Социально-бытовые условия жизни населения г. Кызыла — столицы Тувинской автономной области (1944‒1961)

Abstract

Introduction. In recent decades, studies of urban everyday life in the period of global changes have become particularly relevant in Russian historical science. Tuva’s voluntary annexation to the USSR in October 1944 and its obtaining of the status of an autonomous oblast proved a most important event and led to changes in all spheres of the Tuvan people’s life. Being the capital, Kyzyl becomes the epicenter of new life. The goal of this article is to examine social and living conditions of Kyzyl’s population during the first decade after Tuva joined the USSR (mid-1940s – early 1960s). Materials and methods. The scientific value of the article consists in that this is the first attempt to characterize social and living conditions, dynamics of the quality of life of Kyzyl’s population as evidenced by diverse historical sources. The oral history materials, print periodicals, archival documents, and visual sources make it possible to scrutinize and essentially describe main trends in the development of the housing problem, to characterize the degree of development of urban amenities and sanitary/hygienic conditions, as well as the development of housing and communal services. The results of the investigation show that the period between the mid 1940s and early 1960s was a time of radical changes in everyday life of Kyzyl residents. The positive dynamics in solving the housing problem is evidenced by the fact that gradually one-storey wooden houses without roofs were replaced by comfortable multi-storey buildings. Improvements were also observed in public services, as well as improvements in the urban environment, maintenance of the city’s sanitary/hygienic conditions. The key problems included the chaotic unauthorized development of the city by residential buildings, frequent floods, the absence of greenery, and the delayed construction of plumbing network and sewage systems. Conclusions. The analysis of the social and living conditions of Kyzyl’s population in the first decade after Tuva became part of the USSR shows that, despite problems, the urban space had changed positively, which resulted not only from activities of the authorities but also from wide initiatives of townspeople.