The origin of the phenomenon of Russian entrepreneurship in the first quarter of the XVIII century (based on the materials of the Voronezh region)

Nowadays, one of the most important tasks facing Russian society is to create a strong entrepreneurial layer capable of ensuring a breakthrough development of the economy and of taking the country into the ranks of the world's leading nations. Addressing the origins and traditions of domestic entrepreneurship, considering the achievements and miscalculations of past years will help to draw the right conclusions and overcome obstacles to the formation of modern business. The article aims to reveal the phenomenon of Russian entrepreneurship, which emerged in the era of Peter the Great. In order to achieve the above-mentioned goal, the following tasks were set, which determined the novelty of the article: to analyze the works of both Russian and Western authors on the subject, to show the ambiguous impact of state industrial policy with forced labor on the formation of the phenomenon of Russian entrepreneurship, to identify the characteristics of the nascent bourgeoisie using the examples of the Voronezh Region. The research is carried out on the basis of the principle of historicism, taking into account such general scientific methods as induction and deduction, analysis and synthesis. Based on the archival materials from the Voronezh archives collections used for the first time, the authors came to the conclusion about the need for a critical understanding of past experience.