Siberian Fairs in the Foreign Trade System of the Russian Empire in the XIX Century

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problems of integration of Siberia into the foreign trade system of the Russian Empire during the XIX century. Special attention is paid to the role and importance of Siberian fairs in Russia's export-import operations with the countries and peoples of the East, the ethno-confessional features of Siberian merchants’ participation in foreign trade, the characteristics of Siberia's leading fairs, the range of export and import goods, etc. The development of fair trade in the macroregion contributed to the active inclusion of Siberia in the all-Russian economic processes and the formation of a single economic space. During the century, the number of fairs increased significantly, including those in remote and hard-to-reach areas, where fur trappers from among the small indigenous peoples brought their fur goods. The author provides examples of the activities of large trading houses, the Russian-American Company for the purchase of Siberian goods for their sale abroad, as well as the sale of imported goods at Siberian fairs. He analyses the reasons for the movement of Chinese and Central Asian merchants into the interior of Siberia with goods that were in steady demand at the bazaars. The importance of the development of transport routes (including river ones) in the development of both fair and foreign trade in the period under review is noted. The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway (the Great Siberian Way) and the Manchurian Railway contributed to the expansion of Russian-Eastern trade through Siberia, strengthening the positions of leading fair-trade centres near the railways. By the end of the century, Siberia's foreign trade relations had spread to remote regions of Asia: domestic goods purchased at Siberian fairs could be found in Shanghai and Hong Kong, Japan and Korea, the Philippines and Singapore, etc.