Forced Labor on Imperial Construction: The Ladoga Canal (1704–1725)
The physical and economic exhaustion of the region through the transformation of the Cossack host into unpaid labor for imperial construction projects. The chief of these was the Ladoga Canal: Peter I handed the direction of the works to Münnich, while the digging itself "was carried out chiefly by the hands of Ukrainian Cossacks," and "on the construction works, tens of thousands of people perished from back-breaking labor, hunger and the harsh climate"[1]. In 1721 the acting hetman P. Polubotok "headed a 10,000-strong Cossack corps dispatched by order of Tsar Peter I to the construction of the Ladoga Canal"[2]. For the defiant there were also the Neva construction sites - as hard labor: captured Zaporozhians were "exiled to Sankt-Piterburkh to hard labor forever"[3].
Actors
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| G0008 | Tsardom of Muscovy | 3 |
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0010 | Regular Army | 2 |
| S0008 | Government | 1 |
Procedures Carried Out
The mass mobilization of Cossack regiments for penal construction labor: the digging of the Ladoga Canal "was carried out chiefly by the hands of Ukrainian Cossacks," and there "tens of thousands of people perished from back-breaking labor, hunger and the harsh climate"[1]. In 1721 a "10,000-strong Cossack corps" headed by P. Polubotok was dispatched to the canal[2]; the works continued through 1721–23[4].
Shifting the upkeep of the mobilized onto the subjects themselves: Cossacks dispatched to the imperial construction sites were left without supply and "suffer great want from hunger, having neither food for themselves, nor winter quarters, nor fodder for the horses"[3]. Workers for state construction the tsar simply ordered to be "taken from Ukraine, from those towns that are under your authority"[3], while at the works themselves people perished "from back-breaking labor, hunger and the harsh climate"[1].
Removing Cossack regiments from the Cossack hierarchy and placing them under the direct command of imperial officials: Peter I handed the direction of the Ladoga Canal works to B.-C. Münnich, who "took over from Prince A. Menshikov the direction of the construction (digging) of the Ladoga Canal"[1]; Cossack corps were dispatched to these works "by order of Tsar Peter I"[2].