The military apartment fee in Belarus (second half of the 19th – early 20th century)

Abstract

The article reveals the influence of the military housing tax on the socio-economic development of municipal centers and the processes of urbanisation in Belarus in the second half of the 19th – early 20th century. On the basis of a wide range of sources, it is proved that during the period under review, the amount of funds collected by the population in cities and towns with the active mediation of local self-government institutions for the rental of army headquarters, infirmaries, warehouses, officers’ apartments, rent and construction of soldiers’ barracks was comparable to the total income of magistrates and thus deprived them of the necessary reserve for saving and developing public utilities and infrastructure. On this basis, the collection of apartment money can be considered one of the key economic factors that determined the specifics of the development of the Belarusian city during the modernisation period. Until now the collection of funds in the framework of post-conscription in the territory of the Belarusian provinces has not become the subject of special research. Most of the facts presented in the work are introduced into scientific circulation for the first time.