The Moscow City Duma and private entrepreneurship at the beginning of the XX century: metro construction projects

Abstract

The object of the study is the Moscow city government and its relations with private entrepreneurship in the pre–revolutionary period. The subject of the study is projects for the construction of the Moscow metro in the early XX century. The study of this issue is important, since modern entrepreneurship and the city authorities will continue to actively cooperate on various issues. In addition, this work allows us to better understand why the construction of the Moscow metro took place only in the 1930s, although the first attempts were made several decades before that. The study pays special attention to the reasons why the City Duma did not want to entrust the construction of the metro to private capital. To determine these reasons, the materials of the fund of the Central State Archive of Moscow – "Moscow City Duma and Council (1870-1917)" were studied. The methodological foundations of the research include the principle of historicism, the principle of objectivity and the principle of consistency. The main methods used in this study include the historical-genetic and retrospective method. The scientific novelty of the study lies in a deeper study of the topic, a detailed study of the materials and the introduction into scientific circulation of a new source – "Verbatim reports on the meetings of the Moscow City Duma for the month of June 1913." According to the conclusions of the study, there were several reasons why the Moscow metro was not built in the pre-revolutionary period. The City Duma did not want to entrust the project to private capital, but was not ready to take on this task because of its high cost. At the same time, members of the city administration were afraid of missing out on potential profits from the future operation of the subway and did not want to share control over such an important transport network. In addition to this, there were concerns among the Duma's vowels that the construction of the metro would have a negative impact on the population of the city, especially in its central part.