SUMMARY:

This article outlines the scheme for future research into the history of ethnic communities in Irkutsk in the context of economic and social modernization of the Russian empire in the late 19th – early 20th century. The author explores major ethnic groups in the region, such as Poles, Jews, Russians, Chinese and Koreans, and a composite group of Caucasians, while examining each group’s economic function. At the same time, the author pays attention to specific governmental policies (or lack thereof) with respect to ethnic communities. The processes of economic modernization, in particular the railroad construction, had drastic effects upon the situation of ethnic entrepreneurs. If prior to the Transsiberian railroad construction markets were dominated by a small number of “kings of the market”, who mostly belonged to the dominant ethnic group, the Russians, the railroad opened up the space for the second tier entrepreneurs, giving a chance to local minorities.