The Struggle for Survival 183
one region to another. In the 1740s, for example, the average for all of Euro-
pean Russia was 0.93 roubles (silver) per quarter, but in the central provinces it
was 1.25 roubles and in the north-west as high as 2.11 roubles. These dif-
ferences have been disregarded here, as have those in the purchasing power of
various currency instruments (copper, silver, paper assignats).
Table 2 shows that the average price of rye rose nearly 5 !12 times between the
17 !0s and the 1800s. Measured on this basis, the pay of soldiers in the field
forces deteriorated in real terms over the period. The earnings of an infantry-
man in a line regiment could buy 11.0 quarters of grain in 1711, 7. I in 1731,
6.0 in 1763, and 3.6-3.8 quarters in 1796. Jn the early nineteenth century there
was a slight improvement: by 1811 his pay was equivalent to 3.6-5.I quarters.
A cavalryman's pay would have bought the following amounts (in quarters):
12.8 in 1711, 8.4 in 1731, 6.4 in 1763, 4.6 in 1796, and 3.9 in 1801, our last firm
date. The decline in purchasing power was less marked for most men in the
garrison forces. A daily pound of rye grain (which when baked gave I !11 lb. of
bread) required 1.37 quarters in a year, or half what a garrison soldier might
have purchased with his pay in 1811. In the circumstances he had to count
himself fortunate that he was nourished, however imperfectly, by the state.
Food and drink were important to the Russian soldier psychologically as well
as physically: preparing, cooking, and consuming food was one of his few
leisure activities, and the problem of filling his stomach usually loomed large.
His diet consisted largely of grain products, unless he was fortunate enough to
be able to supplement his official ration (payok) with vegetables or meat
obtained (with or without payment) from civilian sources. Providing such
additives was, as we know, one of the functions of the artel. Peasants kept pigs
and chickens, and soldiers billeted on rural households would join in the
feasting when they were slaughtered. Sutlers (markitanty) accompanied the
army when on the march, but their wares were often too expensive for a mere
private's pocket. After a successful engagement enemy cattle might fall into a
unit's hands, and in such cases the artel would see to it that the meat was
shared out fairly.
By and large the men were left to their own devices, as in Muscovite times.
'No great preparations are made here to feed the soliders', writes Algarotti.
'They are issued with flour, and as soon as they have pitched camp they dig
earthen ovens in which they bake their own bread. When [the authorities] want
to give them a treat, they distribute a sort of very hard biscuit which they
crumble and boil with salt and some of the herbs they find everywhere. '^53 (At
this time the southern Ukraine, which the army was passing through, was still
pristine grassland.) Another informant tells us that 'each regiment took along
several barrels of beer to cheer up the fatigued soldiers, who throughout the
campaign [of 1736) had nothing else to cat but their proviant and water'. The
5.^1 Algarotti, Leltres, pp. 94. 172.