Activities of the Cotton Committee for the development of cotton production in the Turkestan General Government (1907-1917)

The article examines the measures taken in the Russian Empire to ensure cotton independence in the early 20th century. Special attention is paid to the work of the Cotton Committee, which was established in 1907 to coordinate the activities of the country’s cotton producers. It was an independent advisory and informational body of an interdepartmental nature, where all information about the state of the cotton industry in the Russian Empire was collected. Based on previously unstudied documents from the Russian State Historical Archive, this article examines the measures taken by the Committee for the Discussion, Unification, and Direction of Affairs Related to Cotton Growing and the Cotton Industry in the Turkestan Governorate-General. The imperial authorities had high hopes for their cotton-producing national outskirts, which were intended to implement the «cotton project» that would ensure the country’s industrial independence. The Cotton Committee addressed issues related to the improvement of cotton plantations, the irrigation of new lands, the transportation and trade of cotton, and the improvement of conditions for its production and sale. According to the documents studied, the committee actively discussed the involvement of private capital in the irrigation of lands in Turkestan for cotton cultivation, as well as the participation of the government in irrigation projects. Measures were taken to provide mortgage loans to cotton farmers, and the legislative articles of the Regulations on the Turkestan Region were revised. The Cotton Committee continued its work even during wartime, taking care to preserve the cotton plantations, if not to increase them. According to the author, the Cotton Committee was not only a conduit for the Russian Empire’s policies on the ground, but also a link between the government’s plans and the actions of the Turkestan cotton farmers. Its dissolution in 1917 exacerbated an already challenging situation.