Alexander Evgenievich Goncharov,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Reshetnev Siberian State University of Science and Technology, Krasnoyarsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Admiral S.O. Makarov and the Kara Sea Route: Organizing Timber Exports from the Yenisei River
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2022-3-5
Stepan Osipovich Makarov is inextricably linked with the history of the development of the Arctic, and, first of all, with the construction of the first polar icebreaker Ermak and the idea of using the icebreaker for scientific research in high latitudes. Makarov obtained a reputation not only as a polar scientist, but also as a champion of Russia’s national interests in the Arctic. It is not surprising that both domestic and foreign researchers oppose Makarov to his contemporaries, in particular to the English captain Joseph Wiggins. And if in domestic literature – Makarov acts as a defender of Russian national interests in the Arctic, then in foreign works – Makarov acts as an opponent of the commercial development of the Northern Sea Route on the principles of free trade. However, it is often overlooked that the Ermak icebreaker was planned by Makarov primarily for use in the Kara Sea on the Novaya Zemlya line – the mouths of the Ob and Yenisei. Moreover, in 1898–1899. Makarov, together with the Krasnoyarsk merchant M.D. Sharapov organized an enterprise for the trial export of Yenisei timber to England. Makarov worked closely with the British firm Francis William Leybourne-Popham, which until 1898 enjoyed preferential terms for the importation of foreign goods to Siberia, and this despite the fact that Makarov was among the most authoritative opponents of the free port. In this article, we will consider the evolution of views on the development of trade along the Northern Sea Route in the 19th century and contextualize Makarov’s project for the development of this transport corridor.
Publishing: 28/06/2022
The article has been received by the editor on 15/04/2022
How to cite: Goncharov A.E. Admiral S.O. Makarov and the Kara Sea Route: Organizing Timber Exports from the Yenisei River // Historical Courier, 2022, No. 3 (23), pp. 62–76. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2022/ISTKURIER-2022-3-05.pdf]
Links: Issue 3 2022
Keywords: Admiral S.O. Makarov; Northern Sea Route; Kara Sea; Yenisei; history of shipping; timber export