Soviet Russia's foreign trade relations with the countries of the Near and Middle East contributed to the process of accumulating capital for national economic construction and strengthening the positions of the liberated states of this region in the struggle to oust foreign capital from the national market. Equal and mutually beneficial trade created an atmosphere of trust in relations between countries and peoples. Today, in the context of a sharp aggravation of ideological confrontation in the international arena, the study of the initial period of Soviet-Eastern foreign trade relations has not only scientific, but also political significance. The existence of long-standing traditions in the trade and economic relations of the Soviet state, not only with neighboring countries, but also with non-neighboring countries of the East, refutes the bourgeois falsifications of Soviet foreign economic policy in relation to the liberated countries.

The process of the emergence of a new type of international economic relations in the Middle East is one of the problems that experts are deeply interested in. Some of its aspects are reflected in the Soviet historical literature. The researchers analyzed the main activities of the Soviet government in shaping the course of foreign economic policy and establishing trade and economic ties with foreign countries2 . This analysis was mainly carried out in the course of examining the inter - State diplomatic and socio-political relations of the Soviet state with the countries of the Near and Middle East3 . The issues of foreign trade relations of the RSFSR with the countries of the region have not been specifically studied, and there are still no studies summarizing the initial experience of economic, cooperative and foreign trade organizations of Soviet Russia and trade and entrepreneurial circles of the Near and Middle East in creating the initial boundaries for the development of good-neighborly trade and economic relations. Therefore, in the article

1 См. напр., Rubinstein A. Z. Soviet Policy toward Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. The Dynamics of Influence. N. Y. 1982.

2 Sonkin M. E. Okno v vneshnyj mir: ekonomicheskie svyazi Sovetskogo gosudarstva v 1917-1921 gg. [Window to the outside World: Economic Relations of the Soviet State in 1917-1921]. Vol. 1-2. M .. 1976; Shishkin V. A. V. I. Lenin and the foreign economic policy of the Soviet State (1917-1923) L. 1977; his. In the fight against the blockade. On the formation of Soviet foreign trade, Moscow, 1979; et al.

3 Kheifets A. N. Sovetskaya Rossiya i soprodel'nye strany Vostoka v gody grazhdanskoy voyny (1918 - 1920) [Soviet Russia and neighboring countries of the East during the Civil War (1918-1920)]. Soviet diplomacy and the peoples of the East. 1921-1927. Moscow, 1968; Sedov P. L. Razvitie strany i Sovetskiy Soyuz [Developing Countries and the Soviet Union]. Truth and fiction on economic cooperation. M. 1981, the USSR and Turkey. 1917-1979. Moscow, 1981; Teplinsky L. B. USSR and Afghanistan. 1919-1981. Moscow, 1982; et al.

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An attempt is made to trace the process of the emergence of foreign trade relations of Soviet Russia with Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and the markets of the Arab East in 1917-1922, to show the efforts of governments and the business community to ensure sustainable trade contacts.

The study covers the period from the first actual export-import transactions in 1917-1918 to the appearance in 1922 of the main forms and methods of trade between Soviet Russia and the countries of the Near and Middle East that were freed from colonial dependence, the establishment of their stable ties with the Soviet market, and the transformation of Soviet-Eastern trade into a long-term reality. During this period, two stages of development of Soviet-Eastern trade can be distinguished. At the first stage (from the end of 1917 to 1920), socialist transformations were carried out in the economy of Soviet Russia and its foreign trade apparatus began to form, attempts were made to establish contacts with neighboring eastern markets. The second stage (1921-1922) was characterized by the beginning of the development of foreign trade relations between the Soviet state and neighboring countries.

The main purpose of the article is to comprehensively consider the issues of foreign trade relations between Soviet Russia and the countries of the Near and Middle East, which were struggling with economic backwardness, for economic independence from the capitalist powers, as well as to reveal the role of foreign trade in strengthening good-neighborliness in relations between the RSFSR and these countries. The source base consists of archival materials, publications of domestic and foreign diplomatic documents, statistical and reference publications of foreign trade organizations, and the press.

The Great October Socialist Revolution awakened the peoples of the colonial world and drew them into an active struggle against the imperialist colonialists. The Decree on peace, the appeal "To all working Muslims of Russia and the East", and the first foreign policy acts of the Soviet government were perceived by the national liberation forces in the states of the Near and Middle East as evidence of the appearance in our country of a sincere advocate of peaceful and equal relations between all countries. Under the influence of the revolutionary changes in Soviet Russia, the anti-colonial movement in the East expanded. The Declaration of the Rights of the Working and Exploited People declared a complete break in Soviet Russia "with the barbaric policy of bourgeois civilization, which built the welfare of the exploiters in a select few nations on the enslavement of hundreds of millions of the working population in Asia, in the colonies in general, and in small countries." 4 In a note dated January 27, 1918, to the Iranian Envoy in Petrograd, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the RSFSR confirmed the government's decision to cancel the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1907 as an unfair international act directed against the freedom and independence of the Iranian people .5 In his closing remarks on the Peace Report at the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets of Workers 'and Soldiers' Deputies, Lenin said:"We reject all points about looting and violence, but we will cordially accept all points where good-neighborly conditions and economic agreements are concluded, and we cannot reject them." 6
Under the influence of the liberation ideas of the Great October Revolution, the peoples of the Near and Middle East rose up to fight against the imperialists. End the National liberation War of the Afghan people-

4 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 35, p. 222.

5 Documents of Foreign Policy of the USSR (hereinafter-DVP), Vol. I. M. 1957, p. 91.

6 Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 35, p. 20.

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In 1919, the state gained its independence. The attempts of the British colonialists to turn Iran into their protectorate and a springboard for intervention in the Soviet republics caused the growth of a popular movement against the occupiers and the reactionary Shah's authorities, which in February 1921 led to the annulment of the predatory Anglo-Iranian agreement of 1919 and the withdrawal of the British occupation forces from Iranian territory. The Grand National Assembly of Turkey rejected the enslaving Sevres peace treaty between the Sultan's government and the Entente powers, which the organizers of the Versailles system intended to preserve the capitulation regime in Turkey. In their efforts to achieve national independence, the Eastern peoples found the support of Soviet Russia. As a result of negotiations held in April-May 1919, diplomatic relations were established between the RSFSR and Afghanistan, which strengthened its international position. In 1920, Iran and Turkey established diplomatic relations with the RSFSR. The desire of the governments and business circles of the liberated countries to find ways to achieve achievements in culture, technology, and trade encouraged them to develop direct ties with the RSFSR and the Soviet market.

On April 22, 1918, the Soviet government nationalized foreign trade, but it was not immediately possible to restore normal relations with foreign markets. In 1919, the civil war covered vast territories of the Republic of Soviets. The military and economic blockade imposed by the capitalist Powers cut off Soviet Russia's maritime trade routes and disrupted ties with its traditional commercial partners. The attitude to trade with Soviet Russia in the eastern countries was contradictory. A certain part of the merchant class was in favor of resuming it as soon as possible, while others took a wait-and-see attitude. In the context of the intensification of anti-Soviet bourgeois propaganda, the fact that it was necessary to trade with representatives of the Soviet government, and not with the usual private partners, often scared off merchants. However, as V. I. Lenin noted, "general economic world relations" force foreign countries to embark on "the path of communication with us" 7 . This also encouraged the business circles of eastern countries to establish economic contacts with their northern neighbor. In addition, Lenin emphasized that when "a handful of countries are strangling other peoples", "these peoples are turning to our help openly or covertly, consciously or unconsciously, but they are getting used to realizing the economic necessity of an alliance with Soviet Russia against international imperialism." 8
Even at the time when the interventionists and White Guards seized the southern regions of Russia, its trade contacts with the countries of the Near and Middle East did not completely stop, although they were irregular. Iranian merchants, for example, were allowed by the People's Commissariat of Trade of the RSFSR to conduct trade in border areas with economic organizations by "illegally delivering" small shipments of sabza, rice, tobacco and other goods to Astrakhan .9 It was clear to the Soviet foreign trade authorities that until Iranian merchants were convinced in practice that the trade rights granted to them were protected by Soviet laws, relations between the markets of long-standing trading partners would not become stable. Based on this, the Government of the RSFSR was ready to grant Iran preferential terms of trade on the Russian market and attempted to establish political and economic relations with its government. 26 Jan-

7 Ibid., vol. 44, p. 305.

8 Ibid., vol. 42, p. 107.

9 DVP. T. II. Moscow, 1958, p. 623.

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In November 1918, N. Z. Bravin, a representative of the Soviet government, arrived in Tehran to conduct negotiations with the Iranian government in order to conclude official bilateral agreements .10 British residents under the Shah's government managed to disrupt the start of the Soviet-Iranian negotiations.

In July 1918, the Government of the RSFSR sent a new diplomatic mission to Iran headed by I. O. Kolomiytsev, which was to continue its activities aimed at establishing relations between the two countries on the principles of equality and cooperation. The pro-English government of Vosug-ed-Doule refused to recognize the powers of the Soviet diplomat. At the same time, representatives of the Tehran merchants tried to find out the prospects for restoring trade relations between Iran and Soviet Russia. In October, Acting Kolomiytsev informed G. V. Chicherin that the Soviet diplomatic mission in Tehran was visited daily by Iranian businessmen .11 The Iranian press began to pay a lot of attention to the early restoration of normal relations with the Russian market12 . However, the RSFSR diplomatic mission had to establish contacts with the business community of the Iranian capital in extremely difficult conditions. On November 3, the British military, together with White Guard gangs, organized a pogrom in the mission's premises, its employees were arrested, and all property was looted. This anti-Soviet action caused outrage in Tehran. In newspapers and spontaneous rallies, Iranians expressed their sympathies for Soviet Russia .13
In September 1918, the Council of People's Commissars of the Turkestan ASSR, with the approval of the RSFSR government, took measures to establish regular trade relations with the nearest province of Iran to Soviet Central Asia - Khorasan. A consular mission was formed, headed by E. A. Babushkin, Consul of the Turkestan Republic in Khorasan. The mission was exclusively for trade purposes, with the purpose of purchasing rice, kishmish and other foodstuffs .14 Upon arrival in Mashhad, the mission members were captured by the British military authorities, subjected to humiliating interrogations, and then held in prisons and concentration camps for a long time. The government of the RSFSR took measures to rescue Soviet citizens, but only in November 1920 they managed to return to their homeland. In August 1919, on the way to Iran, the head of the Soviet Emergency Mission, I. O. Kolomiytsev, was captured and shot by the White Guards. The British imperialists were also involved in this. With the help of military-police repressive measures, they tried to prevent the restoration of political and trade relations between the Soviet republics and Iran. In 1920, the British forced the Iranian authorities to impose a prohibitive customs tariff on trade with Soviet Russia: customs duties on sugar increased by 1200%, on kerosene-1070% , etc., while on products of English origin they remained unchanged or even decreased. Iranian businessmen began to insist on the abolition of the anti-Soviet customs law 15 . However, restrictive measures on trade with Soviet Russia remained in place until 1922, when Iran-

10 Zarnitsky S. Trofimova L. Thus began the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, Moscow, 1984, p. 220.

11 TsGAOR USSR, o 130, op. 3, d. 178, ll. 2-3; see also Sobol ' - Smolyaninova T. A. Podvig posta-Voprosy istorii, 1969, N 5.

12 TSGANKH USSR, f. 7532, op. 1, d. 117, ll. 268, 380.

13 Zhukovsky N. Diplomaty novogo mira [Diplomats of the New World], Moscow, 1982, pp. 148-150.

14 See Popov M. E. Babushkin's Mission in Iran, Moscow, 1974, pp. 35, 106, 146.

15 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 7590, op. 3, d. 101, l. 25.

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The Russian Government finally agreed to restore the previously existing customs tariffs.

At first, Soviet-Turkish trade contacts were spontaneous and insignificant: Turkish merchants brought essential goods to Soviet Black Sea ports on felucca boats-manufactory, soap, flour, corn, etc.Special trade rules were established for these merchants, and the port administration granted them temporary visas for the duration of sales of the imported products. They carried out a significant part of their transactions with consumer cooperatives, since only cooperatives were allowed to purchase foreign goods in border areas and ports .16
Under conditions of discrimination against Soviet state-owned foreign trade organizations, consumer cooperation was the link between the markets of the RSFSR and the countries of the East. Its foreign trade activity has been relatively extensive since 1920, after the capitalist countries were forced to abandon attempts to stifle Soviet power economically, and the Entente Supreme Soviet decided on January 16 to start trading with the Russian market through the Central Union .17 The presence of its own procurement offices in Soviet Russia and neighboring countries allowed Centrosoyuz to join in solving national tasks to restore foreign trade relations. For the purchase of livestock and meat products for the Red Army units and the urban population, the Supreme Economic Council of the RSFSR provided the Centrosoyuz with 3.5 million gold rubles and 80 pounds of silver, and released a large amount of tea, metal products, and 1 million arsh for commodity exchange operations. manufactories 18 . As of January 1, 1919, Centrosoyuz received government loans in the amount of 246 million rubles .19 Consumer cooperation has aroused particular interest in the Iranian market. The Administrative Department of Commercial Work of the Central Union in Iran, established in Baku in the same year, was subordinated to the procurement offices of the Central Union located on the territory of Iran in Anzali, Astrabad, Mazenderan and Qazvin and had branches and agencies in Ardabil, Rasht, Astara, Neshedeser and Ferikaner .20 The central Union authorities began to receive offers from local merchants for commission delivery of Iranian raw materials in transit through Turkestan and Transcaucasia with their further sale in Soviet Russia and their purchase of Russian goods for the corresponding amount .21
Centrosoyuz coordinated its plans in the field of foreign trade, export and import prices, etc.with the People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade (NKVT) of the RSFSR. In accordance with the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of June 11, 1920 on the organization of foreign trade and commodity exchange of the RSFSR, Centrosoyuz carried out its export-import operations only "with the prior consent and permission of the NKVT or its relevant foreign bodies and on the grounds established by them"22 . The Centrosoyuz's commercial activity in Iran began in 1918, and until 1921, the Centrosoyuz was almost the only Soviet trade organization on the Iranian market that exported goods to the Soviet Union.-

16 Ibid., f. 413, op. 3, d. 637, l. 502; Iransky S. Basic issues of trade relations between the USSR and Turkey. - Trade of Russia with the East, 1924, N 1-2 p. 13.

17 Economic relations of the USSR with foreign countries. 1917 - 1967. Handbook, Moscow, 1967, p. 11.

18 TsGAOR USSR, f. 130, op. 5, d. 723, l. 203.

19 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 484, op. 1, d. 193, l. 73.

20 Ibid., d. 519, l. 15.

21 Ibid., f. 413, op. 2, d. 830, l. 20.

22 Collection of current regulations on foreign trade (from April 22, 1918 to March 1, 1924). Moscow, 1924, p. 11.

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producing industrial products and importing cotton and wool for state industry and food products (rice, dried fruit) for consumer cooperation. In 1920-1922. Centrosoyuz fulfilled export-import tasks not only for cooperation, but also for state industry 23 . When considering organizational issues related to Iranian billets, at a meeting of the commission under the Centrosoyuz commissioner for Iran and Azerbaijan on January 12, 1921, it was noted that the NKVT of the RSFSR uses the Centrosoyuz as its commercial apparatus in this market24 . To carry out commercial operations on the Iranian market, the RSFSR NKVT transferred 400 million rubles in old banknotes and 500 million rubles in Soviet banknotes to its Azerbaijani branch .25
In a short period of time, the Iranian department of Centrosoyuz, with the active support of the RSFSR NKVT, launched commercial activities along the entire southern coast of the Caspian Sea and prepared up to 383 thousand pood for the RSFSR NKVT and the ZSFSR NKVT. rice, 5.5 thousand pieces of morocco, 9 thousand pieces of karakul and furs. Soviet Russia's trade with Iran was favored by water and horse-drawn routes, mainly through the customs offices of Julfa, Astara ,Anzeli, Meshedemer, Bandar Gez, and Askhabad. 26
In March 1921, the Baku representative office of the Central Union undertook a commercial study expedition to the northern Iranian province of Astara. During the expedition, not only the market was studied, but also 5.5 thousand pounds of kerosene, lots of sugar, fabrics, and metal products were sold. In his report on the results of the expedition, B. M. Danzig, an agent of the Centrosoyuz department in Baku, noted that the representative of the Centrosoyuz met with the most kind reception from the Iranian authorities and merchants, they repeatedly stressed that the Centrosoyuz is a well-known and valued organization. Purchases of Centrosoyuz on the Iranian market (rice, dried fruits, cotton, wool, karakul, morocco, etc. ton ary) increased from 208 thousand rubles in 1920 to 602 thousand rubles in 1921 and 960 thousand rubles in 1922.27 In connection with the end of the British military occupation of a large part of Iranian territory in 1921, the movement for the development of normal trade relations with Soviet cooperative and foreign trade organizations became more active among the business circles of Iran. Soviet Russia accounted for 3.3% of Iran's total trade turnover in 1920/21, 6.1% in 1921/22, and 10% in 1922/23. Among Iran's trading partners, the RSFSR ranked third (after England and Egypt). According to Iranian statistics, the size of Soviet-Iranian trade in 1922 was about 135.6 million cranes .28
In 1919, the Centrosoyuz office began its activity in Istanbul, but many of its employees from among the old, pre-revolutionary co-operatives, adhering in words to the slogan of "neutrality" in relation to the Soviet government, in fact pursued a policy that contradicted the interests of the RSFSR. They did not fulfill the tasks of the Soviet government, and waged, in the words of F. E. Dzerzhinsky, "a silent underground struggle along the entire line of our economic policy." 29 With the development and improvement of Soviet foreign trade, leading-

23 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 484, op. 1, d. 916, l. 20.

24 Ibid., op. 7, d. 68, l. 50.

25 TsGAOR USSR, f. 130, op. 4, d. 317, l. 45.

26 TSGARH OF THE USSR, f. 484, op. 7, d. 624, l. 16; TsGAOR OF the USSR, f. 4085, op. 18, d. 66, l. 72.

27 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 484, op. 7, d. 79, l. 26; op. 1, d. 916, l. 20; Statistics of external commodity exchange of Russia in 1921-1923, Moscow, 1923, p. 51 (cost indicators are given at the exchange rate of the ruble of the corresponding years).

28 TSGANKH USSR, f. 8317, op. 1, d. 16, l. 6; f. 7590, op. 3, d. 9, l. 9.

29 Dzerzhinskiy F. E. Izbrannye sozdaniya [Selected works], Vol. 1, Moscow, 1977, p. 205.

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The administrative apparatus of the consumer cooperative and its representative offices abroad was gradually freed from anti-Soviet elements and temporary fellow travelers. This, in particular, is evidenced by the materials of the joint meeting of representatives of the NKVT of the RSFSR and the Central Union office in Istanbul, held on July 6, 1920. Its participants recognized that the commercial work of the Centrosoyuz "should develop in strict accordance with the general predestinations of the leading economic bodies of the RSFSR." 30 This decision was in accordance with Lenin's instructions to ensure the full leadership of the Soviet state by the cooperative apparatus .31
The RCP(b) and the Soviet Government paid special attention to equipping the commercial apparatus of the Central Union with capable and dedicated workers, and mastering the organization and methods of foreign trade. During the difficult period of establishing foreign trade relations in 1919-1920, the board of Centrosoyuz was headed by a consistent supporter of the state monopoly of foreign trade, A. M. Lezhava. Under his leadership, the consumer cooperative not only dealt with the distribution of products among the population, but also carried out export - import tasks of state economic organizations. In foreign markets, Centrosoyuz acted as an intermediary between the NKVT of the RSFSR and merchants and trade associations of foreign countries. In the report of the Board of the Central Union to the assembly of commissioners in 1923, it was noted that by fulfilling their obligations and meeting the requirements of the markets, the Central Union representative offices were able to attract the attention of commercial circles to trade with the Soviet state .32 By operating in the markets of Iran and Turkey, the consumer cooperative not only broke through the economic blockade on the southern borders of the Country of Soviets, but also aroused interest in the idea of cooperation among the population of Middle Eastern countries.

Simultaneously with the Centrosoyuz, representatives of Odessa and Crimean foreign Trade, trade delegations from Ukraine and Transcaucasia launched their activities in Istanbul. A Central Union office was established in Trebizond and operated in the eastern vilayets of Turkey. With its assistance, the Transcaucasian branches of Oil Export imported 3 thousand poods of petroleum products to the Turkish market in the spring of 1921, and 807 thousand poods in 192233 . At the end of 1922, the republican government of Turkey allowed Oil exports to operate on the entire Turkish market, calling on the interested commercial strata of their country to facilitate the exchange of agricultural goods for petroleum products and strengthen trade ties with the RSFSR. Turkish merchants and the press reacted favorably to the efforts of foreign trade organizations of the Soviet state to establish trade with their country34 .

The Istanbul office of the All-Russian Joint-Stock Cooperative Society (Arcos), formed in England in 1920, when there was no trade agreement between it and Soviet Russia, took an active part in organizing the first purchases of goods on the markets of the Near and Middle East together with Centrosoyuz. Arkos was a Soviet trade organization legally registered as an Anglo-Russian commercial enterprise with limited liability under English law. After the conclusion of a trade agreement with the RSFSR on March 16, 1921-

30 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 484, op. 1, d. 201, l. 62.

31 See Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 40, p. 53.

32 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 484, op. 1, d. 193, l. 73; d. 468, l. 8.

33 Ibid., f. 3270, op. 3, d. 8, l. 28.

34 Zarya Vostoka, 20. VII. 1922; Aralov S. I. Memoirs of a Soviet diplomat. 1922-1923. Moscow, 1960, p. 162.

page 22

Due to the fact that, in particular, England undertook to refrain from anti-Soviet actions and activities "outside its own borders") 35, the British government allowed the company's commercial activities in the territories of countries dependent on England. Soon, the Arkos office was established in Istanbul. According to the agreement concluded between Arkos and Centrosoyuz, the latter transferred to Arkos on a commission basis the sale of goods belonging to the Soviet cooperative in Istanbul and other markets of the Middle East. Centrosoyuz sent its representatives for the purchase and sale of goods on foreign markets to the Arcos branches that carried out commercial assignments of the consumer cooperative 36 . On the basis of the Istanbul representative offices of Arcos and Centrosoyuz, a trade delegation of the RSFSR in the Middle East was established with its seat in Istanbul. It actually became the first Soviet trade mission in Turkey.

At that time, Istanbul was mainly engaged in brokerage rather than trading operations. The city was occupied by the Entente forces, and its socio-political and economic life was controlled by the British, French and Italian military administrative bodies .37 Therefore, the legal basis for the work of the RSFSR foreign trade representation in Istanbul could serve as the Anglo-Soviet trade agreement of 1921, which opened up the prospects for trade between Soviet Russia and the countries and territories dependent on British imperialism. The first deals were made with local commission agents, and then they began to offer their products to Istanbul and related Middle Eastern trading circles, agreeing to provide loans and long-term commercial loans.

Many Western European trading firms in Istanbul had close ties to their countries ' counterintelligence services. The Soviet trade delegation worked in an environment of espionage and provocation, and hostile rumors and gossip were spread about the delegation's employees. The Chairman of the delegation, A. I. Zolotarev, noted that all these measures were aimed at disrupting almost established trade relations. 38 Taking advantage of the fact that the trade delegation of the RSFSR did not have a diplomatic status, the British and French military police services began to review and detain its mail-up to 50 - 70% of correspondence did not reach the addressees. On the night of June 29, 1921, the Anglo-French police raided the delegation's premises, seized its documentation and material possessions. Almost all members of the delegation were searched and imprisoned. The detainees were treated roughly, beaten with rubber truncheons, threatened with weapons, and their documents, money, and valuables were taken away. At the same time, the British and French colonialists covered themselves with fabrications about "Bolshevik intrigues." At the insistence of British police officials, the employees of the Soviet trade delegation were expelled from Istanbul. An anti-colonial explosion was already brewing in the city, growing stronger as the Turkish liberation forces approached Istanbul. The British officers justified their actions by following the orders of the military authorities .39
In connection with the actions of the British police, V. I. Lenin recommended G. V. Chicherin to protest in the press and on the radio,

35 DVP. T. III. Moscow, 1959, p. 608.

36 TSGANKH USSR, f. 484, op. 7, d. 327, ll. 64, 65.

37 Howard H. N. The Partition of Turkey. A Diplomatic History. 1913 - 1923. N. Y. 1966, p. 348.

38 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 413, op. 2, d. 838, l. 19.

39 DVP. T. IV. M. 1960, p. 213; TSGANKH SSSR, f. 413, op. 2, d. 1452, l. 39.

page 23

and the fact of violation of laws and customs in relations between peoples should be included "in the" book of "crimes of the Entente" 40 . In a note to the British Foreign Secretary dated September 27, 1921, the Soviet Government refuted the accusations of Soviet foreign trade workers in the preparation of a "plot in Constantinople." The RSFSR Envoy to England, L. B. Krasin, reminded London government circles that the members of the trade delegation of Soviet Russia to the Middle East are " representatives of the Central Union and do not pursue any political goals."41 . Under the influence of strong protests of L. B. Krasin, the premises of the Soviet trade delegation in Istanbul were vacated, documents and property were returned, and its activities resumed. However, representatives of foreign trade organizations of the Soviet state who came to Istanbul were repeatedly arrested and subjected to other violence in the future, right up to the liberation of Istanbul by the revolutionary Turkish troops .42
The events in Istanbul were one of the first major anti-Soviet campaigns of the Western powers around the foreign trade activities of Soviet Russia and were organized in order to undermine the authority of the trade mission of the RSFSR in the commercial world and among the public of the Middle East. But the imperialists did not achieve their desired goal. Businessmen from Syria and Palestine entered into business negotiations with representatives of the trade delegation of Soviet Russia in Istanbul. Egyptian trading firms that tried to establish business ties with the London or Istanbul representative offices of Arcos showed interest in the Soviet market. In particular, Egyptian merchants were interested in Soviet timber and cement. In October 1921, 5,600 tons of gasoline were shipped from Novorossiysk to the port of Alexandria43 . The following year, 16.1 thousand tons of Soviet kerosene (11.2% of Egypt's annual oil import)were delivered to the Egyptian market44 . In 1921, 982.5 tons of leaf tobacco were imported to Egypt from Soviet Russia (13.4% of all Egyptian imports of this commodity), in 1922 - more than 1.1 million tons (16.1%) 45 . These products were sold on the Egyptian market through the mediation of foreign trading firms. Since the end of 1922, the London office of Arcos has been able to establish links with some Egyptian firms. In the conditions of famine that Soviet Russia experienced after the civil war and imperialist intervention, the importation of 751 thousand poods from Egypt in 1922 played a very important role. flour in the amount of over 1.1 million rubles; purchases were made with the participation of Arkos46 . Egyptians began to show interest in the Soviet market, especially under the influence of the Turkish Republic's growing political, trade and economic cooperation with Soviet Russia.

After the liberation of Istanbul from foreign rule, the economic connection between Ankara, the capital of republican Turkey, and Istanbul began to be established. On May 16, 1921, the Turkish Government agreed to establish a trade mission of the RSFSR in Ankara. To carry out export - import operations on the Turkish market in May-June 1922, agencies of the Soviet trade mission were opened in Samsun, Mersin, Ineboli, Trebizond, and later -

40 Lenin's Collection XXXIX, p. 318; Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. Biographical Chronicle, vol. 11, Moscow, 1980, p. 275.

41 DVP. Vol. IV, pp. 379, 212.

42 Ibid., p. 673; Shishkin V. A. In the fight against the blockade, p. 91.

43 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 413, op. 2, d. 838, l. 6; d. 839, ll. 73-74; Izvestiya. 29.X.1921.

44 TSGANKH USSR, f. 413, op. 10, d. 657, ll. 8-9.

45 Russian-Eastern Chamber of Commerce. Information Economic Bulletin (Review of Foreign Press), 1927, N 2, p. 25.

46 DVP. T. V. M. 1961, p. 708; Izvestiya, 3. III. 1922.

page 24

in Zanguzan 47 . The political and foreign trade representative of the RSFSR in Turkey, S. I. Aralov, in a note dated May 5, 1922, to the Turkish Foreign Minister, expressed the hope that "the connection between our two countries, based on economic ties, will only grow and strengthen" 48 . On July 9, an agreement was reached between the Governments of the RSFSR and Turkey on Soviet assistance in the reconstruction and construction of railways .49 Such works could contribute to the revival of the Turkish domestic market. The first large-scale deliveries of petroleum products made by the NKVT of the RSFSR were regarded by the Turkish business community as of paramount importance economic assistance to the nation50 . At the end of 1922, the trade delegation in Istanbul and the trade mission in Ankara merged into the trade mission of the RSFSR in Turkey, its seat was Ankara, a consulate was established in Istanbul and the representation of Arkos was preserved. The Soviet trade mission and its branches began to find the most effective ways to develop trade and economic cooperation in the interests of both countries, and the question of creating joint-stock companies and banks united with Turkish merchants was studied.

Trade relations between Soviet Russia and Afghanistan, which had almost ceased during the First World War, were gradually normalized. In 1917-1916, there was virtually no trade between the two countries. On March 27, 1919, the People's Commissar of the Turkestan ASSR, E. E. Bogoyavlensky, on behalf of the RSFSR Government, sent a letter to the Afghan government with a proposal to establish good-neighborly and trade relations .51 The signing of the Treaty of friendship between Soviet Russia and Afghanistan in Moscow on February 28, 1921, opened up real prospects for restoring their trade relations. They were carried out in three directions: through Poltoratsk-Kushka-Herat; through Bukhara-Kerki-Mazar-I-Sherif; from Kerki to Termez along the Amu Darya and then to Kabul .52 In 1917-1923, Afghanistan's trade turnover passing through the Russian border accounted for 2-3% of its total foreign trade turnover .53 The RSFSR accounted for 0.2% of exports to Afghanistan and 4.9% of imports from Afghanistan (wool, cotton, livestock, fruit, tea, etc.). In August 1920. The Soviet government handed over the radio station to the Afghan Government as a sign of friendship between the peoples of both countries and trained technical specialists to maintain it. 54 In connection with the measures taken by the government of Emir Amanullah Khan to overcome the country's economic backwardness, the Soviet state began to import industrial goods to Afghanistan in exchange for agricultural products. The main part of transactions with Afghan merchants was carried out by the export-import trade office of Gostorg of the RSFSR.

In the early 1920s, the Afghan government sent a representative of national trade circles to Tashkent to establish trade relations with Soviet Russia. Turkestan Department of the NKVT

47 Foreign trade of the USSR for X years. Sb. m-lov. Moscow, 1928, p. 139.

48 DVP. T. V, p. 418.

49 Okcun A. G. Guice to Turkish Treaties (1920 - 1964). Ankara. 1966, p. 189.

50 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 413, op. 2, d. 1453, l. 185.

51 Voronin Al. Fidelity to the traditions of good neighborliness (To the 65th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Soviet Russia and Afghanistan). - Mezhdunarodnaya zhizn, 1984, No. 6, p. 129.

52 Bulletin of the Russian-Eastern Chamber of Commerce. Trade of the USSR with Afghanistan, Moscow, 1925, p. 5.

53 Reisner I. M. Independent Afghanistan, Moscow, 1929, p. 39; Teplinsky L. B. Uk. soch., p. 68.

54 See DVP. Vol. III, p. 139; Sedov P. L. Economic relations of the USSR with the countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America before the Second World War. Voprosy istorii, 1979, No. 7, p. 39.

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The RSFSR entered into negotiations with him 55 . The negotiations did not lead to a commercial agreement, but ties between the markets of the Soviet republics and Afghanistan became more stable. In the 1922-23 economic year, the size of Soviet-Afghan trade increased more than twofold, although its scale was still small; Afghan exports to the Soviet market amounted to 469 thousand rubles, and the import of Soviet goods to the Afghan market - 20 thousand rubles .56
Soviet foreign trade authorities, through the exchange of industrial products in Eastern markets, sought to expand the range of raw materials needed by domestic industry, paid attention to the needs of their commercial partners, and observed the traditions of local markets. Thanks to this, the distrust of the Soviet state in the commercial and socio - political circles of the countries of the Near and Middle East gradually began to dissipate. The size of Soviet-Turkish trade increased markedly: in 1920, the trade turnover was 416,000 rubles, in 1921 - 1,567,000 rubles, and in 1922 - 1,547,000 rubles .57 Since 1920, Soviet-Iranian export-import operations have also become more regular. Russian exports of petroleum products were recovering. Having chosen the path of independent trade without foreign intermediaries, the Baku representative office of the RSFSR Oil Export took a number of measures to organize trade in the Iranian market: rent of oil storage facilities, delivery of petroleum products, organization of trading offices in Rasht, Anzali, Tehran, Qazvin, Hamadan, Astara 58. V. I. Lenin considered it necessary to concentrate the export of petroleum products to the Middle East in the hands of the socialist state markets 59 . He closely followed the resolution of issues related to the establishment of contacts between Soviet foreign trade organizations and foreign markets. In 1919, Lenin recommended that the People's Commissariat of Foreign Trade of the RSFSR find out the conditions for purchasing Turkish goods through the port of Odessa 60 . In the summer of 1921, he suggested that the Politburo of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) decide on the purchase of a possible maximum of wheat and rice in Northeastern Iran .61 In June of the same year, V. I. Lenin invited V. P. Belgov, who had been appointed commissioner of the NKVD of the RSFSR in Iran, for a personal conversation .62 Lenin's recommendations contributed to the development of Soviet foreign trade policy in relation to the Eastern countries.

In July 1921, the first small shipments of timber from the Volga region were delivered to the Iranian market .63 The traditional Russian export of porcelain products to Iran was restored: in 1921 it amounted to 12% of the pre-war level, in 1922-23% (31.5 thousand pounds). In terms of glass products imported to Iran, Soviet Russia surpassed Britain and Japan : in 1922-23, it accounted for 58% of all glass products consumed by the Iranian market .64 In 1922, Gostorg of the RSFSR brought the first batch of cotton fabrics and products made from them to Iran. Subsequent deliveries of the All-Russian Textile Syndicate (VTS) to the Iranian market were accompanied by a sharp drop in prices for English manufactory-by 25-30%, and then by another 5-10%. In addition, the British will be forced to-

55 Kheifets A. N. Soviet Diplomacy and the Peoples of the East, p. 69.

56 Foreign trade of the USSR in 1918-1940 Stat. obzor. M. 1960, pp. 860, 873; Bulletin of the World Economy, 1925, N 42-44. sec. II.

57 Statistics of Russia's external trade in 1921-1923, p. 51.

58 TSGANKH USSR, f. 5740, op. 1, d. 103, ll. 2, 26, 104, 105.

59 See Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 54, p. 57.

60 Lenin's Collection XXXVIII, p. 257.

61 See Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 53, p. 11.

62 Trush M. I. Foreign policy activity of V. I. Lenin. 1921 - 1923. Day by Day, Moscow, 1967, p. 175.

63 Foreign trade of the RSFSR (from December 1920 to December 1921). Moscow, 1921, p. 71.

64 TSGANKH USSR, f. 8013, op. 1, d. 106, ll. 152, 153; f. 3342, op. 1, d. 358, l. 6.

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They were forced to reduce the export duty and offered an unprecedented 12-month preferential loan to Iranian merchants .65 Due to the significant demand in Iran for Soviet manufactory, the MTC sent specialists there to find out the market requirements and conditions for developing long-term trade with Iranian merchants .66 At the same time, the syndicate took steps to clarify the conditions for exchanging Soviet cotton fabrics for cotton in Turkey. With the transition in 1921 from commodity exchange operations to regular trade with the countries of the Near and Middle East, All-Russian export-import associations specializing in individual goods began to distribute orders to the industrial enterprises of our country for the manufacture of export products for the Turkish and Iranian markets .67
The establishment of Iranian consulates in Astrakhan, Novorossiysk, Krasnodar, Rostov-on-Don, and Petrograd in the summer of 1921 helped establish more stable ties with the Iranian market .68 On July 15, the trade mission of the RSFSR in Iran was established in Tehran. It issued permits to Iranian merchants to sell goods on the Soviet market, mostly consumer goods. Our country at that time was particularly in need of Iranian raw materials. Therefore, in order to get acquainted with the import needs and export opportunities of Soviet industry, in 1922 the RSFSR government invited a delegation of Iranian trade figures to visit Moscow. In August, the Iranian Government recommended that its Ministry of Trade, Agriculture and Public Works accept the proposal and use the trade delegation's trip to visit the most important economic regions of Soviet Russia .69 In early 1922, it was decided to establish the Russo-Persian Bank (Ruspersbank) to finance Soviet-Iranian trade. For almost a year, negotiations were held on this issue between representatives of the NKVT of the RSFSR and trade and financial groups of Iran, which ended with the creation of a mixed bank 70 in April 1923 . Ruspersbank became the custodian of funds and the regulator of all financial and credit activities of Soviet commercial organizations in the Iranian market. The Tehran newspaper Ettelaat drew attention to the fact that Ruspersbank did not resort to speculative transactions, did not play on the depreciation or appreciation of foreign currencies, but engaged in regular and honest credit operations. "The activity of such commercial banks as Ruspersbank," the newspaper emphasized, " is praiseworthy, because the bank in question places in Persia not only the funds raised, but also its own capital, and by handing it over to individuals, thus contributes to the prosperity of trade and industry."71
An important prerequisite for establishing trade relations with Turkey and other Middle Eastern countries was the restoration of the Soviet merchant fleet. The shipping companies of the Middle East were under the control of Western European powers, so the participation of the fleets of the Middle Eastern countries themselves in trade with Soviet Russia could not be significant. The first attempts to establish regular communication between the Soviet Black Sea ports and the ports of the Middle East were made by the Black Sea-Azov Shipping Company in 1922, when

65 Ibid., f. 7770, op. 13, d. 53, l. 17.

66 Foreign trade of Russia for the first third of 1922, Moscow, 1922, p. 93.

67 TSGANKH of the USSR, f. 3429, op. 2, d. 1063, l. 241; ibid., f. 3342, op. 1, d. 409, l. 11; State Archive of the Ivanovo region, f. 1688, op. 2, d. 315, ll. 3, 13, 27, 43, 61.

68 TsGAOR USSR, f. 130, op. 6, d. 560, l. 3.

69 DVP. T. V, p. 549, 350.

70 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 7590, op. 3, 353, l. 49.

71 Ibid., f. 7932, op. 1, d. 117, l. 383.

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several merchant ships of Soviet Russia managed to visit the ports of the Anatolian coast 72 . On April 17, the Soviet steamer "Elbrus" first arrived in the port of Istanbul with shipments of petroleum products. A correspondent for the English "Manchester Guardian" later wrote about the sensation caused by the appearance of a steamer under the Soviet flag in a Turkish port. The arrival of this steamer was particularly significant in that the Western European shipping company almost stopped all flights between Istanbul and the southern Russian ports. 73 Since that time, despite the difficulties caused by the blockade of alienation, the Black Sea-Azov Shipping Company sent its merchant ships abroad to deliver cargo to the ports of Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean and in the opposite direction .74
A significant role in creating the initial boundaries of trade between Soviet Russia and the countries of the Near and Middle East belonged to the fair in Nizhny Novgorod (Gorky), which from 1922 to 1929 was a major center not only for Soviet-Eastern trade, but also for direct communication between Eastern merchants and Soviet business managers .75 In 1922, in order to restore the trade of the Soviet republics with Iran and Eastern Turkey, a fair was established in Baku. Foreign trade and industrial institutions of the RSFSR began to take an active part in it. For Eastern merchants, fairs were the traditional and most lucrative form of trade. Soviet foreign trade organizations did not yet have sufficient experience in dealing with the East, so they pinned special hopes on fair auctions in Baku and Nizhny Novgorod. The Government of the RSFSR agreed to provide eastern merchants with preferential conditions for delivering goods to the fair in Nizhny Novgorod and exporting them from it at reduced tariffs and without prior permission from the government .

The decisions of the Soviet government to organize a fair in Nizhny Novgorod and to grant fair trade privileges met with a lively response in the countries of the Near and Middle East. On July 31, 1922, the Istanbul newspaper L'reveil published an interview with the Soviet trade representative in Turkey explaining the goals and objectives of Fair 77 . A "Nizhny Novgorod Fair Promotion Committee"was organized in Iran 78 . The British tried to intimidate Iranian merchants with the futility of trade with Soviet Russia, and called on them to boycott the Nizhny Novgorod Fair. However, in August 1922, after the representative of the NKVD of the RSFSR in Iran explained to the local merchants the conditions and rules of trade at the fair, the first shipments of goods were sent by steamships from the Caspian ports of Iran to Nizhny Novgorod .79 29 trade firms (84 merchants) of Iran arrived at the fair. They brought 551 tons of various national export goods (which accounted for 28.1% of the total cargo brought to the fair) and signed five contracts with major Soviet trade organizations .80 The Northern Iranian merchants were able to see that the Nizhny Novgorod Fair contributed to the revival of their foreign trade activities. Central Tehran Chamber of Commerce at UCHA-

72 Ibid., f. 7795, op. 1, d. 10, l. 1.

73 Manchester Guardian, 5.IV.1923.

74 TSGANKH of THE USSR, f. 7449, op. 1, d. 5, ll. 34-35; f. 7795, op. 1, d. 667, l. 34.

75 See Tsybulsky V. A. Vsesoyuznaya Nizhegorodskaya yarmarka [All-Union Nizhny Novgorod Fair]. - Questions of history, 1979, N. 8, p. 42; Tolstov, N. N. To the question about the role of the Nizhny Novgorod fair in the trade of the USSR from the East. - Uchenye zapiski Gorkovskogo uni-ta 1972, no. 171, pp. 130-137.

76 TSGANKH USSR, f. 484, op. 7, d. 145, l. 51; f. 5240, op. 11, d. 41, l. 27.

77 Ibid., f. 413, op. 5, d. 1799, l. 280.

78 Tsybulsky V. A. Uk. soch., p. 42.

79 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 413, op. 5, 1799, l. 291.

80 Ibid., f. 3429, op. 3, d. 938, l. 4b; DVP. T. V, p. 746.

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A group of deputies of the Mejlis gave a banquet in honor of the RSFSR envoy B. Z. Shumyatsky as a sign of high appreciation of the benevolent policy of Soviet Russia towards Iran .81
Trips of Eastern merchants to Nizhny Novgorod marked a victory over prejudices about the "forbidden" country. Their participation in the fair played an important role in easing the hostile campaign against trade with Soviet Russia. On October 15, 1922, the commissioner of the Iranian department of the NKVT of the RSFSR at the Nizhny Novgorod Fair, Ya. Z. Maers, wrote in a report on the results of the first Nizhny Novgorod trades: "Iranian merchants were personally convinced that the absurd rumors that some foreigners in Iran were scaring them with were nonsense. They have made significant profits from sales and business purchases, and have directly linked general contracts with large state-owned trade organizations. Many of them have rented retail space at the fair for next year." Some representatives of the Iranian merchants said :" We look at the Soviet government as a power that stands for peace. We want to work with her. " 82 In all its foreign policy actions, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee resolution on foreign policy adopted on June 17, 1920 emphasized, the Soviet Government was guided by "the desire for peace and the establishment of good-neighborly relations with all peoples." 83
Fair trade expanded the market for the products of Soviet industrial enterprises, contributed to a more stable supply of raw materials, and stimulated the economic life of large economic regions of the country .84 The Nizhny Novgorod Fair provided an opportunity for some industrial enterprises to outline long-term production plans , help determine transport freight, customs duties and prices for goods. During the preparation period for the fair and during its work, Iranian merchants showed interest in organizing mixed Soviet-Iranian trading societies that could regularly sell Russian goods on the Iranian market, as well as import Iranian goods to the RSFSR.

The business community of the Near and Middle East was beginning to really realize the need to strengthen trade and economic relations with the socialist state. G. V. Chicherin noted that the peoples of the foreign East saw Soviet Russia as an unselfish friend who sympathized with "their aspirations to strengthen and develop their independent political and economic life"86 . After the entry into force of the friendship treaties concluded by the RSFSR with Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey in 1921, the issue of registration of trade and consular agreements stipulated by intergovernmental treaty obligations rose on the agenda .87 In the same year, government delegations from Soviet Russia began negotiations with the governments of Iran and Turkey to conclude trade agreements. In these negotiations, the RSFSR represented the interests of other republics as well. The negotiations were lengthy and ended only in 1927. Therefore, since 1921, the legal basis of trade relations between the RSFSR and traditional Russian commercial partners has been friendship agreements. They contained vzaimim-

81 Izvestiya, 26. IX. 1922.

82 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 413, op. 2, d. 834, l. 9; Trade News, 4. VIII. 1925.

83 Dekrety Sovetskoi vlasti [Decrees of Soviet Power], vol. IX, Moscow, 1978, p. 112.

84 See Makeev D. L. From the history of trade relations between the USSR and the countries of the East (based on the materials of the State Archive of the Vladimir region). - Soviet Archives, 1983, N 4, p. 51-54.

85 State Archive of the Gorky region, f. 127, op. 8, 386, l. 1.

86 Izvestiya, 6. XI. 1921.

87 DVP. Vol. III, pp. 543, 552, 601.

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obligations of the contracting Parties to respect the most-favoured nation principle in their trade relations and to grant the right of transit through their territories. The Soviet government, long before the signing of trade agreements, recognized that it was possible to establish a license-free trade regime along the southern border, according to which eastern merchants were given the right to freely transport goods across the Soviet border according to special lists that included the main goods of Soviet-Eastern trade .88
Since 1921, foreign trade relations between Soviet Russia and neighboring countries have somewhat revived. In comparison with the previous year, the volume of trade of the RSFSR with Iran increased 10 - fold (up to 1.1 million rubles); with Turkey-4-fold (up to 1.2 million rubles); in 1921/22 khoz. g.Soviet - Iranian trade turnover amounted to 1.8 million, Soviet-Turkish-8.6 million rubles. Soviet machinery and equipment, agricultural implements, construction materials, and other industrial products appeared on the markets of the Near and Middle East; RSFSR imports consisted mainly of cotton, wool, and agricultural products. In the total volume of foreign trade of the RSFSR, the share of Turkey in 1920-1922 increased from 1.3% to 3.5%, the share of Iran - from 0.4% to 0.7%89 .

In 1917-1922, the possibilities of restoring business relations between the RSFSR and foreign countries were only outlined. Representative offices of the Central Union in these countries, such a form of foreign trade contacts as fairs, played an important role in their development. The first trade delegations were exchanged, and merchants from the Near and Middle East went to establish ties with Soviet state-owned economic organizations. The Tax Code played a controlling and regulating role in their foreign trade activities. VT of the RSFSR, thanks to which the leadership of Soviet trade in foreign markets was retained by the state. The December (1922) Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP(b) described the monopoly of foreign trade as the most important factor in the formation of the economy of a socialist state. The plenum based its decision on measures to strengthen and develop the foreign trade monopoly regime of the RSFSR on the instructions contained in Lenin's letter of December 13, 192290. The RCP(b) and Lenin paid special attention to the coordination of the foreign trade policy of the Soviet republics in relation to those countries where there were representative offices of the RSFSR NKVT (Turkey, Iran) 91 .

The re-establishment of ties between traditional commercial partners broke through the economic blockade imposed on Soviet Russia by world imperialism. Their further development was determined by the needs of national economic construction and the general tasks of the struggle to preserve the political and economic independence of the RSFSR. Soviet Russia's foreign trade relations were based on the principles of full equality, non-interference in the internal affairs of commercial partners, and respect for the national interests of large and small countries.

88 TSGANKH SSSR, f. 7590, op. 3, d. 101, l. 25.

89 Foreign Trade of the USSR, p. 10, 14; DVP. V. VI. Moscow, 1962, p. 600.

90 See Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 45, pp. 220-223; Economic relations of the USSR with foreign countries, p. 30.

91 See: Lenin V. I. PSS. Vol. 52, p. 152, 383; vol. 53, p. 172; Lenin's Collection XXIII, p. 187; XXXVII, p. 283-285, 319; XXXVIII, p. 356; Shishkin V. A. V. I. Lenin and the Foreign Economic policy of the Soviet State, p. 296-299.

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