Conclusion
The eighteenth century is notable for the fall in the average biological standard of living of the majority of the Russian population. Biological status took a turn for the worse twice: in 1700—24, when the stature of recruits decreased by 2.1 cm, and in 1745-99 when it decreased by 5.1 cm.
These periods were separated by two relatively favourable decades when the biological standard of living reverted to the initial level of 1700-4. From 1700-4 to 1795-9, the average stature of recruits decreased from 164.7 cm to 159.5 cm or by 5.2 cm. This decrease in the biological status occurred against the backdrop of considerable economic growth and was caused not by economic depression but mainly by the rises in taxes and obligations which deteriorated the material conditions of common people and forced them to work longer hours and more intensively. To some extent it was also caused by adverse weather conditions, increases in the price of food, as in the rest of Europe, and by the increase in Russian grain exports, which must have meant that less was left for the domestic population. This decrease in stature during a time of overall economic growth followed the general European pattern for the eighteenth century (Komlos 1998: 779-802).Increases in payments to the state were linked with the wars Russia waged to obtain an outlet into the Baltic and Black seas, and the status of a great power and with reforms carried out by the monarchy which were largely aimed at westernization. The increase in obligations to landlords was caused by their desire to have means for a comfortable and wasteful life. Under Peter I the burden of war and modernization was distributed evenly among all social classes and national income met the requirements of the whole society and, owing to this, the decline in average well-being was minimized. Under Elizaveta and Catherine II, however, all expenses were shifted on to the people's shoulders and the people's interests were sacrificed in favour of the nobility, who appropriated the results of the economic growth and modernization.
In consequence of this, the well-being of the general population suffered great damage—under the rule of the two empresses the biological standard of living of the broad masses fell by 2.6 times more than under Peter I.At the end of the seventeenth and the beginning of the eighteenth centuries Russian recruits were approximately of the same height as French or British soldiers (164.7 cm) (Floud and Harris 1997: 100-5) but shorter than American (173 cm) (Sokoloff 1995: 136; Costa and Steckel 1997: 50-2), Austro-Hungarian (171.4 cm) (Komlos 1989: 57), Swedish (168.5 cm) (Sandberg 1980: 91-105; Sandberg and Steckel 1987: 101-10), and German recruits (Komlos 1990: 607-21). In the second half of the eighteenth century everywhere in Europe the stature of recruits decreased, but by variable degrees: in Austro-Hungary by 4.3 cm, in Britain by 2.5 cm, in Sweden by 2 cm; only American soldiers preserved their former high stature (Komlos 1989: 75-6). Thus, in the eighteenth century, in terms of decrease in the biological standard of living, Russia kept pace with Europe, although the causes of this
all-European phenomenon were different. While Britain experienced the Industrial Revolution, the rest of the western European countries were getting ready for it, being at the stage of proto-industrialization; all were experiencing economic growth. Russia also grew economically and was being modernized in every respect, but on a different basis. At the cost of a decrease in the well-being of its citizens, Russia became a great military power, Britain tuned into the world's workshop and other western European countries were getting ready to carry out their industrial revolutions. High costs everywhere paid for military or economic grandeur.
These results allow us to draw some general conclusions that are in full conformity with the observations made by Richard Steckel in his chapter: (1) Economic growth can be accompanied with decreasing well-being of populations, or at any rate with decreases in their biological status because of (a) resource-absorbing conflicts of state-building, wars and reforms and (b) because of increasing inequality in the distribution of income. (2) Before the Industrial Revolution, Russia, in terms of biological status and probably in terms of the standard of living, did not appreciably differ from England or the other western European countries, since the average height of men in most European countries in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was approximately 164 or 165 cm (see also Steckel, Table 11.1, in this volume). (3) In pre-industrial Russia, there was no close correlation between income per capita and well-being. Therefore the adequate valuation of standards of living must include several dimensions: biological status, real wage, life expectancy, income per capita, distribution of income, and sensitivity to short-term economic stress.