Dynamics of the number of the petty bourgeois class in the cities of the Central Chernozem region in the second half of the 19th century

The process of modernization in Russia not only caused a quantitative movement of the urban population, but also led to significant changes in the class structure of urban centers. The article examines the number of the middle-class in the cities of the Central Chernozem Region in the second half of the 19th century. Using statistical data, the author compares how the number of the petty bourgeois class changed from 1861 to 1897 in the Voronezh, Kursk, Orel, Tambov provinces. The result of the study allows us to conclude that the burghers were still the most numerous estate after the peasants.