The Ruble: A Political History

In this scrupulously researched monograph, Princeton historian Pravilova (A Public Empire) offers “an alternative vision of the emergence, growth, and collapse of the Russian empire” by focusing on the evolution of its currency. Catherine the Great created Russia’s first paper money, the assignat, in 1769. Initially backed by Russia’s enormous copper reserves, it funded the empire’s unbridled expansion and numerous wars with the Ottoman Empire and Persia. Monetary reforms in 1839 introduced the silver-based credit ruble, but “conspicuously rejected the principles of state accountability for the issuance of money.” Not convertible and basically worthless, the ruble became a metaphor for depravity for Russian writers like Gogol and Dostoyevsky, while Slavophiles hailed it as a symbol of Russia’s distinctiveness. In the late 19th century, Russia needed to build railroads and waterways for new territories in Siberia; finance minister Sergei Witte’s gold-based fiscal reforms brought an influx of foreign capital for these projects, but also sowed the seeds of revolution. Ironically, after the Bolsheviks’ victory in 1917 and Lenin’s “clumsy” takeover of the Russian State Bank, “the demand for money increased almost instantly... as if the promise of its eventual extinction was a joke.” Intricate yet accessible, and shot through with mordant flashes of wit, this is a revealing study of how financial crises and ill-fated reforms shaped a nation. (June)