ 1. Formation of the territory of the Russian (Moscow) state inXIV- XVIcenturies
During the XIV - XVI centuries. There is a complex and contradictory process of formation of the Russian centralized state. It developed on the territory of Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, Pskov, Murom-Ryazan, Smolensk and Upper Oka lands. The Volga-Oke interfluve became the historical core of Russia, where in the XIV-XV centuries. Tver, Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow fought for political leadership. Moscow, which was located in the center of long-developed lands, won this rivalry. Moscow Prince Ivan Kalita received the title of “Grand Duke of Vladimir,” which passed to his descendants. This title nominally determined supremacy over the other princes and gave the right to represent Rus' in the Golden Horde.
The Moscow princes pursued a purposeful policy to unite all Russian lands. For example, already in early XIV V. The initially relatively small Principality of Moscow more than doubled its size, and by the end of the century, most of the territories of the former Vladimir-Suzdal land, as well as some Ryazan and Smolensk lands, became part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow. This policy of unifying the Russian lands around Moscow received full support from the Russian Orthodox Church, the head of which bore the title of “Metropolitan of Vladimir” and since 1328 had a residence in Moscow. The Moscow princes received support from the church in achieving political independence from the Golden Horde.
In the XIV century. The Islamization of the Golden Horde begins, which caused additional stratifications in this complex ethnic conglomerate. Some part of the Tatar aristocracy, refusing to convert to Islam, entered the service of the Moscow prince, significantly strengthening his equestrian military force. The Golden Horde entered a long stage of feudal fragmentation, which the Moscow princes took advantage of. In 1380, the united Russian army under the leadership of Moscow Prince Dmitry Donskoy defeated the Tatars on the Kulikovo Field. Although this victory did not destroy the Tatar-Mongol yoke (tribute to the Horde stopped being paid only in 1480), it had an important psychological significance in the formation of the Russian people. L.N. Gumilev wrote: “The people of Suzdal, Vladimir, Rostov, Pskov went to fight on the Kulikovo field as representatives of their principalities, but returned from there as Russians, although living in different cities” (Gumilev, 1992. P.145).
The process of transforming the Grand Duchy of Moscow into a Russian centralized state was completed in the middle of the 16th century. In 1478, the Novgorod land was annexed to Moscow, in 1485 - the Tver principality, in 1510 - the Pskov land and in 1521 - the Ryazan land. Since the 15th century The new name of the country, “Russia,” became widespread, although even in the 17th century. The term “Moscow State” is also preserved.
§ 2. Feudalization of the Golden Horde inXV- XVIcenturies
Unlike Russia during the 15th – 16th centuries. The Golden Horde is increasingly fragmented into separate feudal estates - uluses. Its successor was the Great Horde in the Lower Volga. In addition, an independent Siberian Khanate was formed in the basins of the Irtysh and Tobol, and the Nogai Horde was formed between the Caspian and Aral seas, the Volga and the Urals. In the basin of the Middle Volga and Lower Kama, an independent Kazan Khanate arose, the ethnic basis of which was the Kazan Tatars - descendants of the Kama-Volga Bulgars. The Kazan Khanate, in addition to the Tatar territories, included the lands of the Mari, Chuvash, Udmurts, often Mordovians and Bashkirs. In the lower reaches of the Volga, the Astrakhan Khanate was formed, the eastern border of which was practically limited to the Volga valley, and in the south and west the possessions of the Astrakhan khans extended to the Terek, Kuban and Don. In the Azov and Black Sea regions, the Crimean Khanate arises, which relatively quickly becomes a vassal of the Turkish Empire. The lower reaches of the Don and the Kuban basin fall into the political and economic orbit of the Crimean Khanate. In general, this huge nomadic world still carried out predatory raids on Russian lands, but was no longer able to cast doubt on the fate of the Russian state.
§ 3. The situation on the western borders of the Russian state inXV– beginningXVIcenturies
At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. a difficult situation was also on the western borders of the Russian state. In the north-west, with its Pskov lands, Russia bordered on Livonia - a confederation of spiritual principalities located on the territory of modern Estonia and Latvia. In the west and southwest, Russia bordered on the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which included indigenous Russian lands. In this case, the border ran from the upper reaches of the river. Lovat - between the sources of the Dnieper and Volga - to the Oka in the area where the river flows into it. Ugrians - east of the upper reaches of the Oka - to the sources of Bystraya Sosna and along Oskol to the Seversky Donets. Thus, within Lithuania there was the southwestern part of modern Tver, Smolensk, most of Kaluga, Bryansk, a significant part of Oryol, Kursk and Belgorod regions. As a result of the active and tough policy of Ivan III towards Lithuania at the very end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. these indigenous Russian lands joined the Russian state, which completed the process of national unification of the Russian people.
§ 4. The situation on the eastern borders of Russia in the second halfXVIV.
In the second half of the 16th century. Russia is radically resolving the issue with the Tatar states that arose on the ruins of the Golden Horde. They served as “the base for systematic military raids on Russian lands. In addition, the huge Ottoman Turkish Empire that arose in the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions tried to use them in its expansionist policy. In 1552, the troops of Ivan the Terrible took Kazan by storm, and in 1554 - 1556. The Astrakhan Khanate was also annexed. Russia began to possess the entire Volga basin. In the south, its borders reached the Terek, the upper reaches of the Kuban and the lower reaches of the Don. In the east, the border began to run along the river. Lik (Ural) and further north to the upper reaches of the river. Belaya, Ufa and Chusovaya. Change political situation in the Volga region accelerated the collapse of the Nogai Horde. The Nogai uluses, wandering between the Lower Volga and the Urals, formed the Great Nogai Horde, which repeatedly recognized vassal dependence on Russia. Part of the Nogai uluses - Small Nogai - went to the Azov region, populated the area between Kuban and Don and became dependent on Turkey.
At the end of the 16th century. The Siberian Khanate was also annexed to Russia. This fragile feudal formation, which arose after the collapse of the Golden Horde, did not have clearly defined boundaries. Its ethnic core was the Siberian Tatars, who lived in the lower reaches of the Tobol and in the lower and middle parts of the Irtysh basin. To the north, the possessions of the Siberian khans extended along the Ob River until the river flows into it. Sosva, and in the southeast included the Baraba steppes. A springboard for systematic armed expeditions against Siberian Tatars became the “Stroganov Lands” - vast territories along the Kama and Chusovaya, granted by Ivan IV to Solvychegodsk industrialists. They had armed Cossacks in their service. Ermak's campaigns in 1581 - 1585. led to the defeat of the Siberian Khanate. To secure the central part of Western Siberia for Russia, fort towns arose, including Tyumen (1586) and Tobolsk (1587). Thus, Russia included vast lands inhabited by Siberian and Baraba Tatars, Samoyeds (Nenets), Voguls (Mansi) and Ostyaks (Khanty).
On the contrary, on the northwestern borders, Russia’s geopolitical position has worsened. In the middle of the 16th century. ceased to exist Livonian Order. However, Russia's attempt by military means ( Livonian War 1558 - 1583) to expand access to the Baltic states was unsuccessful. Northern Estonia came under Swedish rule, and most of the Baltic states became part of the powerful united Polish-Lithuanian state - the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
§ 5. Economic development and settlement of Russian territory inXIV – XVIcenturies
The process of formation of a centralized Russian state was accompanied by major territorial shifts in the distribution of the population. This was determined by the extreme unevenness in the economic development of the territories, and therefore the unevenness in the distribution of the population. So, in the middle of the 16th century. The population of Russia was 6-7 million people, and about half were in the Volga-Oka interfluve and adjacent territories. The process of colonization of the Russian North was still characteristic. The traditional resettlement from the Novgorod-Pskov land to the northeast through Beloozero continued. The Dvina-Sukhonsky trade route to the White Sea began to play an important role in attracting the population. However, from the end of the 16th century. the outflow of population from the Northern Dvina, Vyatka and Kama basins to Siberia begins.
WITH mid-16th century V. intensive population movement begins from historical center countries on the chernozem soils of the Volga region and Wild Field. A chain of Russian fortified cities appears on the Volga, where commercial and industrial activity is rapidly growing. Monasteries played a major role in the colonization of the North and the Volga region. To prevent attacks by the Crimean and Nogai Tatars on the central regions of Russia in 1521 - 1566. A large serif line was built. It stretched from Ryazan to Tula and further west to the Oka and Zhizdra. The abatis line consisted of abatis in forests and earthen ramparts in open areas. In places where the population passed, strongholds with towers, drawbridges, forts and palisades were built. Under the protection of this Great Serif line until the end of the 16th century. settlement occurred in the northeastern part of modern Kaluga, the northern half of Tula and the larger territory of Ryazan regions. South of the Bolshaya Zasechnaya Line on the Central Russian Upland at the very end of the 16th century. A whole network of fortified cities emerges (Orel, Kursk, Belgorod, Stary Oskol and Voronezh), which became centers of settlement in the black earth region.
§ 6. Structure of the economy of the Russian state inXV – XVIcenturies
The formation of a centralized state resulted in a change in the forms of land ownership. Instead of patrimonial property, local, noble land ownership began to become increasingly widespread. If in the XIV century. a significant part of the land was still in the hands of the free peasantry, then already in the middle of the 15th century. As a result of the seizures, about 2/3 of the land used in the economy was concentrated among large landowners - patrimonial landowners. Patrimonial land ownership is a hereditary form of land ownership by large landowners such as princes, boyars, monasteries and churches. The largest estates were located in areas of old development. At the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries. There is a significant expansion of local land ownership. This was due to the widespread practice of distributing land with serfs to the military class - the nobles, subject to their military or administrative service. Dramatic changes in the geography of land ownership in Russia occurred in the second half of the 16th century. in connection with the introduction of the oprichnina. Wide use local land ownership was obtained in the border areas.
By the XV - XVI centuries. In Russia there is a significant improvement in agricultural methods. Due to intensive deforestation, shifting agriculture is increasingly giving way to field arable farming, in which, to restore fertility, the land is no longer thrown under forest for many years, but is systematically used as pure fallow. Despite significant differences in natural conditions, the set of crops and animals was approximately the same type. “Grey bread” (rye) predominated everywhere, while “red bread” (wheat) was grown more in the southern, forest-steppe regions.
In addition to grains (rye, wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet), flax and hemp were cultivated for both fiber and oil. Turnips have become extremely widespread as one of the cheapest food products, which is reflected in the Russian proverb “cheaper than steamed turnips.” In all Russian lands, vegetable gardening has been developing since ancient times. At the same time, certain territorial differences in agriculture are also emerging. The main grain-producing region was the forest-steppe fields of the Volga-Oka interfluve and the Ryazan lands. In the forested Trans-Volga region, farming was selective, and in Pomorie, in the Pechora and Perm lands it only accompanied other types of activity.
In all regions of Russia, agriculture is combined with productive cattle breeding, the development of which depended on the provision of pastures and hayfields. Cattle breeding was especially developed in the forested Trans-Volga region, in the Pskov region, and in the meadow-rich basins of the Northern Dvina, Onega and Mezen. The oldest Russian breeds of dairy cattle began to emerge here. On the contrary, in the southern forest-steppe regions, livestock farming was focused on abundant pasture lands, and in some places (for example, in Bashkiria) it was even nomadic in nature.
As agriculture develops in the central regions of Russia, traditional forest trades - hunting, fishing and beekeeping - become increasingly secondary. Already for the 16th century. characteristically, hunting was pushed into the forest outskirts of the northern and northeastern regions - to the Pechora region, to the Perm land and further beyond the Urals to Western Siberia, fabulously rich at that time in furs, especially sables. The coast of the White and Barents Seas became an important fishing area, and from the end of the 16th century. The importance of the Volga increases sharply. At the same time, beekeeping (despite the advent of beekeeping) retains important commercial importance even in old-developed areas.
IN Russia XVI V. The territorial division of labor has not yet developed, but handicraft production is rapidly developing in a number of regions of the country. Iron production acquired important economic and military importance, the main raw material for which was fusible bog ores, and charcoal was used as a technological fuel. The oldest areas of handicraft production of iron and weapons were the Serpukhov-Tula region and the city of Ustyuzhna on one of the Upper Volga tributaries - Mologa. In addition, iron was produced in Zaonezhye, in Novgorod region and Tikhvin. Shipbuilding appears on large river routes. Wooden dishes and utensils and various pottery products are produced everywhere. Jewelry production developed in Moscow, Novgorod, Nizhny Novgorod and Veliky Ustyug, and icon painting, in addition to Moscow, in Novgorod, Pskov and Tver. Handicraft production of fabrics and leather processing was quite widespread. Handicrafts for salt extraction are widely developed in Pomorie, in the Northern Dvina basin, in the Kama region, on the Upper Volga and in Novgorod land.
CHAPTERIIIXVII – XVIIIcenturies
In the very early XVII V. The Russian state once again found itself on the brink of destruction. In 1598, the princely-royal dynasty of the Rurikovichs came to an end, and there was a fierce struggle between boyar groups for Russian throne. The Time of Troubles brought various adventurers and impostors to the political stage. Uprisings and riots shook the very foundations of the state. Polish-Swedish invaders tried to seize the Moscow throne and Moscow lands. Internal unrest and military devastation bled the central, western, northwestern and Trans-Volga lands. Significant territories dropped out of agricultural use altogether and were overgrown with forest “to the extent of a stake, a pole, or a log,” as the scribe books of that time noted. However, saving the national independence achieved a little over 100 years ago has become a national cause. The people's militia, gathered by Minin and Pozharsky in Nizhny Novgorod, defeated the Polish-Lithuanian interventionists. A reasonable political compromise brought the Romanov dynasty to the royal throne in 1613, and Russia resumed its historical development.
Due to significant territorial gains, Russia becomes a huge colonial Eurasian power. Moreover, the bulk of the newly annexed lands in the 17th century. accounted for Siberia and the Far East, and in the 18th century. new Russian territories formed a wide strip from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
§ 1. Formation of the territory of the Russian state in Siberia and the Far East
In the 17th century The rapid advance of Russian explorers into Siberian lands continues. On the world market, Russia acts as the largest supplier of furs - “soft gold”. Therefore, the annexation of more and more fur-rich Siberian lands to Russia was considered as one of the priority government tasks. Militarily, this task was not particularly difficult. The tribes of hunters and fishermen living dispersedly in the Siberian taiga could not provide serious resistance to the professional military - the Cossacks, armed with firearms. In addition, local residents were interested in establishing trade relations with the Russians, who supplied them with necessary goods, including iron products. To secure Siberian territories for Russia, Russian explorers built small fortified cities - forts. More difficult was the annexation of the southern territories of Siberia and the Far East to Russia, where local residents were engaged in agriculture, animal husbandry and where the beginnings of statehood arose; there were quite developed ties with Mongolia, Manchuria and China.
By the beginning of the 17th century. The approximate dimensions of the West Siberian Plain were identified, the main river routes and portages to the Yenisei basin were determined. Penetration into Eastern Siberia took place along two tributaries of the Yenisei - along the Lower Tunguska and along the Angara. In 1620 -1623, a small detachment of Pyanda penetrated the Upper Lena basin along the Lower Tunguska, sailed along it to the present city of Yakutsk, and on the way back discovered a convenient portage from the Upper Lena to the Angara. In 1633 - 1641 a detachment of Yenisei Cossacks led by Perfilyev and Rebrov sailed along the Lena to the mouth, went out to sea and opened the mouths of the Olenek, Yana and Indigirka rivers,
The opening of the Aldan waterway predetermined Russia's access to the Pacific Ocean. In 1639, a detachment of Tomsk Cossack Moskvitin consisting of 30 people along the river. Aldan and its tributaries penetrated the Dzhugdzhur ridge into the river valley. Ulya, went to the coast of the Sea of Okhotsk and examined it for more than 500 km. One of the greatest events was the discovery in 1648 of the sea strait between Asia and America, accomplished by a fishing expedition led by Popov and Dezhnev.
In the middle of the 17th century. Russia includes the Baikal region and Transbaikalia. Russian explorers penetrated into the Amur basin, but met fierce resistance from the warlike Mongol-speaking Daurs and Manchus, so the Amur basin remained a buffer land between Russia and China for 200 years. At the very end of the 17th century. The second discovery of Kamchatka and its annexation to Russia was carried out by the Yakut Cossack Atlasov. Thus, by the end of the 17th century. the northern and eastern borders of Russia were formed. The first Russian fort cities (Tomsk, Kuznetsk, Yeniseisk, Yakutsk, Okhotsk and others) arose in the vast expanses of Siberia. The final assignment of the Pacific coast to Russia occurred already in the 18th century. A special role here belongs to the First and Second Kamchatka expeditions Bering and Chirikov (1725 - 1730 and 1733 - 1743, respectively), as a result of which the coastline of the northern part of the Far East was explored, as well as Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands, and in addition Russia founded its colony in Alaska.
Relatively small territorial acquisitions were made in Siberia in the first quarter of the 18th century, when the Russians were advancing to the south of Western Siberia, to the Barabinsk steppe, to the upper reaches of the Ob and Yenisei. The border nomadic Kazakh tribes recognized their dependence on Russia. Consequently, in this segment too, the Russian border takes on a generally modern outline.
§ 2. Formation of the western borders of the Russian state inXVII – XVIIIcenturies
The formation of Russia's western borders is difficult. At the beginning of the 17th century. as a result of the Polish-Swedish intervention and Russian-Polish war Russia lost land along the Gulf of Finland (that is, it was again cut off from Baltic Sea), and also lost Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversk and Smolensk lands. In the middle of the century, as a result of the uprising of Ukrainians under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnitsky against the Polish administration (1648 - 1654) and the subsequent Russian-Polish war, Left Bank Ukraine with Kiev went to Russia. The Russian border reached the Dnieper. Russia began to directly border on the Crimean Khanate and the Little Nogai Horde, closely associated with it. This nomadic formation dates back to the first half of the 16th century. broke up into a number of independent feudal estates. For example, between the Don, Manych and Kuban there was the Kaziev Horde, and in the Northern Azov region there was the Edichkul Horde. In the context of the ongoing raids of the Crimean and Nogai Tatars on the southern Russian lands, Russia's retaliatory military actions led to the Russian-Turkish War of 1676 - 1681. As a result, the Zaporozhye Sich (the base of the Zaporozhye Cossacks on the lower Dnieper), the Northern Azov region and the Kuban region became part of Russia.
In the 18th century Russia has radically resolved such complex geopolitical problems as access to the Baltic and Black Seas and the reunification of related East Slavic peoples - Ukrainians and Belarusians. As a result of the Northern War (1700 - 1721), Russia not only returned the lands captured by the Swedes, but also annexed a significant part of the Baltic states. The Russo-Swedish War of 1741 - 1743, caused by Sweden's attempt to regain lost lands, again ended in Sweden's defeat. Part of Finland with Vyborg went to Russia.
In the second half of the 18th century. Significant territorial changes occurred on the western border of Russia due to the collapse of the Polish state, which was divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria. According to the first partition of Poland (1772), Latgale - the extreme east of modern Latvia, the eastern and northeastern regions of Belarus - went to Russia. After the second partition of Poland (1793), Russia received Belarusian lands with Minsk, as well as Right Bank Ukraine (except western regions). According to the third partition of Poland (1795), Russia included the main Lithuanian lands, western Latvia - Courland, Western Belarus and Western Volyn. Thus, for the first time in many centuries, almost all the lands of ancient Kievan Rus were united within Russia, which created the necessary preconditions for the ethnic development of Ukrainians and Belarusians.
Wide access to the Black Sea became possible for Russia as a result of the defeat of the Crimean Khanate and a series of wars with Turkey, which supported it. At the very end of the 17th century. - beginning of the 18th century Russia did unsuccessful attempt recapture the lower reaches of the Don from the city of Azov. This territory became part of Russia only at the end of the 30s. Significant acquisitions in the Azov and Black Sea regions were made by Russia only in the second half of the 18th century. In 1772, the Crimean Khanate came under the protectorate of Russia, which was liquidated as a state in 1783. Russia included all the lands that belonged to him, including the territory between the mouth of the Don and the Kuban. Even earlier, North Ossetia and Kabarda became part of Russia. Georgia came under the protection of Russia under the “friendly treaty of 1783”. Thus, as a result of the Russian-Turkish wars of the second half of the 18th century. Russia becomes a Black Sea power. The newly annexed lands in the Black Sea and Azov regions began to be populated by Russians and Ukrainians and received the name “Novorossiya”.
§ 3. Settlement of forest-steppe and steppe territories of the country in the process of construction of fortification lines inXVII – XVIII.
During the 17th – 18th centuries. Russia has fully ensured the security of not only internal, but also border territories from raids by nomads by building a system of defensive structures. Under their protection, large-scale resettlement of the population is carried out in the forest-steppe and steppe regions of the country. In the 30s of the 17th century. In connection with the aggravation of Russian-Crimean relations, the Great Serif Line, which stretched for more than 1000 km, was improved and reconstructed.
At the end of the 30s and 40s, the Belgorod protective line was built, which stretched from Akhtyrka (in the south of the Sumy region of Ukraine) through Belgorod, Novy Oskol, Ostrogozhsk, Voronezh, Kozlov (Michurinsk) to Tambov. In the late 40s - in the 50s, the Simbirsk Line was built to the east, which ran from Tambov through Nizhny Lomov to Simbirsk. Even further east from Nizhny Lomov through Penza to Syzran, the Syzran Line was built in the mid-80s. Similar protective structures are being built in the forest-steppe Trans-Volga region. In the mid-50s, the Zakamsk fortified line arose, which, being the Trans-Volga continuation of the Simbirsk and Syzran lines, stretched to the Kama in the Menzelinsk region (the extreme northeast of modern Tataria). In the 80s of the 17th century. in connection with the rapid settlement of Sloboda Ukraine, the Izyum fortified line appeared, subsequently connected to the Belgorod line.
Even more extensive construction of linear protective structures in the border regions of the country was carried out in the 18th century, and not only in the steppe and forest-steppe regions. So, at the beginning of the 18th century. on the western borders a fortified line was built Pskov - Smolensk - Bryansk. Nevertheless, the construction of protective lines was of particular importance for the southern borders of the country, since it was accompanied by their settlement. At the beginning of the 18th century. The Tsaritsyn line was built, which ran from modern Volgograd along the Don to Cherkessk in its lower reaches and protected the southern regions of the Russian Plain from raids by nomads from the Caspian region. In the 30s, the Ukrainian fortified line was built, stretching from the Dnieper along the river. Orel to the Seversky Donets near the city of Izyum, which to a greater extent protected Sloboda Ukraine, inhabited by Ukrainians and Russians. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1768 - 1774. in the Azov region, the Dnieper or New Ukrainian defensive line was built, which ran from the Dnieper to the east along the river. Konskaya to the coast of the Azov Sea west of Taganrog. At the same time, a fortified line is being built to the southeast of Azov.
Russia's advance in the Ciscaucasia is accompanied by the construction of the so-called Caucasian fortified lines. In the early 60s, the Mozdok fortified line arose, running along the Terek to Mozdok. In the 70s, the Azov-Mozdok line was built, which from Mozdok passed through Stavropol to the lower reaches of the Don. The annexation of the Eastern Azov region to Russia caused the construction of defensive structures along the river. Kuban. In the early 90s, the Black Sea Cordon Line ran from Taman to Ekaterinodar (Krasnodar). Its continuation up the Kuban was the Kuban Line, stretching to modern Cherkessk. Thus, in the Ciscaucasia by the end of the 18th century. A complex system of fortified structures arises, under the protection of which its agricultural development begins.
Construction of protective structures in the 18th century. continues in the steppe Trans-Volga region and in the Urals. In the 30s, the New Zakamskaya fortified line was built in the Volga region, which stretched from the eastern edge of the Old Zakamskaya line of the 17th century. to Samara on the Volga. In the second half of the 30s - early 40s. along the river Samara to r. Ural, the Samara line was built. At the same time, the Yekaterinburg line arose, which crossed across the Middle Urals from Kungur through Yekaterinburg to Shadrinsk in the Trans-Urals, where it connected with the Iset fortified line, built in the 17th century.
A whole system of fortified structures appears on the border with nomadic Kazakhstan. In the second half of the 30s of the XVIII century. The Old Ishim Line was built, which ran from the river. Tobol through the Ishimsky fort to Omsk, and soon it was extended to the west by two lines to the upper reaches of the river. Ural. As the region was populated, the Old Ishim Line lost its importance, and in the mid-50s, the Tobolo-Ishim Line was built to the south of it, which passed through Petropavlovsk to Omsk. In the second half of the 30s, the Orenburg fortified line was built along the Urals from the upper reaches to the mouth. In the middle of the century, the Irtysh fortified line arose in the Upper Irtysh valley, and in the late 40s - late 60s, the Kolyvano-Kuznetsk line ran from Ust-Kamenogorsk on the Irtysh through Biysk to Kuznetsk. Thus, by the middle of the 18th century. On the border of Russia with Kazakhstan, a huge system of fortifications was formed, which stretched from the Caspian Sea along the Urals to its upper reaches, crossed the Tobol, Ishim, went east to Omsk, then passed along the river. Irtysh.
§ 4. Demographic and ethnic development of Russia inXVII – XVIIIcenturies
During the XVII - XVIII centuries. There is a significant increase in the population of Russia and major shifts in its distribution. At the end of the 17th century. 15-16 million people lived on the territory of Russia, and according to the audit of 1811 - already about 42 million people. Consequently, in terms of population, Russia became the largest European country, which, along with political and economic successes, allowed it to become one of the world powers. Sharp unevenness remained in the distribution of the population. Thus, in 1719, about a third of the total population lived on the territory of the historical center of the country (Moscow, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Tver and Kaluga provinces). By the end of the century, as a result of territorial acquisitions and the mass relocation of residents to the outskirts, the share of the central provinces decreased to one quarter, although the absolute size of their population increased.
At the same time, there was a process of territorial expansion of the country's demographic center. By the end of the 18th century. About half of the population lived within the central non-chernozem and central chernozem provinces Russian population. The areas of intensive colonization are the Steppe South, the South-East and the Urals. However, vast areas of the steppe Ciscaucasia were still empty. On them in the middle of the 18th century. There were about 80 thousand nomads - Nogais and about only 3 thousand Cossacks. Only towards the end of the century did the numbers of nomadic and sedentary populations become equal. Siberia remained a very sparsely populated region, whose population at the beginning of the 18th century. was a little over 500 thousand people. By the end of the century, its population doubled, but more than half of the inhabitants lived in the southern regions of the West Siberian Plain. In general, Siberia in the 18th century. has not yet become an area of active colonization.
With the annexation of the Volga region, Southern Urals, Siberia, the Baltic states, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and the Ciscaucasia, the Russian state is finally turning into a multinational state. Along with the East Slavic peoples (Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians), numerous Finno-Ugric peoples of the northern forest belt and equally numerous Turkic-speaking nomadic peoples of the steppe zone were widely represented in the ethnic structure of Russia. Russia is also acquiring a multi-confessional character. With the widespread spread of Orthodoxy as state religion in Russia there were significant groups of the population of other faiths - on the western outskirts - Protestant and Catholic movements in Christianity, and in the Volga region, the Kama region and the mountainous North Caucasus - Islam, on the right bank of the Lower Volga and in Transbaikalia - Buddhism.
Russian national identity is developing rapidly. The Russian mentality acquires the features of statehood, great power and God's chosen one. As a result of powerful integration political, economic and social processes, the Russian nation is being formed. All the peoples of Russia are beginning to experience the powerful influence of Russian culture. The settlement of the northern, southern and eastern outskirts leads to the formation of numerous ethnic groups of the Russian population. These are Pomors on the White Sea coast, Don, Kuban, Terek, Ural, Orenburg, Siberian and Transbaikal Cossacks. In the 17th century As a result of the split in the official Orthodox Church, the Old Believers arose. Fleeing persecution by the authorities, Old Believers move to the outskirts of the country. Original ethnic group Russians are formed on the basis of the old-timer population of Siberia.
§ 5. Economic development of Russia inXVII – XVIIIcenturies
Access to the coast of the Baltic and Black Seas led to a significant change in transport and economic relations in Russia. The founding of St. Petersburg in the lower reaches of the Neva (1703), the proclamation of its capital (1713) of a huge Russian Empire turned this city into the main seaport of the country and turned the flow of foreign economic cargo from the Volga and Northern Dvina towards it. In order to improve the transport and geographical position of St. Petersburg in 1703 - 1708. The Vyshnevolotsk system was built - a canal and a system of locks between the Tvertsa and Tsna rivers. To improve transportation conditions in 1718 - 1731. a bypass canal was dug along the southern shore of the stormy Lake Ladoga. Since the Vyshnevolotsk system allowed navigation in one direction - from the Volga to St. Petersburg, at the very end of the century the construction of a more powerful Mariinsky water system began.
At the end of the 18th century. In connection with the formation of the all-Russian market, the foundations of the territorial division of labor were laid, which clearly manifested themselves already in the 19th century. Russia remained predominantly an agricultural country. A privileged position in it was occupied by the nobility, in whose interests the entire mechanism of economic management was formed. Already at the end of the 17th century. Over 2/3 of all peasant households were at the disposal of the nobility, while a little more than a tenth of the peasants were able to maintain personal independence. By the beginning of the 18th century. The difference between patrimony and estate was practically erased, since estates began to be inherited.
The needs of a market economy gave rise to monopoly rights of landowners and peasants. Serf corvee farming is becoming widespread. In the 18th century under the banner of Peter the Great's reforms there is a rapid formation of a new social class-commercial and later industrial bourgeoisie. Therefore, the economy of the 18th century. was of a transitional nature.
Until the end of the century, sharp territorial differences in arable land remained. The largest share of arable land was in the old farming areas with a high population density. If in the central chernozem provinces already half of the territory was under arable land, and in the central non-chernozem provinces - about 30%, then the plowed area of the northwestern, middle Volga, southeastern and Ural provinces was 2 times lower. The main sown areas were occupied by grain crops, mainly gray bread. The most common industrial crops were flax and hemp. Flax was grown on podzols in the northwestern, central non-chernozem and Ural provinces, while hemp production historically developed in the forest-steppe zone on the Central Russian Upland. Livestock farming, as a rule, was extensive in nature and focused on natural feeding grounds - hayfields in the forest zone and pastures in the forest-steppe and steppe zones.
In the second half of the 18th century. Manufacturing production based on wage labor emerges in Russia. In the manufacturing industry, wage workers accounted for about 40%, while in the mining industry serf labor dominated. Large industrial area became St. Petersburg and its environs. The industry of St. Petersburg satisfied the needs of the army, royal palace and the highest nobility. The largest industrial enterprises in St. Petersburg were the Admiralty and the Arsenal, which united a number of industries, becoming the basis for the subsequent development of the metalworking industry. The St. Petersburg textile industry, on the one hand, produced cloth and linens for the needs of the army and navy, and, on the other, luxury goods - tapestries and silk fabrics using imported raw materials.
The traditional industrial areas were the central non-chernozem provinces. Industry here developed on the basis of patrimonial feudal manufactories and peasant handicraft production. In Peter's time, merchant manufactories arose here, working with civilian labor. Nai higher value received the textile industry, as well as leather tanning and glass production. Ferrous metallurgy and metalworking acquired national importance. The Tula arms factory, which arose on the basis of handicrafts, played an important role in ensuring the country's independence.
During Peter's time, the metallurgical industry of the Urals developed rapidly. The wealth of the Urals in iron and copper ores and forests, the use of cheap labor of assigned peasants predetermined the importance of this region in the history of the country. If in 1701 the first Nevyansk metallurgical plant was built in the Urals (halfway between Yekaterinburg and Nizhny Tagil), then already in 1725 the Urals began to provide 3/4 of all iron smelting in Russia. The Urals retained its leading role in ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy until the 80s of the 19th century. Thus, already in the 18th century. Such a characteristic feature of Russian industry as its high territorial concentration is being formed.
CHAPTERIV. HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF RUSSIAXIXV.
§ 1. Formation of the territory of European Russia inXIXV.
In the 19th century Russia continues to emerge as one of the largest colonial powers in the world. At the same time, the main colonial conquests in the first half of the 19th century. occurred in the European part and the Caucasus, and in the second half of the century - in the eastern part of the country. At the beginning of the 19th century. as a result Russian-Swedish war Finland and the Åland archipelago became part of Russia. In Russia, the “Grand Duchy of Finland” occupied an autonomous position, determined by the constitution, and in cultural and economic relations was oriented toward European countries.
From 1807 to 1814 on the western borders of Russia, as a result of Napoleonic policy, there was an ephemeral Duchy of Warsaw, created on the basis of Polish lands taken from Prussia and Austria. Therefore, during the Patriotic War of 1812, the Poles fought on the side of the French. After the defeat of Napoleonic France, the territory of the Duchy of Warsaw was again divided between Russia, Austria and Prussia. The Russian Empire included the central part of Poland - the so-called “Kingdom of Poland”, which had some autonomy. However, after the Polish uprising of 1863 - 1864. Poland's autonomy was abolished and provinces similar to those of Russian regions were formed on its territory.
Throughout the 19th century. The military confrontation between Russia and Turkey continued. In 1812, Orthodox Bessarabia (the area between the Dniester and Prut rivers in present-day Moldova) went to Russia, and in the 70s, the mouth of the river. Danube.
The Russian-Turkish confrontation became most fierce in the Caucasus, where the imperial interests of Russia, Turkey and Iran collided, and where local peoples waged a long struggle for physical survival and national independence. By the beginning of the century, the entire eastern coast of the Black Sea south of Anapa belonged to Turkey, and Eastern Armenia (the modern Republic of Armenia) and Azerbaijan represented a conglomerate of small khanates subordinate to Iran. In the central part of Transcaucasia, since 1783, the Orthodox Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti was under the protectorate of Russia.
At the beginning of the 19th century. Eastern Georgia loses its statehood and becomes part of Russia. In addition, the Western Georgian principalities (Megrelia, Imereti, Abkhazia) were included in the Russian Empire, and after the next Russian-Turkish war - the entire Black Sea coast (including the region of Poti) and the Akhaltsikhe province. By 1828, Russia included the coastal part of Dagestan and the modern territories of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
For a long time political independence in the Caucasus, Islamic mountainous regions were preserved - Adygea, Chechnya and northwestern Dagestan. The mountaineers of the Eastern Caucasus offered stubborn resistance to the Russian troops. The advance of Russians into the mountainous regions of Chechnya and Dagestan led to the fact that at the end of the 18th century. The area between the Terek and Sunzha rivers was annexed to Russia. To protect this territory from attacks by mountaineers at the beginning of the 19th century. The Sunzhenskaya fortified line was built along the river. Sunzhi from Terek to Vladikavkaz. In the 30s, a military-theocratic state arose in Chechnya and the mountainous part of Dagestan, led by Imam Shamil, which was defeated by tsarist troops only in 1859, Chechnya and Dagestan became part of Russia. As a result of prolonged military operations, Adygea was annexed to Russia in 1864. The consolidation of this territory to Russia was facilitated by the construction of the Labinsk, Urup, Belorechensk and Black Sea fortified lines. The last territorial acquisitions in the Caucasus were made by Russia as a result of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877 - 1878. (Adjara and the Kars region, again transferred to Turkey after the 1st World War).
§ 2. Formation of the territory of Asian Russia inXIXV.
During the second half of the 19th century. The Russian Empire includes Southern Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The northern part of modern Kazakhstan ended up in Russia back in the 18th century. To secure steppe lands for Russia and prevent attacks by nomads in the 19th century. Construction of linear fortified structures continues. At the beginning of the century, the Novo-Iletskaya line was built south of Orenburg, running along the river. Ilek, in the mid-20s - Emben line along the river. Emba, and in the mid-30s - the New Line on the left bank of the Urals from Orsk to Troitsk and the protective line from Akmolinsk to Kokchetav.
In the middle of the 19th century. Active construction of defensive linear structures already took place on the territory of Southern Kazakhstan. From Semipalatinsk to Verny (a Russian fortress on the site of modern Alma-Ata) the New Siberian Line stretches. To the west from Verny to the river. Syr-Darya passed the Kokand line. In the 50s and 60s, the Syr Darya line was built along the Syr Darya from Kazalinsk to Turkestan.
At the end of the 60s, the colonization of Central Asia took place. In 1868, vassal dependence on Russia was recognized Khanate of Kokand, and after 8 years its territory as the Fergana region became part of Russia. In the same 1868, the Russian protectorate recognized the Bukhara Emirate, and in 1873 - the Khanate of Khiva. In the 80s, Turkmenistan became part of Russia.
The final formation of the Russian border in the south of the Far East is taking place. Back in the first half of the 19th century. Russian power was established on Sakhalin. According to the Treaty of Beijing with China in 1860, the Amur and Primorye regions, sparsely populated by local tribes of hunters and fishermen, went to Russia. In 1867, the tsarist government sold Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, which belonged to Russia, to the United States. According to an agreement with Japan in 1875, Russia, in exchange for the Kuril Islands, retains the entire island. Sakhalin, the southern half of which went to Japan as a result of Russo-Japanese War 1904 - 1905
Thus, by the beginning of the 20th century. Russia emerged as a huge colonial power with a multinational population. The centuries-old policy of colonization pursued by the state led to the blurring of the boundaries between the metropolis and the internal national colonies. Many Russian colonial possessions acquired an enclave character because they were surrounded by lands with a predominant Russian population, or themselves had a complex ethnic composition. In addition, the level of economic and social development of many national territories in the European part of Russia was significantly higher than in the historical center of the country. All this predetermined significant features of the development of Russia not only in the 19th century, but also in the 20th century.
§ 3. Internal migrations and settlement of the population of Russia inXIXV.
Throughout the 19th century. Russia has become one of the largest in terms of population
population of the countries of the world. If in 1867 the population of the Russian Empire (without Finland and the Kingdom of Poland) was 74.2 million people, then in 1897 it was already 116.2 million people and in 1916 it was 151.3 million people. The rate of population growth is increasing sharply - the population doubled in about 60 years.The basis of this “demographic explosion” was not only the process of territorial expansion of the country, but also high rates of natural growth, widespread large families.
The development of capitalism led to the formation of a labor market, the rapid development of colonization - the settlement of new lands and urbanization - massive migration flows of the population to growing cities and industrial centers. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Russia is one of the largest grain exporters. This was due to the fact that after the peasant reform of 1861 there was a massive plowing of black soils and settlement of the lands of New Russia, the region of the Don Army, the steppe Ciscaucasia, Trans-Volga region, the Southern Urals and Siberia. From 1861 to 1914, about 4.8 million people moved to Siberia. The bulk of the settlers settled in the south of Western Siberia (including the northern regions of modern Kazakhstan), especially in the foothills of Altai and the Tobol and Ishim basins. East of the Yenisei, settlers settled in narrow strip along the Great Siberian Railway, which passed through forest-steppe and steppe enclaves. The population of the region, which became part of Russia only in the middle of the 19th century, is growing rapidly. Primorye and the Amur region, which for a long time were characterized by a weak population.
With the development of capitalist relations, cities are growing rapidly. If in 1811 the urban population of Russia accounted for approximately 5% of its population, then in 1867 about 10% of the population of European Russia lived in cities, and in 1916 - over 20%. At the same time, the level of urbanization in the eastern regions of the country (Siberia and the Far East, Kazakhstan) was two times lower. A clear trend is emerging towards the concentration of city residents in ever larger cities, although the structure of urban settlement as a whole is balanced. The largest centers of migration attraction in the country were the capital cities - St. Petersburg and Moscow, whose population grew due to migration and which formed huge zones of migration attraction. Thus, not only the provinces of the modern North-West (Petersburg, Novgorod and Pskov), but also the entire northwestern part of the modern Central region (Smolensk, Tver, Yaroslavl provinces) and the west of the Vologda province gravitated towards St. Petersburg. At the beginning of the 20th century. St. Petersburg is the largest city in Russia (2.5 million people in 1917).
In turn, Moscow, in addition to the Moscow province, grew due to migrants from the Oka territories (Tula, Kaluga and Ryazan provinces). Despite the fact that Moscow developed in the densely populated historical center of the country, its loss from the beginning of the 18th century. capital functions could not but affect the rate of population growth. For a long time, Moscow retained its patriarchal noble-bourgeois character, and its functional profile began to change only from the middle of the 19th century, when it rapidly acquired commercial and industrial features. At the beginning of the 20th century. Moscow is the second largest city in Russia (1.6 million people in 1912). A large area of migration attraction at the very end of the 19th century. - early 20th century steel mining and metallurgical centers of Donbass. Since they arose on the territory of the colonized steppe south, they formed a fairly wide zone of migration attraction, which included both the Russian central black earth provinces and the Ukrainian territories of the Dnieper region. Therefore, in the Donbass, as well as in New Russia and Slobodskaya Ukraine, a mixed Russian-Ukrainian population has historically formed.
Vast territories of mass migration outflow are being formed in Russia - former feudal provinces with a significant excess population (relative agrarian overpopulation). These are, first of all, the northern fishing and agricultural provinces (Pskov, Novgorod, Tver, Kostroma, Vologda, Vyatka) with unfavorable conditions for agriculture and a long-standing trend of seasonal waste industries. The migration outflow significantly reduced the demographic potential of the region and became the first “act” of the drama of the Russian Non-Black Earth Region. The main areas of mass migration outflow were the provinces of the Central Black Earth Region, the southern strip of the Central region of the right bank of the Volga region, the north-east of Ukraine and Belarus. From this region until the end of the 19th century. More than a tenth of the population left, but at the beginning of the 20th century. had significant labor resources.
Russia settlement territory industry
§ 4. Reforms and economic development of Russia inXIXV.
The economic appearance of Russia throughout the 19th century. was radically changed as a result of the abolition of serfdom and massive railway construction. If the reform of 1861 allowed the multi-million masses of the peasantry into civilian life and contributed to the flourishing of entrepreneurship, then the railways radically changed the transport and geographical position of both the country and its regions and entailed significant changes in the territorial division of labor.
The reform of 1861 not only gave personal freedom to the peasants, but also led to significant changes in the structure of land ownership. Before the reform, the nobles owned a third of all land in European Russia. A particularly high share of noble land ownership developed in the central non-black earth, central black earth and northwestern provinces of Russia, as well as in Ukraine and Belarus. In the sparsely populated outlying regions of European Russia and Siberia, the state form of land ownership prevailed.
The peasant reform of 1861 was of a compromise nature. Although it was carried out in the interests of the peasants, the reform did not contradict the interests of the landowners. It provided for a gradual, decades-long purchase of land. As a result of the purchase of plots from landowners, the imperial family and the state, the peasants gradually became its owners. In addition, land became an object of purchase and sale, so purely bourgeois ownership of land began to grow. By 1877, noble land ownership amounted to less than 20% of all land in European Russia, and by 1905 - only about 13%. At the same time, noble land ownership retained its position in the Baltic states, Lithuania, Belarus, right-bank Ukraine, and in Russia the middle Volga and central black earth provinces stood out in this regard.
As a result of the implementation of the reform, by the end of the century the peasantry began to dominate Russian land ownership. The share of peasant lands in European Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. rose to 35%, and they began to dominate in most of its regions. However, peasant private ownership of land before 1905 was negligible. In areas with a predominance of the Russian population, in Eastern Belarus, in forest-steppe Ukraine and even in Novorossia, peasant communal land use reigned supreme, which provided for frequent redistribution of land in accordance with the number of families and mutual responsibility for serving duties to the landowners and the state. The communal form of land use with elements of local self-government historically arose in Russia as a condition for the survival of the peasantry and had a profound impact on its psychology. By the beginning of the 20th century. the community has already become a brake on the development of the country. To destruction peasant community and the formation of private peasant land ownership was directed by the Stolypin agrarian reform of 1906, interrupted by the outbreak of the World War and revolution. Thus, at the end of the 19th century. - early 20th century In Russia, a multi-structure commercial agriculture is being formed, which has turned the country into one of the largest exporters of agricultural products.
§ 5. Transport construction in Russia inXIXV.
The most important factor in the economic development of Russia in the 19th - early 20th centuries. mass internal transport is becoming possible, which was determined by the vastness of its territory, the distance from the sea coasts, and the massive development of minerals and fertile lands that began in the peripheral parts of the country. Until the middle of the 19th century. Inland water transport played a major role. To ensure regular navigation between the Volga and Neva basins, the Mariinsk water system was built in 1810, running along the route: Sheksna - White Lake - Vytegra - Lake Onega - Svir - Lake Ladoga - Neva. Later, canals were created to bypass the White and Onega lakes. In 1802 -1811. The Tikhvin water system was built, connecting the Volga tributaries Mologa and Chagodosha with the Tikhvinka and Syasya, which flow into Lake Ladoga. Throughout the 19th century. There is repeated expansion and improvement of these water systems. In 1825 - 1828 A canal was built connecting the Sheksna with the Sukhona tributary of the Northern Dvina. The Volga becomes the main transport artery of the country. By the beginning of the 60s, the Volga basin accounted for % of all cargo transported along the inland waterways of European Russia. The largest consumers of bulk cargo were St. Petersburg and the Central Non-Black Earth Region (especially Moscow).
In the second half of the 19th century. Railways become the main mode of internal transport, and water transport fades into the background. Although railway construction in Russia began in 1838, there are two periods of particularly intensive development. In the 60s and 70s, railway construction was mainly carried out in the interests of agricultural development. Therefore, railroads connected major agricultural areas with both major domestic food consumers and leading export ports. At the same time, Moscow becomes the largest railway junction.
Back in 1851, the Moscow - St. Petersburg railway connected both Russian capitals and provided a cheap and fast exit from Central Russia to the Baltic. Subsequently, railways were built connecting Moscow with the Volga region, the Black Earth Center, Sloboda Ukraine, the European North and the western regions of the Russian Empire. By the beginning of the 80s, the main backbone of the railway network of European Russia was created. Newly built railways and inland waterways that retained their importance became the framework for the formation of a single agricultural market in Russia.
The second period of intensive railway construction occurred in the early 90s. In 1891, construction began on the Great Siberian Railway, which ran through southern Siberia to Vladivostok. By the end of the century, railways had taken over the transportation of bulk goods, especially bread, from inland water transport. This caused, on the one hand, a sharp reduction in river grain transportation and stagnation (stagnation) of many Central Russian cities in the Oka basin, and, on the other hand, increased the role of the Baltic ports, which began to compete with St. Petersburg. With the industrial development of the country, rail transportation of coal, ores, metals, building materials. Thus, railway transport has become a powerful factor in the formation of the territorial division of labor
§ 6. Agriculture of Russia inXIXV.
By the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. Russia has become one of the largest food producers on the world market. Agricultural development of the territory, including plowing, has sharply increased, especially in the European part. For example, in the central chernozem provinces, arable land already accounted for 2/3 of their land, and in the Middle Volga region, the Southern Urals and in the central non-chernozem provinces - about a third.
Due to the crisis situation in the agriculture of the old feudal regions, the production of marketable grain, primarily wheat, is moving to the newly plowed areas of New Russia, the North Caucasus, the steppe Trans-Volga region, the Southern Urals, the south of Western Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan. The most important food crop is potatoes, which are turning from a garden crop into a field crop. Its main producers were the central black earth, central industrial provinces, Belarus and Lithuania. The intensification of Russian agriculture also occurred in connection with the expansion of acreage under industrial crops. Along with flax and hemp, sugar beets and sunflowers became important. Sugar beets began to be cultivated in Russia from the beginning of the 19th century. in connection with continental blockade, established by Napoleon, which made it impossible to import cane sugar. The main beet-sugar regions were Ukraine and the central black earth provinces. The main raw materials for production vegetable oil by the beginning of the 20th century. became sunflower, the crops of which were concentrated in the Voronezh, Saratov and Kuban provinces.
Unlike grain production, livestock farming as a whole had a purely Russian significance. While Russia was ahead of even many European countries in terms of the supply of draft livestock, it lagged behind in the development of productive livestock farming. Livestock farming was extensive and focused on rich hay and pasture lands. Therefore, the main number of productive livestock at the beginning of the 20th century. accounted, on the one hand, for the Baltic states, Belarus and Lithuania, and, on the other, for the Black Sea Ukraine, the Ciscaucasia, the Lower Volga region and the Southern Urals. Compared to European countries, Russia was inferior in the development of pig breeding and surpassed in sheep population density.
§ 7. Industry of RussiaXIXV.
By the beginning of the 80s of the XIX century. Russia completed the industrial revolution, in during which manual manufacturing was replaced by factories - large enterprises equipped with machines. Industrial Revolution also led to important social changes in Russian society - the formation of a class of hired workers and a commercial and industrial bourgeoisie. In large industrial production in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. industries producing consumer goods, primarily the food and beverage and textile industries, predominated sharply. The main branch of the food-flavoring industry has become beet-sugar production. Other leading industries were flour milling, concentrated not only in areas of commercial grain production, but also in large consumption centers, as well as the alcohol industry, which, in addition to grain, began to widely use potatoes. The textile industry has historically been concentrated in the central industrial provinces on the basis of handicrafts and local raw materials. By the beginning of the century, the production of cotton fabrics based on Central Asian cotton had become widespread here. In addition, wool, linen and silk fabrics were produced. In addition to the Industrial Center, the textile industry developed in St. Petersburg and the Baltic states.
Late XIX - early XX centuries. was characterized by the rapid development of mechanical engineering, which was represented primarily by the production of steam locomotives, carriages, ships, mechanical and electrical equipment, and agricultural machinery. Mechanical engineering was characterized by high territorial concentration (St. Petersburg, Industrial Center, Donbass and the Dnieper region). The basis of machine production at the end of the 19th century. became steam engines, which required massive extraction of mineral fuels. Since the 70s XIX century Coal production is rapidly increasing. Essentially, the only coal basin in the country is becoming the Donbass, with the lignite mines of the Moscow region unable to withstand competition. In the 90s, to ensure the functioning of the Great Siberian Railway, coal mining began beyond the Urals, especially in Kuzbass. In the 80s and 90s, oil production grew rapidly, primarily on the Absheron Peninsula of Azerbaijan and in the region of Grozny. Since the main consumers of oil were in the North-West and in the Industrial Center, its mass transportation along the Volga began.
The rapidly developing mechanical engineering required mass production of cheap metals. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. The main producer of ferrous metals (cast iron, iron and steel) becomes the Southern mining region - both Donbass and the Dnieper region. The South's large-scale metallurgical production was based on foreign capital and used coal coke as a process fuel. In contrast, the metallurgical industry of the Urals, which arose under the conditions of serfdom, was represented by old small factories that used charcoal as technological fuel and relied on the artisanal skills of formerly assigned peasants. Therefore, the importance of the Urals as a producer of ferrous metals is falling sharply.
Thus, one of the characteristic features of Russian industry at the beginning of the 20th century. became extremely high degree its territorial concentration, significant differences in its technical and economic organization. In addition, despite the dominance of large-scale machine industry, small-scale and handicraft production remained widespread, which not only provided jobs, but also played an important role in meeting the needs of the population for a wide variety of goods.
CHAPTERV. DEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMY AND POPULATION, DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY'S TERRITORY (USSR and Russia) in the 20th century.
§ 1. Formation of the territory of Russia and the USSR in 1917 – 1938.
After the victory of the Bolsheviks and Soviet power in the bloody Civil War of 1917 - 1921. The successor to the Russian Empire was the RSFSR - the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, and since 1922 - the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The sharp weakening of central power during the period Civil War, foreign intervention and economic devastation, strengthening nationalism and separatism led to the disconnection of a number of peripheral territories from the state.
In 1917, the government of the RSFSR recognized the state independence of Finland. According to the Russian-Finnish treaty, the region of Pechenga (Petsamo) was transferred to Finland, which gave it access to the Barents Sea. In the context of the country’s confrontation with the “bourgeois world”, the south-eastern border of Finland, which essentially passed in the suburban area of St. Petersburg - Leningrad, turned out to be very dangerous. In 1920, the RSFSR recognized the sovereignty of Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. According to the treaties, small Russian border territories (Zanarovye, Pechory and Pytalovo) were ceded to Estonia and Latvia.
Under the conditions of the Civil War and the German occupation, there was a short-term separation of Belarus and Ukraine. Thus, the Belarusian People's Republic, independent from the RSFSR, existed for only 10 months in 1918, formed by the nationalists of the Belarusian Rada and based on Polish legionnaires and German troops. In its place arose the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR), allied with the RSFSR. In November 1917, nationalists of the Central Rada proclaimed the independence of the Ukrainian People's Republic. The territory of Ukraine becomes the scene of a fierce Civil War, German and Polish intervention. From April to December J918, under the German occupation, republican power was replaced by the hetmanate. Even later, power in Ukraine passed to the Directory, formed by the leaders of Ukrainian nationalist parties. In foreign policy, the Directory focused on the countries of Atlanta, concluding a military alliance with Poland and declaring war on the RSFSR. Finally military-political union The RSFSR and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) was restored in 1919.
It was quite difficult to establish borders with Poland, which restored its independence in 1918. Taking advantage of the weakening of the Russian state, Poland expanded its territory to the eastern lands. After the Polish-Soviet war of 1920 - 1921. Western Ukraine and Western Belarus went to Poland. In 1917, Romania annexed Bessarabia (between the Dniester and Prut rivers), inhabited by Moldovans, which had previously been part of the Russian Empire.
In 1918, in Transcaucasia, under the conditions of the Civil War and German, Turkish and British intervention, the Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani republics, independent of the RSFSR, arose. However, their internal situation was difficult, with Armenia and Azerbaijan fighting each other over Karabakh. Therefore, already in 1920 - 1921. Soviet power and a military-political union of the Transcaucasian republics with Russia were established in Transcaucasia. The state border in Transcaucasia was determined in 1921 by an agreement between the RSFSR and Turkey, according to which Turkey renounced its claims to the northern part of Adjara with Batumi, but received the regions of Kars and Sarykamysh.
In Central Asia, along with the territories that were directly part of the RSFSR, from 1920 to 1924. There were the Bukhara People's Soviet Republic, which arose on the site of the Bukhara Emirate, and the Khorezm People's Soviet Republic, which arose on the territory of the Khiva Khanate. At the same time, the Russian border in the south of Central Asia remained unchanged, which was confirmed by the agreement with Afghanistan in 1921. In the Far East, to prevent a possible war with Japan, the formally independent Far Eastern Republic was formed in 1920, which after the end of the Civil War and the expulsion of the Japanese interventionists was abolished, and its territory became part of the RSFSR.
§ 2. Formation of the territory of Russia and the USSR in 1939 – 1945.
Significant changes in the western state border of the USSR occurred in 1939 - 1940. By that time, the country's economic and military power had grown significantly. The USSR, using the contradictions between the great powers, solves its geopolitical problems. As a result of a short (November 1939 - March 1940), but difficult war with Finland, part of the Karelian Isthmus with Vyborg, the northwestern coast of Lake Ladoga, some islands in the Gulf of Finland, was leased to the Hanko Peninsula for organizing a military -naval base, which strengthened the security of Leningrad. On the Kola Peninsula, part of the Rybachy Peninsula became part of the USSR. Finland confirmed its restrictions on the deployment of armed forces on the coast of the Barents Sea, which strengthened the security of Murmansk.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, an agreement was reached between Germany and the USSR on the division of Eastern Europe. In connection with the German occupation of Poland in 1939, Western Ukraine and Western Belarus populated by Ukrainians and Belarusians became part of the USSR, and Eastern Lithuania and Vilnius were transferred to the Republic of Lithuania. In 1940, Soviet troops entered the territory of the Baltic states, where Soviet power was established. Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia joined the USSR as union republics. The Russian border lands, which were transferred to Estonia and Latvia under the agreement of 1920, were returned to the RSFSR.
In 1940, at the request of the Soviet government, Romania returned Bessarabia, which was part of the Russian Empire, on the basis of which, together with the territories of the left bank of the Dniester (Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic), the union Moldavian Republic was organized. In addition, Northern Bukovina (Chernivtsi region) populated by Ukrainians became part of Ukraine. Thus, as a result of territorial acquisitions of 1939 - 1940. (0.4 million km2, 20.1 million people) The USSR compensated for the losses of the first Soviet years.
Some changes in the western and eastern borders of the USSR occurred in 1944 - 1945. The victory of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition in World War II allowed the USSR to solve a number of territorial problems. According to the peace treaty with Finland, the territory of Pechenga on the Soviet-Norwegian border again ceded to the RSFSR. By decision of the Potsdam Conference, the territory of East Prussia was divided between Poland and the USSR. The northern part of East Prussia with Koenigsberg became part of the USSR, on the basis of which the Kaliningrad region of the RSFSR was formed. As part of the mutual exchange with Poland, the region populated by Poles with its center in the city of Bialystok went to this state, and the region populated by Ukrainians with its center in the city of Vladimir Volynsky went to the Ukrainian SSR. Czechoslovakia transferred the Transcarpathian region populated by Ukrainians to the USSR. In 1944, Tuva became part of the USSR as an autonomous region. People's Republic. As a result of the defeat of Japan in World War II, Russia regained South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. However, a peace treaty has not yet been signed between Russia and Japan, since Japan demands the return of the Southern Kuril Islands, which were part of Hokkaido Prefecture before the war. Thus, as a result of long historical development, the Russian Empire and its successor the USSR were the largest countries in the world by area.
§ 3. Administrative and political structure of the country at the stage of formation of the USSR
Huge economic and social upheavals during the Civil War, when a sharp outbreak of nationalism and separatism called into question the very possibility of the continued existence of a centralized Russian state, the state structure found its expression in the form of a complex, multi-stage federation. In 1922, the RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR, BSSR and the Transcaucasian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (consisting of Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan) formed the Soviet Union. Moreover, except for Ukraine, Belarus and the Transcaucasian republics, all other territories of the former Russian Empire became part of the RSFSR. The Bukhara and Khorezm republics that arose in Central Asia were in treaty relations with it.
Within the framework of such a state structure, Russia itself was a complex federation, which included autonomous republics and regions. By the time of the formation of the Soviet Union, the RSFSR included 8 republican autonomies: the Turkestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic - in the territory of Central Asia and Southern Kazakhstan, the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Kirghiz Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic - the territories of Northern and Central Kazakhstan, the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic - as part of modern North Ossetia and Ingushetia, and the Dagestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. In addition, on the territory of the RSFSR there were 12 more autonomous regions that had fewer rights compared to the autonomous republics: Votskaya (Udmurt) Autonomous Okrug, Kalmyk Autonomous Okrug, Mari Autonomous Okrug, Chuvash Autonomous Okrug, Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Okrug in Eastern Siberia, Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Okrug of the Far East, Kabardino-Balkarian Autonomous Okrug, Komi (Zyryan) Autonomous Okrug, Adygei (Cherkessian) Autonomous Okrug, Karachay-Cherkess Autonomous Okrug, Oirat Autonomous Okrug - on the territory of the Altai Mountains, Chechen Autonomous Okrug. The RSFSR, with the rights of autonomous regions, also included the Labor Commune of the Volga Germans and the Karelian Labor Commune.
The form of a complex, multi-level federation that emerged in the 1920s represented a certain compromise between the need for strict centralization of power and the desire of numerous peoples of Russia for national definition. Therefore, the state structure in the form of the USSR and the RSFSR made it possible to carry out the so-called “nation building”, that is, as the population grew, the economy and culture developed, the rank of autonomies increased. At the same time, under the conditions of the party dictatorship, the country essentially retained its unitary character, since the rights of even the union republics were significantly limited by the power of the central bodies.
The borders of union, autonomous republics and regions were determined not so much by the ethnic structure of the population, but on the basis of the economic gravity of the territories. For example, during the formation of the Kazakh (Kyrgyz) Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Northern Kazakhstan and the Southern Urals with a predominant Russian population were included in its composition, and the capital at first was Orenburg. In addition, in the complex process of local formation, Soviet power in the fight against the Cossacks relied on local national forces, therefore, in the process of establishing an administrative-territorial division, the Russian border territories were included in the national formations.
§ 4. Changes in the administrative and political division of the country in the 20s and 30s
Continues into the 20s and 30s further development this complex system of national autonomies. Firstly, the number of union republics is growing. As a result of national divisions in Central Asia in 1924 - 1925. The Bukhara and Khiva republics were abolished and the Turkmen SSR and the Uzbek SSR were formed. As part of the latter, the Tajik Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was separated. In connection with the dissolution of the Turkestan Autonomous Republic, Southern Kazakhstan became part of the Kazakh (old name - Kyrgyz) Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the capital of which was the city of Kzyl-Orda, and Orenburg with its surrounding areas was transferred to the Russian Federation. In turn, the Kara-Kalpak Autonomous Okrug entered Kazakhstan. In addition to Kazakhstan, during this period Kyrgyzstan remained part of the Russian Federation as an autonomous region. In 1929, Tajikistan became a union republic. In 1932, Kara-Kalpakia became part of Uzbekistan as an autonomous republic.
In subsequent years, in the process of administrative reforms, the number of union republics increased. In 1936, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan received this status. In the same year, the Transcaucasian Federation was disbanded, and Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan directly became part of the Soviet Union. In 1940, the Baltic states included in the USSR (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), as well as Moldova, which arose on the territory of Bessarabia and the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine, received the status of union republics. The Karelian Autonomous Republic, despite its limited demographic and economic potential after the Soviet-Finnish war it was transformed into the Karelo-Finnish SSR.
By the end of the 30s, the number and political status of many autonomies of the Russian Federation were increasing. In 1923, the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed, in 1924, the autonomous republic of the Volga Germans was formed, and in place of the Mountain Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the North Ossetian Autonomous Okrug and the Ingush Autonomous Okrug arose. In 1925, the Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was formed from the autonomous region. In 1934, Mordovia and Udmurtia received the status of an autonomous republic, and in 1935, Kalmykia. In 1936, the Kabardino-Balkarian, Mari, Checheno-Ingush, North Ossetian and Komi autonomous republics emerged.
Due to the transformation of autonomous regions into republics, their number decreased. In 1930, the Khakass Autonomous Okrug was separated as part of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, and in 1934, the Jewish Autonomous Okrug was separated in the Khabarovsk Territory. The latter was artificial in nature, since it was formed in the south of the Far East far beyond the boundaries of Jewish settlement. National districts have become an important form of national self-determination for the small peoples of the North. During the period of the 20s - 30s, 10 national districts were created in Russia: Nenets NO in Arkhangelsk region, Komi-Permyak NO in the Perm region, Yamalo-Nenets and Khanty-Mansiysk NO in Tyumen region, Taimyr and Evenkiy NO in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, Aginsky Buryat NO in the Chita Region, Ust-Ordynsky Buryat NO in the Irkutsk Region, Chukotka NO in the Magadan Region and Koryak NO in the Kamchatka Region. As a form of local national self-government of small peoples in the Soviet Union in pre-war period 250 national regions emerged.
§ 5. Changes in the administrative and political division of the country in the 40s and 50s
As the demographic, economic and cultural potential of the country's peoples grows and national self-awareness develops, the possibilities of a multi-stage system of autonomies are increasingly exhausted. Despite harsh repressive measures, nationalism and separatism grew. If during the Civil War mass repressions by the Soviet government were applied to the Cossacks, then during the Great Patriotic War - against a number of national minorities. In 1941, the Republic of Volga Germans was abolished, in 1943 - the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, in 1943 - 1944. - autonomy of the Balkars and Karachais, in 1944 the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was abolished, in 1945 - the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. At the same time, Volga Germans, Kalmyks, Balkars, Karachais, Chechens, Ingush, and Crimean Tatars were forcibly deported to the eastern regions of the country. In 1957, the rights of these peoples were partially restored, but the consequences of these events have not yet been overcome. The autonomy of the Volga Germans and Crimean Tatars was never restored. For recent situation complicated by the fact that in 1954 the Crimean region was transferred to Ukraine. In the post-war years, attention to national local self-government noticeably weakened; since the national districts were disbanded.
§ 6. Administrative and territorial structure of the Russian regions of the country
Throughout the 20th century. There have been significant changes in the administrative and territorial structure of the Russian regions of Russia. In Bolshevik literature of the late XIX - early XX centuries. The medieval, feudal and state-bureaucratic nature of the provincial division of pre-revolutionary Russia has been repeatedly noted. In the early 20s, the country's State Planning Commission carried out significant work and justified 21 economic regions:
| Central-Industrial | South Industrial |
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| Central Black Earth | Caucasian |
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| Vyatsko-Vetluzhsky | |||
| Northwestern | Kuznetsk-Altai |
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| Northeastern | Yenisei |
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| Middle Volga | Lensko-Baikalsky |
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| Nizhne-Volzhsky | Far Eastern |
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| Ural | Yakut |
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| West | West Kazakhstan |
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| 10 South-West | East Kazakhstan |
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| | | Turkestan. |
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Dedicated based economic principles, these areas were also supposed to form the administrative division grid of the country. However, when allocating these areas, national interests were not taken into account. In addition, the industrialization of the country and the cooperation of the peasantry, which began in the late 20s, required bringing power closer to the localities, and therefore a more detailed administrative division. The economic zoning of the country was never formalized by administrative division, and the old provinces essentially survived and were transformed into modern regions and territories. In connection with the formation of new socio-economic centers, the administrative-territorial division of Russia has become even more fragmented.
§ 7. Population dynamics of the USSR
Throughout the twentieth century. The Soviet Union remained one of the largest countries in the world in terms of population. However, by the end of the century, as a result of wars, social experiments and a mass transition to small families, the country had completely exhausted its demographic potential, that is, the ability for self-reproduction of the population. The country suffered significant demographic losses during the First World War and the Civil War. In 1913, 159.2 million people lived in the USSR. Russia's military losses in World War I amounted to 1.8 million people, that is, in principle, they were comparable to the military losses of other countries at war. The country was bled dry by the protracted Civil War and the economic devastation and famine it caused. Drobizhev V.Z. estimated the demographic losses (killed, died from wounds and diseases, emigrated) during the Civil War at about 8 million people, Yakovlev A.N. - 13 million people, and Antonov-Ovseenko A.V. considers demographic losses during the Civil War and famine of 1921 - 1922. about 16 million people.
The 20s and 30s were extremely difficult and contradictory in terms of the country's demographic development. On the one hand, as a result of industrialization, social transformations in agriculture, the cultural revolution, the rapid development of science and social infrastructure, the USSR, compared with the first post-revolutionary years, achieved significant success in economic and social development, which was reflected in a certain increase in the standard of living of the population. On the other hand, the result of total social experiments and direct terror was enormous human casualties. According to Antonov-Ovseenko A.V., forced collectivization and the resulting famine of 1930 - 1932. claimed 22 million lives, and as a result of political terror in the country during the period 1935 - 1941. About 19 million people died. Many researchers believe that these figures are clearly overestimated. But, according to official data from the KGB, from January 1935 to June 1941, 19.8 million people were repressed in the country, of which 7 million were executed or died under torture in the first year after their arrest. Yakovlev A.N. determines the demographic losses from repression of about 15 million people.
At the same time, in the 20s and 30s, the tradition of large families was widely preserved, as a result of which the population grew quite rapidly. If in 1926 147 million people lived within the borders of the USSR, then in 1939 - already 170.6 million people, and with the newly acquired western territories - 190.7 million people. Our country suffered huge demographic losses during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945. This was due to major military-political miscalculations of the then Soviet-party leadership, insufficient technical and mobilization readiness of the country, poor qualifications of military personnel who suffered during mass repressions, with the policy of national genocide pursued by the fascist occupiers, as well as with the already long-standing Russian tradition " do not stand behind the price” of your military victories. In 1946, Soviet officials estimated the military losses of our country at about 7 million people, that is, at the level of German losses on the Soviet front. Currently, the demographic losses of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War are estimated at about 30 million people. The country was bleeding in the full sense of the word for many decades. The first post-war population census in 1959 showed that 208.8 million people lived in the USSR, with 21 million more women.
In the 60s, the broad masses of the population of the European regions of the country switched to small families, which reduced the rate of population growth. In 1970, 241.7 million people lived within the borders of the Soviet Union, and in 1979 - 262.4 million people. In terms of population, the USSR ranked third in the world, second only to China and India. The country's reproductive demographic potential declined sharply at the end of the 20th century. If for the period 1926 - 1939. the average annual population growth rate was 1.4% for the war and post-war twenty years 1939 - 1959. - 0.5%, for 1959 -1970. - 1.5%, then for 1970 - 1979. - already 1%.
§ 8. Main changes in the social structure of the population
Throughout the 20th century. fundamental changes took place in the social structure of the country's population. Pre-revolutionary Russia had an essentially peasant character, since peasants and artisans made up 66.7% of its population. Workers accounted for 14.6%, and the bourgeoisie, landowners, merchants and kulaks (rich peasants) accounted for 16.3%. A narrow social stratum was represented by employees - 2.4% of the country's population. These figures contain the whole tragedy of the country’s historical development at the beginning of the 20th century. Russia did not have a sufficient social base for revolutionary experiments. The Bolsheviks, who created the dictatorship of their power under the guise of the dictatorship of the proletariat, and the “white” movement, trying to restore pre-revolutionary Russia, had approximately the same demographic base. Therefore, the Civil War resulted in self-destruction, and social genocide began to play a prominent role in subsequent social development.
During the Civil War, the “exploiting classes” were destroyed, and as a result of collectivization, the peasantry became a collective farm. Subsequently, changes in the social structure of the population of the USSR were determined by the industrialization of the country and the formation of its scientific and cultural potential. As a result of industrialization, the number and proportion of workers, who officially formed the basis of the ruling regime, rapidly increased. In 1939, workers made up 33.7% of the country's population, in 1959 - 50.2%, and in 1979 - already 60%. Due to the massive outflow of the population from the village, the number and share of the collective farm peasantry quickly declined. This process was also influenced by the widespread use of state farms, whose workers, from the standpoint of official statistics, were classified as workers. In 1939, the collective farm peasantry made up 47.2% of the country's population, in 1959 - 31.4%, and in 1979 - only 14.9%. In the 20th century The social stratum of employees engaged in administrative, economic, clerical and control functions is rapidly growing in the country. In 1939, office workers already made up 16.5% of the population of the USSR, in 1959 - 18.1%, in 1979 - even 25.1%. Based on the official communist ideology, state policy was aimed at creating a classless society and erasing social differences. Its result was a certain social homogeneity of society, but also a decrease in personal initiative, since entrepreneurship, education and qualifications did not provide sufficient advantages in wages.
§ 9. Formation of the scientific and cultural potential of the country
During the Soviet period, enormous scientific and cultural potential was created in the country. Russia at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. experienced its “silver age” of culture. Russian literature and art have gained worldwide significance, and the development of fundamental science has brought the country well-deserved glory. A fairly influential social stratum of the intelligentsia is being formed, that is, people professionally engaged in complex creative work. Even the term “intelligentsia” itself was introduced into use in Russian literature in the 60s of the 19th century, and then penetrated into other languages. However, these great achievements of culture and science did not become the property of the broad masses, since the majority of them were illiterate. In 1913, literacy among the Russian population aged 9 years and older was only 28%. Among the country's urban residents, almost half were illiterate, and among rural residents - even 3/4. Continuity in the development of Russian culture and science was interrupted by the Civil War. During World War I, the creation of a mass army required a sharp expansion of the officer corps. Educated people conscripted into the army wore officer's shoulder straps, which, under the conditions of the revolution, contrasted them with the prevailing proletarian-peasant mass of the population. A significant part of the pre-revolutionary intelligentsia was hostile to the idea of violent revolutionary transformation country, therefore was destroyed during the Civil War, emigrated from the country, or was even expelled from it.
In the conditions of confrontation with the “bourgeois world” in the Soviet Union, significant scientific and cultural potential was essentially created anew, and a fairly significant layer of “popular” intelligentsia was quickly formed. In the pre-war years, one of the directions of its formation was the “cultural revolution”, during which mass illiteracy was quickly eliminated. In 1939, the illiterates among the urban population amounted to only 6%, and among rural residents - about 16%. In the post-war period, the country reached the level of universal literacy. Thus, in 1979, illiteracy among city residents aged 9-49 years was only 0.1%, and among rural residents - 0.3%. Thus, elementary illiteracy remained only among a small group of old and sick people.
During the 20th century, the general cultural level of the population increased significantly, which can be indirectly judged by the proportion of people with higher and secondary education. So, if in 1939 90% of the population had only primary education, then in 1979 - about 36%. On the contrary, the share of people with secondary education during this period increased from 10% to 55%. At the same time, in recent years, in connection with the problem of financing education, the question of an excessively high educational standard has been raised, which is not true. Even in 1979, only 15% of the country's population had higher or incomplete higher education. In addition, the discrepancy between the educational level and culture of the population is clearly visible. On this basis, the country has created a powerful system for training highly qualified and scientific personnel of global importance, especially in the field of fundamental research and the military-industrial complex.
§ 10. Main trends in the country's urbanization
Despite the rapid development of industrial production at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. pre-revolutionary Russia remained predominantly a rural country. In 1913, only 18% of its population lived in Russian cities. The civil war, famine and devastation caused an outflow of population from the cities, so in 1923 the share of the urban population dropped to 16.1%. Capital cities found themselves in a particularly difficult situation. In 1920, only 1.1 million people lived in Moscow, and the population of St. Petersburg decreased by half a million.
The rapid growth of the urban population of the USSR began in the late 20s in connection with the industrialization of the country and the collectivization of agriculture. Industrialization created an ever-increasing demand for labor from the rapidly growing industrial production of cities, and collectivization tore peasants off the land and pushed them into the cities. Already in 1940, cities concentrated a third of the country's population. At the beginning of the 60s, the number of urban and rural residents was equal, and at the end of the 70s, over 60% of the country's population lived in cities. During the Soviet period, a radical change occurred in the very structure of urban settlement. If in the mid-20s the majority of city residents lived in small and medium-sized cities, then at the end of the 70s most of them were already living in large cities. The concentrated nature of urban settlement resulted in the rapid formation of large-city agglomerations, that is, local systems of large cities and their suburban areas. The disproportionality of the country's urban settlement has become a significant public problem. The authorities have repeatedly declared a policy of limiting the growth of large cities and intensifying the development of small and medium-sized cities, but it has not had any real success.
§ 11. Inter-district migrations of the population and the development of the country’s territory in the pre-war years
In the 20th century The process of further settlement and economic development of the country gained enormous scope. Unlike the previous century, migration was mainly of an industrial nature and pursued the task of developing the country's natural resources. In the 20s and 30s, most European regions became suppliers of labor resources for the eastern and northern regions of the Russian Federation. The total number of migrants to the eastern regions of the country (together with the Urals) was about 4.7 -5 million people. Among the eastern regions, the Far East, Eastern Siberia, and the Kuznetsk basin stood out with the greatest intensity of migration influx. The rapidly growing cities - industrial centers of the Urals - have also become major centers of migration attraction. Forced migration became widespread. A dark irony of the Soviet period is the fact that many of the “socialist construction projects” were created by the hands of prisoners. Characteristic feature The 20s and 30s saw massive migration influxes of the Russian-speaking population into the national regions of Central Asia, Kazakhstan and the Caucasus, which was caused by the need to provide them with highly qualified specialists in the context of ongoing industrialization and the cultural revolution.
In the European part of the USSR, a massive migration influx of population occurred in those economic regions and their industrial hubs that became the cores of the country's industrialization. The largest core of migration attraction was the rapidly emerging Moscow urban agglomeration, which received more migrants than all the eastern regions combined. Leningrad with its suburban area was an equally large center of migration attraction. The massive outflow of rural residents from the agricultural northern Russian regions constituted, as it were, the second act of the drama of the Russian Non-Black Earth Region. The third major core of migration attraction was the Donbass and the Dnieper region, which formed as the main coal and metallurgical base of the country. In addition to the North Russian agricultural regions, a massive outflow of population occurred from the Central Black Earth Region, the Right Bank Volga region and North-Eastern Ukraine, where a significant surplus of labor resources had formed in the pre-revolutionary period.
§ 12. Inter-district migrations of the population and the development of the country’s territory in the post-war years
Interregional features of the migration movement of the population for 1939 – 1959. were determined both by the consequences of the Great Patriotic War and by the tasks of developing new natural resources in the East. In the initial period of the war, about 25 million people were evacuated from the western regions of the country, which were under the threat of occupation. This population temporarily settled in the Urals, the Volga region, the southern part of Western Siberia, Northern and Central Kazakhstan, and, to a lesser extent, in Eastern Siberia and Central Asia. After the end of the war, the majority of the population returned to their native places, but some of them settled down in new places.
In general, for the intercensal period 1939 - 1959. A total of 8-10 million people moved from the European part to the Asian part (together with the Urals). The Urals, Kazakhstan and Western Siberia stood out with the greatest intensity of migration influx. The rural population of this region grew in the process of massive development of virgin and fallow lands, which was undertaken in 1954 - 1960. for a radical solution to the grain problem. From the European regions of the country, a powerful migration influx continued to the Moscow, Leningrad agglomerations and Donbass. In the post-war period, a significant influx of Russian-speaking migrants rushed to the Baltic states, which was associated with the settlement of the Kaliningrad region and the need for rapid industrial development of the Baltic republics, which had a favorable economic and geographical position and a developed industrial and social infrastructure.
In the 60s, the Asian regions of the Russian Federation (with the exception of the Far East) began to lose population in the process of migration exchange with the European territories of the country. This was due to the fact that traditional suppliers of the population to Siberia (Central, Central Black Earth and Volga-Vyatka regions, Belarus) had exhausted mobile labor resources. In addition, serious miscalculations were made when planning the standard of living of Siberians. Therefore, skilled workers from Siberian cities replenished the densely populated and labor-abundant areas of the European part of the USSR, and the urban population of Siberia, in turn, grew due to people from local villages. The massive migration outflow of rural residents has significantly undermined the agriculture of Siberia, which has worsened the food supply of city residents. The bulk of migrants at large construction sites in Siberia were not assigned to a place.
At the same time, there was a polarization of the Siberian regions themselves according to the nature of the migration movement. In connection with the development of the oil and gas complex in Western Siberia, an area of intense and massive migration influx of population to long time becomes the Tyumen region, especially its region of the Middle Ob region. In general, the Russian Federation has become a major supplier of labor resources for other union republics, as a result of which in 1959 -1970. lost about 1.7 million people. This process led to a further increase in the proportion of the Russian-speaking population in many republics of the Soviet Union. The greatest intensity of the migration influx was observed in the entire southern strip of economic regions from Moldova, Black Sea Ukraine, the North Caucasus to Kazakhstan and Central Asia.
In the 70s, there was a significant reduction in interregional migration flows. This was based on how demographic factors- a decrease in the birth rate, a decrease in the number of young people in the main regions of migration outflow, and socio-economic reasons - the convergence of the living standards of urban and rural residents, the main regions of migration outflow and inflow, a universally increasing demand for labor resources as a result of further extensive economic development countries. As a result of a whole system of measures in the second half of the 70s, it was possible to create a migration redistribution of the population in favor of the Siberian regions of the Russian Federation. In addition to the continuing influx of population into the oil and gas complex of Western Siberia, settlement and economic development of the Baikal-Amur Mainline route is taking place. However, even in the 70s, most regions of Siberia continued to lose their population, and the most difficult situation developed in the agricultural regions of Western Siberia.
Characteristic feature The 70s saw a powerful influx of population into the Moscow and Leningrad agglomerations, which in terms of population growth rates overtook not only the European part, but the entire Russian Federation as a whole! The downside of this phenomenon was the massive outflow of the rural population from the Russian Non-Black Earth Region, as a result of which the collapse of the historically established system of rural settlements began on its territory. The economic side of this process was a massive reduction in the area of agricultural land in the historical center of Russia as a result of its waterlogging and overgrowing with forests and shrubs.
§ 13. Formation of a system of planned socialist economy
In connection with the victory of the Bolsheviks and Soviet power throughout the twentieth century. In the USSR, a special type of economy was formed and developed - the “socialist economy”. Its basis was state ownership of the means of production, including land. Even during the period of the Great October Socialist Revolution and in the first post-revolutionary period, banks, large-scale industry, and transport were nationalized, that is, taken over by the state as its own, and a state monopoly of foreign trade was introduced. The landowners' lands were confiscated, and the nationalization of all land was proclaimed, which was transferred free of charge to the peasants for economic use.
Further nationalization of the economy occurred during the Civil War. The policy of “war communism” led to the nationalization of medium and partly small industry, the introduction of labor conscription for the entire working population, the displacement of internal trade by food appropriation - a system of forced alienation of products from peasant farms, the introduction government regulation handicraft production. The result was the almost complete displacement of market mechanisms from the sphere of economic relations and their replacement with administrative-command methods of economic management.
After the end of the Civil War, within the framework of the so-called “new economic policy” - NEP, surplus appropriation was replaced by a food tax, and the economic relationship between the city and the village began to be determined by a system of market relations. However, already at the end of the 20s, in connection with the complete collectivization of agriculture, market relations were again sharply limited, and the process of nationalization covered not only state farms as state enterprises, but also collective farms - collective farms. The process of nationalization of the economy intensified sharply during the Great Patriotic War, which required the mobilization of all the country's resources in the name of preserving its national independence. Some strengthening of the role of commodity-money relations in the economic management of the country has occurred in the last 30 years, but market levers of economic management only complemented the existing centralized administrative-command system.
The planned socialist economy was focused primarily on solving national problems, sometimes to the detriment of social problems, regional and local interests. The principles of territorial organization of the economy were formed not only on the basis of real economic and political practice, but also taking into account the theory of Marxist-Leninist social science. Among them, the following should be noted:
1) uniform distribution of productive forces throughout the country;
2) bringing industry closer to sources of raw materials, fuel and energy resources and areas of product consumption;
3) overcoming significant socio-economic, cultural and everyday differences between city and village;
4) acceleration of economic and cultural development of previously backward national regions;
5) correct territorial division of labor based on specialization and integrated development of the economy of economic regions and union republics of the USSR;
6) rational use of natural conditions and resources;
7) strengthening the country’s defense capability;
8) systematic international socialist division of labor.
These principles are based on the idea of the potential superiority of a socialist planned economy, oriented, in order to systematically improve the level and quality of life of Soviet people, to increase labor productivity and achieve optimal territorial organization of the economy. Although in each specific case one can find quite a lot of examples of confirmation of these principles, in general they are of an artificial bookish nature and do not reflect the essence of the processes of territorial organization of the country’s economy throughout the 20th century. For example, one can hardly talk seriously about “uniform distribution of productive forces”, about “ rational use natural conditions and resources,” and “strengthening the country’s defense capability,” that is, the development of the military-industrial complex (MIC), was brought to an exaggerated absurdity, since the military-industrial complex depleted the country’s resources. The “planned international socialist division of labor” was artificial and hid deep economic contradictions between the former socialist countries.
§ 14. Industrialization of the country and the development of Soviet industry
Throughout the twentieth century. The USSR became one of the largest industrial powers. This was the result of the industrialization policy implemented in the country, which led to a radical reconstruction of the entire economy. Therefore, mechanical engineering is becoming the leading industry. During the years of the two pre-war five-year plans, the automobile industry, tractor manufacturing, and combine production were essentially re-created, and the volume of industrial equipment and machine tools produced increased sharply. In the conditions of political and military confrontation with the surrounding capitalist world, by the beginning of the 40s, a fairly powerful military industry had been created in the USSR, including the production of tanks and aircraft. The bulk of machine-building enterprises arose in the old industrial regions of the country ( central District, North-West, Ural and Donetsk-Dnieper region), which had a highly qualified workforce. The Moscow and Leningrad agglomerations have become the largest machine-building centers in the country, where a powerful scientific and design infrastructure has been formed.
The massive development of mechanical engineering required a sharp increase in metal production. In the European part of the country, in the old areas of metallurgy and mechanical engineering, factories were built that produced high-quality steel. The country's second coal and metallurgical base was created in the Urals and Western Siberia. New metallurgical plants that arose in these areas formed the “Ural-Kuznetsk Combine” and used the iron ores of the Urals and coking coal of Kuzbass. Aluminum and nickel production emerged in the country. In addition to the Urals, a powerful copper industry has developed in Kazakhstan, and lead production is also in Altai and Central Asia, and zinc plants are in the Donbass and Kuzbass.
In the pre-war years, a powerful fuel and energy base emerged in the country. Although the Donbass remained the main coal mining region, coal mining in the Kuzbass and Karaganda basin grew rapidly, and the development of the Pechora basin began. Due to its proximity to consumers, the importance of brown coal in the Moscow region has increased. Major changes have occurred in the geography of oil production. In addition to Absheron and Grozny, the region between the Volga and the Urals - “Second Baku” - began to acquire increasing importance. In the pre-war period, the development of the richest gas resources of the Volga region began. The industrialization of the country was carried out on the basis of priority development of the electric power industry. Based on the GOELRO plans and the pre-war five-year plans, an entire system of “district” thermal and hydroelectric power plants was built.
Huge industrial engineering The 20s and 30s, carried out through the strict centralization of all the country's resources, allowed the USSR to achieve economic independence. In terms of industrial production, the country has taken second place in the world. At the same time, the result of industrialization was the hypertrophied development of heavy industry to the detriment of industries working for the consumption of the population, which could not but affect their standard of living. In addition, one of the components of the economic success of the pre-war five-year plans was the widespread use of cheap forced labor, and the Gulag acted as one of the largest economic departments in the country that carried out the development of new areas. During the 20s and 30s there was a significant shift in industrial production to the East, towards sources of raw materials.
During the Great Patriotic War, the foundations of the world's largest military-industrial complex were laid in the USSR. The entire economy of the country was rebuilt for the needs of the front. From the western regions that were subjected to fascist occupation, about 1,300 large industrial enterprises were relocated to the East, which were located mainly in the Urals, Western Siberia, the Volga region and Kazakhstan.
In the post-war years, the political and military confrontation between the USSR and the leading capitalist countries caused an arms race in connection with the development of nuclear and missile weapons. This led to even greater integration of the military-industrial complex with the country’s economic complex, especially mechanical engineering. In connection with the formation of CMEA - an economic union of former socialist countries, as well as close ties with many developing countries, the Soviet Union became one of the largest exporters of weapons and engineering products.
Over the past forty years, fundamental changes have occurred in the country's fuel and energy base. As a result, one of the most powerful fuel and energy complexes in the world was created. In the 50s and 60s, widespread construction of large hydroelectric power stations began on the Volga, Kama, Dnieper, and rivers of Siberia. At the same time, dozens of largest thermal power plants were built. Since the second half of the 70s, there has been a shortage electrical energy in the European part of the country they began to cover it with the construction of powerful nuclear power plants.
The structure and geography of the fuel industry of the Soviet Union has changed significantly. Thus, the coal industry, despite the increasing volumes of coal production, has lost its leading position in the country's fuel balance to the oil and gas industry. Due to the development of coal resources and the high cost of Donetsk coal, the share of the Donetsk basin in the all-Union coal production has dropped significantly and the role of the coal basins of Siberia and Kazakhstan has increased. By the beginning of the 70s, oil took first place in the country's fuel balance. This became possible not only as a result of the development of oil production in the “Second Baku” region, but also in connection with the massive development of the gigantic oil resources of the Middle Ob region. Therefore, if in the mid-60s the bulk of the oil produced came from the Volga-Ural region, then by the beginning of the 70s, over half of the all-Union oil production was already provided by Western Siberia. In the country's fuel balance, the importance of natural gas quickly grew, which in the late 70s pushed coal to third place. If in the 60s the main areas of natural gas production were the Volga region, the North Caucasus and Ukraine, then in recent decades the main producers have become the north of the Tyumen region, Komi and Central Asia. To transport oil and natural gas to the USSR, a huge network of pipelines was built.
However, despite such an impressive development of the fuel and energy industry, the European regions of the Soviet Union, which still concentrate the bulk of the country's industrial capacity in recent decades, experienced a shortage energy resources. Therefore, the country’s economic policy was focused, firstly, on limiting the construction of fuel and energy-intensive industries in the European part and in the Urals, secondly, on more intensive use of fuel and energy resources in the eastern regions, and, thirdly, on creating a unified energy system countries and massive transportation of fuel from the eastern regions to the European part of the country.
In the post-war period, a powerful metallurgical base was formed in the Soviet Union. Along with technical reconstruction and increasing production volumes, significant new construction was launched in already established metallurgical centers. The development of the ore wealth of the KMA and Karelia led to an increase in the production of ferrous metals in the historical center of the country. Due to new construction, the capacity of the ferrous metallurgy in Western Siberia and Kazakhstan has sharply increased. In connection with the massive construction of power plants and the production of cheap electrical energy, large-scale production of electrically intensive non-ferrous metals, especially aluminum, arose in Siberia.
Among the priorities of economic development of the Soviet Union in recent decades was the chemical industry, especially the production of fertilizers, plant protection products, chemical fibers and threads, synthetic resins and rubbers, and plastics. At the same time, the structure of the country's industrial production continued to remain deformed. The food, textile, footwear, and clothing industries remained on the periphery of state interests. They received insufficient capital investments, which reinforced their ever-increasing technical backwardness and low quality of products. The problem of providing for the population was to some extent solved through the massive import of food and consumer goods in exchange for the ever-increasing export of energy, non-ferrous and rare metals, timber and other raw materials.
§ 15. Collectivization of agriculture and its development during the Soviet period
Throughout the twentieth century. Huge changes have occurred in the country's agriculture. In 1929 – 1933 complete collectivization of the village was carried out. Instead of small individual peasant farms, collective farms became the main organizational form of agricultural production, during the creation of which the land and all the main means of production were socialized, and only small plots of land, residential buildings, small equipment and a limited number of livestock were left in the personal property of collective farmers. Already in the first years of Soviet power, state enterprises - state farms - arose on the basis of nationalized landowners' estates, which became large producers of agricultural products and mastered the latest agricultural technology.
The complete collectivization of agriculture, both in terms of methods of implementation and in terms of economic and social consequences, was contradictory. On the one hand, it was largely carried out forcibly, as it was accompanied by dispossession. Prosperous (kulak) and sometimes middle peasant farms were forcibly liquidated, the property of which went to collective farms, and “kulak families” were sent to the northern regions. Thus, the country's agriculture lost a significant part of its hardworking commodity producers. Livestock farming suffered greatly, as peasants slaughtered livestock en masse before joining collective farms. On the other hand, the social transformations carried out guaranteed the state the receipt of the minimum required amount of food and created conditions for rapid changes in the technical base of agriculture through the widespread use of tractors and other machines. Agricultural cooperation, although it sharply reduced the country's grain export capabilities, made it possible, due to a decrease in the standard of living of rural residents, to redistribute funds for industrialization. Collective farms imposed from above ultimately overlapped with the centuries-old traditions of the peasant community and acquired a stable character as a form of survival for rural residents even in extremely difficult, extreme conditions.
Agriculture of the USSR in the pre-war period retained the possibility of extensive development due to the expansion of sown areas. For 1913 - 1937 The country's cultivated area increased by 31.9 million hectares, or 30.9%. Although almost half of the newly developed lands were in the eastern regions, the process of plowing both the old developed territories of the historical center of the country and the regions of the steppe continued. European South. The most important branch of agriculture was still grain production. The formation of new grain regions in the East of the country (Southern Urals, Western Siberia and Northern Kazakhstan) was of great importance. Among grain crops, wheat acquired the main importance, pushing rye into second place. Compared to pre-revolutionary Russia, the area under wheat has moved north and east.
The development of the country's agriculture in the pre-war period occurred due to the widespread distribution of industrial crops. The area under sugar beet has increased sharply. In addition to Ukraine, whose share in sown areas decreased from 82.6% in 1913 to 66.9% in 1940, and the Central Black Earth region, sugar beets began to be grown in the Volga region and Western Siberia. Even more significantly, the area under sunflower increased by 3.5 times. In addition to the North Caucasus, the Central Black Sea region and the Volga region, sunflower began to be widely sown in Ukraine, Moldova and Kazakhstan. The area under fiber flax has increased. In Central Asia and East Azerbaijan, the cultivation of cotton on irrigated lands became increasingly widespread. Due to the growth of the urban population, the production of potatoes and vegetables has increased. Unlike agriculture in general crisis situation developed in livestock farming, which by the early 40s had never recovered from the consequences of forced cooperation.
In the mid-50s, in order to radically solve the grain problem in the USSR, a program for the development of virgin fallow lands was implemented. For 1953 - 1958 The country's cultivated area increased by 1/4 or 38.6 million hectares. The development of virgin lands led to a significant expansion of grain crops, primarily wheat, in Kazakhstan, Western Siberia, the Southern Urals, the Volga region and the North Caucasus. Thanks to virgin grain, the country was able to not only meet its domestic needs for some time, but also became an exporter of grain for some socialist and developing countries. The formation of a second large food base in the East of the country made it possible to deepen the specialization of agriculture in the old developed areas. The expansion of acreage under industrial crops continued. As a result of large-scale reclamation, the area of irrigated land has sharply increased. In Central Asia, a cotton monoculture was finally formed on their basis. The consequence was not only a sharp degradation of the natural environment (widespread secondary salinization of soils, pollution of rivers with wastewater from fields, destruction of the Aral Sea), but also a reduction in the area under garden and food crops, which could not but affect the quality of nutrition of the indigenous population. On the basis of irrigated agriculture, significant rice production arose in the North Caucasus, southern Kazakhstan and Central Asia, in Primorye.
The development of virgin lands made it possible to expand the area under fodder crops in the old developed areas of the country, which created conditions for the development of productive livestock farming. Forage crops such as corn have become widespread. Since the 60s, oil exports have made it possible to carry out massive purchases of feed grain and animal feed. In the field of livestock farming, a program for the construction of large livestock complexes was implemented, which made it possible to create large-scale production of livestock products on a new technological basis.
§ 16. Formation of a unified transport system and a unified national economic complex of the country
Throughout the twentieth century. in the Soviet Union a unified transport system countries. Already in the 20s and 30s, a radical reconstruction of railway transport was carried out and about 12.5 thousand new railway lines were built. They provided more reliable and shorter transport links to Donbass, the central and northwestern regions of the country, and additionally connected the Center, the Urals, Kuzbass, and Central Kazakhstan. Of particular importance was the construction of the Turkestan-Siberian Railway, which provided a direct route from Siberia to Central Asia. Much work has been done to reconstruct inland waterways. The White Sea-Baltic Canal was put into operation in 1933, and the Moscow-Volga Canal in 1937. Already in the 30s, the main regions of the country were connected by airlines.
Quite large-scale railway construction was carried out during the Great Patriotic War. From 1940 to 1945 1.5 thousand km of new railways were put into operation annually. Thus, a railway exit from Arkhangelsk to Murmansk was built. The Kotlas-Vorkuta railway gave access to Pechora coal to the country's enterprises during the period when Donbass was occupied. The railway along the middle and lower reaches of the Volga supported the operation of the Red Army at Stalingrad. The Kizlyar-Astrakhan railway has reduced the flow of Baku oil to places of consumption.
Large railway construction began in the post-war period in the eastern regions of the country. The South Siberian Railway, which passed through Northern Kazakhstan, significantly relieved the pressure on the old Trans-Siberian Railway. The Central Siberian Railway passed through the main tracts of virgin lands. Significant railway construction began in the 60s and 70s in connection with the development of the resources of Western Siberia. Among the great construction projects of recent decades is the Baikal-Amur Mainline (1974 - 1984), which provided additional transit access to the Pacific Ocean through Eastern Siberia, in the future becoming the basis for the development of a vast, but harsh, region rich in natural resources.
In the post-war period, in connection with the massive development of oil and gas fields in the Soviet Union, the world's largest network of oil and gas pipelines was created, which connected production areas and consumption centers, and also ensured widespread export supplies of these energy resources through western borders countries. In recent decades, the freight turnover of road transport has grown rapidly, which has become increasingly competitive with railways in transporting goods over short distances, as it ensures their delivery from place to place. The country's network of paved roads grew rapidly, the total length of which in the early 70s amounted to about 0.5 million km. However, in terms of the quality of roads and their density, the USSR was significantly inferior to European countries. Quite a lot of attention was paid to the construction of new inland waterways. In 1945 - 1952 The Volga-Don Canal was built, and in 1964 the reconstruction of the Volga-Baltic deep-water route was completed, replacing the outdated Mariinsky system. In connection with the development of Siberia, new river ports were built on its largest rivers.
The vast extent of the country and low domestic prices for petroleum products have led to the widespread development of air transport in recent decades, which has taken away a significant portion of passengers from the railways. A dense network of airfields (at almost every republican, regional and regional center) made it possible to contact any corner of the country in a matter of hours. To ensure external economic relations, a large naval fleet was built in the 60s and 70s. In the Azov-Black Sea, Baltic basins
The result of a fairly long Soviet development was the formation of the Unified National Economic Complex (ENHK) of the USSR as a complex, integral, dynamically developing and multi-level supersystem. The USSR ENHK was formed in the process of centralized management of the nationalized economy in conditions of limited monetary circulation functions, when prices did not reflect either the real costs of producing goods or the demand for them. Therefore, the use of laws and principles of planned economic development made it possible to operate a very complex system of redistribution of national income between enterprises, industries, republics and regions, which led to the appearance of some proportionality and balance in the national economy.
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Historical geography as a complex science uses both general historical and its own methods. General ones include historical, which allows one to study a phenomenon in movement and development, and logical, based on reproduction and comparison.
Historical geography uses such original means as: historical-physical-geographical, historical and toponymic and landscape-lexicological. The content of the first of them lies in their study of the most dynamic components of the landscape (forests, reservoirs, etc.) in order to identify “traces” (the results of past impacts).
The main principles of the historical image are: the need to use the same type of sources when researching (you cannot study the historical geography of France based on historical materials and military topographical sources, England - according to the descriptions of travelers), vrahuvuvat ideas about the world that existed in a given period (for example, that The earth is flat and lies on three pillars), it is necessary to know exactly the level of perception of the surrounding world by people of past eras (their perception of an earthquake, volcanic eruption, solar eclipse, etc..). Finally, the historical method requires the mandatory integrated use of information sources for the most complete and objective analysis of a particular issue.
The use of toponymic and landscape-lexicological means is very important. Its meaning is to study toponyms and common geographical terms, which allows us to restore the features of the past and the nature of changes in nature by man (for example, the name of the village of Lesnoye at a time when there was no forest anywhere nearby).
Thus, when using the tools of historical geography, their comprehensive application is necessary. So, for example, in order to verify the correctness of conclusions about the settlement of a particular ethnic group, it is necessary to study characteristic “traces”, data from ethnography, anthropology, archeology, toponymy, etc.
Important methods of historical geography, which are inherent specifically in this science, are the methods of historical-geographical cross-section and diachronic.
A historical-geographical cross-section is an analysis of an object according to certain periods. Slices can be component or integral. The component section is used in the analysis of individual historical subjects - political geography, demography, economic geography, physical geography. These issues need to be studied at regular intervals. So, for example, when analyzing the administrative-territorial division, it is necessary to highlight individual periods of its development in order to get a complete picture. The integral slice is used for a comprehensive analysis of nature, population, economy, and political development at a specified time. The main difference between the two types of cuts is their intended purpose.
When performing a historical-geographical cross-section, it is necessary to adhere to certain principles, namely: the synchronicity of the analysis of all source material, the identification of the leading relationships between nature, population and economy inherent in a given historical period; the territorial integrity of the areas in which the cutting is performed and the establishment of clear temporary boundaries.
The diachronic method is a combination of historical and geographical sections and definitions general trends development of a geographical object over historical time. It is used when studying primarily the historical geography of a particular country. In the diachronic method, the use of the term “relic” (residual manifestations of the past in our time) is very important. When performing it, it is also necessary to adhere to certain principles. So, firstly, it is important to ensure comparability of results, secondly, to correctly identify the leading relationships (landscape - population - environmental management), thirdly, it is necessary to study the continuity of evolution, fourthly, to establish the main stages of development of objects, and also to study geographical cycles of development and territorial integrity of the object.
Historical geography is a historical discipline that studies history through the “prism” of geography; It is also the geography of a territory at a certain historical stage of its development. Most the hard part The task of historical geography is to show the economic geography of the territory being studied - to establish the level of development of productive forces, their location.
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In a broad sense, historical geography is a branch of history aimed at studying a geographical territory and its population. In a narrow sense, it studies the topographical side of events and phenomena: “determination of the boundaries of the state and its regions, populated areas, routes of communication, etc.”
Sources for Russian historical geography are:
- historical acts (spiritual wills of grand dukes, statutory charters, land survey documents, etc.)
- scribes, sentinels, census, audit books
- Records of foreign travelers: Herberstein (Notes on Muscovy), Fletcher (), Olearius (Description of the trip of the Holstein embassy to Muscovy and Persia), Paul of Allep (in 1654), Meyerberg (in 1661), Reitenfels (Tales to the Most Serene Duke Tuscan Kozma the Third about Muscovy)
- archaeology, philology and geography.
At the moment, there are 8 sectors of historical geography:
- historical physical geography (historical geography) - the most conservative branch, studies landscape changes;
- historical political geography - studies changes in the political map, political system, routes of conquests;
- historical geography of population - studies ethnographic and geographical features of population distribution in territories;
- historical social geography - studies the relationships of society, the change of social strata;
- historical cultural geography - studies spiritual and material culture;
- historical geography of interaction between society and nature - direct (human influence on nature) and reverse (nature on human);
- historical economic geography - studies the development of production, industrial revolutions;
- historical and geographical regional studies.
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Literature
- Spitsyn A. A. Russian historical geography: training course. - Petrograd: Type. Y. Bashmakov and Co., 1917. - 68 p.
- Yatsunsky V.K. Historical geography: History of its origin and development in the XIV-XVIII centuries. - M.: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1955. - 336 p. - 4,000 copies.
- Gumilyov L. N.// Bulletin of Leningrad University. No. 18, no. 3. - L., 1965. - P. 112-120.
- Historical geography of Russia: XII - early XX centuries. Collection of articles for the 70th anniversary of prof. L. G. Beskrovny / Rep. ed. acad. A. L. Narochnitsky. - M.: Nauka, 1975. - 348 p. - 5,550 copies.
- Zhekulin V. S. Historical geography: Subject and methods. - L.: Nauka, 1982. - 224 p.
- Maksakovsky V. P. Historical geography of the world: Textbook: Recommended by the Ministry of General and Professional Education of the Russian Federation for higher education students educational institutions/ Ed. E. M. Goncharova, T. V. Zinicheva. - M.: Ecopros, 1999. - 584 p. - ISBN 5-88621-051-2.
- Historical geography of Russia 9th - early 20th centuries: Territory. Population. Economics: essays / Ya. E. Vodarsky, V. M. Kabuzan, A. V. Demkin, O. I. Eliseeva, E. G. Istomina, O. A. Shwatchenko; Rep. ed. K. A. Averyanov. - M.:, 2013. - 304, p. - 300 copies. - ISBN 978-5-8055-0238-6.
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He is needed for the place that awaits him, and therefore, almost independently of his will and despite his indecision, despite the lack of a plan, despite all the mistakes he makes, he is drawn into a conspiracy aimed at seizing power, and the conspiracy is crowned with success .He is pushed into the meeting of the rulers. Frightened, he wants to run away, considering himself dead; pretends to faint; says meaningless things that should destroy him. But the rulers of France, previously smart and proud, now, feeling that their role has been played, are even more embarrassed than he is, and say the wrong words that they should have said in order to retain power and destroy him.
Chance, millions of coincidences give him power, and all people, as if by agreement, contribute to the establishment of this power. Accidents make the characters of the then rulers of France subservient to him; accidents make the character of Paul I recognizing his power; chance conspires against him, not only not harming him, but asserting his power. An accident sends Enghien into his hands and inadvertently forces him to kill, thereby, stronger than all other means, convincing the crowd that he has the right, since he has the power. What makes it an accident is that he strains all his strength on an expedition to England, which, obviously, would destroy him, and never fulfills this intention, but accidentally attacks Mack with the Austrians, who surrender without a battle. Chance and genius give him victory at Austerlitz, and by chance all people, not only the French, but all of Europe, with the exception of England, which will not take part in the events that are about to take place, all people, despite the previous horror and disgust for his crimes, now they recognize his power, the name he gave himself, and his ideal of greatness and glory, which seems to everyone to be something beautiful and reasonable.
As if trying on and preparing for the upcoming movement, the forces of the West several times in the years 1805, 6, 7, 9 rush to the east, growing stronger and stronger. In 1811, the group of people that had formed in France merged into one huge group with the middle peoples. Together with an increasing group of people, the power of justification of the person at the head of the movement further develops. In the ten-year preparatory period preceding the great movement, this man is brought together with all the crowned heads of Europe. The exposed rulers of the world cannot oppose the Napoleonic ideal of glory and greatness, which has no meaning, with any reasonable ideal. One in front of the other, they strive to show him their insignificance. The King of Prussia sends his wife to curry favor with the great man; the Emperor of Austria considers it a mercy that this man accepts the daughter of the Caesars into his bed; the pope, guardian of the sacred things of the people, serves with his religion the exaltation of a great man. It is not so much that Napoleon himself prepares himself to fulfill his role, but rather that everything around him prepares him to take upon himself the full responsibility of what is happening and is about to happen. There is no act, no crime or petty deception that he has committed that is not immediately reflected in the mouths of those around him in the form of a great deed. The best holiday that the Germans can come up with for him is the celebration of Jena and Auerstätt. Not only is he great, but his ancestors, his brothers, his stepsons, his sons-in-law are great. Everything is done in order to deprive him of the last power of reason and prepare him for his terrible role. And when he is ready, so are the forces.
The invasion is heading east, reaching ultimate goal- Moscow. The capital is taken; The Russian army is more destroyed than enemy troops were ever destroyed in previous wars from Austerlitz to Wagram. But suddenly, instead of those accidents and genius that had so consistently led him so far in an unbroken series of successes towards his intended goal, there appears a countless number of reverse accidents, from a runny nose in Borodino to frost and the spark that lit Moscow; and instead of genius there are stupidity and meanness, which have no examples.
The invasion runs, comes back, runs again, and all the coincidences are now no longer for, but against it.
There is a counter-movement from east to west with remarkable similarity to the previous movement from west to east. The same attempts at movement from east to west in 1805 - 1807 - 1809 precede the great movement; the same clutch and group of huge sizes; the same pestering of the middle peoples to the movement; the same hesitation in the middle of the path and the same speed as you approach the goal.
Paris - the ultimate goal has been achieved. Napoleonic government and troops are destroyed. Napoleon himself no longer makes sense; all his actions are obviously pathetic and disgusting; but again an inexplicable accident occurs: the allies hate Napoleon, in whom they see the cause of their disasters; deprived of strength and power, convicted of villainy and deceit, he would have to appear to them as he appeared to them ten years ago and a year after - an outlaw robber. But by some strange chance no one sees this. His role is not over yet. A man who ten years ago and a year after was considered an outlaw robber is sent on a two-day journey from France to an island given to him in possession with guards and millions who pay him for something.
The movement of peoples begins to settle into its shores. The waves of the great movement have subsided, and circles are formed on the calm sea, in which diplomats rush, imagining that they are the ones causing the lull in the movement.
But the calm sea suddenly rises. It seems to diplomats that they, their disagreements, are the reason for this new onslaught of forces; they expect war between their sovereigns; The situation seems insoluble to them. But the wave, the rise of which they feel, is not rushing from where they expect it. The same wave is rising, from the same starting point of movement - Paris. The last surge of movement from the west is taking place; a splash that should resolve the seemingly intractable diplomatic difficulties and put an end to the militant movement of this period.
The development of any country is closely related to its natural conditions. They influenced the settlement of people, the spread of various types of economic activities (cattle breeding, agriculture, trades, crafts, trade, industry, transport), the emergence of cities, and the formation of administrative-territorial divisions. The interaction of natural conditions and society in the course of historical development is studied by a special discipline - historical geography.
She uses research methods of both history and geography. One of these methods is cartographic. Using symbols, data from historical sources are plotted on the map, resulting in a picture of the processes that took place in the history of the country. Thus, the movement of tribes on the territory of Eastern Europe (the Great Migration of Peoples), in comparison with its natural conditions, helps to visualize where and how the Russian land came from, the configuration of its borders, the nature of the relationship between the forest and the steppe, and the features of the economic and political structure. Related to the cartographic method is the toponymic method, i.e., the study of geographical names (toponyms). If you look at a map of Russia, you can see that in the northern half of its European part, the names of many rivers end in “-va” or “-ma”, which means “water” in the language of a number of Finno-Ugric peoples. By tracing the geography of such names on a map, it is possible to clarify the territory of settlement of these peoples in the distant past. Geographical names Slavic root on the same territory help to imagine the settlement routes of the Slavs, who, under pressure from the steppe nomads, went north and brought with them the names of rivers, settlements, and cities familiar to them. Many of these cities are named after the Russian princes who founded them. The names of cities, settlements, settlements, and streets indicate the occupation of their inhabitants, for example, the names of many streets in Moscow - Myasnitskaya, Bronnaya, Karetnaya, etc.
The first historical maps are quite primitive and reflect the level of geographical ideas of their time. These include, for example, maps of Muscovy compiled by foreigners who visited it. Although they are striking in their inaccuracy and inconsistency of information, they nevertheless serve as an important aid in the study of the history of our homeland.
Knowledge of historical geography has not only scientific, but also practical significance. The experience of cultivating cultivated plants, building houses and other structures developed over centuries can be useful in modern economic activity. Meteorological observations, weather cycles, natural disasters, etc. contained in historical sources, also help in carrying out certain activities in the economy.
Modern historical geography pays great attention to the study of the role of the geographical factor in the history of our country, which makes it possible to establish patterns associated with the historical zoning of Russia. After all, each economic region is at the same time a historical concept, absorbing the influence of many factors related not only to the economy, but also to natural conditions, methods of settlement of people, social relations, political events, etc. The outlines of individual regions have changed in the course of historical development , but in general, by now a fairly stable system of districts has developed. The historical core of Russia became the Central District, later called Industrial. The beginning of its formation goes back to North-Eastern Rus', the Great Duchies of Vladimir and Moscow. In Russian state XVII V. it was named Zamoskovny Krai. The totality of natural conditions determined the nature of the population’s occupation, mainly in various crafts. The development of the region was greatly influenced by Moscow, which was the center of crafts and trade, administrative, military and church functions, the main point where communications routes flocked, where the foundations were laid Russian statehood and culture.
The appearance of the Russian North began to take shape very early. Its specifics were determined by fur, forestry and fishing industries, as well as crafts and trade, which were less developed than in the Center.
To the south of the Central Industrial Region was the Agricultural Center (Tsentralno-Agricultural, Central Black Earth Region). Russian peasants escaping serfdom settled here. By the 18th century The agricultural center is the main supplier of agricultural products for the Industrial Center and all of Russia, a stronghold of landownership. This region, as well as the Volga region, the Urals and Siberia are considered in historical geography to be areas of old colonization.
The founding of St. Petersburg gave impetus to the development of a new district - the North-Western. Its appearance depended entirely on the new capital of the region, which became Russia’s gateway to Western Europe, the center of shipbuilding, engineering, textile production, and the largest port. Significant territories of the old Russian North and partly the Center, as well as the Baltic states annexed by Peter I, gravitated towards St. Petersburg. The North-West embodied the most progressive model of the country's socio-economic development.
Under Catherine II, the development of the Black Sea steppes began, which took place especially intensively in the first half of the 19th century. This included lands conquered from Turkey, including Crimea and Bessarabia (see Russian-Turkish wars of the 17th-19th centuries). The area was named Novorossiya, and Odessa became its unofficial capital. “Free cultivators” (Russian and Ukrainian peasants) lived here, as well as Germans, Bulgarians, Greeks, etc. The fleet created on the Black Sea played an important role in strengthening the economic and military power of Russia, and the Black Sea ports played an important role in the development of Russian trade.
After the abolition of serfdom, important changes occurred in the geography of the country. Rapid railway construction contributed to the intensification of migration processes. The flow of migrants rushed to the steppe spaces of New Russia, the Lower Volga, the North Caucasus, to Siberia, the Kazakh steppes (especially after the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway). These areas began to play a significant role in the Russian economy.
With the development of capitalism in Russia, the role of individual regions changed. The agricultural center and mining Urals faded into the background. But the areas of new colonization (Novorossiya, Lower Volga, Kuban) progressed quickly. They became the main breadbaskets of Russia, centers of the mining industry (Donbass - Krivoy Rog). At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. in Russia, especially in the North-West, in the Industrial Center, in Novorossiya, the number of plants and factories is growing, the largest industrial centers are emerging, the number of workers is increasing, business organizations and unions are being created (see Russia at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries).
On the eve of the October Revolution of 1917, the main outlines of the economic structure of Russia, its inherent division of labor between regions, the configuration of communication routes, internal and external relations took shape.
HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY, a complex discipline that studies the physical, socio-economic, cultural, political geography of past eras in historical dynamics. It was formed at the intersection of history and geography. There are differences in the definition of the subject of historical geography by historians and geographers, as well as by various national scientific schools. In historical science, historical geography is defined as an auxiliary historical discipline that studies the spatial side of the historical process or the specific geography of the past of a particular country or territory. The tasks of historical geography include mainly the localization of historical events and geographical objects in past eras. In particular, historical geography studies the dynamics of the internal and external borders of states and their administrative-territorial units, the location and topography of cities, villages and other settlements, fortresses, monasteries, etc., the localization of transport communications and trade routes in the historical past, directions historically significant geographical travels, expeditions, sailings, etc., determines the routes of military campaigns, places of battles, uprisings and other historical events.
In the understanding of most physical geographers, historical geography is a science that studies the “historical”, that is, the last stage after the appearance of man, in the development of nature (the natural environment); within the framework of this research direction, a special subdiscipline has emerged - the historical geography of landscapes (V.S. Zhekulin and others). Economic geographers consider historical geography as a discipline that studies mainly “time slices” (features that characterize a particular era). At the same time, historical geography also includes works focused on studying the history of modern economic and geographical objects, as well as on studying the evolution of national, regional and local settlement systems, territorial production clusters, spatial structures of the economy and other socio-spatial structures of various levels of hierarchy (national, regional, local).
The main sources for historical geography are archaeological and written (chronicles, historical materials, military topographical descriptions, travel materials, etc.) monuments, information on toponymy and linguistic data, as well as information necessary for the reconstruction of physical-geographical landscapes of the past. In particular, in historical geography, materials from spore-pollen and dendrochronological analysis are widely used; Much attention is paid to identifying relict and dynamic characteristics of landscape components (biogenic, hydromorphic, lithogenic), recording “traces” of past anthropogenic impacts on the natural environment (sampling soils formed on ancient structures, marking the boundaries of former land tenures and agricultural lands expressed in the cultural landscape) . Historical geography uses both synchronic research methods (“time slices”) and diachronic ones (when studying the history of modern geographical objects and the evolution of spatial structures).
Historical sketch. Historical geography as a special field of knowledge began to take shape during the Renaissance and the Great Geographical Discoveries. The greatest importance for its formation in the 16th century were the works of the Flemish geographers and cartographers A. Ortelius and G. Mercator, the Italian geographer L. Guicciardini, and in the 17-18th centuries - the Dutch geographer F. Kluver and the French scientist J. B. D'Anville. In the 16th-18th centuries, the development of historical geography was inextricably linked with historical cartography; Particular attention in historical and geographical works was paid to the historical dynamics of population distribution, the settlement of various peoples, and changes in state borders on the political map of the world. In the 19th-20th centuries, the subject of historical geography expanded; the range of issues studied included problems of historical economic geography, interaction between society and nature in the historical past, the study of historical types of environmental management, etc.
Leading national schools of historical geography were formed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The closest connection between history and geography developed during this period in France. In line with the geohistorical synthesis, the fundamental works of the French geographer J. J. E. Reclus were carried out, including the multi-volume work “New General Geography. Land and People" (volumes 1-19, 1876-94), which established the role of historical geography in regional studies and regional studies. The historical and geographical traditions of the Reclus school were continued in the works of representatives of the French school of human geography (the head of the school is P. Vidal de la Blache). He and his followers (J. Brun, A. Demangeon, L. Gallois, P. Desfontaines, etc.) formulated the most important principles of geographical possibilism, which for many decades became the methodological basis for the development of not only French, but also the entire Western historical geography. In the 20th century, the tradition of geohistorical synthesis in French science were also supported within the framework of the historical “annals” of the school (especially in the works of L. Febvre and F. Braudel).
In Germany, an important impetus to the formation and development of historical geography was given by the works of F. Ratzel, the founder and leader of German anthropogeography. The focus of the German anthropogeographical school was on the influence of natural factors on the history of different peoples. Also, the works of Ratzel and his students described in detail the spread of local and regional cultural complexes around the globe, the role of historical contacts in the formation of the culture of peoples in inextricable connection with the landscape features of the corresponding territories. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, major works on the historical geography of agriculture (E. Hahn), the settlement of peoples and the spread of civilization in Europe (A. Meitzen) were published in Germany, and the foundations for the historical and geographical study of cultural landscapes were laid (O. Schlüter). Leading representatives of German historical geography of the 2nd half of the 20th century are H. Jäger and K. Fehn.
In the Anglo-Saxon countries (Great Britain, the USA, etc.), historical geography began to develop rapidly after the 1st World War. The leader of British historical geographers since the 1930s has been G. Darby, whose work in the field of historical geography is considered a classic example of the successful use of the “time slice” methodology. The works of Darby and the scientists of his school significantly advanced the source base of historical geography, into the circulation of which, for the first time, written materials relating to the corresponding eras (historical chronicles, land cadastral books, and other official documents) began to be involved on a large scale. The emphasis was on comprehensive and thorough surveys of small areas from which detailed data could be collected. Along with local (large-scale) research, Darby and his students managed to prepare consolidated works on the historical geography of Great Britain. Similar views on the subject and content of historical geography were held by other leading British historical geographers of the 20th century - G. East, N. Pounds, K. T. Smith, who, like Darby, believed that the main task of historical geography is to reconstruct the geographical picture of past historical eras, using a comprehensive (integral) approach.
In the USA, historical geography during its formation was strongly influenced by the ideas of modernized and adapted to the latest scientific trends of geographical determinism (environmentalism), the main proponents of which in the American scientific community at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries were E. Huntington and especially E. Semple - a student of F. Ratzel, who adopted many of the provisions of his anthropogeography, is the author of the fundamental work “American History and Its Geographical Conditions” (1903). But already in the 1920s, the majority of American historical geographers began to move away from environmentalism, which was replaced by possibilist ideas, borrowed mainly from Western European geography. Leading representatives of American historical geography of the 20th century - K. Sauer, R. Brown, A. Clark, W. Webb. The greatest significance for the development of world historical geography was the work of Sauer, the founder of the Berkeley (California) cultural-landscape and historical-geographical school. In his opinion, the main task of historical geography is to study the interdependence of all the components of the landscape of natural and cultural origin, identified for each class of phenomena, in historical dynamics. In the programmatic work “Morphology of Landscape” (1925), the cultural landscape was defined by Sauer as “a territory characterized by a characteristic interrelationship of natural and cultural forms”; At the same time, culture was interpreted as an active principle in interaction with the natural environment, the natural area as an intermediary (“background”) human activity, and the cultural landscape - as a result of their contact. This setting was accepted for the most part his followers from among the scientists of the Berkeley school.
Within the framework of the International Geographical Union, there is a Commission on Historical Geography; a section of historical geography works at international geographical congresses (every 4 years). In European countries there is an International Historical and Geographical Seminar “Settlement - Cultural Landscape - Environment” (founded in 1972 by the German historical geographer K. Fehn on the basis of the Working Group at the University of Bonn, Germany).
In Russia, historical geography as a scientific discipline began to take shape in the 18th century. Some of the earliest works on historical geography in Russian science were the articles by G. Z. Bayer “On the beginnings and ancient dwellings of the Scythians”, “On the location of Scythia”, “On the Caucasian Wall” (published in Russian in 1728), as well as a number his research (in Latin) on Scythian and Varangian issues. The subject and tasks of historical geography were first defined in 1745 by V. N. Tatishchev. M.V. Lomonosov highlighted the most important problems of domestic historical geography - the history of the movement of peoples on the territory of European Russia, the ethnogenesis of the Slavs and the origin of Ancient Rus'. I. N. Boltin was one of the first among Russian historians to raise the question of the role of climate and other geographical factors in history. Historical and geographical issues took a significant place in the works of V.V. Krestinin, P.I. Rychkov, M.D. Chulkov and others, in geographical dictionaries, in the works dedicated to the North and Siberia by S.P. Krasheninnikov, I.I. Lepyokhin, G.F. Miller, P.S. Pallas and others.
In the 1st half of the 19th century, the relationship between the formation of historical geography and the origin and development of toponymic and ethnonymic research can be traced in the works of A. Kh. Vostokov “Tasks for lovers of etymology” (1812), A. K. Lerberg “Research serving to explain ancient Russian history "(1819), Z. Dolengi-Khodakovsky's "Roads of Communication in Ancient Russia" (1838), N. I. Nadezhdin's "Experience in the Historical Geography of the Russian World" (1837). Trend interconnected development historical geography, toponymy, ethnonymy, etc. manifested itself in the works of N. Ya. Bichurin.
In the 2nd half of the 19th century, the historical and geographical study of geographical objects, tribes and peoples of Eastern Europe mentioned in historical sources continued. The most significant were the works of K. A. Nevolin, N. P. Barsov, N. I. Kostomarov, L. N. Maykov, P. O. Burachkov, F. K. Brun, M. F. Vladimirsky-Budanov, toponymic and ethnonymic studies by M. Veske, J. K. Grot, D. P. Evropeus, I. A. Iznoskov, A. A. Kochubinsky, A. I. Sobolevsky, I. P. Filevich and others. In the works of V. B. Antonovich, D. I. Bagaley, N. P. Barsov, A. M. Lazarevsky, I. N. Miklashevsky, N. N. Ogloblin, E. K. Ogorodnikov, P. I. Peretyatkevich, S. F. Platonov, L. I. Pokhilevich, P. A. Sokolov, M. K. Lyubavsky studied the history of colonization and, accordingly, changes in borders individual regions and localities during the 13th-17th centuries. Theoretical aspects problems of colonization were considered in the works of S. M. Solovyov and V. O. Klyuchevsky, as well as in a number of works by A. P. Shchapov. Materials on historical geography were included in general, regional and local geographical, statistical and toponymic dictionaries (I. I. Vasiliev, E. G. Veidenbaum, N. A. Verigin, A. K. Zavadsky-Krasnopolsky, N. I. Zolotnitsky, L. L. Ignatovich, K. A. Nevolin, P. P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, A. N. Sergeev, I. Ya. Sprogis, N. F. Sumtsov, Yu. Yu. Trusman, V. I. Yastrebova, etc.).
At the end of the 19th century, the first fundamental historical and demographic studies appeared: “The beginning of censuses in Russia and their progress until the end of the 16th century.” N. D. Chechulina (1889), “Organization of direct taxation in the Moscow state from the Time of Troubles to the era of transformations” by A. S. Lappo-Danilevsky (1890). At the same time, Russian scientists began to develop problems of changes in the physical-geographical landscapes of the historical past (V.V. Dokuchaev, P.A. Kropotkin, I.K. Pogossky, G.I. Tanfilyev, etc.). The development of the methodological foundations of historical geography was influenced by the interpretation of the environment and the role of its individual factors in the works of N. K. Mikhailovsky, L. I. Mechnikov, P. G. Vinogradov, the geopolitical ideas of N. Ya. Danilevsky, V. I. Lamansky, K. N. Leontyeva.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the most important sections of historical geography were historical toponymy and ethnonymy (works of N. N. Debolsky, V. I. Lamansky, P. L. Mashtakov, A. F. Frolov, etc.). The problem of colonization was considered by V. O. Klyuchevsky, A. A. Shakhmatov, G. V. Vernadsky, A. A. Isaev, A. A. Kaufman, P. N. Milyukov. The work of M. K. Lyubavsky “Historical Geography of Russia in Connection with Colonization” (1909) became a classic in this area. New directions in historical geography developed (“Thoughts on the arrangement of waterways in Russia” by N.P. Puzyrevsky, 1906; “Russian waterways and shipping in pre-Petrine Russia” by N.P. Zagoskina, 1909). Thanks to the works of V. V. Bartold (“Historical and geographical overview of Iran”, 1903; “On the history of irrigation of Turkestan”, 1914), G. E. Grumm-Grzhimailo (“Materials on the ethnology of Amdo and the Kuku-Nor region”, 1903) , L. S. Berg (“The Aral Sea”, 1908), etc., the study of Central and Central Asia deepened. At the same time, a corpus of materials on the history of the land cadastre, taxation, surveying, demography, statistics was systematized and studied (works of S. B. Veselovsky, A. M. Gnevushev, E. D. Stashevsky, P. P. Smirnov, G. M. Belotserkovsky, G. A. Maksimovich, B. P. Weinberg, F. A. Derbek, M. V. Klochkov, etc.). A significant contribution to the system of knowledge of historical geography was made by geographers - specialists in general problems of geoscience (A. I. Voeikov, V. I. Taliev, etc.). In 1913-14, the “Historical and Cultural Atlas of Russian History” (volumes 1-3) by N. D. Polonskaya was published.
At the beginning of the 20th century, they formed scientific schools historical geography. M.K. Lyubavsky, who gave a course of lectures at Moscow University and the Moscow Archaeological Institute, emphasized that “the presentation of the historical geography of Russia... must be connected with the history of the colonization of our country by the Russian people.” S. M. Seredonin, who taught historical geography at the St. Petersburg Archaeological Institute, put forward his concept of the subject of historical geography, defining it as “the study of the mutual relations of nature and man in the past.” A. A. Spitsyn, who taught historical geography at St. Petersburg (since 1914 Petrograd) University, understood historical geography as “a department of history aimed at studying the territory of a country and its population, that is, the physical-geographical nature of the country and the life of its inhabitants, otherwise speaking, establishing its historical landscape.” V. E. Danilevich, who taught a course in historical geography at the University of Warsaw, adhered to the same ideas about historical geography.
The greatest recognition in domestic historical geography of the mid-2nd half of the 20th century was received by the works of V.K. Yatsunsky and his followers (O.M. Medushevskaya, A.V. Muravyov, etc.). Considered the leader of the Soviet school of historical geography, Yatsunsky identified 4 subdisciplines within it: historical physical geography, historical population geography, historical-economic geography and historical-political geography. In his opinion, all elements of historical geography “should be studied not in isolation, but in their mutual connection and conditionality,” and the geographical characteristics of previous periods should not be static, but dynamic, that is, showing the process of changing spatial structures. The “Yatsunsky scheme” was repeatedly reproduced in the 2nd half of the 20th century in many works Soviet historians, addressing historical and geographical issues. Issues of historical geography were developed in the works of many domestic historians, among them A. N. Nasonov (“Russian Land” and the formation of the territory of the Old Russian State. Historical and geographical research,” 1951), M. N. Tikhomirov (“Russia in the 16th century ", 1962), B. A. Rybakov ("Herodotus Scythia: Historical and Geographical Analysis", 1979), V. A. Kuchkin ("Formation of the state territory of North-Eastern Rus' in the X-XIV centuries", 1984), etc. The historical geography of waterways in Russia has been studied in the works of E. G. Istomina. In the 1970s, textbooks on historical geography were published: “Historical Geography of the USSR” by V. Z. Drobizhev, I. D. Kovalchenko, A. V. Muravyov (1973); “Historical geography of the period of feudalism” by A. V. Muravyov, V. V. Samarkin (1973); “Historical Geography of Western Europe in the Middle Ages” by V.V. Samarkin (1976).
Historical and geographical research carried out in the USSR and Russia within the framework of geographical science was carried out both by physical geographers (L. S. Berg, A. G. Isachenko, V. S. Zhekulin) and representatives of the domestic school of anthropogeography (V. P. Semenov -Tyan-Shansky, A. A. Sinitsky, L. D. Kruber), and later - economic geographers (I. A. Vitver, R. M. Kabo, L. E. Iofa, V. A. Pulyarkin, etc.) . In the middle of the 20th century, a significant number of major historical and geographical works of a regional focus were published in the USSR (R. M. Kabo “Cities of Western Siberia: Essays on Historical and Economic Geography”, 1949; L. E. Iofa “Cities of the Urals”, 1951; In V. Pokshishevsky "Settlement of Siberia. Historical and geographical essays", 1951; S. V. Bernshtein-Kogan "Volga-Don: historical and geographical essay", 1954; etc.). In the 2nd half of the 20th century, historical and geographical research took a prominent place in the works of leading domestic geourbanists (G. M. Lappo, E. N. Pertsik, Yu. L. Pivovarov). The main directions of the historical and geographical study of cities are the analysis of changes in their geographical location, functional structure, and the dynamics of the urban network within a particular country or territory over a certain historical period. An important impetus for the development of historical geography in the USSR in the 2nd half of the 20th century was given by the publication of specialized collections under the auspices of the All-Union Geographical Society (Historical Geography of Russia, 1970; History of Geography and Historical Geography, 1975, etc.). They published articles not only by geographers and historians, but also by representatives of many related sciences - ethnographers, archaeologists, demographers, economists, specialists in the field of toponymy and onomastics, and folkloristics. Since the end of the 20th century, historical geography of culture has become virtually a new direction, revived in Russia several decades later (S. Ya. Sushchy, A. G. Druzhinin, A. G. Manakov, etc.).
A relatively isolated position among the directions of Russian historical geography is occupied by the works of L. N. Gumilyov (and his followers), who developed his own concept of the relationship between ethnicity and landscape and interpreted historical geography as the history of ethnic groups. General problems of the relationship between nature and society in their historical dynamics are considered in the works of E. S. Kulpin. At the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century, interdisciplinary connections between historical geography and economic geography, social geography, political geography, cultural geography, as well as with research in the field of geopolitics are strengthening (D. N. Zamyatin, V. L. Kagansky, A. V. Postnikov , G. S. Lebedev, M. V. Ilyin, S. Ya. Sushchy, V. L. Tsymbursky, etc.).
An important center for the development of historical geography is the Russian Geographical Society (RGS); There are departments of historical geography in its parent organization in St. Petersburg, the Moscow Center of the Russian Geographical Society and in some regional organizations.
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I. L. Belenky, V. N. Streletsky.