Historiography of industrial monopolization in the Russian Empire in the late XIX – early XX century

The article analyzes the coverage in the historical literature of the problem of industry’s monopolization in the Russian Empire in the late XIX – early XX century. There are three periods in the development of the historiography have been identified. During the imperial period (late XIX – early XX century.) works were not only theoretical but also practical. Despite the fact that most of these works are descriptive and have a relatively weak source base, they laid the foundation for further study of the problem. In the second, Soviet period, there are three stages. During the first (1920s – mid-1950s) there is an evolution of approaches to the study of monopolies from pre-Soviet traditions to their understanding as one of the means of external management of the Russian Empire’s economy with foreign capital. At the next stage (mid-1950s – mid-1970s) the idea of ​​the weakness of monopoly and the dependent nature of the empire is replaced by the idea of ​​forming the highest stage of capitalism – imperialism, one of the main features of which was the domination of monopolies. During the third stage (mid-1970s – 1980s), research became complex, and the thesis of the high development of monopoly capitalism as a precondition for the socialist revolution was defended. Modern historiography, which represents the third stage, is marked by the desire of historians to objectively cover the role of monopolies, but the problems of monopolization in the Russian Empire are covered mainly in single explorations or in complex works on the history of late XIX – early XX centuries. It is concluded that the analysis of historiography of industrial monopolization’s history in the Russian Empire showed the fragmentary study of the problem, which determines the importance of its further study.