The communities of foreign merchants in Russia during the 18th century
The composition and correlation in number of the national communities of west European merchants in Russia changed greatly during the 18th century. At the beginning of the century there existed three communities: Dutch, a rather influential and active one; Hamburg, inferior to the Dutch in number and influence, but similar in status; the English, forfeited its former importance, but still leaning on Russia Company in London. At the end of the century the English community stands out clearly, exceeding all others by the scales of trade, having essential privileges. The Dutch community nearly disappears, many of its members fuse with the world of German merchants anyway, the latter includes now not only natives of Hamburg and Hanseatic cities, but the representatives from many German cities and lands. In the second half of the 18th century French community is formed, first of all in the milieu of small and retail business. Its representatives arrived from miscellaneous cities of France, mostly provincial, being descendants from non-commercial families. National communities of the time had a transnational character. It is obvious in reference to German merchants. The English community gained transnational character due to its privileges, which members of Russia Company enjoyed.