Vorobeva Evelina A.,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Novosibirsk State Technical University, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Tale of How Dmitry Vasilievich Quarreled with Rostislav Aleksandrovich: the Activities of the Authorities of the Far East Under Conditions of Grain Crisis of 1905 (Based on Materials From the Russian State Historical Archive of the Far East)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2019-6-3
The article discusses the activities of the authorities of the Far East under conditions of the grain crisis of 1905 that arose in connection with the Japanese-Russian War of 1904–1905. The key reason for the crisis was the Manchurian army Commander-in-Chief A.N. Kuropatkin’s ban on the export of grain from Manchuria for the needs of population of the Far East. Under these conditions, the Amur Region turned out to be the only grain supplier for the entire Far East. Local authorities of the Far East (food commissions of the cities of the Primorsky region, mayors, the governor of the Primorsky region A.M. Kolyubakin, etc.) began to besiege the office of the Amur governor-general with requests to allow the export of bread and fodder for the needs of their population. In most cases, their requests were gratified. In turn, the military governor of the Amur region D.V. Putyata stated that the satisfaction of all requests would lead to a catastrophic shortage of grain in the Amur region, and demanded that the Amur governor-general R.A. Khreschatitsky immediately ban the export of grain from his region. The total number of requests for grain and fodder by June 1905 had amounted to almost 1.2 million pounds of flour and 1.3 million pounds of oats, while the free availability of flour and grain in the Amur Region (as estimated by the Amur Regional Food Committee) was 300 thousand pounds of flour and 315 thousand pounds of oats. The correspondence between Dmitry Vasilyevich Putyata and Rostislav Aleksandrovich Khreschatitsky began to be very stressful. Putyata argued that there was not enough grain in the Amur Region, and the policy of the governor-general could lead to disastrous consequences for the population of the region, and Khreschatitsky in response stated that Putyata was providing incorrect information, and demanded to give bread to the needy areas of the Far East. The situation was aggravated by the position of the Amur flour millers, who preferred to sell flour “to the side” (in neighboring regions), because could get best prices for it there. In June-July 1905, D.V. Putyata banned the sale of grain from the region many times, but it was still carried out, and as a result the Food Commission of Blagoveshchensk declared that it had to refuse to collect information on the availability of essential goods and monitor their export. In general, all authorities demonstrated their inefficiency in the situation of the grain crisis. It was solved in September 1905, when the new commander of the Manchurian army, N.P. Linevich, allowed the free purchase of cattle and provisions in Manchuria. Only then the shortage of bread was over.
Publishing: 30/12/2019
How to cite: Vorobeva E.A. The Tale of How Dmitry Vasilievich Quarreled with Rostislav Aleksandrovich: the Activities of the Authorities of the Far East Under Conditions of Grain Crisis of 1905 (Based on Materials From the Russian State Historical Archive of the Far East) // Historical Courier, 2019, No 6 (8). P. 38–51. [Available online:] http://istkurier.ru/data/2019/ISTKURIER-2019-6-03.pdf
Links: Issue 6 2019
Keywords: history of the Far East; Russo-Japanese war of 1904–1905; food crisis; authorities; society