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• 1 2024-02-29T10:34:33-05:00 A Country in Flames 22 The 1860s were a volatile time in the Russian Empire. plain 2024-03-01T14:36:00-05:00 According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire, fire was "one of the most characteristic features of daily life in Russia, and one of the most frequent manifestations of the struggle with nature" waged by peasants from time immemorial.
  
  This "struggle with nature," explained tsarist officials, was to blame for "the slow pace of capital accumulation and the slow development of economic and civil life." And it was rooted in two simple facts: first, Russia was built of wood. Second, it was located on a vast plain that was subject to searing, drying summers, and dreadfully cold winters that necessitated the use of fire for survival.
  
  The employees of the Central Statistical Committee who compiled the 1865 volume on fire statistics acknowledged what they called "temporary" factors (a reasonable person might have wondered whether the growing frustration with serfdom had anything to do with the spike in fires across European Russia), but insisted that the phenomenon of fire be understood within a geographical and climatic context. 
  
  The burning question before us is this: between 1842 and 1864, the number of fires taking place annually in the European part of the Russian Empire doubled. This trend was out of line with population growth, and there was no demonstrable decline in living standards. What do you make of the statisticians' claim that the rising flames in rural and urban areas should be attributed to better record keeping and a few geographical quirks? Maybe it's time we dove into the data.

  Read about - and access - the "Fields on Fire" data.

  Wondering what the primary source looks like? 

  
  The maps are fascinating, but what should I do with them? 

  Select a question from the list below. Use the maps and/or tables to find the answer. Then – and this is the fun part – ask yourself what factors might explain the data. Compose two or three hypothesis or research questions (in other words, questions that begin with the words “why” or “how”). The maps won’t give you the answers, but they will tempt you to dig deeper into imperial history. You might even find yourself thinking spatially.
  • How many arson events took place in each province each year?
  • What percentage of fire events were caused by arson in each province each year?
  • Of all the episodes of arson, what percentage took place in each province each year?
  • What percentage of fire events took place in the district lands (rural areas), as opposed to the town lands, of each province each year?
  • How many fire events took place per square verst in the district lands (rural areas), as opposed to the town lands, of each province each year?
  • Of all the fire events that took place in district lands in a given year, what percentage took place in each province?
  • Of all the fire events that took place in town  lands in a given year, what percentage took place in each province?
  • How many households burned in the district lands of each province each year? Compare this with the town lands.
  • What percentage of all households in the district lands of each province burned each year?
  • What percentage of all households in the town lands of each province burned each year?
  • Of all the burned households in district lands in a given year, what percentage were in each province?
  • Of all the burned households in town lands in a given year, what percentage were in each province?
  • What was the cost (in rubles) of fire events in the district lands of each province each year? Compare with the town lands.
  • What was the cost (in rubles per square verst) of fire events in the district lands of each province each year?
  • Of all the losses (in rubles) in district lands in a given year, what percentage were in each province? Compare with the town lands.
  • What was the cost of fire events in the district lands of each province each year calculated as rubles per burned household?
  • What was the cost of fire events in the town lands of each province each year calculated as rubles per burned household?

  Sparked your curiosity?

  Run, don't walk, to the library and find Cathy Frierson’s groundbreaking book All Russia is Burning! A cultural history of fire and arson in late Imperial Russia (University of Washington Press, 2002). 
• 1 2018-03-08T05:17:16-05:00 A Country on Fire 14 plain 2024-03-01T13:56:59-05:00 In 1865 the Central Statistical Committee, a subsection of the Ministry of Interior, published an incredible set of reports on the frequency, geography, and cost of fires in towns and across rural districts over a 5-year period.
  
  Fires were a matter of grave concern. They were also, according to the Ministry of Interior, "one of the most characteristic features of daily life in Russia, and one of the most frequent manifestations of the struggle with nature" waged by Russian peasants from time immemorial. This "struggle with nature," explained tsarist officials, was to blame for "the slow pace of capital accumulation and the slow development of economic and civil life." And it was rooted in a simple fact of geography. Russia was built of wood, they explained. Not only that: it was located on a vast expanse that was bereft of elevation change, subject to searing, drying summers, and dreadfully cold winters that necessitated the use of fire.
  
  
  
  While the statisticians acknowledged the relevance of "temporary" factors - a reasonable person might have wondered whether the growing frustration with serfdom had anything to do with the outbreak of fires across the rural part of European Russia - they insisted that the phenomenon be understood within this geographical, climatic context. (They were willing to consider the possibility that after the emancipation of the serfs in 1861, the subsequent reorganization of peasant life might have caused a 1% increase in fires, but no more.)
  
  before us is this: between 1842 and 1864, the number of fires taking place annually in the European part of the Russian Empire doubled. This trend was out of line with population growth, and there was no demonstrable decline in living standards. Does the data bear out the Central Statistical Committee's claim that the spike can be attributed to better record keeping and some simple facts of geography?