Ekaterina Aleksandrovna Kashapova,
Postgraduate Student, Yelabuga Institute of Kazan Federal University; Yelabuga State Historical-Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve, Yelabuga, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Entrepreneurial Activity of P.P. Batolin (1878–1939) in Exile in 1918–1925
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2023-5-19
After the collapse of the Russian Empire, Russian entrepreneurs who were in emigration considered the situation in the country to be a “temporary inconvenience”. Prokopy Petrovich Batolin (1878–1939), being part of the business elite of the Russian Empire, was on his business trip to Japan and the United States between the two revolutions and supposed that this time could be used as a period to establish contacts with partners and time to gain experience. Acting on behalf of the Partnership “I. Stakheev and Co.”, Prokopy Batolin signed contracts with American entrepreneurs. His partners were: Cyrus McCormick, Jr., Edsel Ford, Samuel McRoberts, E.P. Rosenbaum and Percy Rockefeller. During the trip, in the context of Russian-American relations, the “People’s Industrial Trading Co.”, a non-profit organization whose purpose was anti-Bolshevik activities, was created. P. Batolin did not exclude the possibility of working in cooperation with the Soviet government, his relationships included: L. Trotsky, L. Krasin, N. Krestinsky, F. Dzerzhinsky. The cosmopolitan approach of the entrepreneur and the desire to restore the country’s economy were used by the Soviet government as a way to obtain information and investments. Conclusion of contracts by the Partnership “I. Stakheev and Co.” with the Japanese company Mitsubishi, as well as the ownership of the Chinese Eastern Railway and the concession right for Sakhalin oil and coal became the subject of international negotiations and disputes. The facts presented in the article are the result of a study in Russian and foreign archives, which make it possible to present the entrepreneurial activity of P. Batolin in exile more fully.
Publishing: 28/10/2023
The article has been received by the editor on 04/07/2023
How to cite: Kashapova E.A. The Entrepreneurial Activity of P.P. Batolin (1878–1939) in Exile in 1918–1925 // Historical Courier, 2023, No. 5 (31), pp. 262–275. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2023/ISTKURIER-2023-5-19.pdf]
Links: Issue 5 2023
Keywords: anti-Bolshevik activity; Soviet government; concessions; America; Japan; emigration; entrepreneurship; business elite