NOTES OF THE STATE EXCHEQUER AND THEIR COUPONS AS MONETARY SURROGATES ON THE TERRITORY OF SIMBIRSK PROVINCE IN 1917–1922

Abstract

The article examines transformations of monetary circulation in Russia after the beginning of its participation in the First World War and the factors for the appearance of surrogates in it after a while in the form of State Exchequer notes and their coupons. In the second half of 1917, the policy of replenishing budget expenditures by money emission combined with an increase in military expenditures and prices, a decline in production, as well as insignificant flow of financial resources from taxes and loans, resulted in an acute shortage of cash both in financial institutions and among the population. In these circumstances, central and regional authorities began to use various ways to resolve the crisis situation, where one of these methods was the use of monetary surrogates on a par with credit notes. The purpose of the study is to determine the reasons why monetary substitutes in the form of State Exchequer notes and their coupons appeared in the monetary circulation in the territory of Simbirsk province and Russia as a whole, and to analyze the background economic situation and the government’s policy towards money in the pre-crisis period and after. In addition, the history of the appearance of State Exchequer notes in Russia is considered. Based on the statistical data, economic research and evaluation of processes in monetary circulation, it is proved that the financial policy initiated by the pre-revolutionary (tsarist) government after Russia’s entry into World War I, and then continued by the Provisional and Soviet governments, led to a monetary crisis. The lack of cash financial resources made it impossible to fully meet the needs of the army, to continue active military operations, to provide financing for state institutions and to make mandatory payments, which caused distrust in the existing government. In such circumstances, one of the expedite ways to find money was to use State Exchequer notes and their coupons along with credit notes and monetary surrogates. The circumstances established in the course of the study make it possible to reveal more complete insights into the content of the processes in the field of monetary circulation that took place in 1917–1918 in the Simbirsk province and Russia as a whole, and to introduce new historical facts to science.