Revival of trade in the Tambov province in the early 1920s

Abstract

Importance. The p roblem o f r estoring t rade i n a r ural p rovince a fter i ts p rohibition during the years of “war communism” is considered. Without a commodity-producing, well-organized trading network, it was impossible to develop industry, agriculture and minimal satisfaction of the needs of the population. The study of the process of trade revival in the early 1920s shows not only the practical experience of restoring exchange operations in the agricultural region of the country, but also the state of the economy of the Tambov province as a whole.Research methods. Published and unpublished sources are used. The historical and comparative method allows us to reveal the essence of the phenomena under study on the basis of available facts within the narrow time limits of the new economic policy.Results and Discussion. The problems of restoring trade in the Tambov province with a predominantly rural population are shown. The conditions of the trade’s revival are considered, the peculiarities of the state cooperative and private trade's organization are revealed, the trading enterprises’ specialization is shown. The transition difficulties to the elements of a market economy are presented against the background of the economic life of an agricultural region. The dynamics of trade development in the early 1920s has been determined.Conclusion. The trade restoration in the Tambov province was complicated by the economic crisis, devastation, falling productivity of peasant farms, and low purchasing power of the population. With the new course's announcement of economic policy, petty bazaar trade begins to revive. Public- cooperative organizations had difficulty competing in the market with private trade and central trusts. The largest retail department stores in Tambov city and the county towns belonged to state and cooperative trade organizations. In cities, large-scale indoor trade grew more systematically, while in rural areas the trading apparatus was revived much more slowly. Small-scale universal trade prevailed in rural areas. Since 1923, the Bolshevik state has sought to establish control over the movement of goods from producer to consumer.