Study On Domestic Grain Market Of Russia (1861-1914)

After the abolition of serfdom in Russia, great changes happened in itseconomy and society. In1890s, industrial revolution having been completedbasically, Russia was still an agricultural and industrial country, with agriculture asits national economic polar and farmers accounting for most parts of the population.To develop agricultural production and guarantee the grain supply proved to be themain task for Russian government and the common concern of the whole society.Studying on grain market of Tsarist Russia aims to solve problems as follows:First, to analyze the balance between supply and demand of Russian market.Grain is the material foundation to the survival of humans, and also the significantcommodity in terms of national economy and people’s life. After the reformation, theindustrialization process had speeded up. The number of cities and the urbanpopulation both grew. The liquidity of rural population enhanced, and the grainconsumption in domestic market increased dramatically. With the permeation ofcapitalist production relations into landlord economy and peasant economy, todevelop commercial agriculture became an inevitable choice. Meanwhile, with thetransference of its grain production center to the south and southeast parts,commercial agriculture developed rapidly in new Russian provinces, north Caucasusand the grassland region on the left bank of the Volga River, therefore, the grainsupply ability improved significantly.Second, to exam the infrastructure construction of grain market. Transportationis the key factor to guarantee the grain supply. Russia covered a vast territory, butdidn’t enjoy a balance agricultural development, with wide differences existing ingrain supply among areas. Traditional animal power and canal transportation had noway to meet the needs of Russian economic development, therefore, it wasimperative to construct railways. Through attracting capital from both home and abroad, Russia established well-organized railway system, which became the maintransporting method. Granary was an important tool to regulate the grain market.After the reformation, domestic needs were increasing day by day, making Russiamore important in the international grain market. The development of nationaleconomy asked for the realization of mechanization of granary and rationalization oflayout.Third, to study the organization of Russia grain trade. Trading departmentbridged producers and consumers. Because of the dominating role of small-scalepeasant and scattered grain production, dealers played their special role in graincirculation. Fixed trades and trade fair were traditional way of grain trades, focusingmainly on retails, while the grain exchanges were modern trading forms, focusing onwholesale. These three trading forms supplemented each other, forming the basicstructure of Russia grain market.Forth, analyze the trading condition of main grain. Production and consumeareas were clearly separated in Russia. With the development of agricultural marketacross the country and railways, the grain trading center were transferred. Thetraditional markets located on road junctions and canals declined, as railway stationsand modern industrial cities began to play increasingly significant role in graincirculation. Eastern provinces were main production areas for rye, oat, and wheat,mainly as suppliers for domestic market, while southern ones were for wheat, barleyand coin, mainly as suppliers for export.In view of the above purposes, the author researched carefully on Russian grainmarket before WWI. Based on the existing results and other documentations, someconclusions are as follows:First, the laggard transportation hindered grain supply. Low railway density,unbalanced layout, lack of coordination between the government and railwaydepartment, neglect for the maintenance of the shipping facilities and river ways, allcaused the declination of grain supplement ability.Second, granaries, especially the mechanized ones were with low utilization, which limited the regulating function of granaries on grain market. Well-organizedgranary system was in bad needs to function the grain market, which means moremechanized granaries should be built. Unfortunately, builders built Russian granariesaccording to American models, neglecting Russia’s own trading characteristics andcommon economic situation, which made Russian granary system was totallyseparated from the actual situations of the country.Third, dealers being the leading role in grain trading intensified thedifferentiation of rural society, which revealed the unbalanced development ofRussian rural modernization.Nowadays, academic circles pay little attention to grain problem of TsaristRussia, not to mention systematic study. Following the route of the production,transportation and trade of grain, this paper made a careful study of the problems ofbalance of grain supply, infrastructure construction of grain markets, organization ofgrain trading and so on, analysing the transference of domestic grain trading centreand making evaluation on the measures that the government took to maintain thegrain supply.