The Past

COORDINATED CLOSE COLLABORATION

Irina Bobovich,
Professor,
Doctor of Economics

Taisia Kitanina,
Professor,
Doctor of Historical Sciences

         Prior to the events of the 1st World war St. Petersburg, which was the capital, was the largest city of Russia in terms of population. In 1912, 1900 thousand people were living here while the population of Moscow was 300 thousand less. The capital was the largest industrial center of the country: heavy engineering was responsible for 2/5 of all Russian industrial output in 1913. The rapidly developing industrial sectors, including mechanical engineering and shipbuilding, power-production and metal processing and modern paper and textile industries, among others, were among the leading industries in St. Petersburg in terms of their rates of growth and cost of production.
         Being the largest administrative center of the state, St. Petersburg was multi-functional. It was linked to the periphery by a thousand administrative and economic threads. Its spacious consumer market stimulated the inflow of goods and enforced economic links.
         St. Petersburg's economic contacts originated from its industrial development and were dual in nature. On the one hand, the capital's economic complex required a constant inflow of metol, fuel, and raw materials for the textile, paper, leather, fur and other industries. These were mainly supplied from the southern regions of European Russia and from Siberia. St. Petersburg sent the ready products of its highly developed processing industries to these areas. By the early 20th century, the capital's economic links were well established. The traditional directions of its main cargo streams were also determined.
         Another economic link was provided by the consumer goods that satisfied the high demand of the population of St. Petersburg. The Northwest occupied an important position here.
         Throughout the second half of the 19th century, events similar to those occurring in a number of other regions of Russia also took place in this region. Many industrial centers were being established, new trade markets were appearing and old ones were being relocated. Consequently, the flow of industrial and agricultural cargo also changed direction. The process of industry and trade consolidation helped to merge numerous small markets scattered across the vast territory.The mass influx of goods by the new railway lines pushed horse transportation away from the market and dramatically reduced the intensity of transportation by water.
         Imports were just as important in satisfying the needs of St. Petersburg as were domestic sources.
         At the time, the port of St. Petersburg was the largest one on the Baltic foreign trade route. The capital received and shipped many goods through its gates. In 1912, the cargo turnover of the port amounted to 113 million poods of export and 227 million poods of import. St. Petersburg imported (and transited) various industrial products, machines, tools, hard coal and coke, fertilizers, chemical substances, raw cotton, tobacco products, food, colonial goods, spices and confectionery. It exported wheat, butter, eggs, sugar, flags, leather, timber and ores. Contemporary records tell us that St. Petersburg consumed huge amounts of goods: up to one third of all imports via the European border and one sixth of all goods imported via internal waterways.