Development of Transport Infrastructure for Salt Industry in Volga-Caspian Region in Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries
https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2025-14-9-389-407
Abstract
This article examines the history of establishing new logistical routes to support the salt industry within the Volga-Caspian transport corridor. The study highlights the construction of critical transport arteries — the Baskunchak and Astrakhan railway lines. The analysis draws on a combination of published legislative sources and previously unexplored archival documents, including administrative and regulatory records. The article underscores that modernization efforts during the post-reform era, state industrial and transportation policies, capital and labor mobility, and the rise of private enterprise — all within the resource-rich Volga-Caspian region — formed an interconnected economic framework. The findings suggest that the efficiency of this economic mechanism fostered the growth of resource-oriented industries and entrepreneurship, facilitated the settlement of peripheral territories, and integrated the Volga-Caspian region into the broader national economy. The study demonstrates the pivotal role of state regulation in ensuring effective coordination between the salt industry and the transport-logistics cluster of the Volga-Caspian region.
Keywords
Supporting agencies: The study is supported by Russian Science Foundation, project number № 25-28-00920 “Organizational and economic mechanism of transformation of the Volga-Caspian transit route during the Period of the First Russian industrialization (mid-19th — early 20th century XX century)”, https://rscf.ru/project/25-28-00920/
About the Authors
Yu. G. Eshchenko
Astrakhan Tatishchev State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Yuliya G. Eshchenko - PhD in History, Associate Professor, senior research scientist.
Astrakhan
S. V. Vinogradov
Astrakhan Tatishchev State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Sergey V. Vinogradov - Doctor of History, Professor, chief research scientist.
Astrakhan
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Review
For citations:
Eshchenko Yu.G., Vinogradov S.V. Development of Transport Infrastructure for Salt Industry in Volga-Caspian Region in Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries. Nauchnyi dialog. 2025;14(9):389-407. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24224/2227-1295-2025-14-9-389-407
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