Famine in the Volga region 1891 1892. American flag on the Russian "troika"

Weather

The dry autumn of 1891 delayed planting in the fields. The winter turned out to be snowless and frosty (the temperature in winter reached -31 degrees Celsius), which led to the death of the seeds. The spring turned out to be very windy - the wind carried away the seeds along with the top layer of soil. Summer began early, already in April, and was characterized by long, dry weather. In the Orenburg region, for example, there was no rain for more than 100 days. The forests were struck by drought; livestock deaths began. As a result of the drought-induced famine, about half a million people died by the end of 1892, mostly from cholera epidemics caused by the famine.

Other reasons

Weather itself was not the only cause of the famine, as Russia had enough grain to feed the famine-stricken areas. Peasants used medieval tools such as wooden plows and sickles. Modern fertilizers and equipment were practically not used (Petrovsky Academy in Moscow was the only agricultural school in Russia). Russian railways could not cope with transporting the required volumes of grain to the affected areas. In drought-stricken areas, the community dominated with its inherent regular land redistribution (on egalitarian principles), as a result of which the peasants had no motivation to increase the yield in their fields (which after the next redistribution could go to others), but they had the motivation to have as many children as possible ( this was taken into account during land redistribution and made it possible to obtain more land).

The main blame was attributed to the government, which was largely discredited by the famine. It refused to even use the word hunger, replacing it with crop failure, and forbade newspapers to write about him. The government was criticized for only banning grain exports in mid-August, and traders were given a month's notice of the decision, allowing them to export all their grain stocks. Minister of Finance Vyshnegradsky, despite the famine, was against the ban on grain exports. Public opinion considered him the main culprit of the famine, since it was his policy of increasing indirect taxes that forced peasants to sell grain.

Help for the hungry

On November 17, 1891, the government called on citizens to create voluntary organizations to combat hunger. Among the volunteers was Leo Tolstoy, who blamed the famine on the government and the church. Heir to the throne Nicholas II headed the relief committee, while the royal family donated a total of 17 million rubles.

Zemstvos received 150 million rubles from the government for the purchase of food, but only to provide it on loan to those peasants who could later repay the debt, i.e. those who needed help the least.

Notes

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See what “Famine in Russia (1891-1892)” is in other dictionaries:

1891 - 1892 Famine in Russia in 1891-1892 was an economic and epidemic crisis that engulfed the main part of the Black Earth Region and the Middle Volga region (17 provinces with a population of 36 million people[⇨]) in the autumn of 1891 and summer of 1892. The immediate cause... ... Wikipedia - Famine in Russia...

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The corpses of those who died of starvation were collected over several December days of 1921 at the cemetery in Buzuluk, 1921. Famine in Russia 1921 1922 (better known as the Famine in the Volga region of 1921 1922) mass famine in the Soviet republics ... ... Wikipedia

The corpses of those who died of starvation collected over several December days of 1921 at the cemetery in Buzuluk, 1921. Famine in Russia 1921-1922 (better known as the Famine in the Volga region ... Wikipedia HUNGER - HUNGER, a term used both to denote a sensation that accompanies a certain physiological state of the body (see Starvation), and in a social context to denote a mass phenomenon expressed in long-term... ...

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I warn you right away. The topic is not mine, but I found the material very interesting, which is why I am posting short extracts from it. Anyone interested in the topic in more detail can refer to the source from which the figures were taken.

Source: Samara province: day after day... 1891 - 1895. Chronicle of events. / Comp. A.N. Zavalny, P.S. Kabytov, Yu.E. Rybalko. - Samara: Publishing house "Univers Group", 2004, 191 p.

Note for non-historians: GASO – State Archives of the Samara Region.

August 1891

The beginning of famine in the Samara province: the need “for food supplies” began to be felt, it was followed by mass cheap leasing and mortgage of allotment lands, sale of winter crops, mortgage of movable property, sale of livestock and feed (GASO. F.5. Op.12 D.115. L.105ob.-106, etc.).

September 1891

The hungry are given 10 pounds of food per eater per month (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.120. L.12ob.).

October 1891

The starving peasants of Nikolaevsky district are given 20 pounds of food per eater per month (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.120. L.12ob.).

The first cases of scurvy due to hunger were noted. “As the last reserves from previous years disappeared from the peasants, the need gradually grew and increased... Zemstvo food assistance has not yet been provided...” (Prugavin A.S. Starving Peasantry. M., 1906. P.90)

Zemsky chief of the 8th district of Samara district A.I. Samoilov reports to the governor that “as a result of eating 5th grade wheat flour distributed by the zemstvo for food, a disease appeared among the residents of the Voskresenskaya volost”, expressed in dizziness, vomiting and indigestion... Currently, noted Samoilov, people are sick in the village. Voskresensky 76, in the village of Preobrazhenka and 131 in the village. Mordovian Lipyaga 30 people...” The author of the report proposed “to prevent these circumstances,” to begin supplying these villages with “the required amount of rye flour...” (GASO. F.5. Op.3. D.347a. L.11-13).

The Extraordinary Provincial Zemstvo Assembly “accepted as the norm for needy eaters... the distribution of food from September 1, 1891 to July 1, 1892, 30 pounds per eater” per month (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.120. L.12 ).

The zemstvo doctor of the 6th medical district of the Samara district, Shulgin, provided assistance to the peasants of the village of Voskresensky, the villages of Taborikha and Preobrazhenka (over 100 people), who fell ill as a result of eating bread baked from low-quality flour of the 5th grade, issued to the population on loan by the zemstvo (GASO F.5. D.347a L.15, 18). This is how the doctor himself described the bread baked from this flour: “It looks reddish in color, it contains a lot of bran, it tastes mostly bitter; bread made from this flour has the following qualities: it is heavy, has little porosity, and is watery; the inside of the bread has the consistency of soft putty; the crust is cut with cracks; bread easily crumbles into pieces, its nutritional value is insignificant... it is difficult to digest and therefore can cause digestive disorders, especially in children...” (GASO. F.5. Op.3. D.347a. L.15)

November 1891

Due to famine, epidemic diseases (typhoid fever, scurvy) begin to spread in the province, cases of starvation are noted (the village of B. Efanovka, Bugulma district, the village of Yurmanka, Stavropol district, the village of Grachevka, Buzuluk district, etc.) (Prugavin A.S. . Starving peasantry. M., 1906. pp. 160-161).

“...There are more and more beggars in Samara, so it becomes almost unbearable to walk the streets during the day... give to one, another, and a dozen more will follow you. What will happen by spring... The people have become dull now, but hunger will awaken despair, what will happen then? It’s scary to think..." (From a letter from A.L. Tolstoy (Bostrom) to A.A. Bostrom) (Alexey Tolstoy and Samara. Kuibyshev, 1982. P. 43).

“Cases of starvation are reported from various provinces (Samara, Kazan). What will happen in winter? (From Danielson’s letter to F. Engels) (K. Marx, F. Engels and Revolutionary Russia. M., 1967. P. 596).

December 1891

The provincial zemstvo assembly decides to give the starving population “from now on a pound (16 kg) of grain and flour per consumer per month” (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.120. L.9).

Winter 1891 – 1892

The crop failure of 1891 caused enormous damage to the livestock industry of the Samara province: the loss of horses was estimated by statisticians at 142 thousand heads, cattle at 92 thousand heads, sheep at 817 thousand heads (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.161 .L.57).

The government “loaned” 11.79 million rubles to the zemstvo of the Samara province “to provide food assistance to the affected population” (Calendar and memorial book of the Samara province for 1902. p. 31).

In the Samara province there are epidemics of typhus and scurvy (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.130. L.7ob.; GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.163. L.617).

Beginning of 1892 - The Provincial Charity Committee opened in the province, in order to provide assistance to the needy peasant population, 951 canteens, 270 bakeries, 22 precinct committees, 279 rural trustees (GASO. F.3. Op.233. D.1874. L. 72).

January 1892

Food loans throughout the province were used by 838.6 thousand people in need (GASO. F.3. Op.233. D.1874. L.56ob.).

As of January 1, 84 canteens, 29 bakeries, 57 charitable committee sites, 7 district and 91 rural trustees were opened in the Samara province. Their goal is to provide assistance to the needy population (GASO. F.3. Op.233. D.1874. L.72).

From January 1 - The hungry are given 1 pood of food per non-working consumer per month (GASO. F.3. Op.233. D.1874. L.54ob.; GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.120. L.12ob.).

In the province, cases of scorbutus (scurvy), typhoid and typhus appeared among the population (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.121. L.7).

In connection with the appearance of typhus and scurvy “among the people” in Samara, demands were received from the counties to send sanitary detachments to them to combat epidemics (Collection of resolutions of the Samara Provincial Zemstvo Assembly of 1892, p. 122; GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.121. L.7).

February 1892

908.6 thousand people in the province benefited from food loans (GASO. F.3. Op.233. D.1874. L.56ob.-57).

Epidemics of typhus and scurvy are spreading in the province. Doctors and sanitary detachments are sent to the counties to provide medical care to the population (GASO. F.3. Op.233. D.1874. L.71ob.).

Spring 1892 The beginning of the typhus epidemic in Samara, and then in the province (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.124. L.359; D.132. L.72; D.163. L.246-i etc.).

March 1892

Food loans in the province were used by 983.3 thousand people in need (GASO. F.3. Op.233. D.1874. L.57).

April 1892

Food loans throughout the province were used by 1,005.9 thousand people in need (GASO. F.3. Op.223. D.1874. L.57).

Due to the overcrowding of the provincial zemstvo hospital with typhoid and scurvy patients, at the insistence of the senior doctor of the hospital G.F. Kulesha, the hospital council of the hospital decided to build temporary summer barracks to accommodate patients, each for 32 people... The city architect of Samara A.A. took part in the council meeting. Shcherbachev (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.121. L.8ob.).

May 1892

Food loans in the province were used by 1017.2 thousand people in need of help (GASO. F.3. Op.233. D.1874. L.57).

From May 1, the hungry (“the needy population”) are given 30 pounds of food per consumer per month (GASO. F.3. Op.233. D.1874. L.54ob.; GASO. F.5. Op. 12. D.120. L.12ob.).

June 1892

Cholera in Samara province. In Samara alone, over 1,600 people died, of which more than 9/10 were workers who arrived in Samara with their families to earn money “in view of the coming time of this field work...” for harvesting (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.124. L.357). The beginning of the cholera epidemic in Samara. The epidemic lasted 104 days (Journals of the Samara City Duma for 1892, p. 550, 552; Journals of the Samara City Duma for 1909, p. 540; Journals of the Samara City Duma for 1910, p. 427).

Food loans throughout the province were used by 950.1 thousand people in need of help (GASO. F.3. Op.233. D.1874. L.57).

The needy population is given 20 pounds of food loans per month per consumer (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.120. L.13).

July 1892

Food assistance in the province was used by 85.7 thousand people in need (GASO. F.3. Op.233. D.1874. L.57).

August 1892

In the Samara province, 26,535 people fell ill with cholera, of which 11,106 died (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.122. L.50).

Medical and sanitary detachments are completing their work in the districts of the province (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.122. L.51).

Chairman of the Samara Provincial Zemstvo Government P.V. Alabin and members of the provincial zemstvo government N.K. Reutovsky, I.S. Dementeev and A.A. Bostrom was brought to the investigation as accused of “inaction of the authorities in the purchase of grain products for the population of the province through the Kiev stockbroker Weinstein and the Louis Dreyfus and Co trading house in Odessa” (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.408 ).

Cholera epidemic in the Samara province “Brought almost simultaneously to three points of the province (the city of Samara; the Pokrovskaya settlement of the Novouzensky district; the village of Khryashchevka of the Stavropol district), the epidemic quickly covered 977 settlements out of 2431, that is, more than 1/3 of all populated areas of the province, and out of 41 thousand cases, 18 thousand were killed.” Medical personnel in the amount of “no more than 80 people, reinforced by 30 senior medical students (universities and academies); Almost every doctor accounted for more than 12 settlements affected by the epidemic...” (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.124. L.719).

1892-1893 − There is a cholera epidemic in the Samara province... “More than 40 thousand people were exposed to the disease and more than 20 thousand of them ended in death...” In connection with the epidemic, an institute of sanitary doctors was introduced in the province, “whose purpose was to study the province in sanitary terms and the possible improvement of the province according to their instructions ..." (GASO. F.5. Op.12. D.132. L.130; D.140. L.8; D.163. L.617).

I will comment only on a few points.
1. Cholera was brought to the Samara province. Moreover, an outbreak of cholera is noted even at the moment of severe famine, and not after it, as has sometimes happened in discussions.
2. The number of deaths from cholera is known quite accurately. For me personally, it is strange that the compilers of the collection did not find in the State Archive of the Saratov Region the number of people who died from hunger, even approximately, although starvation deaths began to be noted back in November 1891. Nobody counted? Or didn’t you want to publish?
3. To fully understand the scale of the famine, it is worth adding that on January 1, 1895, the population of the Samara province was 2,704,045 people. of both sexes, including in cities, suburbs and suburbs - 188,098 people, in counties - 2,515,947. Thus, according to the given figures, food aid covered at least more than a third of the population of the Samara province, based on the population presented above. What about the rest? And what should the mortality rate be then?

Requisites

"From America with love!" - today these words can be read on humanitarian aid cargo arriving from the United States to Russia. But the Americans have helped the Russians in the past. At the end of the 19th century, when the central provinces of the Russian Empire were gripped by a terrible famine, there were many people overseas who were ready to show mercy and humanity.

The published documents open one of the little-known pages in the history of Russian-American international relations of the last century: they talk about the philanthropic movement that unfolded in the United States to help the starving population of Russia. This movement originated in the northwestern states of America. The farmers and millers who lived there became the initiators and main participants in the charity campaign. The organizer and inspirer of the movement was William Edgar, editor of the weekly trade magazine North Western Miller, published in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In August 1891, he published messages in the pages of the magazine that spoke of famine threatening Russian residents. His articles found a response in the hearts of American citizens and were perceived by them as a call to action.

W. Edgar drew up a plan to help the starving provinces of Russia and in December 1891 began collecting donations, having previously received a positive response from the Russian Mission in Washington and the approval of the governor of Minnesota.

Almost from the very beginning, the philanthropic movement acquired an unofficial character. The American government reacted negatively to the campaign that began. The general deterioration of interstate relations caused by the clash of interests of the United States and Russia in the Far East, increased competition in the world grain market, and the foreign policy reorientation of countries had an impact. To this must be added the intensified contradictions in the ideological sphere, which was associated with the establishment of a regime of internal political reaction in the empire. However, this attitude of their own government did not bother the Americans. The slogan of the participants and organizers of the philanthropic movement were the words of W. Edgar: “This is not a question of politics, this is a question of humanity.”

By the end of January - beginning of February 1892, four large centers for helping the starving population of Russia had emerged in the United States, each of which aimed to send a ship with a cargo of food:

1. State of Minnesota, under the leadership of Governor W. Merriam and the commissioners appointed by him - W. Edgar, D. Evans and Colonel C. Reeves.

2. The state of Iowa, inspired by the appeal of its governor G. Boyce. The Committee for Assistance to Russian Famines operated here.

3. New York City, where, on the initiative of the Chamber of Commerce, a Committee headed by C. Smith was created. Subsequently, the initiative to collect food passed here to the owner of the Christian Herald newspaper, L. Klopsch, and its editor, Pastor D. Talmage. The committee, in turn, focused all its activities on collecting monetary donations.

4. The state of Pennsylvania, which acted on the initiative of Governor R. Pat-Ison. In the city of Philadelphia, a Committee to Help Russian Starving People was created, headed by the mayor of the city.

The American Red Cross Society, led by Clara Barton, became a major center for collecting monetary donations. In mid-January 1892, the American National Committee for Russian Famine Relief, chaired by John Hoyt, began its work and became the coordination center of the movement.

From the end of February to mid-July, five ships with aid cargo set off for the shores of Russia. On board each of them there was an average of 2 thousand tons of food (mainly wheat and corn flour and grain).

In addition to 5 ships with food, US citizens collected approximately $150 thousand. This figure is inaccurate, because from the available data it is possible to determine only the amount of money sent directly to the American Mission in St. Petersburg, in the name of L.N. Tolstoy and his Committee, through the Russian Mission in Washington and the Consulate General in New York . By sending bread and money to the starving population of Russia, American citizens were not looking for any benefits for themselves. They paid tribute to the generally friendly relations that had long existed between the countries, a tribute to gratitude for the services provided by Russia during the American Civil War in 1861-1865. Representatives of almost all sectors of American society took part in this truly popular movement: farmers, millers, bankers, religious leaders, owners of railway and sea transport lines, telegraph companies, newspapers and magazines, government hotels, students and teachers of higher and secondary educational institutions, journalists , workers and employees.

The documents presented in the publication are stored in the Russian Foreign Policy Archive in the funds of the Embassy in Washington and the Chancery. These documents are varied in nature and content: materials from various American organizations created to provide assistance to the starving Russian population (appeals, correspondence, reports); diplomatic correspondence between the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian envoy in Washington; letters from US citizens addressed to the American envoy in St. Petersburg and tsarist diplomats in America, and replies to them. In addition to archival materials, the publication uses articles from the North Western Miller magazine, the Riga Vestnik and Moskovskie Vedomosti newspapers, which complement the data contained in the published sources. Documents are of American and Russian origin. These are mostly originals; in cases where the original could not be found, drafts and copies of documents were used. All documents are published for the first time. Documents No. 3, 9, 12, 13, 17 were partially used by the author in the article “American Bread for Russia”, published in the magazine “Rodina” (1990, No. 12).

An important question remained outside the scope of the publication: how were monetary and food donations distributed in Russia and did they reach the addressee? Information obtained by the author from the memoirs of participants in the movement, from Russian and American newspapers and magazines, from diplomatic correspondence between the American envoy in St. Petersburg and the US State Department, allows us to assert that the selfless work of the Americans was not in vain.

The publication was prepared by V.I. ZHURAVLEVA, Candidate of Historical Sciences.

No. 1 Letter from the Charge d'Affaires of the Russian Mission in Washington, A. E. Greger, to the flour millers of the northwestern states,

On November 24, I had the honor of receiving your telegram with the following content: “The millers of our country are offering a steamship loaded with flour for the starving peasant of your country. Is your government willing to accept this ship, pay the cost of transporting the cargo to New York and charter a ship to transport flour to Russia? We will start collecting donations if you take care of them and ensure delivery."

I hastened to convey the contents of your generous and generous offer to my government and received the following telegram from St. Petersburg: “The Imperial Government gratefully accepts the generous offer of the Minneapolis millers. Ensure that the cargo is sent to our Customs in Libau, inform us about the amount of shipping costs."

From the exchange of telegrams and from my telegrams of December 3 and 4 addressed to you, you will understand how much I was touched by your generous gift, voluntarily placed at our disposal to help the famine-stricken areas.

The Russian Mission in the United States accepts the terms proposed in your telegram and will ensure that the flour is brought to Russia and properly distributed. I have instructed the Russian Consul General in New York to receive and forward the donations to the place of their dispatch: at the same time, I would like to draw your attention to the fact that, in order to save money, the donated flour should be concentrated at a specific point in the Western states from where we could send a ship to Libau.

AVPR. F. Embassy in Washington. Op. 512/1. D. 737. L. 222-223. Copy. Translation from English.

No. 2 Article from North Western Miller magazine.

Twenty million people are starving. You have food. Donate. Donate quickly. Donate generously. Set aside a few bags of flour from the abundance you have for a load of mercy. You will never regret it. We intend to collect 6,000,000 pounds of flour. So far £1,000,000 has been raised. If 4,000 flour millers donate 10 bags each, we will collect the required amount. All you have to do is indicate your name and the amount of flour you intend to donate, and we will do the rest.

It is quite natural that in our country, where Mr. Kennan's articles on the Russian system of political exile and his lectures on Siberian prisons attracted close attention and aroused sympathy in all layers of society, where the cruelty committed by the Russian government towards the Jews became the subject of sharp universal condemnation , an extremely hostile attitude towards the despotic regime in Russia prevails.

As for the question of the policy of the Russian government, we are unlikely to be able to do anything here. Russia is a huge country, distant, unfamiliar and incomprehensible to Western thinking. We will not be able to correctly assess the situation in Russia, because we are not familiar with the variety of reasons that brought it to life. Russia and its customs are beyond our understanding because we have no idea about its social institutions. This is not a question of politics, it is a question of humanity. We know that 20 million peasants are dying of hunger. And that's enough. So let’s do everything that depends on us to alleviate their suffering. As for the question of the Russian government, we will leave the decision to the Russians themselves.

AVPR. F. Embassy in Washington. Op. 512/1. D. 737. L. 210. Translation from English.

No. 3 Dispatch from A. E. Greger to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia N. K. Girs.

Dear Sovereign Nikolai Karlovich!

Having informed Your Excellency on November 13/25 last November the contents of the telegram I received from Minneapolis regarding the proposal of a group of American millers to help the starving people in Russia by sending bread and flour, I was honored on November 22/December 4 with a response from Your Excellency that the donations of the millers should be accepted with gratitude, and to you it was nice to order me to send the goods to our Customs in Libau and inform me of the costs associated with this shipment. Your Excellency's reply was immediately communicated to Minneapolis, where a subscription was opened for the purpose of collecting the flour promised to us. This subscription, circulating among grain merchants and millers, has to date brought donations reaching up to 1.5 million American pounds, i.e. over 45 thousand poods. At the same time, the governor of Minnesota made a call to his fellow citizens, inviting them to help the hungry. The governors of Nebraska and Iowa followed his example, and the desire to give to those in need in Russia is now taking on the character of a popular movement.

Miss Clara Barton, head of the American Red Cross, has offered us her services to organize local committees to accept donations, and she also offers to send Dr. Guebel, a well-known Red Cross official, to Russia to assistance to our agents. I did not consider it possible to answer positively to this last proposal of Mrs. Barton, not knowing how desirable the arrival of Mr. Gübel is to our government.

By the next post I will present to Your Excellency more particulars of what has already been done and what is being undertaken on this subject in the United States. Let me also draw your Excellency’s attention to the correspondence between the federal Minister of the Navy and Senator Washburn, published yesterday. Mr. Tracy, responding to Senator Washburn's proposal to send donations collected in America on a government ship, fully approving of this intention, says among other things in his answer:

“The friendly relations that exist between the United States and Russia date back to ancient times. More than once the Russian government, driven by friendly feelings beyond the ordinary, has shown its sympathies for the country at those moments when the United States most needed friends, and when Russia had a decisive influence on the views and policies of other European powers.”

AVPR. F. Embassy in Washington. Op. 512/1. D. 737. L. 1-2 vol. Draft.

No. 4 Appeal of the American National Committee for Russian Famine Relief to the American clergy.

To the Clergy of America:

Our organization and experience are at the service of all authorized persons or assistance committees on any issues. A group of our representatives is on its way to Russia in the interests of providing assistance.

Messages may be addressed to E. S. Stewart, Mayor and Chairman of the Russian Famine Relief Committee.

R.K. Ogben F.B. Reeves

E. J. Drexel R. Blankenburg

U.U. Folkrod Finance Committee.

AVPR. F. Embassy in Washington. He. 512/1. D. 737. L. 3-4 vol. Translation from English.

No. 7 Telegram from Minnesota State Commissioners to A. E. Greger

It is with a feeling of deep satisfaction that I inform you that our efforts to equip a ship with flour to alleviate the suffering of the peasants of your country have been crowned with success. Subscriptions closed today for 4.5 million pounds of flour donated by the millers of the United States, the people of Minnesota and the farmers of Nebraska. The entire load is on its way to New York, where it is stored free of charge in the warehouses of the Terminal Warehouse Company. Cargo is freely passed by our railway companies, and we also received from Atlantic Transport the freight-free steamship Missouri necessary to deliver our cargo to Libau.

The steamer sails in the first half of March, loaded free of charge by dock workers and the firm of J. Hogan L. Son, and equipped with fuel donated by Berwin Coal Co. Mr. Williams James of New York has completed all preparations for transporting the cargo across the ocean. The Western Union Telegraph Company, by sending hundreds of messages free of charge to all points of the country, facilitated our activities.

Mr. Klopsch told our Consul General that the Christian Herald newspaper would bear all costs for the delivery of flour from different states to New York, and regarding the further transfer of donations to Russia, Mr. Klopsch turned to the Consulate General for help.

Having no instructions on this subject, I have the honor to most humbly request Your Excellency to deign to inform me whether I can authorize our Consul General in New York to send flour to Russia, for what means and in whose name the documents should be drawn up. At the same time, I consider it necessary to add that 1,500 tons of flour constitute a good half of the cargo of an ordinary merchant ship, equal in size to the Mississippi and Izdiana steamships, and that freight is usually paid upon delivery of the goods.

Taking this opportunity to solicit the Ministry's views on the further acceptance of donations from individuals and institutions in America, whose sympathy for Russia is and will be manifested in a generous desire to come to the aid of the suffering part of our population.

K.V. Struve

AVPR. F. Embassy in Washington. Op. 512/1. D. 55. L. 111-112 vol. Draft.

In response to the letter dated May 1/13, No. 93, and in addition to the telegram of the 28th of this month, I have the honor to notify Your Excellency on the basis of a note from Privy Councilor Plehve that donations in favor of those suffering from crop failure can currently only benefit the victims in monetary terms , since they can be used to support peasant farms in areas of former crop shortage; It is advisable not to receive grain cargoes due to the difficulty of timely distributing them to their destination.

Privy Councilor Plehve had the opportunity to express a similar view personally to the charge d'affaires of the Washington government in St. Petersburg.

As for the cargo of grain collected by the editors of the New York newspaper “Christian Herald”, which, according to the American Consul General in St. Petersburg, will be sent to the disposal of the St. Petersburg Consulate General of the United States, despite the delay of this cargo, the Special Committee it will be inconvenient to refuse to accept it if it is delivered to Russia before June 15th. However, the material participation of our Consul General in New York in the shipping of both the Christian Herald cargo and subsequent ones seems undesirable. It may be feared that the Special Committee will not be able to transfer to its intended destination such cargoes that arrive at our ports later than June 15th.

In reporting the above, I humbly ask you, Dear Sir, to deign to express the sincere gratitude of our Government to the generous donors.

Ya.P. Shishkin

AVPR. F. Embassy in Washington. Op. 512/1. D. 56. L. 356-357. Script.

No. 14 Article from the newspaper “Moscow News”.

On July 7, the initiators of the last shipment of bread from American donors for the Russian starving people arrived in Moscow. This bread arrived with the steamer Leo (cargo 2,200 tons), although part of it arrived earlier with the steamer Connemaugh. This is the largest cargo delivered by the Americans so far, since the 300 tons delivered by the Connemo complement it to almost 160,000 poods, which is equal to freight trains of 40 wagons each. This cargo arrived directly in St. Petersburg and was sent from there to cities. In addition to flour, vegetables, fruits, clothes, and medicines were sent.

This time the organizers are the publisher and editor of the weekly Christian Herald magazine Klopsch and Talmazh. Klopsch is a very wealthy New York state merchant who lives in Brooklyn, where his magazine is published. G. Devitt Talmage is the editor of this magazine, and he also serves as rector of the Presbyterian Church *in Brooklyn. He is famous as a preacher.

Talmage noted that the donations sent on the steamer Leo were the fruit of a purely popular subscription. Approximately 70,000 rubles were collected. The Leo cargo was purchased for this amount. Women brought their bracelets and earrings, brooches and other jewelry and asked to sell them in order to “buy bread for the Russians.” One boy (11 years old) from St. Francisco sent 3.5 dollars - his earnings for 70 pairs of cleaned boots. An old man who had saved 20 dollars for a funeral sent this money to buy bread. In a word, it was a general, purely popular movement.

This movement began with a sermon Mr. Talmage delivered in his church in Brooklyn. A subscription was immediately started, which immediately brought in approximately $1,000 (2,000 rubles). Then the Christian Herald magazine began campaigning on its pages. And not a single article of his about the starving people in Russia went unnoticed.

About the reception in St. Petersburg, Talmazh says that he never expected such a cordial and friendly reception that they received. Klopsch emphasized: “In total, goods and money worth 2,000,000 rubles passed through my hands to help those affected by crop failure in Russia. But if it were necessary, America would sacrifice a hundred times more. I don’t know what kind of European friends Russia is, but as for the Americans, it’s hard to find them more reliable. For this I guarantee you with my word, as an honest person.”

No. 15 Report of the Russian Consul General in New York A. E. Olarovsky to the Russian Envoy in Washington K. V. Struve, March 5/17, 1892

In addition to my report dated March 3/15 this year. No. 165, I have the honor to notify Your Excellency that General Botterfield notified me today by city telegram that the amount realized by the concert in favor of the starving people in Russia is not 5,750 dollars, but 6,500 dollars, and that this amount was transferred yesterday by telegram to the United States Ambassador in St. Petersburg, Mr. Emory Smith.

AVPR. F. Embassy in Washington. He. 512/1. D. 56. L. 94-94 vol. Script.

I have the honor to notify Your Excellency that two checks of $10 each were sent to the office of the Consulate General entrusted to me from Post Chester, N.Y. by Mr. Picart to be sent to Russia through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in favor of the hungry.

AVPR. F. Embassy in Washington. Op. 512/1. D. 56. L. 91. Original.

No. 17 From the report of the chairman of the National Committee for Russian Famine Relief, J. W. Hoyt.

[...] It is difficult to determine the amount of all monetary donations sent directly to Russia. According to available data, the following amounts of money were transferred:

$38,286.32 from the New York City Chamber of Commerce;

$7,192.12 from Isabel F. Hapgood, raised through her personal efforts;

$10,396.32 from the Massachusetts State Committee;

$2,013.29 from the American Society of Friends of Russian Freedom, Boston;

$2,214.11 from New Hampshire;

$1,000 from the owners of the Christian Herald newspaper;

$3,992.78 from Michigan State Agencies;

$5,000 from the Iowa State Committee;

$7,000 from Russian settlers in Nebraska;

$1,200 from the Minnesota State Committee;

$3,481 from the South Dakota State Committee;

$10,000 - from the American Red Cross Society.

Total ≈ 100,000 dollars.

AVPR. F. Embassy in Washington. Op. 512/1. D. 55. L. 30. Translation from English.

In the USA, the assistance of the American people during the famine in Russia in 1891-1892 was covered in two articles, small in volume and different in their assessments of this phenomenon: Queen G. S. American Relief in the Russian Famine of 1891-1892. //Russian Review. - 1955.- XIV (April).- P. 140-150; Smith H. F. Bread for the Russians: William C. Edgar and the Relief Campaign of 1892.// Minnesota History, vol. XLII.-1970.- Summer.- P. 54-62.

J. Quinn, in accordance with the traditions existing in American literature at that time, saw in this movement another proof of hostile relations between Russia and the United States. The article by H. Smith is more interesting and objective. But he basically repeats the facts reported by W. Edgar in his memoirs (see comments), and talks about the mercy campaign in only one state - Minnesota, without giving a picture of the entire movement as a whole.

We are talking about the position taken by Roosiya during the American Civil War in 1861-1865. When the North was threatened by intervention by England and France, the imperial government advocated US unity, pursuing a policy of friendly neutrality. Russia's relations with England and France worsened due to these countries' attempts to intervene in the Polish question. The Russian government's interest in US unity was driven by the desire to receive support in the fight against a common enemy. In 1863, the tsarist government sent two squadrons - to New York and San Francisco, pursuing its goals in case of war with England1 and France. However, objectively, this provided moral assistance to the Washington government and contributed to the strengthening of Russian-American ties.

This was one of 9 appeals to the people of the United States, compiled by the American National Committee in order to speed up the work of collecting donations and attract the attention of government officials and clergy to the unfolding philanthropic movement. The text of all appeals was printed on a separate form, duplicated and sent throughout the country.

Many predict that Russia will experience a whole series of constant economic problems and crises, which it has already entered into since 2014. What is economic devastation usually associated with? Of course, with empty refrigerators, in which only a stale can of canned fish and old pickled honey mushrooms from grandma remained.

But residents of the Russian Federation should not worry so much about their children, who in the future may swell from hunger. After all, the best friends in the world - American Pindos - will come to the rescue, as has happened more than once in history.

Famine in 1891-1892

In 1891, severe crop failure occurred in the Black Earth and Middle Volga regions. Areas with a population of 36 million people found themselves in an extremely unenviable position. And local authorities, who were required to have reserves for such cases, suddenly announced that there was no bread for a rainy day in the hangars. Well, here we go - crisis, famine, devastation, death, typhoid and cholera epidemics. Approximately 500 thousand people went to the next world, thanks to the wise actions of the tsarist regime. There could have been significantly more victims if not for the ubiquitous American Pindos.

Aivazovsky’s painting “The Arrival of the Missouri Steamship with Bread to Russia”, 1892.

Painting by Aivazovsky “Distribution of Food”. 1892

To provide humanitarian assistance in the United States, a special famine relief committee was formed - Russian Famine Relief Committee of the United States. Everything was sponsored by caring American citizens, who, through the Famine Fleet, began delivering tons of food to Russia by ship. The US government also provided some Russian provinces with a loan for the purchase of food in the amount of $75 million.

ARA (American Relief Administration) mission in the 1920s.

If in tsarist Russia famine was often associated with crop failures, which occurred periodically every 5-7 years, then in the 20s of the last century the situation looked much more apocalyptic. First World War, revolutions, Civil War. The population suffered from endless extortions for the needs of armies, all kinds of gangs and groups. The Bolsheviks confiscated every last grain as part of the food appropriation system, and killed those who disagreed.

A serious famine gripped the Volga region, where the population was eventually forced to eat grass, cats, dogs, and in critical cases, themselves. But the damned American Pindos, who always meddle in other people’s affairs all over the world, did not stand aside here either. As soon as news of the terrible famine reached the United States, a mission was urgently formed ARA(American Relief Administration) - American Relief Administration. Their help differed from other organizations (Red Cross, Nansen Committee, etc.) in that food went directly to those in need through their independent structures, and not through Bolshevik grabbers. Remembering the bitter experience of 1892, when Russian slow and thieving officials detained American grain in warehouses until it rotted, the ARA mission did everything itself.

In addition to food, the Americans widely supplied medicines, established hospitals, pharmacies, and medical aid stations. One of the pressing problems was the issue of vaccination - Russian peasants called vaccinations “the devil's spawn.” Then the ARA began to issue rations only with the appropriate medical certificate. As a result, 9 million people were vaccinated, which helped reduce the number of deaths from epidemics and diseases.

Residents of the Samara region knelt before the American who brought humanitarian aid

The APA mission was led by Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of the United States, who at that time served as Secretary of the Economy. At first, the Bolsheviks were reluctant to accept Western aid, fearing that taming the famine would arouse in Russian peasants “a spirit of freedom and attachment to bourgeois values.” And at first, the peasants themselves were distrustful of the ARA’s mission, because of the ARA’s focus on children, and not on adults, which, in the opinion of the village workers, was an unfair waste (after all, children can still be born). But after the Americans launched a broad food program for adults, opinion changed dramatically in a positive direction. The peasants even wrote letters demanding that they send portraits of Hoover to put them instead of icons in the red corner.

Hey, quilted man, he fed your grandfathers, and you don’t even know his name. HERBERT HOOVER, bitch!

ARA's mission became one of the largest food humanitarian campaigns of the 20th century. But Russian historians prefer to remain silent about this.

Committee “Help Russia in the War” during the Second World War.

« Thanks to the Russian people, the heroic people. He bore the brunt of the war, did not cave in, did not chicken out, and persevered. I urge you to be worthy of our great allies in the East, who fight desperately and fearlessly. If only I could, I would be the first to kneel before these people. I ask you, my dear Americans, help these people, pray for them. Remember that they die for you and me too. These are great people!» (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, addressing the American people, November 23, 1942.)

On September 12, 1941, the Presidential Council for Control of the Organization of Military Assistance officially registered the American Society for Relief to Russia, called the Committee " Help for Russia in the war"(Russian War Relief). The council included prominent bankers, industrialists, philanthropists, as well as representatives of the Russian diaspora. Among those who expressed support for the committee were Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, Leon Feuchtwanger, Robert Oppenheimer, John von Neumann.

One of the Committee's propaganda posters

Already in 1942, the Committee became a large public organization with an extensive network of various sectors and divisions: regional (states, cities), women's, youth, religious (Jewish, Orthodox, Baptist, etc.), national (Russian, Jewish, Armenian and etc.). He had his own production plants, workshops, and warehouses. A particularly important role was assigned to the public relations sector, whose tasks included propaganda and agitation work. American citizens of all walks of life donated millions of dollars to the Committee to purchase food, medicine, clothing, equipment and basic necessities. Parcels from the USA went to Soviet orphanages, schools, collective farms, and hospitals. These parcels contained letters from ordinary Americans expressing faith in victory. More than 2 million American families took part in the large-scale “Letter to Russia” campaign.

Postcard from an American from Kansas to the Soviet Union

When difficulties arose in purchasing clothing, shoes, textile products and other items on the US domestic market due to the lack of these goods in warehouses, the Committee decided to appeal to ordinary Americans to “ Share your clothes with a Russian ally!" The movement under this slogan became popular and widespread. The collection of clothes, shoes, and various household items took place throughout the country. Special points were organized for collecting and sorting collected items. Most of them turned out to be practically new, and the rejection rate was small. The Americans worked at these reception centers for free, and the drivers transported goods for free in their free time.

The last major charitable action of the society was the collection and shipment of English-language, mostly fiction, literature to the Soviet Union in order to at least partially compensate for the destruction by the Nazis of 12 thousand libraries and more than 20 million books on the territory of the USSR. It was planned to send 1 million volumes to the Soviet Union. The book collection campaign was unprecedented in scale. It was attended by schoolchildren, students, housewives, writers, scientists, politicians, and even President Truman himself, who donated a 40-volume collected works of George Washington to be sent to Russia. Books were collected by schools, universities, publishing houses, church communities, and libraries. The Library of Congress allocated 10 thousand volumes.

The book was transferred from New York to Karelia as part of the Committee’s activities

The Committee “Help to Russia in the War” did not relate to Lend-Lease supplies, but was a broad public initiative. But Kiselyov, naturally, won’t tell you anything about this.

American humanitarian aid to Russia in the early 90s.

The collapse of the Soviet Union naturally affected the ordinary citizen's plate. The administrative economy has died out, and the market economy has not yet been launched. The counters in Russian cities were empty, there was practically no normal quality food. And at this difficult moment, the restless insidious Pindos Americans, together with the Nazis and Germans, decided to feed the Russian people! Outrageous!

These were the C-17 military aircraft that sent food to needy post-Soviet countries

In 1991 alone, 241 thousand tons of food were supplied free of charge. In addition, preferential loans were allocated for the purchase of grain from the United States at prices below market prices.

In 1992, the Americans organized Operation Provide Hope. Until the early 2000s, military transport aircraft delivered humanitarian aid to various CIS cities. Minsk was also affected by this program.

Russia and Germany provided great assistance. Across Europe, non-governmental organizations collected parcels for Russia.

Unloading foreign aid

While all sorts of Putins were making money by smuggling metals, and the Girkins were fighting in Transnistria, the West was trying to feed the hungry citizens of the Russian Federation. But Russia Today will not show this.

American aid 2020?

So we want to reassure all the racists. You can continue to go crazy, collapse the ruble, destroy the economy, grow fecal stalagmites, threaten the world with nuclear ash and drop your own bombers on Voronezh. They will still send you a jar of stew and an “I Love New-York” T-shirt. This is not the first time to save the bad.

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and start reading. YOU WILL NOT REGRET!

The main value of this book is the abundance of statistical material and the theoretical validity of hunger as a social phenomenon in Russia AT ALL TIMES! Moreover, all this is proven in practice (!) with numbers and facts in hand, so “writers” and “researchers” now have nothing to do about a “prosperous and happy” pre-revolutionary Russia, and they can throw all their “research” down the garbage chute.

Famine of 1892

(Source - NEFEDOV “Demographic-structural analysis of the socio-economic history of Russia. The end of the 15th - the beginning of the 20th century”)

“The amount of grain remaining in the country after export was 14-19 poods per capita in the 1875/76-1888/89 economic years. The export of grain from a large harvest could continue for more than one year; after export in the current year, significant reserves could remain in the country, then the next year, regardless of the harvest, the export increased and the balance of grain in the country decreased. The export mechanism worked in such a way that the average three-year balance for consumption was an almost constant value of 17-18 poods (see Fig. 4.14).

In 1889 there was a bad harvest, prices rose, but thanks to the reduction in transport costs, export remained profitable, and this led to the fact that the balance for consumption fell to an all-time low - a little more than 11 poods. The famine did not begin only because the previous years were fruitful, and some reserves remained on the farms. The following year the harvest was mediocre, below average, and exports remained high; the balance was again below the minimum level, and the country again lived off reserves. “It was not for nothing that Vyshnegradsky’s foreign trade policy was called “hungry export” ...,” notes V. L. Stepanov. -In a number of regions there were no significant reserves of bread left at all, which in the event of a crop failure was fraught with mass starvation.”.

The depletion of reserves was also mentioned in reports from the provinces:

“Although in 1890 there was a more or less good harvest,” reported the Voronezh district police officer, the preservation of products turned out to be insufficient to cover all previous needs and form the necessary reserves... The general crop failure this year... with The complete lack of feed and food supplies put the majority of peasant farms in a hopeless situation.”

When in the spring of 1891, reports began to arrive from the localities about impending crop shortages, the director of the department of unpaid taxes, A. S. Ermolov, handed Vyshnegradsky a note in which he wrote about “a terrible sign of hunger.” . However, the Minister of Finance ignored this warning and the export of grain continued throughout the summer months. “We won’t eat it ourselves, we’ll export it!” - Vyshnegradsky stated .

As a result of the crop failure, the net per capita harvest amounted to about 14 poods, the reserves were depleted by the exports of previous years, and as a result, famine broke out, which, according to R. Robbins' calculations, claimed about 400 thousand lives .

I.A. Vyshnegradsky resorted to decisive statist measures; he introduced a ban on the export of grain and came up with a proposal to introduce an income tax to tax persons with “relatively greater wealth.” However, this proposal was rejected by the government, and the ban on the export of grain lasted only 10 months and was lifted under pressure from the nobility and commercial circles. The Minister of Finance suffered a blow and was soon forced to resign .

The crop failure was especially disastrous in the Black Earth and Volga regions. In the Voronezh, Tambov, Penza, and Simbirsk provinces, peasants harvested less from their plots than they sowed. As is usually the case, famine was accompanied by epidemics. In the Voronezh province, 11 thousand people died from cholera, 10 thousand from scurvy, and many died from dysentery and typhoid fever.

In general, the excess of mortality above the usual level was 1.7 percent or 44 thousand people. The number of victims was not as great as it might have been, thanks to the vigorous measures taken by the government to relieve the famine.

In April 1892, 1 million of the 2.6 million population of the province received grain loans .

Rice. 4.14. Dynamics of consumption and export in 1875-1894 for 50 provinces of European Russia.

The large scale of aid provided partly offset the adverse political consequences of the famine. Sources do not note a rise in peasant unrest; the peasants did not show political activity; they were still submissive to the authorities: the process of psychological emancipation had not yet received significant development. However, this was the last time that famine did not cause peasant uprisings. Ten years later, the situation has changed dramatically .

From the point of view of demographic-structural theory, the crisis of 1892 had much in common with the crises of 1568-1571 and 1723-1725 - in the sense that it was not purely demographic, but predominantly structural in nature, caused by increased state pressure on the peasantry. True, in 1890-1892 this pressure was more indirect; it was expressed, on the one hand, in an increase in indirect (rather than direct) taxes, and on the other hand, in stimulating grain exports. Although the state did not export the grain itself, nevertheless, by helping exporters deprive the people of bread, it received direct benefit by buying up the gold that flowed in from exports for paper rubles.”

Sources:

Stepanov V.L. Decree. Op. P. 166. 110.

Quote from: Book M.D. History of the famine of 1891-1892. in Russia. Diss... k.i. n. Voronezh, 1997. P. 60.

Ermolov. A.S. Our crop failures and the food issue. Ch. I. St. Petersburg, 1909. P. 100.

Schwanebach P. Kh. Monetary circulation and national economy. St. Petersburg., 1901. S. 21.

Robbins R. G. Famine in Russia. 1891-1892. N. Y., London, 1975. P. 171.

Stepanov V.L. Decree. Op. P. 112; Book M.D. Decree. Op. P. 169.

Right there. pp. 161-162.

Net balance minus sowing for the period from 1883 to 1894: reference books “Harvest... of the year”, for the period 1870-83: Collection of information on the history and statistics of foreign trade of Russia, T. I . St. Petersburg, 1902. P. 7. Export data: ibid.; Compilation of statistical information on Russian agriculture towards the end XIX century. Vol. II. St. Petersburg, 1902. pp. 132-133.

Kondrashin V.V. Hunger in the peasant mentality // Mentality and agrarian development of Russia. M., p. 120.

And now I want to give you the mortality rates in 1891-1895 for the provinces discussed in the material.(Source - Rashin “POPULATION OF RUSSIA OVER 100 YEARS (1811-1913)”)

So, per 1 thousand population the mortality rate was:

1. Astrakhan province: (1886-1890 - 40.5 people; 1891-1895 - 46.9 people. ; 1896-1900 - no data).

2. Voronezh province: (1886-1890 - 36.4 people; 1891-1895 - 43.6 people. ; 1896-1900 - 36 people).

3. Kazan province: (1886-1890 - 32.8 people; 1891-1895 - 38.2 people. ; 1896-1900 - 33.2 people).

4. Kursk province: (1886-1890 - 31.2 people; 1891-1895 - 35.3 people. ; 1896-1900 - 34.5 people).

5. Penza province: (1886-1890 - 37.2 people; 1891-1895 - 44.4 people. ; 1896-1900 - 37.8 people).

6. Samara province: (1886-1890 - 39.2 people; 1891-1895 - 47.6 people. ; 1896-1900 - 38.5 people).

7. Saratov province: (1886-1890 - 35.6 people; 1891-1895 - 41.8 people. ; 1896-1900 - 38.3 people).

8. Simbirsk province: (1886-1890 - 34.3 people; 1891-1895 - 42.7 people. ; 1896-1900 - 36.3 people).

9. Tambov province: (1886-1890 - 32.9 people; 1891-1895 - 40.1 people. ; 1896-1900 - 32.2 people).

The peak of mortality from famine and its consequences for the years 1891-1895 is absolutely obvious.