Food crisis in the Yakut region during the First World War (July 1914 – February 1917)

Dolidovich Olesya Mikhailovna ORCID: 0000-0003-3364-1528 Doctor of History Associate Professor, Department of Russian History, World and Regional Civilizations; Siberian Federal University  660041, Russia, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Krasnoyarsk, Svobodny Avenue, 79 dolidovich@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Starovoitova Evgeniya Nikolaevna ORCID: 0000-0001-6262-7931 PhD in History Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Social Sciences; Siberian State University of Science and Technology named after M.F. Reshetnev 660037, Russia, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Krasnoyarsk, prospekt im. gazeta Krasnoyarsk worker, 31 jane_star78@mail.ru Other publications by this author

1. Introduction

Due to a number of factors (harsh climatic conditions, low population density, the predominance of extractive industries in industry, etc.), Yakutia (Sakha Republic) does not provide the population with its own food. In Soviet times, the supply of the region was carried out through state planned delivery at fixed prices. At the present stage, the practice of food supply by private commercial structures and its distribution through the system of wholesale and retail markets, as it was in the Russian Empire, is being implemented.  To compile comprehensive programs for the socio-economic development of the region, it is useful to turn to the analysis of historical experience. When determining the general principles of food security in crisis situations, it is advisable to consider the features of food security of the population of Yakutia during the First World War.

         In the historical literature, the problem of food supply to the population of the Yakut region until 1917 was practically not covered. The works of the pre-October period are few ^{[6; 24]}. In Soviet historiography, certain aspects were considered – natural and territorial features of the region, the process of settlement of Yakutia by Russians since the XVII century and land relations, the nature of agriculture and animal husbandry, the development of crafts and the emergence of industry, communication routes, transport, etc. ^{[2; 3; 8; 32]}. At the present stage, there are still no special studies. There are works on the socio-economic and socio-political development of Yakutia at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries, which highlight such issues as the formation of a state-owned grain system, the development of small-scale credit, the role of government agronomic measures in the development of the Yakut economy ^{[4; 5]}, the influence of the Lena gold mines on the development of trade and agriculture ^[1]. It is shown that the consequences of the First World War for the region were severe: the delivery of goods by the Sea of Okhotsk through the port of Ayan and by rail from the western regions of the Russian Empire and Siberia decreased ^{[35; 36]}. Thus, certain aspects of the system of food production, storage, processing and trade in the Yakut region in the second half of the XIX – early XX centuries have been studied in fragments.

The source base of this article is a set of archival and published materials. From the funds of the Russian State Historical Archive (RGIA), the office documentation of a special meeting was extracted to discuss and combine measures on the food business (fund 457: telegrams to the commissioner of the Yakut region, materials on the establishment of firm prices for food and fodder, reports on measures to combat high prices, correspondence on the supply of food to citizens, etc.) and the Main Directorate for Local Economy Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (fund 1288: materials on the food situation in the provinces and regions of Eastern Siberia in 1915-1917). Documents of the office of the Irkutsk Governor-General stored in the State Archive of the Irkutsk Region (GAIO) were also used (fund 25: reports of city governments on price taxation, speculation and combating it circulars on assistance to municipalities and cooperatives in the purchase of food, etc.). Statistical sources are presented by annual reviews compiled on the basis of reports of the Office of the regional administration. The publications contain materials on the size and composition of the population, the development of agriculture, crafts, trade. Periodicals occupy an important place. During the war period, official, public and private publications were published in the Yakut region ("Yakut Regional Vedomosti", "Lena Krai", "Yakut Outskirts"). The newspapers covered the current changes in the conditions of commodity exchange and the consumer market in Eastern Siberia in general and the Yakutsk region in particular.

2. The reasons for the shortage and high cost of food

By the beginning of the XX century, the area of the Yakut region was 3,357,556.3 square versts, which was one fifth of the territory of the Russian Empire. Administratively, the region belonged to the Irkutsk Governor-General and included Verkhoyansky, Vilyuysky, Kolyma, Olekminsky and Yakut districts. According to V. I. Pronin's calculations, which was based on the data of the Central Statistical Committee, by January 1, 1914, 330.0 thousand people lived here ^{[25, p. 90]}.

The structure of nutrition and the food ration of the inhabitants of the region differed significantly depending on the leading type of economic activity of the district where they lived. So, in the Olekminsky district, the main occupation of the population was agriculture, Yakut and Vilyuysky – cattle breeding and partly agriculture, Verkhoyansk – cattle breeding and fishing, Kolyma – fishing and hunting. Thus, agriculture played an important role only in three districts, while local harvests were characterized by instability ^{[32, p. 317]}.

On the eve and during the First World War, approximately 1.5 million pounds of grain were required for the annual consumption of the population of the Yakut region. The deficit, which was not provided by its own production, amounted to 500,000 pounds. The missing amount of grain was covered by import, but there are no exact statistics on exactly how many and what kind of loaves were imported. It is only known that from Irkutsk province, depending on the harvest and demand, merchants annually delivered from 100,000 to 300,000 pounds. It should be noted that the Irkutsk province itself, which also did not produce bread in sufficient quantities, imported grain from the Yenisei province and the provinces of Western Siberia. Bread was delivered to the eastern regions of Yakutia from the Primorsky Region ^{[6, p. 6; 24, p. 7]}.

An important tool for helping the population were bakery stores, the responsibility for the functioning of which, as well as the regulation of local food prices, was assigned to the Yakut regional board. Until the end of the XIX century, 18 state-owned stores were opened in all districts, where about 12,000 pounds of bread were stored. The region's bread needs increased due to the growing number of exiles, the demand of developing agriculture for seeds, and the gradual change in the diet of residents of the northern districts. In lean years, in order to prevent famine, bread was released to townspeople, peasants and foreigners for cash, on loan or irrevocably. In addition to state-owned ones, a network of public bakery stores was also formed ^{[4, p. 19-20]}. The Kolyma District, which was the weakest in economic terms, resorted to government assistance most often, almost every year. Residents of Sredne-Kolymsk and fishing camps along the Kolyma River often suffered from hunger in case of under-fishing. Their wealth was low, because there were no other earnings besides fishing ^{[17, pp. 8-13]}.

Cattle breeding also depended on climatic conditions to the same extent. In the northern districts, indigenous peoples bred deer, while the southern Russian population bred horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs. Cattle breeds were hardy, but low-productive. In order to provide livestock feed in case of crop failure, public hay stocks were created. The foreigners themselves considered the need to maintain them as a burdensome duty, from which they sought to evade. Basically, both the Russian and non-Russian population made do with meat from their own farms, livestock products were supplied to cities and mines. Yakutsk bought the missing amount of meat in Mongolia ^[3].

Geographical and climatic conditions, undeveloped transport infrastructure of the Yakut region determined the peculiarities of the delivery of goods and trade. Goods from European Russia and Western Siberia were delivered by rail to Irkutsk, then they were transported by horse to the Kachug and Zhigalov piers. With the onset of spring and the beginning of rafting on the Lena, transportation from warehouses to Yakutsk began. At the beginning of navigation, the loading capacity of carbases due to high water was maximum (3,000 pounds), while in summer it decreased (up to 1,000 pounds).

During the war, the government abolished duties on foreign goods imported through the mouths of the Lena and Kolyma rivers. However, import via the Northern Sea Route was more expensive than the conditions of the Lena Route due to a number of reasons – poor exploration of the coast of the Yakut region and the mouth of the Lena in terms of the possibility of passage of ships and unloading of goods, high insurance rates in the absence of full responsibility for the delivery of goods to their destination.

The main shopping center of the region was Yakutsk. Fairs were held in the city in summer (June–August) and winter (November–January). There were also small fairs in Olekminsk, Vilyuisk, Uchurskaya, Ust-Mayskaya, the villages of Nyurba, Suntar, near Nizhne-Kolymsk.  They traded in industrial products, medicines, weapons, clothing and footwear, tobacco, alcohol, food imported from Western and Eastern Siberia, European Russia. At the winter fair, residents of the districts brought food products to Yakutsk (meat, lard, game, etc.), which were bought in large quantities by suppliers of gold mines. Nearby was the large Bodaibinsky gold mining district, in which 145 mines operated in 1914. In Yakutia itself, the mines were located in its southern part and along the Vilyu River ^{[1, p. 41; 8, p. 50-54]}.

The rise in prices for all goods, including food, began in the Yakut region immediately after the declaration of war. The press reported: "As soon as the telegraph brought news of the outbreak of war with the Germans, prices for all goods consumed in the region immediately went up: manufactory, shoes, clothing, sugar, tea, haberdashery, dishes, shot, lead, meat, butter, bread, etc. The most necessary goods experienced a strong increase" ^[12]. Trade here and before had a pronounced speculative character due to the lack of permanent transport links with other regions. For example, special conditions of trade developed in the Kolyma district – the complete lack of competition allowed local merchants to dictate their terms to the population and set prices arbitrarily: "If a merchant imposes only 100% on goods compared to the existing price in Yakutsk, then a Kolyma resident considers it a great favor, in reality he pays much more for goods, especially when they are running out" ^{[18, p. 93]}. Now the speculation has spread even wider. Large merchants sent their agents daily to the highway roads, where they met foreigners with carts of meat, fish, flour, oil and bought supplies, which were later resold at city bazaars at an increased price ^{[10, 33]}.

1914 became a lean year for the Yakut district, so the cost of rye bread increased in the fall. In the following 1915, early frosts also destroyed crops. There were no large stocks of grain in government and public stores. The cost of both local and imported bread was growing. Since the summer of 1915, the price increase has accelerated significantly, since the supply was reduced due to the prohibitions of the commissioners of the Special Meeting on Food on the export of bread, butter and meat from Western Siberia (since the military department made purchases there), as well as violations of railway communication with the western regions of the country. Carriers raised the fee for the transportation of goods, explaining this by the shortage of workers and horses due to mobilization: "If earlier bread delivered to Yakutsk could cost 2 rubles – 2 rubles 50 kopecks, then under the present conditions it could be purchased on the spot in the Irkutsk province for 3 rubles – 3 rubles 50 kopecks and delivery it cost the same, if not more. So, in 1916, imported bread cost about 4-5 rubles, in 1917 – already 5-6 rubles" ^{[6, p. 7]}.

Demand from the population, who could not afford to buy bread at such a cost, was falling. Trading firms began to reduce grain operations. On the contrary, the regional administration was forced to increase the volume of procurement so that those in need could receive a loan in kind from grain stores for sowing or food needs.   

3. Measures of the regional administration and city authorities to provide food to the population

In August 1915, a special meeting was created to discuss and combine measures on the food business, which was responsible for the supply of both the army and navy, and the rear population. The authorized representatives of the Special Meeting worked in the regions. In addition, during the first military year, city food commissions were created in provincial and many county towns, which taxed prices and carried out wholesale purchases for subsequent sale to the population without speculative margins. In the Yakut region, the duties of the commissioner were performed by Governor R. E. Witte. Since the spring of 1915, the Regional Food Committee operated, which included the governor, the vice-governor, the senior adviser of the regional administration, the Yakut mayor, the vowels of the City Duma and members of the board, representatives of trading firms. The creation of food commissions in Olekminsk, Vilyuysk, Verkhoyansk and Kolymsk was recognized as an unnecessary measure: "These cities, very sparsely populated, are completely dependent on the regional city of Yakutsk in terms of trade; they do not conduct direct relations with the commercial and industrial centers of European Russia, being content with branches of firms trading in the city of Yakutsk. In this situation, the above-mentioned provision of the population with basic necessities, depending on the expected rafting on the Lena River of various kinds of cargo, should be understood in a broad sense, since the district cities will be supplied with everything necessary by local branches of Yakut trading firms" ^{[31, l. 46]}.  

Not all ordinary people agreed with the opinion of the authorities that there was no need to create food commissions, given that there were practically no consumer cooperatives in the region (during the years of the First World War, their number increased from 1 to 3 ^{[11, p. 333]}). Thus, the journalist, political exile N. E. Oleynikov wrote on the pages of the newspaper "Lena Krai": "Here in Yakutsk, we do not have such public organizations as are emerging at this time in other cities of Russia and which have already been born due to the demand of the moment, even in all Siberian cities. We have only one public institution – the city Duma, and, therefore, it should act fully armed with all its rights, and not ignore the tasks facing modern city governments" ^[22].

         The regional administration carefully monitored the development of the situation in the grain market. In the spring of 1915, 10,055 pounds of rye flour were purchased. To regulate market prices for bread, a flour warehouse was created at the city public administration of Yakutsk, which, if necessary, was sold to the poorest citizens. So, in May, flour from the city's stock, which by that time was 13,108 pounds 25 pounds, was sold at a price of 1 ruble 70 kopecks per pood.  In June 1915, the governor approved a tax on basic foodstuffs (bread, cereals, meat, lard, tea, sugar, salt, butter, eggs, etc.) for the cities of Yakutsk and Olekminsk ^[19].  

         Large trading firms ("Kokovin and Basov", "A. M. Kushnarev's Heirs", "A. I. Gromova's Heirs", etc.) refused to sell goods at the established rate. On June 23, 1915, a meeting was held in the Regional Administration under the chairmanship of Vice-Governor V.I. Kurilov. He expressed doubt that the fees are unprofitable for merchants. However, the merchants invited to the meeting claimed that the purchase of new goods was becoming more expensive with each batch. Nevertheless, by order of V. I. Kurilov, trading firms were fined 300 rubles each ^{[14; 37]}.  

         The refusal of merchants to trade at a fee and the disappearance of many products and goods from city markets seriously worried the population of the districts, who usually bought tea and sugar in Yakutsk in the summer for several months in advance, since the harvest was ahead. Now, trading firms were releasing a box of tea and a pound of sugar per person – that is, only to comply with the formal requirements of the law: "Such a restriction on the sale of these most necessary products for the rural population cannot but cause enormous material harm, since a foreigner who arrived in Yakutsk from several hundred miles away cannot return home without acquiring sufficient stock at any price" ^[16].

Most of all, the population was concerned about the grain issue. In the autumn of 1915, the Regional Food Committee could not buy enough food and seed bread in the neighboring Irkutsk province, because it, in turn, did not receive enough bread from the Yenisei province, which had experienced a crop failure. A certain role was played by the early onset of shallow water in the upper Lena and the rapid closure of navigation.

Participants of the District Foreign Congress held on August 30-31, 1915, delegates of Yakut ulus and Russian volosts asked the governor to raise the tax on bread and extend it to all settlements, since merchants stopped bringing to Yakutsk. In addition, they expected the start of the sale of state-owned seed and food bread, so that people would start making supplies in the winter ^[39].

The authorities faced sabotage: when city flour appeared on the market at taxed prices, merchants closed their shops. The city's reserves were rapidly depleted, then it was decided to sell flour only to the poorest in an amount of no more than a pood per person. By the end of October, the city had 6,528 pounds of 14 pounds of flour left in stock. The city's grain capital was 4,497 rubles 89 kopecks in cash, 14,600 rubles in interest-bearing securities. After the meeting, the city vowels decided: to ask the governor to cancel the rye bread tax and start purchasing flour at the cheapest possible cost in the markets near Yakutsk and Vitim. In November, the governor abolished the tax on bread, during the winter of 1915-1916, taxes on all other goods were abolished. In the future, the cost of sugar alone was normalized ^[23].

The Eunuchs had supplies of bread. The first Skoptsy, who arrived in the 1860s as exiled sectarians, settled near Yakutsk (the village of Markha), in the Olekminsky district (the villages of Spasskoye and Troitskoye), near Nyurba and Vilyuysk. They used advanced farming methods (fertilizing fields, improving seeds by selection, etc.) and agricultural machines. The yield of their fields was one and a half to two times higher than the yield in other villages ^{[38, p. 138]}. After the establishment of the dachshund in 1915, the Skoptsy stopped bringing bread to Yakutsk, referring to the impassability. Outside the city limits, they sold it at an increased price ^[13].

At a meeting of the Yakut City Duma in November 1915, the vowels discussed the purchase of 4,500 pounds of grain in the Marche at a price of 2 rubles 20 kopecks – 2 rubles 30 kopecks per pood. However, such a purchase would entail a number of other problems: the question arose about who and where would dry and grind grain. At the same time, the vowels openly said that in Yakutsk itself, merchants (their names were not called) were willing to sell large quantities of good dried bread, but not at taxed prices.  After a lengthy debate, it was decided to buy 6,000 pounds of bread in the city.

The vowel Z. P. Filippov made proposals in writing on how the city authorities could get out of the grain crisis. He believed that the rye bread available in Yakutsk and its rural surroundings was enough to meet the needs of local residents. The lack of transportation to the markets was explained solely by speculation. He suggested that the city put on sale as much flour as possible. At the same time, to introduce a card system for the "correct" distribution among those in need. If these measures do not help, resort to requisitions. The City Duma approved the plan.

In the autumn of 1915, residents of Yakutsk expected that the city Duma would buy meat for the population at the winter fair. However, there was no unity among the vowels on this issue. According to I. A. Yushmanov, the 25,000 pounds of meat that private firms bought for the city in Mongolia was quite enough, and no price increase was expected. G. V. Nikiforov argued that meat would rise in price because the Yakuts, in conditions of bread shortage, would replace it in the diet with meat, and the city needed to start harvesting immediately. As a result of the meetings, the City Duma decided to apply for a government loan in the amount of 141 500 rubles for the purchase of food and essential goods: 15,000 pounds of rye flour, 10,000 pounds of grain, 4,000 pounds of sugar, 3,000 pounds of meat, 500 pounds of butter, as well as 300 boxes of matches and 500 pounds of soap ^{[20; 21; 26; 27]}.

The Regional Food Committee has started grain requisitions. In November 1915 and January 1916, R. E. Witte petitioned the Chairman of the Special Meeting on Food for permission to carry out requisitions. On January 30, 1916, it was received. According to the order of the governor, the ranks of the district police, headed by the police officer, in the presence of the governor and officials of the regional administration, conducted a survey of flour and grain stocks among residents of Yakutsk and Markha. The regional administration took over the settlements with the owners of the requisitioned rye flour, as well as the distribution of this flour among the residents in need. The same measures for krupchatka were proposed to be implemented by the city administration.  4,500 pounds of grain were to be requisitioned. However, the city did not have enough funds to pay for it. The City Duma proposed to leave the grain in the shops of the owners, but to sell it on the cards of the city council and a certain fee.  In case of disagreement of the owners, the grain should be withdrawn and sold through the city store, the operation should be carried out at the expense of charitable capital and interest-bearing securities should be pledged. To carry out this work, a special commission was created consisting of three vowels (A. G. Koksharsky, V. A. Pankratiev, Z. P. Filippov) ^[28]. In total, 8,745 pounds of 35 pounds of requisitioned grain were purchased, which went on sale in Yakutsk and the Yakutsk district ^[15].       

Residents of Yakutsk were given cards. The right to buy rye flour and grain from city shops was given to family people with an income of up to 50 rubles a month and single people with an income of up to 30 rubles ^{[9, l. 7 vol.]}. Baked bread was sold for a pound per day per adult. Citizens were outraged by this decision because of the too low rate, which was completely insufficient for the poor: "Wealthier people devour a lot of products in addition to bread, and therefore they do not need so much of the latter, whereas laborers in most cases live only on bread, and for them even a 2-pound portion is too scanty" ^{[7; 34]}.

At a meeting of the Duma on February 24, 1916, the vowel A. G. Koksharsky demanded to exclude him from the commission for the distribution of requisitioned grain. He explained that the census of citizens was made poorly (surnames were incorrectly indicated, many did not get into the census, it was unknown exactly how much and what flour was requisitioned, etc.). Dissatisfied citizens came to his apartment, demanded cards, scandalized. To the refusal and explanation that the cards were issued in the premises of the city Duma, visitors shouted: "Look, you got drunk yourself, and we have to starve!" ^[29]. None of the vowels agreed to replace A. G. Koksharsky in the commission.

Meanwhile, the Yakut City Public Administration received a treasury guarantee for a loan of 100,000 rubles. With the funds provided by the Russian-Asian Bank, a member of the Irkutsk provincial board, I. P. Kokoulin, bought bread for the Yakut region in the Irkutsk province during the winter of 1915-1916. By spring, he had purchased 34,465 pounds 38 pounds of food and seed bread: "The bread was received locally by the time of sowing without delay, and most importantly, the grain turned out to be of good quality by all accounts" ^{[9, L. 6.]}. In addition, the city bought 4,000 sugar and 1,244 meat. Another loan of 100,000 rubles was received for the purchase of 8,000 pounds of sugar ^{[9, l. 8-9]}.

Thanks to the measures taken, the population of Yakutsk and the Yakutsk district managed to survive the winter relatively safely, wait for spring navigation and the delivery of new food shipments. R.E. Witte recognized these food operations of the city with a population of 10 thousand people as quite sufficient: "Neither diseases nor any excesses were observed at this time" ^{[9, l. 7 vol.]}.

However, since the spring of 1916, the supply of products from the Irkutsk province has been declining. The Yakut region, Vitim and Olekminsky mountain districts could not buy enough food and essential goods for the winter of 1916-1917. Representatives of gold mines experienced a similar problem and began to make purchases for the next mining season in local markets. As a result, there was a situation of acute shortage, which the Regional Food Committee reported to the Irkutsk Governor-General. In turn, A.I. Pilts in June 1916 reported to the State Duma that residents of the Yakutsk region and the Prilensky Region were on the verge of starvation, reduced bread consumption to a minimum and replaced it with surrogates ^{[30, l. 4-6]}.   

4. Conclusion

Thus, the main causes of the food crisis in the Yakutsk region during the First World War were: widespread speculation by manufacturers, suppliers, traders, a reduction in the volume of food supplies from European Russia, Western and Eastern Siberia, local crop failure. The activities of the authorized Special Meeting on Food of the Governor R.E. Witte, the Regional Food Committee and the city authorities on food supply of the population included the same measures as in other cities and regions – taxing prices, purchasing food and selling them to the population without extra charge, requisitions and the introduction of a card system. Thanks to the timely and tough actions of the authorities, two military winters (1914-1915 and 1915-1916) passed without incident. However, in 1916-1917, the food crisis came.