The economic life of the "Romanian" Budzak in 1857-1878

The period when the southern part of Bujak was part of the Principality of Moldova, and since 1861, the Kingdom of Romania, is still poorly understood. Due to the lack of objective information and the influence of political bias, it is difficult to give an unambiguous assessment of this stage in the history of the region, especially in terms of the economy. The ethnic policy of the Romanian authorities of that time was quite harsh, with a targeted Romanization of the local population. Instead, administrative and economic reforms cause contradictory assessments: on the one hand, there were attempts at modernization, on the other hand, the interests of the local population were not always taken into account. Today, when analyzing this difficult historical period, it is worth putting aside preconceptions and trying to look at the facts with an open mind.

The defeat of the Russian Empire in the Eastern (Crimean) War led to territorial changes in Budzhak. According to the Treaty of Paris of March 18 (30), 1856, the "Bessarabian section" consisting of Izmail and Cahul countieswas transferred to the Principality of Moldova . The beginning of this border was a point on the Black Sea coast one kilometer east of the salt lake Burnas, then it ran perpendicular to the Akkerman road, to Traianov Val, south of Bolhrad, and then up the Yalpug River to Saracik Hill and to Catamori on the Prut.

The "Romanian" Bujak of 1856-1878 Source: dacoromania.net

Soon, the Moldovan government began the process of incorporating the "Bessarabian section". According to the decree of March 31, 1864 , "On Urban and Rural Communities" and its supplement of 1874, the lands of the former Cahul district were divided into Izmail, Bolhrad, and Cahul districts. The districts were divided into communities (kommune). The communes were granted the right of local self-government and were also charged with the responsibility to take care of public education, health care, the state of churches, etc. The communes in villages were governed on the same basis: public affairs were managed by communal councils elected by colleges for a term of 4 years, and a primar was appointed as the head of the council, whose functions resembled those of a village elder in Russia. He was given police powers and tax collection. Communal councils consisted of representatives of the rural bourgeoisie. By the nature of their activities, communal councils were similar to city councils in Russian provinces.

Taxes were increased, office work was translated into Latin script, and in June 1868 there was an attempt to transfer the capital of the Bulgarian colonists from the Odesa Commercial Bank to the so-called Colonial Bank in Iasi.

By the end of 1857, the colonists were obliged to pay 22 silver kopecks for a tithe (1.04 hectares) of state land and 24 silver kopecks per man for the maintenance of the colony, to give 10% of their cattle to the state, and to provide 6 measures of corn for the maintenance of the Moldovan army. In 1857, the colonists were obliged to "donate" 8 thousand silver rubles to the Moldovan government for the arrangement of a post office. In 1858, they provided an interest-free loan of 24 thousand silver rubles and 1 thousand Austrian gold piasters for the arrangement of telegraph communication. During 1857-1876, the local population was obliged to pay Romania a "state loan, " a "highway tax, " and other fees worth 4.2 million francs.

On August 14, 1864, serfdom was officially abolished in Romania. It was noted that "from now on, serfs remain the owners of the lands in their possession in the amount determined by the current law." The land allotments established by the 1864 decree were not per capita, but family-based. The size of the allotment depended on the property status of the peasants and the number of livestock.

Peasants who owned four oxen and one cow were allocated 6 falchs and 30 yarns (8 tenths of 738 square sazhyns) of land; those who owned two oxen and one cow were allocated 4 falchs and 30 yarns (5 desyats 1688 square sazhyns); and those who owned only one cow were allocated 2 falchs and 70 yarns (2 desyats 2123 square sazhyns). The total amount of land granted to peasants was not to exceed 2/3 of the landowner's total land. The childless, widows, Gypsies, and peasants who did not farm, did not pay serfdom, and did not have separate land for farming became owners of land occupied by houses, land, and gardens. For example, in southern Bessarabia, peasants who did not have cattle received 10 yarns (390 1/6 square meters), those who had two oxen received 11 yarns (429 square meters), those who had four oxen received 12 yarns (468 square meters).

Allotments from state land were granted to peasants who lacked land, as well as to those who had settled on landowners' lands and started families shortly before the reform. The allotments of state land for them were set at 12 pogonas (5 acres) per family. Peasants received them by purchasing them and paying 5 chervonets for each pogon for 15 years without interest. All peasants who received plots on both private and state land were not allowed to sell them to outsiders for 30 years.

The decree of August 14, 1864, established redemption not for the land transferred to peasants in the form of an allotment, but for the release of peasants from serfdom and all types of feudal duties. The peasants had to buy back their allotments during 1865-1880. Section 3 of the decree established the amount of redemption of serfdom and other duties depending on the size of the allotment: for an allotment of four oxen and one cow, peasants paid 1521 lei 10 pairs; for an allotment of two oxen and one cow, 1148 lei 20 pairs; for an allotment of one cow, 816 lei. A peasant who did not consistently pay the redemption payments would lose his allotment for some time.

Of course, this reform did not satisfy the Danube peasants. In 1874-1875, the Romanian government carried out a new land reform. According to Article 1 of the law "On theorganization of state lands in Bessarabia" of June 13, 1874, the allotments that had been transferred to the perpetual possession of the village community for household use by the tsarist decree of 1819 were now transferred to private ownershipfor a purchase. Local peasants received allotments of 30-50 tithes, while the value of a tithe was reduced from 80 to 74 francs, and free grazing and fishing were allowed.

Article 8 prohibited the sale, gift, mortgage, or exchange of land allotments for 15 years. Article 10 exempted colonists and state peasants from military service for 10 years to better organize the economy. Annual taxes for 15 years were to be at the level of 6.2-6.7 francs per tithe (Article 13). According to Art. 1 of the resolution "On Amendments to Certain Articles of the Law on the Arrangement of State Lands in Bessarabia of June 13, 1874", the land tax exemptions provided for in Art. 13 of June 13, 1874 were extended from 15 to 25 years.

The resettlement of peoples in the Bujak. Image by islam.in.ua

The peasant reform of 1874-1875 led to a decrease in the real allotment of the colonists, who, due to crop failures and tax pressure, were unable to pay for 30, let alone 50, tenths of land. In 1875, the "Danubian colonists" (14,280 yards)owned 284,943 dessiatas, or 19.95 dessiatas per yard, which was much less than they were offered by this reform.

With the agrarian reform, there were changes in the taxation of the Danube colonists. In 1871-1877, the Romanian government issued a series of decrees called the "General Rolles, " which established direct and indirect taxes for the inhabitants of the "Bessarabian area."

Direct taxes included: a personal tax or "fee for the maintenance of railways," which was established by decree on March 15, 1877, and amounted to 4 rubles 50 kopecks per person; 6% income tax on real estate, established by law on March 19, 1871; 10% tax on property owned by various institutions, monasteries, churches, schools, hospitals, city and village public administrations. All residents over the age of 21, as well as those who owned their own house or other property, were obliged to pay direct taxes. The clergy, military, retired lower ranks, and the old and infirm were exempt from the tax.

In addition to direct taxes, there were urgent fees: excise taxes on beverages and tobacco, patent fees on the right to sell beverages, on trade and various crafts, customs, stamp, court fees, etc. Peasants were also obliged to pay communal and zemstvo district fees amounting to 20% of the total amount of direct taxes. Although Soviet Moldovan scholars Ivan Budak and Vladislav Grosul emphasized that taxation was a burden on the Danube inhabitants (they paid up to 1.5 million francs annually), they could not deny the fact that, despite the increase in taxes, the number of craft, manufacturing, and trade enterprises was constantly growing during the years of Romanian rule.

The practical direction of the Moldovan (Romanian) agricultural policy was the gradual spread of arable crops, to which the Bulgarian and Gagauz colonists, who were traditionally engaged in cattle breeding (sheep breeding), were reluctant to adapt.

The Moldovan authorities promoted the sale of peasant pastures to the Moldovan nobility and the church, which were supposed to spread agriculture in every possible way. Thus, in 1860, wealthy Moldovan landowners owned 53% of the land fund (28333 dessiatins in the Izmail district, 215,406 dessiatins in the Cahul district), and monastic lands occupied more than 20% (290.6 thousand dessiatins). In 1857-1860, the area under potatoes increased by 1.5 times and the yield by 1.1 times. The area under flax and hemp almost doubled, and the yield increased by 2.5 times. Thanks to the Moldovan government's agrarian policy, the structure of Budjak's crops changed dramatically: corn took the leading place. In the 1860s, it accounted for 40-46% of the crops. In the Moldovan grain production of 1857-1860, the share of Bujak farmers was 21%.

A household of Budzhak peasants. Image: topor.od.ua

In 1871, 88.4 thousand quarters of winter and spring grain were sown. The harvest was 6.17 quarts per person (approximately 802-810 kg). In 1878, 732.3 thousand quarters were harvested in southern Bessarabia, i.e. 5 quarters of grain per person. Taking into account the annual grain consumption per person (2-2.5 quarters), marketable products amounted to 2.5-3 quarters or 50-60% of the total harvest. In this indicator, Budzhak was significantly ahead of the Russian part of Bessarabia, where the average yield was 3.2-3.6 quarts per person and had large surpluses of grain for sale.

An important positive consequence of the Moldovan-Romanian agricultural policy was the further spread of agricultural technology in agricultural production. In 1856, the farms of the Bulgarian colonists had 3979 wooden plows, 3556 harrows, and 11,251 carts. In 1860, there were already 9,574 plows and 9 steam threshing machines in southern Bessarabia. In 1871, the colonists alone owned 6325 wooden plows, 610 iron plows, 8097 iron harrows, and 14548 carts. The villages of the Chadyr-Lunga volost of the Kagul district were characterized by the highest level of agricultural mechanization. In particular, in the village of Valya-Perzha there were 3 stone rollers. In the village of Baurchi, the colonists owned 3, and in the village of Valya-Percha - 5 fans. In Kubei village of Kubei parish and Tarakliya, 26 fans were used.

The growth of agriculture resulted in a decrease in pastures and livestock. The Moldovan government's agrarian policy and the introduction of technical equipment played a leading role in this process. By the end of the 1870s, the share of pastures and hayfields had decreased to 24.1% of the total area. Cattle breeding finally began to fulfill an auxiliary function in the colonists' economy. In 1878, the peasants had 72,785 cattle, 4,779,194 sheep and goats, and 3,350 horses, which was half as many as in previous years.

Cattle grazing in Budzhak. Image by kubey.at.ua

Another area was an attempt to revive the salt industry and handicraft production. During 1856-1863, up to 500 thousand poods of salt were mined annually. In 1864, production increased to 1.5 million poods. However, in 1875, a new flood destroyed the salt mines on Lake Sasyk, and in 1877, salt reserves near Lake Shahany were flooded and the mining finally stopped.

In 1856-1878, handicraft production was formalized as a separate sector of the region's economy. In 1812-1860, there were 33 craft workshops in Izmail, in 1861-1870 there were 41 workshops, and in 1871-1880 there were 77 workshops. These were mostly craft workshops for processing food products, which were later sold to Romanian ports. Romanian reports from 1863 mention brick and tile workshops and dye shops. In 1878, the restored Izmail district had 440 different enterprises, including 370 fish processing plants in Vilkovo, a tobacco workshop in Izmail, and 2123 mills (including 10 steam and 28 water mills).

Thus, food and industrial production was supposed to boost trade in the Danube ports. However, the Romanian government had other plans. Izmail and Reni were traditionally perceived as competitors to Galati and Braila. Their operation was undesirable, and goods were artificially diverted to Romanian ports. Only the warehouse infrastructure was used for further transportation of grain and fish to Galati. In particular, more than 3,000 of the 5,000 workers at the port of Izmail were fired. Romanian officials called Southern Bessarabia a "servant of Romanian companies" because 80% of its grain was brought to Galati. On May 15, 1871, the prefect of Izmail, Iliy Yakovaki, reported to the Romanian government: "Due to the disruption of trade ties with Russian Bessarabia, trade ceased and the population of the county became impoverished.The merchants moved to Romanian cities, many people emigrated across the Danube, and towns and villages became deserted."

During 1856-1857, exports from the Izmail customs decreased from 1.5 million to 0.5 million rubles, and imports from 346 thousand to 150 thousand rubles. In 1858, the city exported goods worth 414.8 thousand rubles and imported 64.3 thousand rubles. Compared to 1856, exports decreased by more than three times, while imports decreased by 5.4 times. Since the 1860s, all export cargo from the Danube ports was sent to Galati. Analyzing the capacities of the port of Reni in the late 1870s, engineer Leonid Polyakov noted that more than 50 thousand quarters of grain were delivered to Galati annually from Reni alone. More than 200 barges delivered up to 600 thousand quarters of grain per navigation. In 1871, 721 ships with a capacity of 79,900 tons called at Izmail, and in 1880, more than 1,000 ships called at Izmail. Almost all of the corn brought to Holland was harvested in Bujatsky farms. Romanian officials, in turn, reported: "Grain is brought to Galati from Bessarabian villages". Therefore, it is not surprising that in the early 1870s the independent foreign trade of the Danube ports declined. In 1870, only 12.4 thousand poods of fish were imported to Galati, and in 1876 - 4 thousand poods of fish and caviar.

The importation of goods from the Russian part of Budzhak through the Kubey customs was also artificially hindered. During the first 6 months of the year, it was subject to an additional duty of 7.5% of its value; after this period, a state duty and tax were paid in favor of the port city where the bread was temporarily stored and loaded. If we take into account the initial duty of 7.5% of the value of the goods, the conditions for exporting Russian goods were very difficult, which actually led to the cessation of Danube trade. The existence of the outposts of the Kuban customs became inexpedient, and in 1874 the customs authorities were finally transferred to Novoselytsia. Most of the Bessarabian goods began to be shipped through northern customs, and South Bessarabian trade declined.

Not surprisingly, most merchants moved to the Russian part of Bessarabia. In 1857-1860, the number of merchants in the county towns of Bessarabia increased from 688 to 807. According to Russian officials: "the growth of merchants in the region was due to the return of merchants from the Romanian section of Bessarabia, which was rejected from Russia. " In particular, Kirov, a merchant from Izmail of the Third Guild, moved to Chisinau and founded a candle workshop that annually produced 1300 poods of candles worth 7,000 rubles. A merchant from Izmail , Sinanoglu, founded a tobacco factory in Chisinau with an annual production of 50 poods worth 2,000 rubles. A burgher Obretenov, who moved from "Moldavian Bessarabia" to Chisinau, founded a brick factory with an annual output of 50 thousand pieces worth 500 rubles. Obviously, the "outflow of capital" had a negative impact on the Danube trade.

The economic decline of the region did not come as a surprise to Romanian officials. They needed Danube shipping and both banks of the river. Of course, Romania alone could not cope with such a task, so European investors were involved in the form of the European Danube Commission (EDC). This commission would be entrusted with the work necessary to clear the Danube estuaries, starting from Isaccea and other parts adjacent to the sea, of sand and other obstacles so that the river and the mentioned parts of the sea would become fully navigable. On November 2, 1865, the UDC adopted the Navigation Act for the Lower Danube and its delta.

Article XVI of the Treaty of Paris granted the UDK the right to impose duties on shipping in the amount necessary to cover the costs of the above-mentioned works. The income from the dues was intended only to cover loans already made by the EDC and those it might make in the future to complete the works to cover the costs of management.

A European Danube Commissionvessel on the Danube. Image: danubecommission

In 1857, a decision was made to deepen the Sulinskoye mouth to 21-23 feet. Between 1856 and 1912, the ECD (England, France, Austria-Hungary, Bavaria, Turkey) and Romania allocated 74 million francs for its deepening. These measures led to an increase in cargo turnover through Sulina from 2.5 million in 1856 to 7 million tons in 1880. Since Russia did not participate in the development of the Sulina route, a stiff duty of 1.5-2.5 kopecks per pood of cargo was imposed on its steamers. Thus, goods from North Budjak were almost never exported across the Danube, and Romania, nominally as the owner of the Lower Danube, received a monopoly on trade and shipping.

After the loss of the "Bessarabian section" in 1878, when this part of Budzhak was returned to the Russian Empire under the San Stefan Peace Treaty, the Romanian political elite was depressed and dreamed of revenge. Fate gave Romania such a chance in January 1918, when its troops occupied the entire Bessarabian province, but the Romanians failed to draw the right conclusions from their economic policy.

Андрій Шевченко

Bujak under Romanian rule: reforms, taxes and the struggle for survival

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