About the Causes of the Economic Crisis of the Cossacks on the Eve of the XX Century: the Dynamics of Prices for Cossack Equipment in the 1860– 1890

Abstract. Traditionally, land shortage, which became widespread in Cossack villages, is considered as the most important cause of the economic crisis of the Don Cossacks on the eve of the 20th century. However, the commission of N.A. Maslakovets, which investigated the causes of the depletion of the Cossack farms, concluded that the crisis was also facilitated by the increasing severity of the Cossack military service and inefficient local government. One of the members of the Commission, P.G. Mordvintsev, wrote that the cost of equipment has tripled during the past half of century. The reliability of these statements are analyzed in the article. The author concludes that P.G. Mordvintsev was right. But the rise of equipment prices was non-linear, and it occurred mainly in the period from 1864 till 1875 (at that time, the demands for Cossack ammunition sharply increased), and in the period from 1885-1899 (at this time, local authorities freely supplemented the table of necessary items for Cossacks ammunition with additional items). As a result, the total cost of equipment increased from 70-100 rubles in 1864 to 250-300 rubles in 1899. The factors of the price growth, as noted above, were universal for all Cossack Hosts, therefore they must be considered in Cossacks history studying.

Keywords: the military organization of the Don Hosts, the economic crisis of the Cossacks on the eve of the 20th century, the cost of Cossack equipment, N.I. Krasnov, S.F. Nomikosov, commission of N.A. Maslakovets.