DOI 10.51255/2311–603X_2025_1_74

A. A. Sorokin. Discussions on the organization of zemstvo self-government in Siberia in the early 20th century // Petersburg historical journal, no. 1, 2025, pp. 74–84

Abstract:

The article at first discusses the establishment of an elected zemstvos’ self-government in Siberia, as well as projects on the organisation of a zemstvos’ electoral system in Siberian provinces and regions in the early 20th century. The study was carried out on the materials of the proceedings of the local committees of the Special Council on the Needs of the Agricultural Industry. The author highlights the essence and content of the attitude of the Siberian public to the institution of elected zemstvos’ self-government, and presents the arguments of Siberian officials in favour of introducing the principle of appointment in the zemstvos’ selfgovernment in Siberia. The attitude of the authors of the projects and participants in discussions in local committees to the problem of the class composition of potential voters is also demonstrated. The article goes on to highlight the positions on the issue of suffrage and proposals for its expansion at the expense of tax and educational qualifications. The analysis then shifts to the national composition of Siberian provinces and regions in the context of granting voting rights to foreigners, before concluding with a discussion of the characteristics of the electoral rights of rural and urban populations in various projects of the organisation of the zemstvos’ electoral system. Finally, the article considers the organisation of a small zemstvos’ unit in the context of the significant remoteness of Siberian settlements from each other.

Key words: zemstvos’ elections, zemstvos’ self-government, zemstvo in Siberia, electoral law, property qualification, small zemstvos’ unit, tax qualification, educational qualification, Special Council on the Needs of the Agricultural Industry, Siberia.

Author:

Sorokin Alexander Anatolievich — PhD in History, docent, Leading Researcher of the
Department of Foreign Regional Studies and Local History of Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod (National Research University) (Nizhny Novgorod, Russia).
E-mail: skaliger1989@yandex.ru
ORCID: 0000-0003-1710-0801

References:

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IVANOV, A.A., ANDREEV, V. V. Proekt I. I. Popova o vvedenii zemstv v Sibiri, vyrabotannyi v Irkutske nakanune pervoi russkoi revolyutsii [I. I. Popov’s Project on the Introduction of Zemstvos in Siberia, Developed in Irkutsk on the Eve of the First Russian Revolution. In Russ.]. In Izvestiya Irkutskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya «Politologiya. Religiovedenie». 2017. Vol. 22, pp. 102–109.

LIBURKIN, V. N. Deyatelnostmestnykh komitetov Osobogo Soveshhaniya o nuzhdakh selskokhozyajstvennoi promyshlennosti i ikh vliyanie na razvitie obshhestvenno-politicheskoi zhizni Sibiri nachala XX v. [The Activities of Local Committees of a Special Meeting on the Needs of the Agricultural Industry and their Impact on the Development of Socio-Political Life in Siberia at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century. In Russ.]: Avtoref. diss. … kandidata isorii. Moscow, 1988. 16 p.

SECHEIKO, O. YU. Zemstvo v Vostochnoi Sibiri, 1917–1920 gg. [Zemstvo in Eastern Siberia, 1917–1920. In Russ.].: Diss. … kandidata istorii. Irkutsk, 2001. 208 s.

SUVOROVA, N. G. Melkaya zemskaya edinitsa v sibirskikh proektakh nachala XX v. [Small Zemstvo Unit in Siberian Projects of the Early Twentieth Century. In Russ.]. In Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 2007. No 296, pp. 125–131.

TRESVYATSKII, L. A. Obshchestvennost’ i mestnoe samoupravlenie v Vostochnoi Sibiri v nachale XX veka [The Public and Local Self-Government in Eastern Siberia at the Beginning of the Twentieth Century. In Russ.]. Tomsk, Izdatel’stvo Tomskogo politekhnicheskogo universiteta, 2010. 184 p.

TRIGUB, G. YA. Problema vvedeniya zemstva na Vostoke Rossii (konets XIX — nachalo XX v.) [The Problem of the Introduction of Zemstvo in the East of Russia (Late XIX — Early XX Century). In Russ.]. In Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. 2009. No 318, pp. 133–135.

UGRYUMOVA, M. V. Dumskie i pravitelstvennye proekty 1907–1917 gg. — istochniki po izucheniyu istorii reformy zemskogo samoupravleniya v Sibiri [Duma and government projects 1907–1917 — sources for the study of the history of the reform of zemstvo self-government in Siberia. In Russ.]. In Vestnik Nizhnevartovskogo gosudarstvennogo gumanitarnogo universiteta. 2011. No 1, pp. 60–70.

SHEVTSOV, V. V. Vopros o samoupravlenii v Sibiri v period revolyutsii 1905–1907 gg. [The Question of Self-Government in Siberia During the Revolution of 1905–1907. In Russ.]. In Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya «Istoriya». 2012. No 4 (20), pp. 138–142.

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