Gunpowder Production of Pre-Petrine Russia in the Native Historiography

The article is devoted to the problem of interpreting the initial period of gunpowder production in Russia, namely the period between the emergence of firearms in the country (late 14th century) and the beginning of Peter the Great’s reign (late 17th century) in the native historiography. The urgency of this work is defined by the importance of further examinationof genesis of the military industry in Russia at the initial stages of its development and by the necessity to summarize the accumulated material on this subject researchin the native historiography. The goal of the paper is to paint a holistic picture of the Russian gunpowder industry at the point of its creation and through the first centuries of its development. This goal can be achieved through completing the following research objectives: assembling a complete corpus of Russian studies on the subject from the pre-Revolutionary, Soviet, and post-Soviet period; subjecting these studies to a critical analysis; reviewing the progress of gunpowder production, as well as the production of gunpowder’s main components (saltpeter and sulfur), at different points of the industry’s early history; determining which factors served as the industry’s development drivers; illustrating how the public and private sectors were formed within the industry; pinpointing the impact of external factors on the industry’s emergence and development. Basing our study on the principles of historical accuracy and lack of bias we use such tools as analysis (including retrospective analysis), simulation, historical genesis review and timeline making. As a result of this studyit has been determined that due to the limited availability of research sources there is a lack of the Russian historiographers’ agreed views on many key aspects of the emergence and development of gunpowder and saltpeter production. At the same time, it can be confidently stated the dominant influence of Russian authorityas well as the impact of external factors on the processes of gunpowder productionformation and development in the examined period. The present paper is considered by the author to be the initial one in a series of publications devoted to the analysis of the process of gunpowder production development in the prerevolutionary Russia.