SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN KYIV IN 18 CENTURY

Abstract

During the 18th century there have been substantial changes in all areas of political, economic and sociocultural development in early modern Ukrainian state. Mostly transformational processes in Russia, which entered the era of absolutism, conditioned them. The comprehensible intention of the imperial regime was the unification of social life on controlled territory, that affected infrastructure development and urban life of the Hetman State. Craft production in Kyiv of 18th century continued to operate under the old guild system. An essential feature of guild activity was regulation of production and sale of craft goods that greatly restricted their development. However, if  in  the  40s the  number of  workers in  the  craft field reached about two thousand people, then in twenty years their number doubled. The most numerous were cobbler, tailor, furrier and blacksmith shops. The concentration of production in  the  hands of  wealthy business persons created the  foundation for the emergence and development of manufactory, especially in such fields as: distillation, glass production, bricks production, silk, and food industry. These enterprises usually employed workers, which were interested in the results of their labor. The development of craft and manufacturing production, along with agriculture, animal husbandry and gardening led to revival of trade in Kyiv. The vast majority of manufactured and agricultural products were sold at Podilskyi market. Three times a year in the big strip mall the grand fairs were held — Soborna, Mykolaivska and Uspenska, which lasted for 8 days. The geography and trade relations of Kyiv with foreign countries expanded. Except Russian merchants, merchant caravans from Balkan countries came to town, from where transit of oriental goods were brought in.