Territorial and administrative policy of the soviet government in Central Asia in 1917-1927

Abstract

The article analyzes the administrative and managerial policy of the Soviet government, the policy of national-territorial division in Central Asia on the basis of archival materials. The author notes that after the October Revolution of 1917, the former administrative and territorial management system remained in the region. The policy of creating national republics and establishing new administrative structures in the Turkestan region has been carried out since 1924, but the process of dividing the region along ethnic lines began earlier and was completely solved in the center without taking into account local specifics. In general, in the first years of their rule, the Bolsheviks were engaged in strengthening the power of the Soviets and did not abolish the former territorial administrative units. An example is the preservation of the local government system left over from the time of tsarist Russia: the volost management system continued to exist, but in a different form, that is, their number decreased, and the area increased. Since the 1920s, the names of former provinces and military districts began to change, and the territorial administration in Turkestan has changed dramatically. All these innovations were carried out in order to strengthen the influence of the central government on the ground, strengthen the centralized management system and create a unified national economy. The author conducted an in-depth analysis of the activities of the commissions on the division of Central Asia (Turkestan) into national republics in 1924-1927, the newly created ethnoterritorial situation in the region, a number of contradictory actions in this process, and also tried to identify the mistakes made on the basis of documentary materials.