For the first time, manufactories arose in the 16th century in Europe, and more precisely, in the states and cities of Italy. They later appeared in countries such as the Netherlands, England and France. These were enterprises that made cloth, wove wool, built ships, and mined ore. They were exempted from regulations and workshop restrictions.
The first manufactories in Russia were different from European ones. The existence of feudal relations left its mark on their origin and development. They were based on the slave, forced labor of serfs who did not receive adequate pay for their labor. In this regard, they could not develop at a rapid pace, like similar enterprises in the West.
First enterprise
Considering the appearance of the first manufactories in Russia, it is necessary to say what characterizes such an enterprise. Manufactory is a form of industrial production in which manual labor is applied and hired labor is involved. Its main principle is the division of labor, which provides for the unification of individual operations in the process of creating a product.
The first manufactories in Russia arose in the 17th century. Their number exceeded sixty. They were formed on the basis of craft and merchant artels. Sewing and weaving manufactories mainly carried out orders of the Sovereign's Court.
The first enterprise of this type in Russia is the Cannon Yard in Moscow. It arose in 1525. Blacksmiths, casters, carpenters, soldering irons and other artisans worked here. It was a state-owned enterprise. More about it will be discussed below.
Other manufactories
The second manufactory was the Moscow Armory. It chased silver and gold, and also practiced carriage, sewing, carpentry, and enamel production.
The third was the Khamovny Dvor in Moscow, the name of which came from the word "boor" - as they used to call linen canvas. The fourth time the factory was founded was the Moscow Mint.
Creation paths
Manufactories arose in two ways:
- By combining workers with various specialties in one workshop. In this regard, the product from the initial to the stage of its final production was made in one place.
- By collecting in one general workshop those artisans who owned the same specialty, and each of them continuously performed the same operation.
Next will be considered the forms inherent in the first manufactories in Russia.
Forms
These include the following:
- Scattered.
- Centralized.
- Mixed.
The first of these is a method of organizing production, in which the owner of the capital, a merchant-entrepreneur (manufactory), transfers raw materials to rural small artisans-homeworkers for the purpose of its consistent processing. After receiving the raw material (for example, it could be raw wool), the artisan produced yarn from it. The manufacturer took it, giving it to another worker for processing, and he made yarn from it, etc.
In the second method, all workers processed raw materials, gathering together, under one roof. It was distributed primarily where the technological process required the joint work of a dozen or even hundreds of workers who performed various operations. This was characteristic of the following industries:
- textile;
- mining;
- metallurgical;
- printing;
- sugar;
- paper;
- porcelain and earthenware.
The owners of centralized manufactories - for the most part wealthy merchants, workshop craftsmen were much less common.
The third type produced more complex products, for example, watches. At such manufactories, individual parts were made by small artisans who had a narrow specialization. While the assembly was carried out already in the workshop of the entrepreneur.
Manufactory under Peter I
Under him there were several types of manufactories. This is about:
- treasury bills;
- patrimony;
- session-based;
- merchants;
- peasant.
Under Peter I, at least two hundred new manufactories appeared, the creation of which he strongly encouraged. Attempts were made to establish state-owned factories in the Urals that process metal. But they received full development only thanks to the reforms of Peter I.
It was during this period that the first manufactories in Russia began to develop and function at a fast pace - in connection with the reorientation of the entire economy. The emergence of such enterprises was accelerated by the need for industrial products of their own production, primarily for the needs of the regular army and navy.
Serfdom
The enterprises in Russia, although they had capitalist features, were used mainly on peasant labor. These were the sessional, ascribed, conscript, and other peasants, which turned the manufactory into a feudal enterprise.
They were divided into merchants, bureaus, landowners depending on whose property their workers were in. In 1721, industrialists received the right to purchase peasants in order to secure them for their enterprise. Such peasants were called sessional.
They were the feudal-dependent population of Russia and were obliged to work in private and state-owned factories and plants in return for paying taxes - per capita and quitrent. At the end of the 17th century, to support industry and provide it with constant cheap labor, the government widely practiced the registration of state peasants to manufactories in Siberia and the Urals.
As a rule, ascribed peasants were attached to enterprises for an indefinite period, in fact, forever. Formally, they still belonged to the state, but were de facto exploited by the industrialists and punished by them as serfs.
State manufactories exploited the labor of state peasants, ascribed, as well as free hired craftsmen and recruits. At the merchants' manufactories, there were laborer, subsession peasants and civilian workers. The landowner enterprises fully served his serfs.
Leading enterprises
Such were, for example, Cannon and Hamov manufactories. They have already been mentioned above. And also it is worth saying about Danilovskaya manufactory.
The first of these is known as the earliest. This is the Moscow Cannon Yard, which was a large enterprise where experienced craftsmen and their apprentices worked. They were paid state salaries. There were melting furnaces, forges, foundry barns. At this advanced enterprise, guns, bells, and other metal products were cast. It was here that in the 2nd half of the 17th century, the master Andrei Chokhov cast “Tsar Cannon”.
There were several boorish yards in Moscow. They were created to serve the economic needs of the palace, then they were used to meet the needs of the army. In the workshops, the canvas was made and bleached: tablecloths, towels, scarves, sewed sailing canvases. The products were of very high quality. The most famous were the Kadashevsky yard in the Kadashevsky settlement, in Zamoskvorechye, and Khamovny in the Khamovnichesky settlement.
Partnership Danilovskaya manufactory
It is also known as a partnership of V. E. Mescherin. This is one of the largest enterprises in the Russian Empire. The partnership with the warehouse was located in Moscow, on Ilyinka Street. And production is in the area of the current Warsaw highway.
The merchant of the 1st guild Meshcherin in 1867 invested in the creation of a weaving factory. It mainly produced calico, from which chintz and scarfs were later made. Then they were given for stuffing and finishing to other enterprises located in Moscow and in Ivanovo-Voznesensk.
In 1876, a partnership arose on the basis of a weaving manufactory. In 1877, its capital amounted to 1.5 million rubles. By 1879, a mechanical cotton factory was also created. In 1882, the enterprise turned into a plant that included a full production cycle.
In 1912, 2 million fabric cuts and more than 20 million scarves were produced. There were 150 kinds of fabric. 6 thousand workers worked at the enterprise. In 1913, capital amounted to 3 million rubles. In 1919, the partnership was nationalized. Later, the company received the name of the Moscow Cotton Factory. M.V. Frunze. Since 1994 it has been called the Danilovsk Manufactory. Currently, the building on the Warsaw highway has residential lofts and a business center.