Крестьянские миграции в степные области: причинные факторы и способы их преодоления в оценках представителей консервативного направления второй половины XIX – начала XX вв.

Abstract

One of the characteristic features of Russia’s post-reform development was the migration of part of the agricultural segment to its Asian possessions, which caused a lively socio-political discussion in the country. Supporters of the conservative trend play a significant role in discussing the causes of these migrations, identifying the crisis in peasant farming as the principal driver of mass movement toward the empire’s periphery. This article is based on administrative documentation from the Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan concerning the movement of agrarian migrants into the Kazakh steppe and the actions undertaken by regional and provincial administrations to accommodate them. It also draws from materials in periodical literature that shaped societal perceptions of typical phenomena leading to the causes, progress, and consequences of popular migrations for the national economy. Following the principles of historicism and systematic analysis, which facilitate the exploration of the viewpoints of conservative discourse regarding the identification of causal factors underlying migratory mobility, this article examines approaches to possible state support for settlers at the imperial level. The analysis centers on the positions of the most prominent representatives of conservative doctrine, who viewed agrarian migration as an integral component of governmental policy aimed at the economic development of the “Kirghiz” steppe, a region that geographically partially fell within the borders of Akmolinsk and Semipalatinsk provinces.