SIBERIAN MERCHANTRY FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF WESTERN EUROPEAN AND AMERICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY
E. V. Komleva
Institute of History SB RAS, 8, Nikolaev Str., Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
Keywords: foreign historiography, development of the North-East of Eurasia, Siberian merchantry, way of life, fur trade, Russian-Chinese economic relationship, interaction with the state
Abstract
The article analyzes the views of Western European and American authors on Siberian merchantry and its role in the economic and socio-cultural development of North-Eastern Eurasia. The first sketches of the lives of Siberian merchants and colorful characteristics of individual members of this stratum of society came from the pen of the foreign travelers of the second half of the XVII - the early XX century. In the XX century the foreign researchers focused on the issues related to the movement of Russia to the East, the participation of entrepreneurs in this process, the development of Russian-Chinese economic relations and fur trade in the North Pacific region. The interest in these topics is also characteristic of modern English-language historiography. Of particular importance is the recently published work of American researcher Erica Monahan, dedicated to the Siberian merchants of the late XVI-XVIII century. Using the examples of merchant dynasties of different regional and ethnic origin operating in Siberia the author considers the conditions of functioning of merchant capital in the territory of the region, interaction of businessmen with central and local authorities. E. Monaghan draws attention to the flexibility of the Russian government towards the participants of the process of development of new Siberian territories. Inscribing the Russian realities of the late XVI-XVIII centuries in a broader context, the author considers trade as the main mechanism by which the Russian government sought to assert its influence in Asia. In general, while assessing the genesis of capitalist relations in Russia, foreign researchers noted the dominant role of the state in the economy, the desire of power structures to control as much as possible the actions of private entrepreneurs. A characteristic feature of the works of foreign researchers is the desire to present the processes in a global context, to identify the place and importance of Russia in the development of the world economy.
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