kaspy

THE CASPIAN REGION: politics, economics, culture

1818-510X

Астраханский государственный университет им. В. Н. Татищева

2539

10.54398/1818-510X.2025.85.4.001

94(470.46)“18/…”

Transport support for the salt mining industry in the Volga-Caspian region in the 18th – 19th centuries

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0363-2797

Kulakova

Nataliya I.

Kulakova

Nataliya I.

vol-na1986@yandex.ru

Astrakhan Tatishchev State UniversityAstrakhan Tatishchev State University

27012026

49221009202530092025

https://kaspy.asu-edu.ru/en/archive/2025/issue/4/article/2539

https://kaspy.asu-edu.ru/storage/kaspy/archive/4(85)/9-22.pdf

This article analyzes the development of transport routes that supported the salt mining industry in the Volga-Caspian region in the 18th and 19th centuries. Using the salt mines of Lake Elton and Baskunchak as examples, it examines the relationship between salt production volumes and the organization of their transportation to storage sites and markets. It demonstrates that the effective operation of the mines required the creation of a mechanism for interaction between the state and salt producers, as well as the creation of conditions for the development of associated transport infrastructure. Freight transport crises impacted the operation of the mines, were systemic in nature, and were driven by the overall socioeconomic and political situation in the country. The government attempted to control these processes and promptly resolve emerging difficulties through administrative means. However, the industry's further development was hampered by a lack of free competition and private investment, leading to systemic crises. Throughout the 18th and early 19th centuries, government authorities responded with alternating tightening and promotion of salt legislation. The resolution of key issues in the relationship between private capital and government, the admission of capitalist elements to the extraction and transportation of salt, and the introduction of advanced technologies into production in the second half of the 19th century made it possible to create an effectively functioning salt industry not only on a regional scale, but also on a national scale.

EltonBaskunchakAstrakhan provincesalt miningsalt industrysalt minesalt routeplaguetransport communicationsBaskunchak railwayVladimir pierMamai pierlogistics routesrailway construction

the study was supported by the grant of the Russian Science Foundation No. 25-28-00920 “Organizational and economic mechanism for the transformation of the Volga-Caspian transit route during the first Russian industrialization (mid-19th – early 20th century)”, https://rscf.ru/project/25-28-00920/.

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