Stock Exchange and Commercial Banks during the First World War

Abstract

In connection with the recently published monograph on the First World War by the famous historian Irina Potkina “On the eve of the catastrophe. The state and economy of Russia in 1914–1917”, it is appropriate to evaluate a new book and the events that took place a century ago. The First World War is often referred to as “an unknown war” and “unfairly forgotten”, which is hardly true. The publication of scholarly books and articles, documents, memoirs, and fiction about the First World War prove the opposite. Over the past 100 years, the assessments, views and approaches to the study of the First World War have changed, but the interest in it has never faded. It should be acknowledged that there are still many unresearched and poorly studied topics. I. Potkina’s statements about the level of pre-war development and the importance of the Russian stock market and the banking sector cannot be fully accepted. She comes to the conclusion that during the war years, the Russian economy experienced processes similar to those in most European countries. It is hardly indisputable, especially the assertion about the positive results of the regulation of the credit and financial system. The policy of the tsarist government in relation to the exchange and banks contradicts this opinion. It is also difficult to point out the effectiveness of economic policy, especially in 1917. The authorities lost control over the political, economic and social processes in the country. Russia was going through a severe crisis that led to the overthrow of the autocracy.