Historiography of German Entrepreneurship in Siberia in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries

Abstract

The historiography of ethnic entrepreneurship in pre-revolutionary Siberia has not yet been fully investigated. Individual works of researchers studied German entrepreneurship exclusively through the broader topic of foreign capital and its importance in the state economy. The subject of this article is historiography concerning the history of German entrepreneurship in the Siberian region. The purpose is to analyze the corresponding works on the history of entrepreneurial activity of the Germans in Siberia in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. In this study both general and specialized scientific methods are used, which allowed to carry out a coherent analysis of the works of researchers on ethnic entrepreneurship in order to identify the main characteristics and approaches used. We have identified the characteristics and trends of German entrepreneurship considered by historians. German immigrants in Siberia in the second half of the 19th century became one of the main driving forces of the agrarian development in the region; they retained farms, acting both as independent merchants and as managers of firms. Historiographic analysis allows to formulate a conclusion about the positive influence of German entrepreneurship on the socio-economic development of Siberia in the period preceding the October Revolution. The article is of interest to researchers, teachers of history, and students of the humanities.

Keywords

• historiography
• diaspora
• history of entrepreneurship
• frontier economics
• german entrepreneurship
• economic activity
• adaptation
• siberia
• 19th century