ABSTRACT
K.V.Bazilevich in 1940 opened his classic treatise of mercantilism under Aleksei Mikhailovich by stating that “The history of the genesis and development of Russian mercantilism still awaits its student.”1 In spite of valuable work by a number of Russian and Western scholars, this statement remains largely true even today. A fair amount has been done to describe the intellectual history of seventeenth-century mercantilism in Muscovy, or at least the views of the most prominent advocates of mercantilistic reform. However, scant attention has been devoted to the nature and importance of mercantilism in practice, largely due to the persistent conventional wisdom of Peter the Great as the father of Russian mercantilism. This paper will seek to examine the ways in which mercantilism entered not only the political discourse but also the concrete economic policies of pre-Petrine Russia. The discussion will proceed in three stages. First, the general meaning of “mercantilism” will be explored. Secondly, an attempt will be made to describe the available evidence of mercantilistic thinking and its practical implications in seventeenth century Russia. Thirdly, there will be an assessment of the general significance of Russian “mercantilist” policies.
