The energy base of the industry of the Russian Empire on the eve of the industrial upsurge (according to the statistics of steam engines of the 1870s).

The article is devoted to the study of the processes of forming the energy base of industry in the Russian Empire in the second half of the 1870s – a period preceding the onset of the industrial boom at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. The work examines the spatial and sectoral features of the distribution of steam engines. Based on statistical materials from the Central Statistical Committee (CСK), an analysis of the capacity of steam engines installed at enterprises in various sectors and regions of the country is conducted. Special attention is paid to the origin of the equipment, analyzing the technical parameters of imported and Russian machines, and the differences in their capacity. The conducted study allows for clarification of the relationship between the use of domestic and imported steam engines and defines the role of Russian engineering enterprises in meeting the domestic demand for steam boilers and engines. The source base consists of the "Materials for the Statistics of Steam Engines in the Russian Empire," collected under the CСK program between 1875 and 1878. Based on these materials, the capacity indicators of steam engines per enterprise for various sectors and provinces, as well as the share of Russian and European equipment in the overall capacity structure of steam engines, were calculated. Most studies lack a statistically grounded characterization of the extent of the distribution of Russian steam engines in industry, including by sectoral and regional cuts. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the comprehensive use of CСK data to reconstruct the sectoral and regional structure of steam engine use in Russia in the second half of the 1870s, when the prerequisites for the gradual strengthening of the production potential of Russian industry began to form. According to data from 1875-1878, 55% of the total number of steam boilers installed at Russian enterprises, 27% of the total number, and 25% of the total capacity of steam engines were equipment from domestic producers. Considering this stage allows for clarification of the nature of technological transformations in the Russian economy and identifying the prerequisites for the formation of a new energy base in industry on the eve of the industrial boom at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.