“Speculation goes on a bacchanalian spree”: the portrayal of speculation and speculator in the periodical press of the “White” south of Russia (1919)

The article analyses materials on economic issues published in major newspapers on the territory of Russia's “White” South in 1919. The author focuses on the way in which speculation as an economic phenomenon and speculators were portrayed by journalists and economists in their publications. The created images are shown in their interaction with public sentiments. It is concluded that the authors of such articles about speculation aimed to stir up public discontent with speculators in general and directed it against vendors to divert the public attention from one of the main causes of speculation, the economic policies of A.I. Denikin's government and of the Cossack Government of the Don Cossack Oblast.