City-run Public Banks in the Russian Empire: a Historiographical Aspect
Being one of the elements of Imperial Russia's financial system in the late 19th - early 20th centuries, city-run public banks were highly important for social and economic life of the state and the people. The aim of the article is to analyze various approaches to the investigation of city-run public banks and to find out whether the issue has been duly scrutinized by Russian historiographers. The article analyzes the history of investigating city-run public banks in the Russian Empire. The author shows how the history of city-run public banks was treated by Soviet and Post-Soviet historiographers. The author analyzes historiographical representations of the formation of city-run public banks, their interaction with municipal and provincial authorities, their charitable activities, and the transformation of legislation regulating the banking system. The relevance of the research is accounted for by the fact that modern lawmakers rely on their predecessors' experience when developing municipal banking structures. The author concludes that this unique type of financial organizations of the Russian Empire is underinvestigated. Despite the fact that many historians are interested in the issue, the history of city-run public banks, their activities and legal regulations in Prerevolutionary Russia is largely underinvestigated and should be studied thoroughly. The article can be used by researchers interested in the history of the Russian banking system, the Russian financial system, and municipal self-government.