The projects of railway construction in Crimea and government policy in the late 1850s-1860s

This article examines the projects of railway construction of the southern railroad, which was intended to connect the central European governorates with the Black Sea ports. After the Crimean War, the government faced a pressing need for modernizing the country; and the primary role in this process was assigned to railway construction. Inconsistency in implementation of the plan for the construction of railway network, frequent adjustments in directions, changes in construction schedule were due to the shortage of financing and well-established strategy for organization of railway construction process in Russia. The Russian media paid close attention to the construction of railways in the south, stirring up interest in the problem. The article employs a wide array of archival material that allows following the steps taken by the government in implementation of the railway construction plan. Critical analysis of the publicistic articles demonstrated the public response to the changes in the direction of the southern railroad or its priority section. The novelty of this research consists in application of comprehensive approach towards examination of railway construction in Crimea. Changes in financing policy of railway construction, as well as the attraction of Russian banking and private capital, influenced the construction pace and the choice of priority section of the railway. Competition in the bureaucratic circles for receiving concessions and participation in profitable financial activities impeded the implementation of the construction plan in Crimea. Moreover, the disunity of administration along with the absence systematic policy of granting concession led to postponement of construction of the connecting section with the Sevastopol port for almost a decade.