Saratov city council activities to supply the population with food during the World War I (by a case study of bulletin of Saratov city council)

The paper discusses the measures adopted by Saratov City Council in 1914-1917 to counter the food crisis characterized by the shortage of foodstuff and inflation. The author identifies foodstuffs that have been strongly affected by the crisis (grain and its derivatives (flour and bread), meat, and sugar). It is necessary to divide the concept of supply into intra-urban rationing (distribution of goods in the city) and extra-urban rationing (the delivery of goods to the city). The author emphasized that the extra-urban supply was carried out by the City Council with the assistance of the high-rank officials of a province. The main activities related to the distribution of goods among the residents of Saratov included the introduction of maximum prices of (tariffs on) products through compulsory regulations, food rationing, attempts to create municipal enterprises (bakeries, abattoirs, and dairy farms), the imposition of restrictions on the production of certain goods. The author concludes that the above-mentioned events have had a negative impact on the financial situation of the city.