Внесок дворянства Бессарабської губернії в становлення та розвиток кредитно-банківської системи регіону (друга половина XIX – початок XX ст.)

Abstract

Дисертаційна робота є першим в українській та зарубіжній історіографії комплексним дослідженням внеску дворянства Бессарабської губернії у становлення та розвиток кредитно-банківської системи регіону в другій половині XIX – на початку XX ст. У дослідженні з’ясовано історичні передумови діяльності дворянства в організації позико-ощадних і кредитних товариств. Встановлено загальні риси та особливості участі аристократів у формуванні земських кас регіону. Розкрито ступінь залежності нобілітету від лихварської системи та участі нобілітету в цьому виді кредитування. Визначено місце бессарабських дворян у становленні державної банківської системи. Охарактеризовано особливості залучення аристократів до системи комерційних банків. Проаналізовано представництво нобілітету в структурі земельних банків та установах іпотечного кредиту. The thesis is the first comprehensive study in the Ukrainian and foreign historiography devoted to the contribution of the nobility of Bessarabia province to the formation and development of the credit and banking system of the region in the late 19th – the early 20th centuries. It has been shown that the state of the Bessarabian nobility, as well as the representatives of the aristocracy of different regions of the Russian Empire, reflected all social and economic transformations of the empire, which were carried out at the imperial and provincial levels. The implementation of economic and credit-linked reforms facilitated the involvement of the nobility in the system of credit institutions, on the one hand, and the development of a number of negative and positive consequences for the well-being of the underprivileged population, on the other hand. It has been found out that the level of credit arrangement for the urban population and the peasants of Bessarabia province did not fully meet general needs. The solution of the credit issue in the framework of the implementation of the Law on Credit (1895) and the programmes of the development of credit societies, although spread with the support of the aristocracy, still had a limited level of subsidizing the population. The credit issue in the province was further aggravated by the purchase of land by peasants through the Peasant Land Bank at high prices, which increased social tension and public discontent with the existing financial system. The credit system infrastructure in Bessarabia in the late 19th century was in an unsatisfactory condition and needed immediate restructuring. It has been determined that providing the population of Bessarabia province with socially-oriented loans had empire-wide tendencies: a comprehensive limit and a low quality of small credit institutions of the pre-reform period. The credit and banking institutions of Bessarabia province in the 1870-1880’s also did not entirely meet the basic needs of the population in short-term loans. Some impact on expanding the region's credit system was made by the representatives of local noble families who, at various levels of government, facilitated the establishment of credit institutions and the training of qualified personnel from the peasants and the citizens of Bessarabia to work in them. It has been found out that the social and economic transformations of the 1895-1912's had a positive effect on the level of providing the population of Bessarabia with loans and services of high quality. The implemented reforms resulted in overcoming the existing credit restraints for rural and urban population and enhancing the service culture. The creation of credit institutions overcame the loan deficit in the consumer market and led to cheaper services. The attention has been focused on the administrative work of the nobles in the credit system development. Particular attention has been paid to the two-way interaction between the nobility and district council funds of the province; some examples of incidental financing of these institutions have been demonstrated. After analyzing the materials available, the conclusion has been made that the credit service to the population of Bessarabia province was in the constant development. The increase of the nobility's involvement in the work of banking and credit institutions has been found out to be associated with the abolition of serfdom and the search for new prospects. The processes of engaging such institutions into the work of municipal councils and district councils have been given attention to. The work of banking and credit institutions improved the level of agriculture, since the services they provided largely expanded public services. The great bankers and financiers of the Russian Empire, in general, and Bessarabia, in particular, were involved in the implementation of the objectives of the state credit campaign: the organization of seminars, lectures, publication of articles in periodicals. The vast majority of such financial workers had personal or hereditary noble titles. It has been found out that the state continued to promote the aristocracy ideologically by advancing the banking, on the one hand, and eased the lending process for the urban and rural population of Bessarabia province under the influence of credit institutions development, on the other hand. The credit sphere was characterized by class-oriented policy, i.e. oriented towards the aristocracy. The behavior of the nobility of Bessarabia province was also characterized by financial activity. The local landowners used state loans and resorted to money lenders. It was widespread that, as an additional source of financial income, people received the social assistance provided by the district and province bodies of the nobility assembly and the nobility guardianship.