Local Soviets Research Articles

Основные тенденции функционирования системы местных Советов БССР периода «развитого социализма» (1965–1984 гг.)

The article examines the main trends in the functioning of the system of local Soviets and their executive committees as constitutionally fixed bodies of state power and management in their administrativeterritorial territories. It is noted that the changes in the organizational structure of the executive committees were bureaucratic in nature, and the practice of implementing an official course to increase the role of Soviets was limited only by a slight expansion of their financial capabilities. The qualitative composition of the executive staff of the executive committees of the Soviets met the needs of the existing centralized planned model of development of soviet society.

The Main Trends in the Development of the System of Local Government Bodies of the BSSR (1953–1964)

The article discusses the main directions in reorganizing the structure of the executive committees of the Soviets of Workers' Deputies – local government bodies of the BSSR, expansion of their material and financial base, new trends in personnel
 nomenclature practice in 1953–1964. It is noted that the party-state policy regarding the role of local government bodies in 1953–1964 was generally updated. The line initiated by the supreme Union leadership to reduce the administrative and administrative apparatus and its maintenance costs, which is implemented through both the consolidation of administrative-territorial units and structural divisions of executive
 committees, becomes decisive. The central Union bodies also took the initiative to expand the rights of local Soviets and their executive committees to form the material and financial base of their activities. In nomenclature personnel work, the spheres of
 nomenclature responsibility are redistributed from top to bottom. Higher education becomes a necessary attribute of holding senior positions at the district and regional levels. The degree of mobility of the executive staff of the executive committees of the
 Soviets is significantly increasing.

Strengthening of Soviet Power in the Voronezh Province in the Second Half of 1918

The relevance of this article is determined by the fact that the creation of a system of authorities in Soviet Russia is one of the popular topics of Soviet and modern historiography. However, this issue is being studied in the main national context of the evolution of the Soviet state. Meanwhile, this topic requires research on regional material, showing both general patterns on a national scale of this process, and local specifics.The purpose of the article is to study the formation of the Soviets of the Voronezh province in the second half of 1918 and the development of their organizational structure by the Bolsheviks.Objectives: to determine the activities of the Bolsheviks in the development of the system of Soviet power, the effectiveness of this work and the local features of this process.Methodology. The research is based on the principles of objectivity and historicism. To solve the tasks set, methods were used: historical-genetic and historical-systemic.The results of the scientific research made it possible to draw certain conclusions related to the organization of the Soviets in the second half of 1918.Conclusions. Only in the second half of 1918 did the development of the work of local Soviets begin, which took place mainly thanks to the help of the provincial center. In the countryside, this process was even more difficult, since the Bolsheviks had almost no class support there. To receive it, party cells and committees of the poor were formed, which by the end of 1918 began to reorganize the village councils to form their composition loyal to the authorities. During this period, the Soviet authorities suffered from weak support from the population, lack of personnel and finances, instructions and work experience, and disloyal composition in the countryside. However, but by the end of 1918 they managed to satisfactorily organize their work, consolidate their power in Voronezh and county centers, and begin large-scale work to create loyal Soviets in the countryside.

THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE BELARUSIAN PARTISANS WITH THE POLISH UNDERGROUND ON THE TERRITORY OF THE BARANOVICHI REGION (1941–1944): ORGANIZATIONAL AND COMBAT ASPECT

The article studies the relationship of the partisan formations of Belarus with the Polish underground on the territory of Baranovichi region in 1941–1944, represented on the one hand by Polish pro–Soviet structures, and on the other handby units that were subordinated to the Polish emigrant government in London. It is concluded that local Soviet underground and partisan structures sought to establish quickinteraction with the emerginggroups of the Polish pro-Soviet underground and direct their activities towards an active fight against the German invaders. Partisan units organized on the basis of such groups were usually included in the Belarusian detachments and brigades. The main factors that influenced the nature of the relationship between the Belarusian partisans and the structures of the Home Army in different periods of the German occupation are shown. The content and forms of the relationship between the Belarusian partisans and the "Akovites" are revealed during two stages: July 1941 – spring 1943 and summer 1943 – July 1944.

ВІЙСЬКОВО-АДМІНІСТРАТИВНИЙ, ПРАВОВИЙ ЛАД ТА ПОВСЯКДЕННЕ ЖИТТЯ СІЛЬСЬКОГО НАСЕЛЕННЯ ЧЕРНІГІВЩИНИ В 1941–1943 РР.

In the article, the authors comprehensively investigated the features of everyday life of the rural population of Chernihiv Oblast in 1941–1943 under the conditions of the military-administrative and legal system of the occupation authorities. An analysis of the created military-administrative and legal system was carried out on the basis of documentary sources. In the process of working on the article, a number of methods of historical research were used, in particular: the method of periodization, historical-comparative and historical-systemic methods. Attention has been drawn to the fact that during the occupation in the Chernihiv Region, the everyday life of the rural population has changed significantly. The highest manifestation of its deterioration was the burning by the occupiers of more than 60 settlements in the Chernihiv Region. Thanks to the analysis of historical sources and scientific works of a number of scientists, the authors of the article also determined the essential features of the influence of the occupation regime on the everyday life of the rural population of Chernihiv Oblast, analyzed their main components: the activities of field and local commandants, the deployment of repressive measures against the population with the introduced system of punishments from fines, restrictions to shootings and total control over the life and activities of the local population. This punitive policy was, in fact, revenge of the occupiers on civilians for cooperation with the local Soviet partisans. The article gives a number of examples of the destruction of local civilians by German-Nazi invaders on the territory of Chernihiv Region during 1941–1943. It was determined that the occupation regime organized by the invaders led to great human losses among the peaceful inhabitants of villages and small towns, difficult conditions of everyday life due to the introduction by the occupiers of a terrible legal situation of the population and the deportation of people to Germany.

Economic and Cultural Adaptation of the Rehabilitated Peoples of the North Caucasus in their Former Places of Residence

The article examines measures aimed at the economic and cultural adaptation of the repatriated North Caucasian peoples, which followed the well-known Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 28 and July 16, 1956 on the removing restrictions on the special settlements of deported peoples, although without the right to return to their places of former residence. The measures taken by the state authorities aimed at legitimizing the spontaneous resettlement of representatives of the North Caucasian peoples from the places of special settlements are considered. Issues related to rehabilitation have repeatedly attracted the attention of Russian researchers, however, in their writings, much attention is paid to the fate of special settlers, but not to the state, which acted as a regulator of the process of rehabilitation and territorial reintegration of the North Caucasian peoples. This process expressed in the unification of titular groups within the national republics. Along with social actions, economic measures are being taken to support new territorial entities through the construction of industrial and household infrastructure facilities. The state paid great attention to public education, as well as to the training of the national intelligentsia from the representatives of the returned population. In the interests of further democratization and strengthening the role of working people in the political and economic life of the country, the work of local soviets, trade unions and other public organizations was reorganized, which included representatives of the rehabilitated peoples on an equal basis. The restoration of the economic potential in the foothill and mountainous regions of the KBASSR, KChASSR and ChIASSR, carried out at the expense of the federal budget, allows us to conclude that the state was interested in the speedy fulfillment of its obligations to the affected North Caucasian peoples. Of course, not all issues were resolved on time, but the beginning of the process of correcting mistakes made earlier by the state indicates a positive trend towards the democratization of the USSR.

Attributes of the Ideology of Communism in the Old Believer Village of the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR in 1920s-1930s

The subject of the research in the article is the problem of the real functioning of the elements of communist ideology (after 10 years of Bolshevik power) in rural areas, significantly remote from the capital's proletarian center both in territorial and ideological terms. In this case – in the Old Believer villages of the Buryat-Mongolian ASSR (BMASSR). The object of the study is the main and auxiliary institutions of Soviet power in the Tarbagatai, Mukhorshibir, Bichur aimags of the BMASSR (the turn of the 1920s-1930s). The following aspects of the topic are considered: the ideological viability of party and Komsomol organizations in rural councils, as well as the impact on the life of Old Believers of Soviet holidays, patronage of workers in Verkhneudinsk, the work of friendly courts in collective farms, acting as binding practices of a new in content, but traditional in the form of everyday life. The historical-genetic method necessary for studying the evolutionary changes of the phenomenon was used to characterize the work of the party and Komsomol cells of the Semey in 1925-1935. The historical-comparative method, highlighting the common and special features of various subjects, was necessary when analyzing the activities of rural party members and Komsomol members, as well as to describe the differences in the effects of new household practices. As the main conclusion of the study, it should be highlighted that the functioning of various institutions of Soviet power in the Old Believers' environment of the BMASSR was focused on the external, material side of life (the creation of cultural and educational space, the foundations for a new, collective economic reality). The internal, ideological side of the ongoing changes, for the most part, has not yet found its manifestation in the work of the local ("Old Believers" in terms of personnel) Soviet power. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that archival information is introduced into scientific circulation, showing that the transformation of the Old Believer community of Buryatia is an internal process that does not directly relate (but indirectly related) to the active actions of the Soviet government.

The destiny of several female monastic communities in the South of Russia after the Revolution of 1917

The article provides an overview of the history of some women’s monasteries in the South of Russia in the first post-revolutionary years. The conclusion is made about the organizational and economic stability of the women’s communities. The destruction of the monastic households and the nun`s communities themselves occurred as a result of the targeted efforts of local Soviet authorities, and sometimes even direct repression. However, separate groups of nuns in many places continued their religious life and influence on the population until the 1980s. The phenomenon of women’s monastic communities in Russia in the 20th century requires further comprehensive study.

Mykhailo Rudnytskyi and the struggle against the «Hrushevskyi school» in Lviv

The campaign launched by the Soviet power against the «Hrushevskyi School» in post-war Lviv was not so much an ideological campaign directed only against Ukrainian historians. Rather, it was a broader campaign of pressure and persecution, which clearly illustrates the Soviet government’s attempts to implement social discipline to establish total control over various groups of the Ukrainian intelligentsia. Consideration of various aspects of this campaign shows how discursive practices and relevant social «rituals» in the Soviet era were subordinated to the unification and Sovietization of Western Ukrainian public space in the postwar period. In contexts of this process, the case of Galician publicist and writer Mykhailo Rudnytskyi was significant. The study of his biography in this period allows us to analyze at the micro-level great processes that took place in Soviet Ukraine at this time.In addition to Moscow and Kyiv, local Soviet activists played an important role, primarily among the «pro-communist» professors of LSU. The Soviet government used the old principle of «divide et impera» by dividing intelligentsia into several groups, first criticizing one and then using them to criticize another one. Party documents show that Mykhailo Rudnytskyi remained a «stranger» to the Soviet government, a fragment of the «old world». Rudnytskyi also did not perceive the Soviet government as «his» but resorted to self-censorship for survival. Choosing survival strategies in postwar Lviv, he tried to balance between ostentatious loyalty to the Soviet regime and maintaining his own moral and ideological position.

Sovyetlerin Kutsal Yerlere Yönelik Politikası: Ahmet Yesevi Türbesi Örneği

This article briefly explains the attitude and actions of the Soviet state towards the holy places in the example of Khoja Ahmet Yasawi Tomb. Adhering to the ideology of atheism, the Soviets encountered the biggest obstacles in building a new Soviet society. It was the religion and customs of the local people in the Soviet Central Asia. For a long time people in Turkestan had a tradition of considering and visiting the tombs of the saints as holy. One of the largest holy places in the Turkestan region was the Khoja Ahmet Yasawi Tomb. The Yesewi Tomb is sacred to the peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Muslims from all over the Soviet Union visited it. This religious tradition and holy place became a great obstacle for the Bolsheviks who wanted to destroy the religion. In this wise, the Soviets fought against the local Muslims' holy places and tradition of visiting holy places. Both actual attacks and propaganda were made against the holy places. The Bolsheviks tried to prove that the holy places were not holy at all. Propaganda was not made only against Yasawi's Tomb, but also against his own name. The local Soviet Islamic Religious Administration published the fatwa against the holy places with the decision of the Communist Party. In this study the research was conducted based on Kazakhstan archival sources.

PORTRAIT OF THE DEPUTY CORPORATION OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT BODIES OF THE CENTRAL BLACK EARTH REGION IN THE INITIAL PERIOD OF THE 1990S. BASED ON ARCHIVAL MATERIALS

The article touches upon a topical topic - the development and reform of the institution of municipal deputies in the late USSR and modern Russia. Comparative characteristics of deputies of the municipal level is a completely new study in the field of local history and modern history. The period under review begins in 1980 and the first alternative elections of people's deputies to local Soviets, ends in 1993. The methods used in writing this scientific article were causal analysis, chronological method, statistical method. The source base of the study was documents from the archival administration of the Lipetsk city administration, the municipal archive of the urban district of the city of Voronezh, the State archive of the Voronezh region and other archival institutions of the central Chernozem region. As a result of this historical study, generalizing conclusions were made regarding the peculiarities of the deputy corps at the local level in the 90s of the last century.

Peculiarities of pension coverage for disabled war veteran and their employment in Tambov Region in 40s and 50s of the 20th century

The study of certain aspects of social adaptation and support, pension coverage and employment of disabled veterans of the Great Patriotic War allows us to clarify the peculiarities of post-war society development, development trajectories of the socialization of the military generation in the 40–50s of the 20th century. During this period, the efforts of the Soviet and party bodies to organize assistance to disabled war veterans, a significant part of whom had mental injuries and illnesses, were especially significant. Military everyday life and traumatization of combatants led to an increase in morbidity, which required a serious transformation not only of public health, but also of the system of social protection and pension legislation. The most intensive study of this problem was carried out during the war years and the first post-war decades, also in the 20s of the 21s century. The methodological peculiarities of the study of the stated problems are based on the author’s concept of attracting the works of contemporaries, primarily specialists in the field of psychiatry, practitioners of the Tambov Region, as well as the actual case histories and anamnesis of mental illness. We use materials from the state and party archives of the Tambov region, many of which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. The results of the study allow us to draw a quite obvious conclusion that the central and local Soviet and party bodies made certain efforts to organize social support and employment for disabled war veterans. Highly successful, these events on medical and social work were carried out in the Tambov Region. However, in general, the lack of material resources and hardships of the post-war period did not allow for decent pension coverage and social adaptation of disabled war veterans.

ПРАКТИКА РЕШЕНИЯ ГРАДОСТРОИТЕЛЬНЫХ ПРОБЛЕМ СОВЕТАМИ НАРОДНЫХ ДЕПУТАТОВ Г. КУЙБЫШЕВА В 1977-1985 ГГ.

The article is devoted to the actions of the Soviets of People's Deputies of Kuibyshev in 1977-1985 on issues related to solving the most important social problems of housing, health care and the construction of social and cultural facilities. The author focuses on formation of the city budget, the financing of housing construction in the face of an increasing need for housing due to population growth and the destruction of pre-revolutionary residential buildings. The positionson these issues of the heads of the city administration, A. Rosovsky and G. Gusarova, are revealed.The author concludes that the authority of local Soviets of People's Deputies in the social and economic development was enormous. Despite the fact that some activities of the Soviets did not involve large material costs, the most important of them, such as the construction of housing for the population, the provision of housing and communal services, health care, education, and social security of the population, required huge resources. The expansion of social spending is noticeable against the backdrop of a clear decline in production volumes and economic growth rates. In general, the practice of solving urban planning problems in this period was implemented quite successfully, which confirms the conclusion that during this period the work of the Soviet of People's Deputies was carried out effectively and met the needs of society.

The Soviet Union and the May Thirtieth Movement in Shanghai

This article focuses specifically on the Soviet factor in The May Thirtieth Movement in Shanghai, including the degree of central and local Soviet authorities' involvement in the preparation and course of the Movement and financial assistance to Chinese strikers. It also examines Soviet intelligence activities in Shanghai during this period. Until May 30 the central organs of the USSR and the RCP(b) were not the initiators of the Movement. The largest workers' movement in Shanghai occurred spontaneously and was not under the control of the Comintern or the Politburo. However, we cannot completely deny the existence of attempts to organize and control the Movement by the Soviet Consulate as early as the first days of the strikes and it has been documented that the practical actions of Soviet agents began even before the Politburo began to pay attention to the Shanghai events. The All-Union Central Trade Union Council represented the "legal" support for the strikers by the Soviet authorities. The arrival of a delegation of Soviet trade unions in Shanghai was open and contained no elements of secret diplomacy. In the field of "secret politics", G.N. Voitinsky was sent to Shanghai to lead the Movement through the CCP. During the May Thirtieth Movement, Soviet intelligence had to work in intensified mode. However, in the Shanghai municipal police files we can only find references to the activities of Soviet spies at the beginning of the Movement. The reason for this is that all police attention in July and August was concentrated on the so-called "Dosser case", which was essentially of a small scale, but was hyped up by the Shanghai press and the Municipal Council of International Settlement. Nevertheless, one should not exaggerate the influence of the Soviets on the May Thirtieth Movement. The Soviets could only control, through the CCP and the General Trade Union, the workers' and partly the students' part of the strikes. The leading role in the May Thirtieth Movement was still held by the Shanghai merchants, not by the Politburo and the Comintern.

From the history of museum work in Crimea: Activities of the Russian Society for the Study of the Crimea — Society for the Study of the Crimea (1922–1932)

The article deals with the museum direction in the popularization and research activities of the Russian Society for the Study of Crimea — the Society for the Study of Crimea against the background of the active development of the local history movement in the USSR in the 1920s and early 1930s. Three main forms of cooperation between the public scientific organization and the museum institutions in the region are traced: the participation of the Society members in the work of museums, and in creating new museums of local history (in Alushta and Kerch); publications of employees of Crimean museums about the profile work of institutions on the pages of the Society’s printed organ — the scientific journal “Krym”; author’s methodological articles of members of the Society on museum topics on the pages of the journal “Krym” (K.E.Grinevich, V.G.Opalov). Consideration of the plots of cooperation between amateur local historians, professional historians, archaeologists, ethnographers and museum workers allows us to form a comprehensive picture of the atmosphere and moods that were decisive in the scientific and social movement of the first decades of Soviet power. The dynamics of local history initiatives, the change of priorities in popularizing work helps to trace the patterns of transformation of the local history movement by the beginning of the 1930s. This was fully reflected in museum work, particularly in the leveling of any creative independence of museum teams and their incorporation into the structure of state ideological apparatus. This led to a crisis in the local history and museum movement and contributed to the unleashing of harassment and repression against local Soviet historians and museum workers, both at the all-Union and regional levels.

The Bolsheviks in Eastern Ukraine and their Competing State Projects (1917-1918): The Case of the Donets-Krivoi Rog Soviet Republic

After the Russian Revolution of February 1917, the definition of the Ukrainian territory became an important issue. One of the major controversies concerned the territorial affiliation of the eastern part of the country, a highly industrialised region located halfway between the Russian core and the Ukrainian periphery of the empire. This article focuses on the split within the Bolshevik Party between supporters of Donbass belonging to Ukraine and defenders of a Donets-Krivoi Rog republic attached to Russia. We show that this was not so much an ideological conflict between the "pro-Russians" and the "pro-Ukrainians" as it was a difference of views on the military and political strategy to be implemented in order to preserve the gains of the revolution and make its expansion possible. Moscow's decision to support the project of a Soviet Ukraine, thereby ruling out any possibility of separation of its eastern region, can be explained both by the desire to solve immediate problems (circumventing the provisions of a peace treaty, strengthening control over local Soviet institutions) and by the search for long-term solutions (advancing the world revolution, guaranteeing the stability of a multiethnic state that emerged from the disintegration of the Russian Empire).

<i>The Little Golden Calf [Zolotoy telyonok]</i> and crime reports of the late 1920s

The article discusses possible inspiration behind I. Ilf and E. Petrov's novel The Little Golden Calf [Zolotoy telyonok] (1931): newspaper crime reports appearing in the late 1920s. The author points out parallels between the book's characters (Ostap Bender, Shura Balaganov, and Aleksandr Ivanovich Koreyko) and the real heroes of crime news. The article describes the adventures of an Aleksandr Serbin, who crossed the USSR from Odessa to Vladivostok alternately posing as a Brazilian industrial worker and a son of the Brazilian consul in China. All the while, Serbin seems to have been closely imitating the novel's plotline of the Lieutenant Schmidt's children. He enjoys free accommodation in hotels and receives payments from various local Soviet authorities. Interestingly, Serbin chronicles his adventures in letters to his girlfriend, thus immediately evoking another literary character — Khlestakov in Gogol's The Government Inspector [Revizor]. The article also draws analogies between crimes that took place in the Crimea in 1928 and the wealth accumulation schemes adopted by yet another of the book's characters, Koreyko.

The Consequences of the Political Crisis of July 1918 for the Upper Volga Organizations of the Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries

The article considers the peculiarities of the position of the Upper Volga organizations of the Party of Left Socialist-Revolutionaries caused by the crisis of July 1918 which marked the beginning of the total loss of the Party’s political influence in the country in whole. The author shows the difficulties and methods of ideological and political struggle between the local Left Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Bolsheviks during the period from July to December 1918, traces the process of ousting the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries from the local Soviets, considers the features of the local Left Socialist-Revolutionaries’ organizational work in the new political reality.

Женский протест в Сибири в первой половине 1930 г. как феномен радикального ответа политике насильственной этатизации деревни

The paper deals with the problem of the phenomenon of women’s protest during the process of “total collectivization” of the agricultural sector. The author investigates the phenomenon as social action within the framework of the structural-functional approach (M. Weber, R. Merton), which allows to eliminate ideological cliches and analyze women’s protest not as an affective social action (“Bab’i bunt” - women’s revolt), but as a complex social action in which the role of goal setting can be dominant. This approach makes it possible to establish the main characteristics of women's protest, its effect, and impact on the culture of peasant protest. It provides an opportunity to consider the processes of interaction between “authority – society” in the extraordinary conditions of “the Great socialist transformation”. Main sources are archival documents of the OGPU authorized representative in the Siberian region (krai); minor sources include archival documents of local party committees and Soviet organisations and also regional press. The author analyzes protest actions recorded by the OGPU officers with the participation of women in the first half of the 1930s, identifying the main characteristics of women’s protest, its forms, causes and motives, as well as the impact on peasant society and state policy. The author also reveals that this social action in the absence of a legal opportunity to influence the agrarian/peasant policy of the party was quite an adequate means to achieve certain goals of the protesters. “Bab’i bunt” was a marker of the extreme social life of early Soviet society during the “Great Break”, which demonstrated the radicalization of relations between the peasant society and authorities during a violent etatization of the village. The conclusion is that the women’s protest, as part of the general peasant protest at the first stage of “complete collectivization”, forced the authorities to adjust their policies and even seek some compromises.

Ideological conflicts between Bolsheviks and Left Social Revolutionaries in the regional government branches

This article examines the interaction between the representatives of Bolsheviks and Left Social Revolutionaries in the regional government branches during the first half of 1918. The subject of this research is the ideological conflicts that emerged between the members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Left Social Revolutionaries in their joint activity. Considerable attention is given to classification of the ideological conflicts, as well as to identification of their causes and consequences for interaction of the representatives of both parties on the local level. These conflicts were an integral part of the Soviet bipartite system. Their manifestation began since dissolution of the government coalition of Bolsheviks and Left Social Revolutionaries. Based on the analysis of archival documents and published sources, the author describes the interaction between Bolsheviks and Left Social Revolutionaries in the local soviets. The novelty consists in classification of the conflicts between Bolsheviks and Left Social Revolutionaries, as well as in introduction into the scientific discourse of certain archival documents. The conclusion is made that despite the joint activity of the two parties aimed at strengthening of the Soviet regime, the ideological conflicts demonstrated a different perspective of Bolsheviks and Left Social Revolutionaries upon the political course of the country, as well as the methods of local governance. The escalating antagonism between the two Soviet parties eventually led to instability in the bipartite system and its collapse.