The economic content of the Russian-Iranian peace treaties 1810-1820's

Abstract

© 2019, Research Trend. All rights reserved. The article examines the clauses of the Gulistan (1813) and Turkmenchay (1828) peace treaties between Russia and Persia, which relate to trade and economic relations between the two countries. On the basis of their analysis, the author proves that international legislative acts were designed to create the most favored nation treatment for development of the Russian trade in the Iranian area, and ultimately contributed to the expansion of the sphere of the Russia's economic and political influence in the region, as well as to optimization of the initial stage of the industrial revolution in the country. Despite the fact that Iran acted as the losing party, in clauses of the treaties concerning the regulation of the legal status and trading rights of the Iranian merchants who carried out trade with Russia, the desire of the Russian side to create the most favored nation treatment for Persian merchants is clearly visible. The latter, during the first half of the XIX century, confidently dominated in Russian-Asian trade in the Caspian, and the supplies of the much-needed raw materials to Russia ultimately depended on their behavior in the market. First of all, cotton paper and raw silk. Another goal pursued by the Russian government was the creation of a positive balance for the Russian trade, which could also be achieved only with the legislative consolidation of certain trade preferences in relation to the merchant class.