Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
Commentary by Grigory Tsidenkov.
[ColonelCassad] When you hear or read statements that no one died of hunger in the Russian Empire, it is either deliberate deceit or gross ignorance.
When you are given exact figures of those who died of hunger in the Russian Empire, it is a direct manipulation.
All the troubles here are due to the fact that statistics were cave-like, famine was not centrally studied at the state level, the word "hunger" itself was censored, and all more or less significant works were published in specialized, not mass publications.
Let's consider how things really are using the example of the largest and most famous pre-revolutionary famine of 1891-93.
How many people died from the most famous famine of the Russian Empire - no one knows exactly, and I strongly doubt that we will ever establish this. In this post, we will try to show the closest indicators that can be extracted from the available material using official imperial data.
All data presented below are taken from government and ministerial publications, such as: the yearbook "Collection of Statistical Materials", published by the Chancellery of the Committee of Ministers, the yearbook "Statistics of the Russian Empire", published by the Central Statistical Committee of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, yearbooks of the Department of Trade and Manufactures, "Works of the Commission for the Study of the Handicraft Industry in Russia", as well as works on the consolidation of budgets of peasant farms in individual provinces by Anuchin, Gryaznov, Smirnov.
The data were compiled by professors F.A. Shcherbina, V.N. Grigoriev, V.I. Pokrovsky in the collection "The Influence of Harvests and Grain Prices on Some Aspects of the Russian National Economy", Volume II, St. Petersburg, 1897. Let us begin not with the mortality rate itself and the process of impoverishment of the population of the Russian Empire, but with its growth.
One often hears, including on TV from various official and not so official persons, a sarcastically asked and, in fact, frankly amateurish question: "Why, despite constant "famines", did the population of the Russian Empire steadily grow exponentially, huh?"
Indeed, the population of the Russian Empire increased from the end of the reign of Peter the Great to the coronation of Nicholas II almost 10 times: from 13 million in 1724 to 120 million in 1894.
We will answer the question in three points:
1. High mortality was compensated by high birth rate in the absence of contraception, abortions, etc. In years of harvest, which alternated with famine, child survival increased, as did marriage and birth rates.
2. Famines, accompanying and separate epidemics covered separate parts of the empire. Where it covered - fear and horror, where it did not cover - there is a normal increase with the addition of refugees. (In the history of the Russian Empire there was only one hellish year, when it covered the ENTIRE country - wild uncontrollable cholera, crop failure and alcoholism in 1848.
| The rest of the world was convulsed by revolutions that year — perhaps famine is easier… |
This is the only year that gave a negative indicator of the growth of the Orthodox population (there are no statistics for others): -332,276 people.
For comparison, in 1847 it was +494,990, in 1849 +450,246. In addition, 1813 also gave a negative indicator due to war and famine: -2,749 Orthodox people throughout the country).
Constant, even if not very rapid, growth leads, sooner or later, to such a population size that, in the absence of birth control, it begins to multiply in increasing progression simply because of its numbers (see Bangladesh, India, African countries).
3. This table shows us very well how the population of the conditionally "original" Russian Empire actually grew:
1724 - 13 million.
1762 - 19 million.
1796 - 36 million, of which 7 million lived in the new territories annexed under Catherine the Great.
1815 - 45 million, of which 14.5 million lived in the annexed territories.
1851 - 69 million, of which 22 million lived in the annexed territories.
1890 - 113 million, of which 44 million lived in the new territories (see photo 1).
The population of the Russian Empire grew not only due to the European Russian provinces, but also due to the conquered and annexed lands. From the 13 "Petrine" millions, we need to subtract about one and a half - the population of the conquered Baltics and Ingria, Siberia and non-integrated into the general economy foreigners (Kalmyks, Crimean Tatars, Bashkirs, etc.). That is, the conditional "Russians" will be plus or minus 11.5 million.
Looking at the table, we will see that the "Russians" themselves gave an increase of about 5.5 times over 170 years. The figure is quite comparable with the same French in the 18th century, who also died of hunger like flies until the middle of the 19th century - they confidently grew in number, but they were seriously undermined by the revolution and the Napoleonic wars, which gave an increase of only 2 times. Prussia gives approximately the same indicators as Russia. That is, the "Russian" population grew as an average for the hospital, without showing record indicators.
The most famous famine of the Russian Empire in 1891-93 ruined and killed a very large number of people - we can safely say this. But the country in that period still showed growth in general indicators simply due to its enormity. The famine affected to varying degrees 22 of the 50 provinces of European Russia, in which, at the end of 1891, 89,587,000 people lived (with an error of several tens of thousands), at the end of 1892 - 90,923,000 thousand, at the end of 1893 - 91,392,000. Growth, albeit with a decrease, is obvious.
Therefore, we will look separately at those provinces that, as we know, were affected by an unprecedented crop failure.
We take two years for comparison - the post-harvest 1888 and the most famine-ridden 1892. We look at the ratio of births to deaths, which gives the natural population growth. First, simply in quantity, then, to be sure, the same indicators per 100 residents - the population size changed). In some provinces that were completely affected by famine, data may not be provided for all districts, since not all information could be processed (for example, there was confusion and a lack of figures for rural Tatars in the Kazan province).
Grain-producing regions (the hardest hit).
1. Don region:
1888 - 55,128 people were born (6.3 per 100 inhabitants), 32,498 people died (3.7 per 100 inhabitants);
1892 - births 54,519 people (5.6 per 100 inhabitants), deaths 68,257 people (7.0 per 100 inhabitants).
2. Voronezh province:
1888 - births 131,013 people (5.6 per 100), deaths 84,665 people (3.6 per 10);
1892 - births 106,956 people (4.4 per 100), deaths 144,105 people (5.9 per 100).
3. Kharkov province in two famine-affected counties of Volchansk and Starobelsk:
1888 - births 29,648 people (5.7 per 100), deaths 20,667 people (4.0 per 100);
1892 - births 26,311 people (4.7 per 100), deaths 28,392 (5.2 per 100).
4. Tula province in the famine-affected counties of Bogoroditsky, Epifansky, Efremovsky, Kashirsky, Novosilsky:
1888 - births 38,443 people (5.5 per 100), deaths 26,311 people (3.8 per 100);
1892 - births 34,387 people (4.8 per 100), deaths 38,186 people (5.3 per 100).
5. Ryazan province, in the famine-affected Dankovsky, Mikhailovsky, Pronsky, and Ryazhsky districts:
1888 - births 27,729 people (5.1 per 100), deaths 16,429 people (3.0 per 100);
1892 - births 23,695 people (4.2 per 100), deaths 26,550 (4.7 per 100).
6. Oryol province, in the famine-affected Yeletsky district:
1888 - births 15,670 people (7.1 per 100), deaths 10,482 people (5.7 per 100);
1892 - births 13,080 people (4.8 per 100), deaths 13,592 people (5.9 per 100).
7. Kursk province, in the Kursk and Stary Oskol districts affected by famine:
1888 - births 18,494 people (4.7 per 100), deaths 11,843 people (3.5 per 100);
1892 - births 11,843 people (4.0 per 100), deaths 18,110 people (4.4 per 100).
8. Tambov province:
1888 - births 73,610 people (5.1 per 100), deaths 49,289 people (3.0 per 100);
1892 - births 66,528 people (4.4 per 100), deaths 73,443 people (4.9 per 100).
9. Penza province:
1888 - births 66,464 people (5.5 per 100), deaths 45,147 people (3.7 per 100);
1892 - births 57,937 people (4.6 per 100), deaths 64,803 people (5.2 per 100).
10. Kazan province:
1888 - births 79,325 people (4.9 per 100), deaths 50,280 people (3.1 per 100);
1892 - births 63,721 people (3.8 per 100), deaths 84,153 people (5.0 per 100).
11. Samara Governorate:
1888 - births 155,782 people (6.1 per 100), deaths 101,773 people (4.0 per 100);
1892 - births 101,773 people (4.7 per 100), deaths 175,453 people (6.6 per 100);
12. Simbirsk Governorate:
1888 - births 53,542 people (5.4 per 100), deaths 35,651 people (3.6 per 100);
1892 - births 42,161 people (4.1 per 100), deaths 55,771 people (5.5 per 100).
13. Saratov province:
1888 - births 127,669 people (5.4 per 100), deaths 86,630 people (3.6 per 100);
1892 - births 111,418 people (4.6 per 100), deaths 145,459 people (6.0 per 100);
14. Ufa province, without the majority of the Bashkir population:
1888 - births 87,063 people (4.6 per 100), deaths 57,219 people (3.1 per 100);
1892 - births 80,021 people (4.2 per 100), deaths 92,553 people (4.9 per 100).
15. Orenburg province without the majority of the Kirghiz population:
1888 - births 83,331 people (6.2 per 100), deaths 54,606 people (4.1 per 100);
1892 - births 70,653 people (5.1 per 100), deaths 86,152 people (6.2 per 100).
16. Astrakhan province without Kalmyks:
1888 - births 30,727 people (5.9 per 100), deaths 20,755 people (4.0 per 100);
1892 - births 28,798 people (5.4 per 100), deaths 41,608 people (7.7 per 100).
Total for the grain center of Russia:
1888 - births 1,073,618 people (5.5 per 100), deaths 704,245 people (3.6 per 100);
1892 - births 922,359 people (3.6 per 100), deaths 1,156,587 people (5.7 per 100).
In quantitative terms, the natural population decline in 1892 in these provinces was -234,222 people. or -2.1 per 100. If we compare with a prosperous year, then taking the mortality rates of 1888 as normal, we get an increase in mortality of 452,342 people, or 2.1 per 100.
In addition to those indicated, the following non-black earth provinces suffered:
17. Olonets province, in the famine-affected Vytegorsky, Povenetsky, and Olonetsky counties:
1888 - births 5,399 people (4.5 per 100), deaths 4,039 people (3.3 per 100);
1892 - births 4,857 people (3.8 per 100), deaths 5,000 people (3.9 per 100).
18. Novgorod province, Belozersky county affected by famine:
1888 - births 3,326 people (2.3 per 100), died 2,125 people (1.5 per 100);
1892 - births 1,271 people (0.9 per 100), died 2,408 people (1.6 per 100).
19. Nizhny Novgorod province, in the famine-affected Knyaginsky and Semyonovsky districts:
1888 - births 11,563 people (5.3 per 100), died 9,383 people (4.3 per 100);
1892 - births 10,548 people (4.6 per 100), died 10,932 people (4.8 per 100).
20. Vyatka province for the famine-affected districts of Yelabuga, Malmyzhsky, Sarapulsky, Urzhumsky:
1888 - births 62,063 people (5.7 per 100), deaths 41,217 people (3.8 per 100);
1892 - births 54,280 people (4.7 per 100), deaths 60,960 people (5.3 per 100).
21. Perm province:
1888 - births 75,791 people (5.8 per 100), deaths 55,276 people (4.2 per 100);
1892 - births 57,728 people (4.2 per 100), deaths 68,973 people (5.1 per 100).
22. Moscow province, in the Zvenigorod and Ruzsky counties affected by famine:
1888 - births 7,586 people (4.7 per 100), deaths 6,498 people. (4.0 per 100);
1892 - births 7,527 people (4.6 per 100), deaths 7,863 people (4.9 per 100).
In total, according to the figures included in the statistics, for 22 provinces the picture is as follows:
1888 - births 1,239,346 people (5.5 per 100), deaths 822,783 people (3.6 per 100);
1892 - births 1,058,570 people (4.5 per 100), deaths 1,312,723 people (5.6 per 100).
In quantitative terms, the natural population decline in 1892 in the provinces affected by famine was -254,153 people. or -1.6 per 100. If we compare with a prosperous year, then taking the mortality rates of 1888 as normal, we will get an increase in mortality by 489,940 people. or 2.0 per 100.
THESE ARE THE MOST ACCURATE NUMBERS ON MORTALITY DURING THE 1891-93 FAMILY THAT WE HAVE.
And we should operate with them with extreme caution.
In photo 2 - the amount of rented land after the total ruin of the peasants during that famine.
|
