Irkutsk land at the beginning of the 20th century. Scientific and technical life in the province

08.04.2024

Within the framework of Siberian historical urban studies, a certain place belongs to the study of small towns, distinguished by the peculiarities of socio-economic life, urban landscape, and unique sociocultural characteristics (1). The study of the last component was also illuminated using materials from the cities of the Irkutsk province. The subject of independent discussion was the specifics of the cultural environment and cultural life of the cities of the province in the 17th – early 20th centuries. (2). At the same time, the development of charity as one of the elements of the socio-cultural sphere of the district and provincial towns of the province in the second half of the 19th century. no special attention was paid.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the main directions of private and public charitable activities of the population of small towns of the Irkutsk province (3), the reasons and nature of the involvement of various social groups in this segment of the public sphere.

In the second half of the nineteenth century. the quantitative growth and species diversity of charitable events in small towns of the province is recorded. One of the most common forms is subscriptions. So, in Kirensk during the 1870–1890s. Funds were collected for the establishment and maintenance of women's and district schools. The fees ranged from one hundred to several thousand rubles. The eighties became a turning point in the development of mass charitable activities in county towns. The intensification of public initiative during this period served as an impetus for the creation of libraries and amateur theaters, the organization and activities of which were closely linked with philanthropic events. Often the proceeds from amateur performances were used to benefit libraries or educational institutions. In Nizhneudinsk in the late 70s - early 80s. XIX century At Christmas, the amateur theater gave 1–2 performances to benefit educational institutions or libraries. The amounts received could be significant. So, in 1881, at Christmas time, amateurs gave 2 performances and the proceeds amounted to 2 thousand rubles. - assigned to the construction of a building for the district school (4). In Kirensk, on the initiative of police chief Petrov, subscriptions were taken to open a library (1882, 29 people took part, about 600 rubles were collected). Children's parties were organized (very often New Year's trees), and the practice of transferring charitable collections to Irkutsk, to local branches of societies, was supported. Back in 1859, during the period of intensification of the teachers’ movement in Irkutsk, 50 rubles “from some individuals” were sent from Verkholensk to the provincial city for the founding of a pedagogical or teachers’ library in Irkutsk (5). At the same time, charity bazaars and allegri lotteries, donations in return for visits, musical and literary evenings with a charitable purpose, in contrast, did not receive significant distribution as they did not correspond to the general level of the cultural environment of small towns, which largely retained connections with traditional examples of village culture.

A certain number of townspeople found themselves drawn into various charitable events at the all-Russian level. Collections for all-Russian actions were especially common in the cities of the province in the 1860–1880s. (up to 5 or more subscriptions per year). Traditional were collections of donations for the needs of Orthodox churches, the construction of monuments, a fund to help victims of natural disasters, and collections during the war, initiated by the government, private individuals and public organizations.

The actual number of donors turned out to be small, as were the amounts collected, which were perceived as burdensome and not directly related to the life of the city dweller and his environment, and therefore not relevant. In 1851, in the Irkutsk province as a whole, only 456 rubles 07 kopecks were collected for the victims of the fire in Samara and Petropavlovsk, for the construction of churches and assistance to settlers (6). The greatest response from the population of small towns was requests for donations for “charitable causes.” Thus, in 1871, of the 22 rubles 80 kopecks, 20 rubles 30 kopecks, or 89% (29 people) collected by 35 residents were intended for Orthodox churches and only 2 rubles 40 kopecks (6 people) - for the construction of a public school named after. Alexander I, monuments to B. Khmelnitsky and I. Fedorov, for the establishment of a hospital for Russians in Constantinople (7). A prominent place among the donors belonged to bureaucrats, who were obliged to take part in such actions by the nature of their service.

Charitable collections sometimes took on a voluntary-compulsory nature. The entire urban society could act as a “responsible” unit. Such “discord” led to paradoxical situations. The same Cyrene society in 1868, “in fulfillment of the order to subscribe to help those affected by grain crop failures,” asked the Irkutsk merchant K.M. Kalashnikov (presumably a native of Kirensk. - N.G.), referring to the poverty of society, to “provide assistance” in the required donation, i.e. asked to donate money for a donation (8).

In the last decade of the 19th century. The number of nationwide charitable events is falling, and those carried out are limited mainly to collecting donations for victims of natural disasters and wars, displaced people, etc.

An institutionalized form of charity was activity within the framework of boards of trustees at educational institutions in small towns. The main responsibility of the trustees was to “find funds” to improve the maintenance of the institution and to improve the functions performed by the institution.

We identified one guardianship each that operated during the 1860–1890s at parish schools in Balagansk and Verkholensk; in Kirensk and Nizhneudinsk - at parish and district schools, a women's gymnasium in each of these cities, in the activities of which 28 residents of Balagansk, 19 residents of Verkholensk, 26 - Kirensk, 22 - Nizhneudinsk were involved (9). The selection of full-time trustees was the responsibility of the city society, in some cases - of the estate society, or they were appointed by the local authorities, mainly “from local honorable persons involved in industry and trade.” It was emphasized that the presence of vacant seats in the councils is “a mistake of local society... which is not approved by the existing law” (10). In essence, trustees created a system of "full-time philanthropists", and philanthropy was considered one of the main components of the trustee's activities, taking the form of public service by election. The composition of the trustees was dominated by the merchants (61.5–86%). The exception was Balagansk, where among the honorary guardians of parish schools in the districts, a significant percentage were peasants and foreigners (39% and 14%, respectively). The second largest group was the bureaucracy (1.5–26.2%); representatives of the petty bourgeoisie, guild workers and peasantry, with the exception of Balagansk, accounted for an insignificant percentage (1.3–11.5%). It should be noted that women were also included in the trustees. In particular, in Balagansk the share of women’s participation in boards of trustees at educational institutions in the city was 11%, in Kirensk – 8%. The highest degree of participation within the boards of trustees was noted in, amounting to 15% of the total number of trustees.

The composition of the boards of trustees of district towns changed frequently. Few remained for the second and subsequent terms, considering the position burdensome both in terms of time and monetary costs. In 1894, the councilors of the Nizhneudinsk City Duma were faced with the task of choosing an honorary guardian of the Mikheevsky School: finding “a person who was willing to donate at least a small amount of money (25 rubles) to the school” (11) turned out to be difficult.

The establishment and activities of various types of charitable societies, which became quite widespread in the 2nd half of the 19th century. in Irkutsk and small towns of the province did not find a response. The overwhelming majority of societies (77.7% of the total) were concentrated in the provincial center, which was due to the socio-economic and cultural potential of Irkutsk.

A feature of the development of public initiative in the district cities of the province was its late manifestation, which was noted in the work of E.V. Sevostyanova (12). The forces of the public remained scattered, the organization of public associations, which objectively became a means of self-realization, self-defense and mutual assistance, was not recognized as a need, was “excessive”, and was sometimes perceived as “burdensome”. Thus, in response to a request from the Irkutsk civil governor (1861) about the desirable establishment of charitable societies in the cities of the Irkutsk province, the residents of Kirensk refused, citing the small population and the insignificance of merchant capital (13).

Charitable societies in county towns were opened administratively as branches of provincial committees of all-Russian societies: in the 1856–1870s. in Nizhneudinsk, Verkholensk - branches of the Irkutsk Provincial Trustee Committee on Prisons; during 1868–1871 in Kirensk and Balagansk - branches of the Irkutsk district administration of the Society for the Care of Sick and Wounded Soldiers. In Ilimsk there were no public associations at all. It should be noted that the indicated period (1850s – first half of the 1870s) saw the “heyday” of the establishment of semi-bureaucratic charitable societies in the Irkutsk province: out of 20 charitable societies and/or committees that existed in the province in the second half of the 19th century. , 15 was created under the leadership of government agencies.

The “scenario” for opening societies was almost the same. By order of the governor-general or governor, an initiative group was formed, including the head of the region, bureaucrats and senior military officers, and official representatives of the city society. The merchants were involved in the activity, first of all, to ensure the financial viability of the society. At the same time, the presence of a perceived need for urban society or its individual groups to organize a particular society was not taken into account. Last but not least, the viability of associations was supported by appropriate sanctions from the local administration, which ensured “voluntary-compulsory” membership.

Thus, the Nizhneudinsk branch of the Committee for the Trusteeship of Prisons as directors included the mayor, the dean, the assessor of the Nizhneudinsk zemstvo court, the provincial secretary, the district police officer, and several merchants (1865–1870) (14). The composition of the Kirensky and Verkholsky branches of the Committee was approximately the same. These departments existed mainly formally, without being in demand by the townspeople themselves. The typical Irkutsk perception of this kind of charitable societies as status ones, membership in which was prestigious, gathering the “high society” of the city, was absent in the small towns of the province.

Bourgeois reforms of the 1860s. and the general rise in public life also determined the development of public initiatives. Already from the mid-1860s. the dominant position of the state was destroyed: social structures gradually emerged, created not by order of local authorities, but by individual groups of urban society. However, neither mutual aid societies, nor cultural, educational or professional associations appeared in the small towns of the Irkutsk province during the period under review, which was due to the peculiarities of the socio-economic and cultural development of these settlements, the level of self-organization and self-awareness of urban societies and individual social groups, with the remoteness of these cities from the main administrative and cultural centers.

During the period under review, parish charity related to the establishment of parish trustees received some development (15). On January 1, 1865, the State Council allowed to begin their opening (16). As a rule, the initiative to organize guardianship came from the parish priest, who introduced parishioners to the “Regulations” and explained “the need to open them as soon as possible.” However, the relationship between parishioners and clergy in district towns was very superficial, which was aggravated by the frequent change of clergy. Thus, in Balagansk, the city government stated that at the “Savior Church there is no priest, and services are rare...” (17). In Ilimsk, empty priestly places were declared in 1873 and 1887, in Nizhneudinsk - in 1872, 1873, 1876, 1885, in Balagansk - in 1881 and 1889, in the Verkholensky Resurrection Cathedral - in 1881, 1888, 1891. (18). In such conditions, guardianship at the Verkholensky Resurrection Cathedral was opened only in 1894 with the intervention of the diocesan authorities, which led to the entry into the guardianship in the first years of its existence of a significant number of officials (volost elders; village elders of societies included in the parish; various officials and doctor).

An exception to the established practice of opening parish trustees in the district towns of the province was, perhaps, where K. Kokoulin served for a long time as the archpriest of the Spassky Cathedral. The parish trusteeship of the Kirensky Spassky Cathedral was established already in 1865, consisting of 30 people, becoming perhaps the largest public association in the city in the period under review, whose activities were related to charity.

The dominant position in parish guardianship was occupied by the bureaucrats and merchants, including the largest representatives of the third estate of Kirensk (Markovs, Lavrushins, Kalashnikovs, Skretnevs). They considered this area as significant, in contrast to the merchants of Irkutsk, who had more effective levers of influence on city affairs and did not often apply for positions in parish trusteeship.

The perception of guardianship by the parishioners of the Kyrene Spassky Cathedral turned out to be unique. In its establishment, the women of the city found an opportunity to expand the scope of their participation in public life. Elections took place in 1868. The guardianship included the doctor’s wife, a representative of the bureaucratic world and four wives of Cyrene merchants. In general, women made up 20.8% of the total number of members of the created society (see table 1).

Table 1

Class composition of the members of the Cyrene parish guardianship. 1868–1870

Officials	Priests	Merchants	Philistinism	Unknown

Data: Irkutsk Diocesan Gazette. – 1868. – No. 36. – P.291; 1870. – No. 43. – P.363.

The first years of the guardianship's existence were marked by the highest activity. The work centered around the collection of donations for the creation of capital (see Table 2), which serves as the main condition for the viability of trusteeship; repair and improvement of the church, providing one-time benefits to the clergy and the poorest residents of the parish.

table 2

Financial reports of the Spassky parish trusteeship. Kirensk. 1866–1869

Data: Irkutsk Diocesan Gazette. – 1866. – No. 8, 10; 1867. – No. 21; 1868. – No. 21, 36; 1869. – No. 19; Irkutsk Provincial Gazette. – 1866. – No. 9; 1867. – No. 17.

At this stage of the study, no information was found on the activities of parish trustees in Nizhneudinsk and Balagansk.

The transfer of funds “for the splendor of churches” in general was a widespread form of charitable activity among the population of small towns, considered, moreover, as one of the most convenient and quick means of fulfilling religious duty.

Steady attention remained to churches associated with the names of relatives and friends. It should be noted donations to rural churches near cities (Kirensk, Verkholensk should be especially noted) (19). The public response was received by donations for the construction of new churches: the church in the name of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky (Kirensk), the chapel in honor of the rescue of the Emperor from danger on April 6, 1866 in Nizhneudinsk.

The active missionary activity of the Orthodox Church has updated donations for the construction and support of missionary camps and churches. The popularity of frequent financial injections into this area was largely due to the satisfaction of the personal ambitions of donors seeking to attract the attention of church hierarchs (Verkholena merchants E. Grekhov, A.F. Dunaev, S.E. Kuptsov, Cyrene merchants S.N. Dmitriev , P.D. Kurbatov, Nizhneudinsk merchant P.V. Karnaukhov, Balagan merchants E. Kozlov, P. Kolmakov, widow S. Dudchenko, etc.).

A notable figure in the parish was the church warden, elected at a parish meeting for 3 years with the consent of the clergy, in the presence of the dean. The duties of the elder consisted of “taking care of the property and the entire economy of the church” (20): collecting money for the church purse and mug; accepting all kinds of amounts, deposits, offerings; receiving rental money; sale of candles and cinders; purchasing everything needed for the church; maintaining the church and church buildings. All activities took place under the supervision of the dean and diocesan authorities. The service of a church warden was equal to the public service of elections. Those chosen from the tax-paying classes were exempt from elections to other public services; Those who served for 9 years acquired the right to wear uniforms after leaving office.

In the small towns of the province, the position of church warden was concentrated in the hands of the merchants and philistines (30–50% of the total number). Until the 1880s the share of the peasantry was noticeable (30–16%); in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. – officials (16–17%). The social structure of the city left its mark. Thus, in Verkholensk, where the percentage of the peasantry was exceptionally high, church elders were recruited mainly from this class; in Ilimsk, the position was more often filled by representatives of the petty bourgeoisie; The Cyrenian merchants, playing a prominent role in society, concentrated eldership in their hands (Kurbatovs, Skretnevs, Markovs, etc.).

The overwhelming majority of church elders in district and provincial towns were elected once: the position was perceived as a burdensome election service among many others associated with monetary costs, which often caused refusals (21). As an exception, it should be noted the 15-year old age of the Balagan merchant of the 2nd guild M.I. Bobrovnikova. The merchant’s relationship with the priest I.M. was evident. Bobrovnikov, who served as rector of the Nizhneudinsky Cathedral for about 20 years. Eldership also extended to churches in suburban villages. As a rule, service was limited to one term.

In general, a characteristic feature of the period was the expansion of the social composition of participants in charitable events compared to previous stages (before the 1850s). The leading place in terms of the amount of donated capital rightfully belonged to the commercial and industrial strata of small towns. Donations for “charitable causes” and city improvement dominated, and less for education and culture. Among the largest charitable contributions, donations from Nizhneudinsk merchant M.P. should be highlighted. Myasnikov, with whose funds (1867) a parish school was built in the city, the Kyrene merchant N.V. Markov, who bequeathed capital of 3,950 rubles to the district school (1881). “for tuition fees, for textbooks and clothing for poor students,” the Kiren merchant Neratov, who also donated 2,000 rubles to the district school. (1870), etc.

The low economic potential significantly limited the size of charitable contributions from officials, clerks, and teachers, often limited to several tens of rubles. The main and real channel for the group’s involvement in philanthropic activities was personal participation. The role of these social strata within the framework of charitable activities has become more noticeable since the 80s - 90s. XIX century, during the period of intensification of public initiative in small towns of the province. A common point was the prevalence of secular motives for their charitable activities over religious ones in comparison with the merchants, among whom the latter occupied a significant place. At the same time, for some officials, activities in the field of philanthropy were determined by official duties. There was also a superficial perception of philanthropy as a “fashionable” type of activity that had gained popularity among wide sections of society. There were some oddities too. Thus, according to the recollections of one of his contemporaries, after a ceremonial ceremony in the girls’ gymnasium of Kirensk (1880s), “the trustee invited me to her place for breakfast. Here the audience resumed their “usual routine.” One of the retired officials, having become fairly tipsy, decided to immediately arrange a subscription in favor of the gymnasium. More prudent people protested, considering it inconvenient to offer subscriptions to persons participating in the breakfast, because many of them signed, although they gave meager amounts, on the eve of the act. The guardian did not let up... It ended with everyone quarreling..." (22).

Donations from the philistines and guilds were small and corresponded mainly to religious interests.

The expansion of the number of participants in charity events in the cities of the Irkutsk province was associated with the intensification of the role of women in the public arena during the post-reform period. However, we are talking only about individual representatives of the merchant and bureaucratic world (A.Ya. Sinitsyna, A.S. Lavrushina, A.P. Volynskaya, L.I. Markova, A.F. Orlova, etc.). For this stratum, charity became one of the most accessible areas of public activity, and participation in the activities of boards of trustees at educational institutions rose to the level of public service.

Notes

Rezun D.Ya. On some problems of modern Siberian historical urbanism // Siberian city of the 18th – early 20th centuries. – Issue 1 – Irkutsk. 1998. – P. 9; Shakherov V.P. Socio-economic development of the upper Lena region in the 17th – first half of the 19th centuries. – Irkutsk: Ottisk, 2000. – P. 3–5.
Sevostyanova E.V. Public initiative and cultural life of Eastern Siberia in the 2nd half of the 19th – early 20th centuries: Diss. for the job application uch. Art. candidate historical Sci. – Irkutsk, 1998; Oglezneva G.V.. Development of the cultural environment of the district towns of the Irkutsk province in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries // Culture of small towns of Siberia: Materials of the All-Russian scientific and practical work. seminar. Omsk, 1995 – Omsk, 1995. – P.78–80; Oglezneva G.V., Dorosh S.V. Cultural life of the district cities of the Irkutsk province in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries // Siberian city of the 18th - early 20th centuries: Interuniversities. Sat. – Issue 1 – Irkutsk, 1998. – P.79–96; Shakherov V. Op. op. – pp. 66–75.
The socio-demographic characteristics of the small towns of the Irkutsk province (county towns of Balagansk, Verkholensk, Kirensk, and provincial Ilimsk) were given by us in the articles: Gavrilova N. Socio-demographic conditions for the development of social life of the townspeople of the Irkutsk province in the second half of the 19th century. // Urban culture of Siberia: dynamics of cultural and historical processes: Sat. scientific tr. / answer Ed. YES. Alisov. – Omsk: Omsk State Pedagogical University, 2001. – P. 27-30; She's the same. Socio-demographic characteristics of the development of cities in the Irkutsk province in the second half of the 19th century // Problems of demography, medicine and health of the population of Russia: history and modernity: Sat. materials III International. scientific-practical conf. – Penza: RIO PGSHA, 2006. – P.74-77.
Siberia. – 1882. – No. 5.
Romanov N.S.. Irkutsk Chronicle. 1857-1880. Continuation of the “Chronicle” by P.I. Pezhemsky and V.A. Krotov / General. ed. I.I. Serebrennikova. – Irkutsk, 1911. – P.55.
RGIA, f.1265, op.1, d.86, l.16 vol.
GAIO, f.472, op.1, d.201.
GAIO, f.472, op.1, d.198. l.4-7.
We admit that the data obtained are approximate, the exception of which is possible only with a continuous year-by-year analysis of the personal lists of members of the Boards of Trustees, but we believe it is possible to operate with them as generally correctly recording the trends in the social activity of city residents in charitable activities in this area. The total number of trustees includes citizens elected as trustees of educational and charitable institutions in the districts, mainly as guardians of parish schools.
GAIO, f.32, op.15, d.149, l.32.
Sevostyanova E.V. Public initiative and cultural life of Eastern Siberia in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries: Diss. for the job application uch. Art. candidate historical Sci. – Irkutsk, 1998. – P.34, 54, 99, 118, 142, 146, 224.
GAIO, f.435, op.1, d.308, l.4–12.
Memorial book of the Irkutsk province for 1865. – Irkutsk, 1865. – P.53, Personnel of civil, military and spiritual departments in the Irkutsk province. – Irkutsk, 1867. – P.69, Memorial book of the Irkutsk province for 1870. – Irkutsk. 1870. – P.89.
Irkutsk Diocesan Gazette. – 1864. – No. 44. – P.239-248.
Irkutsk Diocesan Gazette. – 1864. – No. 47. – P.260.
GAIO, f.32, op.15, d.149, l.57.
Irkutsk Diocesan Gazette. – 1872. – No. 35; 1873. – No. 47; 1876. – No. 5; 1881. – No. 19, 29; 1885. – No. 14; 1887. – No. 5, 48; 1889. – No. 26; 1891. – No. 23.
Irkutsk Diocesan Gazette. – 1863. – No. 23. – P.343; 1864. – No. 9; 1865. – No. 1. – P.2, No. 33. – P.209.
Charter of Spiritual Consistories. – St. Petersburg, 1841. – P.40.
GAIO, f.472, op.1, d.202, l.14-18; Irkutsk Diocesan Gazette. – 1867. – No. 18. – P.53.
GAIO, f.480, op.1, d.234, l.5-6.

“Irkutsk... The only city in Siberia that has an urban character. Just as England created London and France created Paris, so Siberia created Irkutsk. She is proud of it, and not seeing Irkutsk means not seeing Siberia...”

Nikolay Shelgunov

Irkutsk prison

Over the course of 350 years, the city of Irkutsk, located on the banks of the Angara and Irkut, has gone from a Cossack winter hut to a major administrative, industrial and cultural center of Siberia. Its name comes from the name of the Irkut River, on which in 1661 the Cossacks of Yakov Pokhabov founded a Siberian fort.
Since 1682, the Irkutsk fort became the center of an independent county, which led to the need to expand the buildings. Four years later, the settlement received city status and acquired a seal and coat of arms. Since that time, the city began to actively develop, its political and administrative role in the region increased. In 1706-1710, a stone Spasskaya Church was built in the southeastern wall of the fort.
At the beginning of the reign of Peter I, many archers who took part in the uprising against the tsar were exiled to the city. Thus, at the beginning of the 18th century there were already 3,447 people in the city. By those standards, it was already a serious Siberian city.

Irkutsk in the 18th century

In the sixties of the 18th century, the famous land route came to Irkutsk, later called the Moscow Route. Since 1768, annual fairs began to be held in the city. This contributed to the creation of numerous factories by merchants, the construction of new mills, breweries, as well as Gostiny Dvor to house numerous shops and stores. This building was built according to the design of the famous Italian architect of the 18th century - Giacomo Quarenghi. Currently, this building houses one of the largest book depositories in Russia - the Scientific Library of Irkutsk State University.

Its favorable geographical position made Irkutsk the most important strategic point in Eastern Siberia and largely contributed to its administrative status. The Irkutsk voivodeship, then the province, governorship, and province absorbed an immense territory from the Yenisei to the Pacific Ocean. It was a “power” almost equal to the overseas possessions of Spain, and its territories were constantly expanding. Since 1803, all of Siberia formed one governor-general, and Irkutsk became the residence of the Siberian governor-general. Thus, until the reforms of M.M. Speransky in 1882, it was a kind of capital of Siberia.

Period of scientific expeditions

In the 18th century, from the reign of Peter I to the end of the reign of Catherine II, many different scientific expeditions were sent to Irkutsk to explore Lake Baikal and the Siberian region and the East in general. Irkutsk was destined to “open a window to the East” and pave the way for Russia to the Pacific Ocean. All expeditions organized by the Russian government to the Far East, Yakutia, Mongolia, China, and Alaska were formed in Irkutsk. From here the settlement of the banks of the Amur began. The office of the world-famous Russian-American company was founded, which successfully traded and developed new lands from the shores of Alaska to Japan in the 19th century. The first embassies to Beijing traveled through Irkutsk, and caravan trade routes to Mongolia and China passed through. Wholesale trade in Eastern Siberia was concentrated primarily in the hands of Irkutsk merchants. The First and Second expeditions of Vitus Bering, whose names remained on the map of the North and East, were preparing to set off in the city.

Irkutsk in the 19th century

In 1806, the new governor N. Treskin took up the organization of the city. A red line was drawn on each street, along which the owners had to level their houses within a year. However, the residents took this order lightly, not yet knowing the true character of the new governor. A year later, everything that went beyond the red line and prevented the street from being straight was mercilessly sawed off. Thus, the streets became straight, and the city took on the correct appearance.

By the middle of the 19th century, the city already had 2,500 thousand houses, in which more than 18 thousand residents lived.

The northern coastal part of the city, which was the front part of the city before the construction of the pontoon bridge across the Angara in 1891, has undergone significant changes.

For more than three centuries our city has lived a difficult life, full of severe trials. Among the many who worked for him were Irkutsk merchants, distinguished by their ardent patriotism. It was they who built hospitals and shelters, schools and gymnasiums, libraries and churches. They said about the wealth of Irkutsk merchants that if they wanted to build a road from silver rubles, it would stretch from Irkutsk to Moscow!

Eastern Siberia at that time was the main place of political exile. According to some sources, in the 19th century there was one exile for every two native Siberians. In Irkutsk itself at different times lived the Decembrists, Petrashevites, Polish rebels, and Narodnaya Volya exiled here. The stay of the Decembrists - the largest Russian intellectuals, the most enlightened people in Siberia, influenced the fate of this land. Each of them left a bright mark and grateful memory in the history of the region. The Decembrists brought education to the people, opened schools, and not only for boys, but also for girls, ahead of the European part of Russia in this. The economic activities of Siberians, science, agriculture, medicine, culture and many other aspects of life in the Irkutsk province underwent the beneficial influence of the Decembrists. Irkutsk was especially lucky in that the families of the Decembrists Sergei Volkonsky and Sergei Trubetskoy were allowed to move here. Home performances were organized in their homes, and concerts were held with the participation of visiting St. Petersburg, Italian, and French musicians and singers.

Railway construction

In 1898, during the reign of Alexander III, the Trans-Siberian Railway was built through Irkutsk. In terms of the pace of construction, the length of the route, and the difficulty of construction, the Siberian railway had no equal in the world.
In 1908, on the banks of the Angara, where the main street of Irkutsk ends, a monument to Tsar Alexander III was erected.

City in the 20th century

At the beginning of the 20th century, Irkutsk was considered the most beautiful city in Siberia. There were more than 300 stone buildings there. The streets were wide, clean and well lit. During this period, the city center was significantly transformed, in which large buildings were erected, roads were paved with stone, and the first asphalt sidewalks appeared. The water supply system began to operate, and the first power stations opened.

Current stage of development

During its history of formation and development, Irkutsk has grown to an area of 28 thousand hectares. The population of Irkutsk is almost 600 thousand people. The average age of Irkutsk residents is only 36 years.
There are 114 cultural and art institutions and their branches operating on the territory of Irkutsk.
The city has four state theaters, a philharmonic hall, an organ hall, four state museums, and three regional state libraries.
Every year since 1995, Irkutsk hosts the All-Russian festival – Days of Spirituality and Culture “Radiance of Russia”, in which outstanding groups of the country take part.
One of the most favorite holidays among Irkutsk residents is City Day, which is celebrated in early June.
The “Stars on Baikal” festival, whose artistic director is the pianist Denis Matsuev, beloved by the Irkutsk public, is very popular among both Irkutsk residents and guests of the city. Thanks to him, every year Irkutsk residents could attend concerts by Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Timirkanov, Yuri Bashmet, Georgy Garanyan, Elena Obraztsova, Harry Grodberg and many other great world-famous musicians.

Irkutsk spiritual

In modern Russia, Irkutsk is classified as a museum city, because it has retained the romantic appearance of a quiet, sedate building, the radiance of golden domes over the blue Angara. In terms of the number of churches, Irkutsk stands out among other cities in Siberia and the Far East.
Thus, Irkutsk can be proud of the Spasskaya Church, famous throughout Siberia, erected back in 1706. Since 1718, the Cathedral of the Epiphany has existed and continues to hold services.
On the territory of the Znamensky Monastery, the residence of the Bishop of Irkutsk and Angarsk, lie the ashes of prominent figures of Siberia: the discoverer of Siberian lands Grigory Shelikhov, the wife of the Decembrist Trubetskoy - Catherine, the first bishop of Irkutsk - St. Innocent.
The Harlampie Church, in which Alexander Kolchak was married, is being actively restored in the very center of the city. The openwork melody of old, wooden Irkutsk alternates with powerful chords of modern buildings.

History in faces

If you look at the history of Irkutsk in person, then the fates of the explorer Erofei Khabarov, the navigator Vitus Bering, admirals Gennady Nevelsky and Alexander Kolchak, the writer Yaroslav Hasek, General Dmitry Karbyshev, the creator of Soviet long-range aviation (LRA) Alexander Golovanov, and cosmonaut Boris Volynov are connected with Irkutsk . Irkutsk was glorified by merchants - philanthropists and patrons of the arts: Trapeznikovs, Sibiryakovs, Bazanovs, Khaminovs, Sukachev, Butin, Medvednikovs. Their biographies are the history and glory of our city.

City museums

Irkutsk is an ancient Siberian city that has written important pages in the history of our country, and the historical center of Irkutsk is being considered for inclusion in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.

The most important milestones in the history of Irkutsk can be traced by visiting the city museums.

Irkutsk Museum of Local Lore was created back in 1782 as the East Siberian department of the Russian Geographical Society. Unfortunately, the old museum building has not survived to this day; it burned down in a fire in 1879, along with exhibits and a rich library. Today, the museum is located in a building built by the architect Rosen in 1891. This is a real architectural monument, built in the Moorish style. Such outstanding figures of Russian science as Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky, Vladimir Afanasyevich Obruchev, Dmitry Alexandrovich Klements worked at the Irkutsk Museum of Local Lore. The archaeological collection of the museum includes more than 300 thousand exhibits.

Irkutsk Art Museum named after V. P. Sukachev traces its history to the personal collection of the Irkutsk mayor V.V. Sukachev, which he bequeathed to the residents of the city of Irkutsk in 1920. The collection includes paintings by I. Repin, P. Vereshchagin, I. Aivazovsky, A. Kuindzhi, I. Shishkin, V. Polenov, V. Serov, N. Roerich, F. Rokotov, V. Borovikovsky. The museum also displays a collection of jewelry and porcelain from the Faberge company, a collection of artistic silver, amazingly beautiful porcelain iconostases created at the end of the 19th century, and sculptures by E. Lanceray.

Historical and Memorial Museum of the Decembrists. The fate of the Decembrists occupies a special place in the history of Irkutsk. The Historical and Memorial Museum of the Decembrists is dedicated to their selfless feat in the struggle for the benefit of the common people. The museum occupies two memorial estates: the houses of princes Volkonsky and Trubetskoy in the historical center of Irkutsk.

Museum of the History of Irkutsk opened in 1996. This museum is dedicated to Soviet citizens who were victims of political repression. The museum has a branch - an exhibition center named after. V. Rogalya.

In addition to those described, there are other museums in Irkutsk: the G. Shelikhov Museum, the icebreaker "Angara", the Communications Museum, the "Experimentary", the Museum of Military Glory, the Museum of Mineralogy and others.

We invite you to visit our city, get acquainted with its history and cultural centers, and visit historical places.

Keywords

IRKUTSK PROVINCE / NIZHNEUDINSKY DISTRICT / NATURAL GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS / AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION/ INDUSTRY / SUBREGION / STATE / TRANS-SIBERIAN HIGHWAY / MASS RESETTLEMENT / BUSINESS RELATIONS/ IRKUTSK PROVINCE / NIZHNEUDINSKY DISTRICT / NATURAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL CONDITIONS/ AGRARIAN PRODUCTION / INDUSTRY / SUBREGION / STATE / TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY / MASS RESETTLEMENT / ECONOMIC TIES

annotation scientific article on history and archeology, author of the scientific work - Matveenko Anastasia Leonidovna

A comprehensive scientific analysis of the socio-economic development of a certain territory (regions) and its component parts (subregions) based on historical material is extremely important and very relevant for world science, theoretically and practically. The issues have instructive significance in modern conditions, allowing us to formulate recommendations for economic development and development programs. Vast regions include large components (subregions), at different stages, which at different stages differed significantly in the dynamics of socio-economic development. By the beginning of the 20th century, the western part Irkutsk province amounted to Nizhneudinsky district with a population of just over 80,000 people. The economic complex of this subregion developed at an accelerated pace, for example, from 1901 to 1928 its share in crops Irkutsk province increased from 17.9% to 29.9%, but subsequently stabilized. The article substantively examines the factors that determined such advanced development: the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, mass relocation to the district, a set of government measures to promote peasant colonization. The growth of the economic complex of the subregion was ensured by: a harmonious combination of personal initiative and production efforts of peasants, intellectual and material capabilities of the Russian state, full accounting natural-geographical conditions, development of social infrastructure, etc.

Development of the Economic Complex of the Nizhneudinsky District of the Irkutsk Province at the End of the 19th - Early 20th Century

A comprehensive scientific analysis of the socio-economic development of a certain territory (regions) and its constituent parts (subregions) on historical material is extremely important, very relevant for world science in theory and in practice. The problems have a great instructive value in modern conditions, allowing to formulate recommendations for programs of economic development and exploitation, to justify the horizon of the future. The Irkutsk region (Priangarje) is the fifth largest region in the Russian Federation, significantly exceeding France, more than twice Germany. By the beginning of the 20th century, the western part of the Angara region was the Nizhneudinsky district (comparable to Greece) with a population of just over 80,000. The economy of this subregion developed at a rapid pace, for example from 1901 to 1928, its share in the sowings of the Irkutsk province grew from 17.9% to 29.9%, but later stabilized. The article specifically considers the factors that led to such advanced development: the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, mass resettlement in the county, a combination of state activities to promote peasant colonization. The growth of the economy of the subregion provided a harmonious combination of personal initiative and production peasants, intellectual and material capabilities of the Russian state, a full account of natural and geographical conditions, the development of social infrastructure, etc.

Text of scientific work on the topic “Development of the economic complex of the Nizhneudinsky district of the Irkutsk province at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century”

Original article / Original article UDC 631.115(571.53)

http://dx.doi.org/10.21285/2415-8739-2018-1-129-136

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMIC COMPLEX OF NIZHNEUDINSKY DISTRICT OF IRKUTSK PROVINCE AT THE END OF THE 19TH - BEGINNING OF THE XX CENTURY

Irkutsk National Research Technical University, Russian Federation, 664074, Irkutsk, st. Lermontova, 83.

Annotation. A comprehensive scientific analysis of the socio-economic development of a certain territory (regions) and its components (subregions) based on historical material is extremely important and very relevant for world science, theoretically and practically. The issues have instructive significance in modern conditions, allowing us to formulate recommendations for economic development and development programs. Vast regions include large components (subregions), which at various stages differed significantly in the dynamics of socio-economic development.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the western part of the Irkutsk province was Nizhneudinsky district with a population of just over 80,000 people. The economic complex of this subregion developed at an accelerated pace, for example, from 1901 to 1928, its share in the crops of the Irkutsk province increased from 17.9% to 29.9%, but subsequently stabilized.

The article substantively examines the factors that determined such rapid development: the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, mass resettlement to the district, a set of government measures to promote peasant colonization. The growth of the economic complex of the subregion was ensured by: a harmonious combination of personal initiative and production efforts of peasants, the intellectual and material capabilities of the Russian state, full consideration of natural and geographical conditions, the development of social infrastructure, etc.

Key words: Irkutsk province, Nizhneudinsky district, natural and geographical conditions, agricultural production, industry, subregion, state, Trans-Siberian Railway, mass resettlement, economic connections.

Citation format: Matveenko A.L. Development of the economic complex of the Nizhneudinsk district of the Irkutsk province at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries // News of the Laboratory of Ancient Technologies. 2018. T. 14. No. 1. P. 129-136. DOI: 10.21285/2415-8739-2018-1-129-136

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ECONOMIC COMPLEX OF THE NIZHNEUDINSKY DISTRICT OF THE IRKUTSK PROVINCE AT THE END OF THE 19th - EARLY 20th CENTURY

Irkutsk National Research Technical University, 83 Lermontov Str., Irkutsk 664074, Russian Federation

Abstract. A comprehensive scientific analysis of the socio-economic development of a certain territory (regions) and its constituent parts (subregions) on historical material is extremely important, very relevant for world science in theory and in practice. The problems have a great instructive value in modern conditions, allowing to formulate recommendations for programs of economic development and exploitation, to justify the horizon of the future.

The Irkutsk region (Priangarje) is the fifth largest region in the Russian Federation, significantly exceeding France, more than twice - Germany. By the beginning of the 20th century, the western part of the Angara region was the Nizhneudinsky district (comparable to Greece) with a population of just over 80,000. The economy of this subregion developed at a rapid pace, for example from 1901 to 1928, its share in the sowings of the Irkutsk province grew from 17.9% to 29.9%, but later stabilized.

The article specifically considers the factors that led to such advanced development: the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, mass resettlement in the county, a combination of state activities to promote peasant colonization. The growth of the economy of the subregion provided a harmonious combination of personal initiative and production peasants,

intellectual and material capabilities of the Russian state, a full account of natural and geographical conditions, the development of social infrastructure, etc.

Keywords: Irkutsk province, Nizhneudinsky district, natural and geographical conditions, agricultural production, industry, subregion, state, Trans-Siberian railway, mass resettlement, economic ties

For citation: Matveenko A.L. Development of the Economic Complex of the Nizhneudinsky District of the Irkutsk Province at the End of the 19th - Early 20th Century. Journal of Ancient Technology Laboratory. 2018. Vol. 14.No. 1.Pp. 129-136. (In Russian) DOI: 10.21285/2415-8739-2018-1-129-136

In modern conditions, the discussion has resumed between supporters of improving the market model and supporters of Russia's return to the mobilization course. It is important to scientifically determine the boundaries of regulation and self-regulation of the economy, the possibilities and prospects for intervention in development processes.

Established in 1937, the Irkutsk region is the fifth largest region of the Russian Federation by area, significantly larger in territory than modern France, and more than twice that of Germany. The borders of the region practically coincide with the pre-revolutionary Irkutsk province and allow the use of a stable historical and geographical synonym “Priangara”. Such a vast region also had very extensive components (subregions), which at different stages differed significantly in the dynamics of socio-economic development.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the western part of the Irkutsk province was Nizhneudinsky district (in territory equal to such a European country as Greece) with a population of just over 80,000 people. From 1901 to 1928, the share of the western part in the total crops of the Angara region increased from 17.9% to 29.9%, and remained stable in subsequent years. At the same time, the growth in absolute indicators of the subregion’s sown areas continued. Thus, it can be stated that during the 1st quarter of the 20th century and the four subsequent years, the economic complex of the subregion under consideration developed at an accelerated pace. Establishing the prerequisites and reasons for such leadership is a relevant and significant goal of this article.

The climate of the Irkutsk province was characterized by significant annual temperature fluctuations. There were often late frosts in spring and early frosts in autumn, from which both the crops on the arable land and in the gardens suffered. Differences in climate, un-

refugees on such a vast territory depended, in particular, on the difference in altitude above sea level of a particular area, on the degree of forest cover of the area and the proximity of Lake Baikal. Near large rivers, in open valleys, the climate was milder than on watersheds covered with damp taiga. It was especially emphasized that “the most suitable for farming is the western part of the province, where the average temperature line for the growing season of 13 degrees Celsius runs significantly further to the north than in the east” (Mirotvortsev, 1926. P. 3). This natural-geographical feature of the subregion increased its attractiveness for agricultural colonization.

The construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway had a decisive influence on the development of the western regions of the Angara region, while its construction in the neighboring Yenisei province began in the summer of 1894. In the subregion under consideration, the main work was carried out in 1895-1896, and the old-timers and the first settlers received temporary income. The construction of the embankment from Nizhneudinsk to Irkutsk was generally completed by September 1896. The first train to Irkutsk arrived on August 16, 1898.

Already during construction, the railway had an irreversible impact on the economic complex of the subregion. It was on the eve of the imminent start of exploitation, in 1896, that a party was formed in the Irkutsk province and began work on the formation of resettlement sites. The party prepared sites mainly in Nizhneudinsky district, and to a lesser extent in Balagansky and Irkutsk. In 1896, 47 plots were formed for 10,813 shares (male souls), with a total area of 177,321 acres. In 1897 and 1899, respectively, there were 28 and 5 plots for 7621 and 920 shares, with an area of 127,467 and 16,248 acres. In 1898, 1900-1902. no areas were formed.

Nizhneudinsky district. Map of 1915 Nizhneudinsky district. Map of 1915

Since 1903, work was resumed and in total by 1916, 2836 plots were formed in the Irkutsk province for 167,146 shares and 2,735,956 dessiatinas, that is, almost 3 million dessiatinas. According to M.P. Sokolov, until 1920, “population density occurred mainly through immigration and, moreover, in the zone of influence of the railway” (Sokolov, 1924. P. 28).

We especially note that the above figures characterize the plots prepared for receiving migrants. Their settlement occurred with a significant lag: by 1899, only one site was fully populated, three were occupied by more than 75%, five

Less than 75%, four to half, nine

Up to 25% and 29% are completely uninhabited, and 2638 male souls settled in all areas. At the turn of the century, the migration wave was mainly limited to Western Siberia, which left the areas harvested in the Angara region mostly vacant. Therefore, the formation of new sites resumed only in 1903 and again almost exclusively in Nizhneudinsky district.

In an article by A. Uspensky, the land fund of the Nizhneudinsky district, free for colonization, was estimated at 3 million dessiatinas for 150,000 souls. Research carried out in the district “confirms the complete suitability of these lands for settlement and states the presence of extensive forests and open spaces among them” (Uspensky, 1907. P. 19). By the beginning of 1913, the population of the subregion was already 128,500 people, of which 50,000 were immigrants. The number of residents in Nizhne-udinsk also increased from 5,725 people in 1897 to 8,873 in 1917 and to 10,100 in 1920.

In 1920, the colonization fund of the Nizhne-Udinsk district was estimated as follows: 193,441 dessiatines for 27,152 inhabitants are quite ready for settlement, 11,636 dessiatines for 1,777 inhabitants are suitable for settlement, but not watered, 140,448 dessiatines for 9,124 inhabitants are not provided with roads, at the survey stage - 8173 dessiatines for 1437 eaters, a total of about 350,000 dessiatines for 49,612 eaters (Sokolov, 1924. p. 33). This is a characteristic of the land potential of the subregion, which became accessible thanks to the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

We have previously analyzed the evolution of social infrastructure (Matveenko, 2016). It is advisable to devote a separate article to the development of the agricultural sector; in this publication we will consider only the general picture of production achievements and structural changes.

Crops in the subregion increased from 63,900 acres in 1901 to 165,727 acres in 1928, or 2.6 times (160%). Moreover, a noticeable increase was noted since 1912, when 70,000 dessiatines were sown, in 1913 - 74,000, in 1914 - 80,500, in 1915 -81,900, in 1916 - 87,200, in 1917 - 82,000 , in 1918 - 86200, in 1919 - 89900, etc. (Chernykh, 1923. P. 15).

Thus, between the actual settlement of the settlers and the production breakthrough they achieved, the interval spent on clearing the arable land and arrangement is clearly visible. After such preparation, the agricultural sector showed unprecedented growth, for example, from 1919 to 1929. crops in the subregion increased by 2.03 times or an average of 18.5% per year.

The share of the territory in the crops of the Irkutsk province from 1901 to 1928 increased from 17.9% to 29.9%, i.e. more than 1.5 times. At the same time, the increase in crops from 1901 to 1906 was 11%, from 1906 to 1917 - 14%, from 1917 to 1928 - 20%.

Based on materials from Russia as a whole, the well-known agrarian and economist A.N. Chelintsev noted that “by implementing an organization in the direction of reducing the share of grain products and grain income, agriculture, by spending more labor and capital, receives more and more income per unit area” (Chelintsev, 1928. P. 16, 69). After the exhaustion of land space, only the growth of the market, according to Chelintsev, ensures the comprehensive intensification of agriculture. In other words, the determining factor for the development of the agricultural sector is the sufficient volume and profitability of the sale of agricultural products.

Chelintsev’s gradation according to the growth of “the capacity of increasingly significant and at the same time profitable expenditures of labor and capital in the agricultural sector”: pastures, meadows, grain grains of primitive crops (including rye), grain grains of improved crops

(including wheat), grass seeding, root and tuber crops and spinning, industrial, bush, garden and vegetable crops. In livestock farming: sheep breeding, cattle breeding (for butter), backyard pig breeding, cattle breeding (for milk), poultry farming. In the same vein, Irkutsk economist I.F. Trelin pointed out in 1925: “The agriculture of the Irkutsk province is developing noticeably and tends to develop dairy and meat farming, as the most profitable, and grain farming is following the path of developing wheat sowing, as the most profitable crop” (Trelin, 1926. P. 12-13).

K.N. Mirotvortsev also believed that only by involving the peasant economy in trade turnover can technical improvements be made available to them. However, agreeing with Trelin in assessing the key role of profitability, Mirotvortsev assessed the prospects for field farming in Eastern Siberia differently: “The future of agriculture should be seen in the development of food plants only for own consumption, fodder plants for improving livestock breeding and industrial crops for export. The economy should be based on livestock raising, and field farming should be largely directed towards serving the needs of intensive cattle breeding” (Mirotvortsev, 1925, pp. 19-20).

The entry into operation of the railway reduced the importance of the carriage industry, which previously played an important role in the life of Nizhneudinsky district. The cessation of the carriage business put the population living along the Moscow Highway in a difficult situation. Only the population of the easternmost volost in the district, Kimilteiskaya, was able to replace their previous occupations with transportation along the emerging Shelashnikovsky (Ilginsky) tract, which connected the Tyret station with the upper reaches of the Lena. The remaining carriers were forced to reorient themselves to transporting goods belonging to local traders and buyers.

According to N.N. Kozmina, in the subregion “the population, brought up as cab drivers, could not find a replacement income for themselves. All earnings are random. These earnings, to describe more accurately, are not from fishing, but from trading.

order" (Kozmin, 1904. P. 29). The population sold what they recognized as superfluous in the economy: cattle, sleighs, carts, surplus labor and accidentally obtained value: furs, fish, game. There was no properly organized and constant fishing, there was no systematic exploitation of the surrounding natural resources. Carriage supported a number of auxiliary trades, which, with its reduction, also reduced their volumes.

The handicraft industry of Nizhneudinsk district was defined as underdeveloped, serving mainly the population’s own needs. The following were considered artisans: 1) peasants engaged in the production of tar and resin; 2) peasants who tanned leather; 3) brickmakers who make bricks for kilns; this work was considered profitable and the sales for bricks were good. There has always been a demand for resin, tar, brick and leather. “Every peasant, having produced a few extra buckets of tar, can fully count on sales.” They are joined by products made by women - canvases, rugs, yarn.

Heavy industry in the subregion was represented by the Nikolaev Ironworks. Before the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, it was the largest of the four metallurgical enterprises in Siberia. From the middle of the 19th century. The plant, like the entire mining industry, is experiencing a protracted crisis caused by the use of forced manual labor and low technical equipment. The unprofitable enterprise passed from the treasury into private hands: from 1864 to 1870 it was owned by the Trapeznikov brothers, from 1870 to 1874 by Nizhneudinsk merchant of the 1st guild N.P. Lavrentiev. In 1877, M.D. became the owner of the plant. Butin, and the enterprise turned from unprofitable to profitable. The plant's products were in great demand in Eastern Siberia and the Far East, and received recognition not only in Russia, but also abroad. Of particular importance for Siberia was the construction of steamships for the Lena, Angara, Amur and Sungari.

However, the crisis of capitalism that developed at the end of the 19th century also affected the Butin Brothers Trading House. Financial difficulties also affected the affairs of the Nikolaev plant. He fell to the mercy of creditors and was sold to the Society for the Restoration

Precisely Siberian iron-smelting, iron-making and mechanical plants,” which in turn, due to the financial collapse, was forced to close the Nikolaev plant in 1899. Subsequent repeated attempts to restore production, undertaken by the partnership of V.G. Stoll and Co. (1917-1919), as well as the Soviet authorities (1921-1923) were unsuccessful. In 1924, the Nikolaev plant was finally liquidated.

The rest of the industry of Nizhneudinsky district can be divided into five groups:

1. Enterprises producing building materials (brick, sawmills).

2. Enterprises producing alcoholic beverages (distilleries and breweries).

3. Enterprises processing products of animal origin (oil factories, tanneries, soap factories).

4. Enterprises producing food industry (confectionery products).

5. Enterprises producing fuel - coal.

Here is a list and a brief description

production

A brick factory owned by tradesman Foma Lopatin, who was located 1.5 versts from Nizhneudinsk. He produced bricks by hand, the factory's products were sold in Nizhne-Udinsk, mainly for the construction of barracks and military units. No hired labor was used; Lopatin's closest relatives worked.

The brick factory, owned by the tradesman Dmitry Kravchenko, was located two miles from Nizhneudinsk, produced bricks by hand, the factory's products were sold in Nizhneudinsk, hired labor was not used for the construction of the barracks, the work was carried out by the owner's family.

A brick factory that belonged to the peasant Emelyan Bryukhanov. It was located 2 versts from Nizhneudinsk, brick production was carried out manually, the products were sold in the city, there was no hired labor, the work was carried out by the owner’s family.

The brick factory, which belonged to the Nizhneudinsk prison governor, was located near Nizhneudinsk, 3 versts, brick production was carried out by hand, sales of products in the city of Nizhneudinsk, seasonal work - from May to September, hired labor was used.

The Nizhneudinsk brick factory of the Military Economic and Construction Commission was located 3 versts from Nizhneudinsk, brick processing was carried out manually, the brick was used to build military barracks in Nizhneudinsk itself. Seasonal workers - up to 150 people.

The kvass factory, owned by the tradesman Vasily Kharlampievich Fedorov, was located in Nizhneudinsk, the product was fruit kvass. To make kvass, a machine was used - a saturator, manufactured by Zherebkov's factory.

The brewery, owned by a resident of the Warsaw province Stanislav Voitsekhovich Golyan, was located in Nizhneudinsk and produced beer. Production - manually, sales in Nizhneudinsk, using three Iveper hand pumps, a Shtoktain filter, a Galil refrigeration unit, a malt crusher from the Warsaw factory, 10 workers, annual production - 40,000 rubles.

The soap factory, owned by the peasant Nikolai Shishkin, was located in Nizhneudinsk, produced simple soap by hand, sales - in Nizhneudinsk, 1 worker per year.

The soap factory of the peasant woman Klavdia Yakovlevna Turtle, simple soap was produced by hand, marketed in Nizhneudinsk.

Brewery of German citizen Augusta Kalmarovna Weber (Wallenburger) in the village. Tulun, manual beer production, sales - in Tulun and surrounding villages of the Tulunovskaya volost, 15 annual workers.

Gingerbread, dried, confectionery factory of the Trading House "Shchelkunov and Metelev" in the village. Tulun, production of gingerbreads and sweets by hand. Sales - in the village. Tulun and surrounding villages, 15 annual workers.

Tannery of Andrei Pavlovich Stepursky in the village. Tulun, produced simple and yuft

leather manually, sales - in the village. Tulun and surrounding villages, 15 annual workers.

Tannery of Ivan Emelyanovich Emelyanov in the village. Kimeltei. Simple leather made by hand, sales - in the village. Kimeltei and surrounding villages, 6 annual workers.

Tannery of the peasant Egor Petrovich Loginov in the village. Kimeltei, simple leather made by hand, sales - in the village. Kimeltei and surrounding villages, 1 annual worker.

Tannery of Kazimir Andreevich Po-spekh in the village. Barluk, Kuitun parish, simple leather made by hand. Sales - in the village. Barluk and surrounding villages, 1 annual worker.

Tannery of the peasant Grigory Mikhailovich Kazakov. Factory in the village Uyan, Uyanovskaya volost, simple leather made by hand, sales - in the village. Uyang and surrounding villages, works with his family.

Tannery of the peasant Ivan Petrovich Basenko in the village. Uyan, simple leather made by hand, sales - in the village. Uyang and surrounding villages, works with his family.

The Kamyshet repair plant is the largest enterprise in the Nizhneudinsky district after the Nikolaev plant. Owner - Ministry of Railways. The year the plant was founded was 1893. It was located at the Kamyshet Siberian railway station of the Irkutsk province. Engines: 4 locomobiles, total power - 175 l/s, fuel - firewood, workers - 185, annual productivity -325,000 rubles. Production of portlaz cement at 60,000

The article was received on October 1, 2017.

Bibliography

Kozmin N.N. Is there a handicraft industry in the Irkutsk province? Irkutsk, 1904. 53 p.

Matveenko A.L. Development of social infrastructure in Eastern Siberia at the beginning of the twentieth century (using the example of Nizhneudinsky district of Irkutsk province). Siberia in the history of Russia // Materials of the All-Russian Scientific Conference dedicated to the 110th anniversary of the birth of Professor Z.G. Karpenko. Kemerovo, 2016. pp. 212-219.

barrels per year (State Archive of the Irkutsk Region. F. 362. Inventory 1. D. 1. L. 18-20).

In the village of Taishet, in 1913, a steam sawmill and a flour mill of the hereditary honorary citizen Vasily Lavrovich Zhernakov began operating. It was a large enterprise that employed 73 people, of which 45 were workers.

Coal mines of Colonel P.A. Tsevlovsky, year of foundation 1905, fixed capital 10,000 rubles, location village. Tulun, Angarsk mountain district, Nyura siding of the Siberian Railway, workers - 65, coal production - 1,000,000 pounds or 1,600 tons.

Thus, the majority of the population of Nizhneudinsky district was employed in agriculture, the number of workers was small. Industry was represented mainly by handicraft production, engaged in the processing of agricultural products, the production of building materials, the production of alcohol, and coal mining. The enterprises were small, with primitive equipment, workers were rarely hired, and usually worked by one owner and members of his family.

The quantitative and qualitative growth of the economic complex of the subregion ensured a harmonious combination of personal initiative and production efforts of peasants, the intellectual and material capabilities of the Russian state, full consideration of natural and geographical conditions, the development of social infrastructure, etc.

Article was received in October, 01, 2017 References

Koz"min N.N. Sushchestvuet li kustarnaya pro-myshlennost" v Irkutskoi gubernii. Irkutsk, 1904. 53 p.

Matveenko A.L. The development of social infrastructure in Eastern Siberia in the early twentieth century (the example of Nizhneudinsky district of Irkutsk province). Siberia in the history of Russia. Materialy Vserossiiskoi nauchnoi konferentsii, posvyashchennoi 110-letiyu so dnya rozhdeniya professora Z.G. Karpenko. Kemerovo, 2016, pp. 212-219. (In Russian).

Peacemakers K.N. Geographical outline of the province // Companion to the city of Irkutsk and the Irkutsk province. Irkutsk, 1926. P. 2-8.

Peacemakers K.N. Agriculture of the Central Siberian Territory and its prospects // Preliminary materials on the zoning of the Central Siberian (Leno-Baikal) region. Irkutsk, 1925. Issue. 6. 23 p.

Sokolov M.P. Irkutsk province in numbers. Statistical studies. Irkutsk, 1924. 87 p.

Trelin I.F. The economic state of the province in 1924/1925 and prospects for 1925/1926 // Companion to the city of Irkutsk and the Irkutsk province. Irkutsk, 1926. P. 12-25.

Uspensky A. Reality, not dreams // Questions of colonization. 1907. No. 2. P. 16-19.

Chelintsev A.N. Russian agriculture before the revolution. 2nd ed. add. and processed M.: New Agronomist, 1928. 231 p.

Chernykh A.V. Agriculture and grain farming in the Irkutsk province and the provision of bread to the population // Materials of the Irkutsk province. statistician the Bureau. Irkutsk, 1923. Issue. 15.34 p.

Economic and statistical reference book for the East Siberian Territory. Irkutsk: Publishing house. Craigiza, 1932. 428 p.

Postgraduate student, Department of History and Philosophy, Irkutsk National Research Technical University,

Russian Federation, 664074, Irkutsk, st. Lermontova, 83,

e-mail: [email protected]

A.L. Matveenko carried out the research work, made a generalization based on the results obtained, prepared the manuscript and documents for publication, has copyright on the article and bears full responsibility for its originality.

Mirotvortsev K.N. Geograficheskii ocherk gubernii. Sputnik po gorodu Irkutsku i Irkutskoi gubernii. Irkutsk, 1926, pp. 2-8. (In Russian).

Mirotvortsev K.N. Agriculture of the Middle-Siberian region and its prospects. Predvaritel"nye materialy po raion-irovaniyu Sredne-Sibirskogo (Leno-Baikal"skogo) region. Irkutsk, 1925, iss. 6.23 p.m. (In Russian).

Sokolov M.P. Irkutskaya guberniya v tsifrakh. Statistical etyudy. Irkutsk, 1924. 87 p.

Trelin I.F. Economic state of the province in 1924/1925 and prospects for 1925/1926. Sputnik po gorodu Irkutsku i Irkutskoi gubernii. Irkutsk, 1926, pp. 12-25. (In Russian).

Uspenskii A. Reality, not dreams. Questions kolonizatsii. 1907, no. 2, pp. 16-19. (In Russian).

Chelintsev A.N. Russkoe sel "skoe khozyaistvo pered revolyutsiei. Moscow: Novyi agronom Publ., 1928. 231 p.

Chernykh A.V. Agriculture and grain economy of the Irkutsk province and provision of the population with bread. Materialy Irkutsk region. statist. Byuro. Irkutsk, 1923, iss. 15.34 p. (In Russian).

Ekonomiko-statisticheskii spravochnik po Vostochno-Sibirskomu krayu. Irkutsk: Izd. Kraigiza Publ., 1932. 428 p. (In Russian).

Information about the author Anastasiya L. Matveenko,

postgraduate student of the Department of History and Philosophy,

Irkutsk National Research Technical University, 83 Lermontov Str., Irkutsk 664074, Russian Federation, e-mail: [email protected]

Attribution criteria

Matveenko A.L. made the research work, on the basis of the results conducted a compilation, prepared the manuscript and documents for publication, she owns the copyright on this article and solely responsible for its originality.

Conflict of interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

In the Russian Empire and the RSFSR. Formed on October 19 (30), 1764 from the Irkutsk province of the Siberian province. Center - Irkutsk. At its foundation it was divided into counties: Irkutsk, Nerchinsk, Selenginsk, Ilimsk. In 1766 it was divided into 6 provinces - Irkutsk, Nerchinsk, Selenga, Ilimsk, Okhotsk and Yakutsk. By decree of Empress Catherine II dated January 31 (February 11), 1775, 3 provinces were formed within the Irkutsk province - Irkutsk, Udinsk, and Yakutsk. Area 801 thousand km 2 (1895), 726 thousand km 2 (1905). Population 544 thousand people (1905).

6(17).3.1783 The Irkutsk province was transformed into the Irkutsk governorship, which was divided into regions: Irkutsk, Nerchinsk, Okhotsk and Yakutsk. By decree of Emperor Paul I of December 12 (23), 1796, the governorship was renamed into a province, and at the same time part of the abolished Kolyvan province became part of the Irkutsk province.

On August 11 (23), 1803, the Kamchatka region was formed from part of the territory of the Irkutsk province, and on April 22 (4.5), 1805, the Yakut region was formed. By decree of Emperor Alexander I dated July 22 (August 3), 1822, the entire territory of the Irkutsk province became part of the East Siberian General Government formed at the same time (from 1887 Irkutsk General Government). The Irkutsk province was divided into districts (since 1898 counties): Irkutsk, Nizhneudinsky, Verkhneudinsky, Nerchinsky, Kirensky. In 1822, the territories of the abolished regions were annexed to the Irkutsk province: Kamchatka (Kamchatka Coastal Administration was formed here) and Okhotsk (Okhotsk Coastal Administration), and the Troitskosavsky Border Administration was also formed.

On December 2(14), 1849, the Kamchatka region was again separated from the Irkutsk province; on July 11(23), 1851, the Transbaikal region was formed from the Verkhneudinsk and Nerchinsk districts of the Irkutsk province. On 10/31/11/12/1856, the Primorsky region was formed from the eastern parts of the Irkutsk province, and at the same time the Verkholensky and Balagansky districts were formed from parts of the Irkutsk district.

On the territory of the Irkutsk province, according to the All-Russian Census of 1897, lived: Russians (73%), Buryats (21.5%), Tungus (0.43%) and others. Cossacks in the Irkutsk province in 1822-1871 made up the Irkutsk policeman ( from 1851 cavalry) Cossack regiment (in 1871 the regiment was transformed into a hundred, some of the Cossacks were converted to the peasant class; in 1872 the Cossack population of the Irkutsk province numbered 2,322 people, in 1917 - about 7,500 people).

In the 18th century, the main occupations of the population of the Irkutsk province were agriculture, cattle breeding, hunting, and fishing in the basins of the Angara and Lena rivers and Lake Baikal. In the 19th century, latrine industries, servicing gold mines (opened in the 1840s along the Lena River and its tributaries in the northeastern part of the Irkutsk province), and shipping developed.

From the end of the 18th century, the Irkutsk province became a place of exile and hard labor. In 1792-96 A. N. Radishchev lived in Ilimsk. The Decembrists exiled to the Irkutsk province (for example, N. M. Muravyov, S. G. Volkonsky, M. S. Lunin, N. A. Panov, S. P. Trubetskoy) had a great influence on the development of science and culture in the region. Participants of the Polish uprisings of 1830-31 and 1863-64, Petrashevites N.A. Speshnev and others, and at the beginning of the 20th century - I.V. Stalin also served their exile here.

In 1898-99, the Olekminsky gold mining region of the Yakut region became part of the Irkutsk province. The Tulun - Zima - Irkutsk (1898) sections of the Central Siberian Railway and the Irkutsk - Baikal (1900) Trans-Baikal Railway sections, which were parts of the Trans-Siberian Railway, passed through the territory of the Irkutsk province. The Lensky execution of 1912 took place at the gold mines in the Irkutsk province. In 1916, from part of the Balagansky district of the Irkutsk province, Cheremkhovo district was formed (on July 27, 1922 it was renamed Ziminsky district).

At the end of 1917, Soviet power was established in the Irkutsk province under the leadership of Centrosiberia. In July - August 1918, the cities of the Irkutsk province were occupied by units of the White Siberian Army, and the power of the Provisional Siberian Government was established here. Since March 1919, in the Nizhneudinsky district of the Irkutsk province, a movement of red partisans began, committing sabotage on the railways (on May 8, 1919, the partisans defeated the station of Taishet). On November 18, 1919, the government evacuated from Omsk under the leadership of A.V. Kolchak arrived in Irkutsk. It was overthrown as a result of an armed rebellion of the Socialist Revolutionaries in December 1919, and the Political Center government was formed in Irkutsk. 21.1.1920 The political center transferred power to the Provisional Revolutionary Committee (chaired by the Bolshevik A. A. Shiryamov), and Bolshevik power was again established in the territory of the Irkutsk province.

9.1.1922 aimaks (administrative units of self-government of the Buryats, created in 1918-20 from parts of Balagansky, Selenginsky, Irkutsk and Kirensky districts of the Irkutsk province) were united into the Mongol-Buryat Autonomous Okrug with the administrative center in Irkutsk; according to the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of May 30, 1923, they entered the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, which was formed at the same time, with its center in Verkhneudinsk, separated from the Irkutsk province. On June 27, 1922, part of the Kirensky district of the Irkutsk province was annexed to the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. 26.7.1922 Nizhneudinsky district was renamed Tulunsky. On March 6, 1924, Balagansky and Selenginsky (Kabansky) districts were abolished, their territories were included in the Ziminsky and Irkutsk districts, respectively, and at the same time part of the Ziminsky district was included in the Irkutsk district. 15.8.1924 Irkutsk province is divided into districts (Irkutsk, Tulunsky, Kirensky) and industrial areas (Bodaybinsky and Cheremkhovsky).

28.6.1926 Irkutsk province was abolished, its territory became part of the Irkutsk, Kirensky and Tulunsky districts of the Siberian Territory.

Lit.: Irkutsk Land. 1995-2005. No. 1-28; Naumova O. E. Irkutsk diocese. XVIII - first half of the XIX century. Irkutsk, 1996; Asian Russia: people and structures of the empire. Omsk, 2005; Novikov P. A. Civil war in Eastern Siberia. M., 2005.

The year 1905 began alarmingly in Irkutsk. Added to everyday worries was the problem of housing 20 thousand wounded in the city during the Russo-Japanese War. For fifty thousand people this was a significant increase in population. There was a shortage of food, especially bread, since flour was mostly imported from the western provinces, and prices rose sharply. If in December a pound of rye flour cost 1 ruble 30 kopecks, then in January the price rose to 4 rubles. In addition, news arrived from central Russia about the execution of workers in St. Petersburg on January 9. On this occasion, Irkutsk Social Democrats and Socialist Revolutionaries distributed leaflets calling for support for the mass strike movement that had begun. However, until spring the situation in the city remained relatively calm.

Years 1905-1906

Reaction to the February Manifesto

The impetus for the revival of public life was the news of the Manifesto of February 18, 1905 and the proposed reforms, primarily the establishment of a legislative and deliberative people's representation - the State Duma. The emperor's decree, issued on the same day, gave everyone the right to speak out on issues of improving the state order, and the Senate to accept and study all reform projects, no matter who they came from.

Irkutsk could not remain aloof from the events taking place in the center not only because of its status as the center of the General Government, but also because of its social composition and the presence of a socially active part of the population: the intelligentsia, bureaucrats, and political exiles.

At the end of February - beginning of March, workers from the printing houses of Posokhin and Makushin, wine warehouses, clerks of the largest stores, and students of the obstetric and paramedic school went on strike. The demands put forward by them were exclusively economic in nature: reducing the working day, increasing wages, providing paid holidays, improving working conditions and training. The administration made some concessions, controversial issues were largely resolved, but this did not lead to general calm. Under the influence of the growing all-Russian revolutionary movement in the spring of 1905, “ The barometer of social life rose high and did not fall again until January 1906." Meetings and rallies, despite the obligatory order of the Governor-General Count P. Kutaisov to ban them, went on continuously.

Events in the center and the active propaganda activities of revolutionary organizations, primarily the Siberian Union of Socialist Revolutionaries and the Irkutsk Committee of the RSDLP, which the secret police characterized as “the most numerous and better organized force than others,” accelerated the involvement of all segments of the population in the revolutionary movement and the radicalization of their mood.

The first political action took place in Irkutsk in early April regarding the appeal trial of the so-called “Romanovites” - a group of political exiles who staged an armed protest in Yakutsk in 1904 against the tightening of the exile regime. They were initially sentenced to 12 years of hard labor and transferred to the Aleksandrovsk Central Prison. In January 1905 Irkutsk Committee of the RSDLP made an attempt to free them, in which well-known public figures in the city participated, I.I. Popov, M.A. Tsukasova, M.K. Vetoshkin. Only five prisoners managed to escape; the rest were retried on April 5. On this day, the Social Democrats staged a crowded rally in front of the judicial building and issued a leaflet “To the Court of the People!” in support of the Romanovites. In the evening, protesters marched along Ivanovskaya and Bolshaya streets to the Embankment, singing “Marseillaise.” That same evening in the theater during the performance in the gallery they sang revolutionary songs and scattered proclamations.

If the radical revolutionary organizations concentrated their efforts on propaganda activities, the moderate ones actively participated in the discussion of the proposed reforms. One of the most pressing issues for Siberia was the issue of local self-government. In April, it became known about a rescript from Nicholas II addressed to the Irkutsk Governor-General on the development of a project for the introduction of zemstvos in the Siberian region. The leading role in this issue remained with Tomsk, but Irkutsk residents also prepared at least two projects - a commission under the East Siberian Department of the Russian Geographical Society and the editor of the newspaper “Eastern Review” I.I. Popova. The Tomsk and Irkutsk projects, somewhat different from each other, were similar in that they provided for the granting of broad powers to zemstvo institutions, including the independent solution of regional problems and the management of natural resources and collected taxes. The content and nature of these projects were significantly influenced by the ideas Siberian regionalism, which also became more active with the beginning of the revolution. The presented projects were discussed at a public meeting, at a congress of representatives of the Buryat province, and in the city duma. Project I.I. Popov was approved by everyone and recommended for consideration by the emperor. The issue of the future State Duma was also actively discussed by the Irkutsk public, and even then they were talking about the legislative nature of people's representation.

For the time being, provincial authorities did not openly interfere with public initiative, but sometimes resorted to very unusual methods. For example, during one of the meetings, police chief Nikolsky brought a company of soldiers into the public meeting building, who drowned out the speakers with the beating of drums and disrupted the discussion of measures to restructure the state order. On April 15, 1905, by order of the Irkutsk governor, the activities of the public meeting were temporarily suspended. Nevertheless, the governor-general maintained contacts with the public and even initiated some liberal causes, in particular the preparation of a political amnesty, for which he was subsequently removed from his post. The City Duma took an openly liberal position, not only approving a very radical zemstvo project, but also supporting proposals to introduce universal suffrage, civil and political freedoms in Russia, and expand the scope of activities of local governments.

Until the autumn of 1905, the relative unity of the opposition forces remained. The unifying factors were the need to solve general democratic problems both in Russia as a whole and in the region, as well as the largely discriminatory administrative, political and socio-economic policy of the center in relation to Siberia. Irkutsk residents took part in the creation of a regional political organization - the Siberian Regional Union, which united liberals, Social Democrats, Socialist Revolutionaries, and regionalists. The leader of this union considered it not only a union of “progressive forces,” which meant both the regionalists and the neo-regionalist part of the bourgeois and liberal intelligentsia, but also the governing body of the future Siberian Autonomous Region. Irkutsk was represented at the congress of regional workers by the director of the Irkutsk branch Russian-Asian Bank and public figure A.V. Witte.

Attempts by the Social Democrats (Bolsheviks) to revolutionize the social movement in the spring and summer of 1905 were unsuccessful. No more than 100 people gathered for the May Day demonstration, which took place in the forest outside the city. In early August, the Irkutsk Committee of the RSDLP called for support for the strike of the Chita railway workers, but the workers of the Irkutsk railway depot went on strike only on August 9, when the Chita strike had already ended. A strike committee was elected, headed by the Bolshevik worker I.S. Yakutov. The strike lasted a week; on the night of August 15, most of the leaders were arrested and the strike was called off.

October strike of 1905

The revolutionary movement received further development during the All-Russian October Strike. On October 13, the RSDLP committee issued a leaflet calling for people to join the strike. First of all, the railway workers responded to him. On October 14, all services of the Trans-Baikal Railway, Irkutsk and Innokentyevskaya. The next day, workers and employees of most trading establishments, warehouses, printing houses, city administration, the Syrup House Bank and the branch of the Siberian Trade Bank. Railway traffic was completely paralyzed, there was no communication, and newspapers were not published. The strikers were supported by students, teachers, doctors, lawyers, city theater actors, clerks and cab drivers. Such a massive and socially broad uprising was an objective manifestation of the politicization of society and the need for fundamental transformations of the state and regional structure, part of the process of formation of civil society, and Irkutsk was not on the sidelines of this process. It is noteworthy that at first a joint strike committee was created, which included about 40 representatives not only from the workers, but also from the merchants, the city duma, and various public and professional associations. The committee established complete control over the life of the city: over the work of railway services, telegraph, post office, shopping establishments, and over order on the streets of the city. On the very first day of the strike, the city duma, despite the governor’s ban, created a voluntary militia. However, the large number and social diversity of the committee became the reasons for its split and the creation of an independent workers' strike committee. The Bolsheviks, who were the initiators of this, wrote in the “Strike Leaflet”:

“We are confident that continued presence in the same committee with representatives of the bourgeoisie would be not only useless, but also harmful both to the interests of the workers and to the success of the struggle against the autocracy. A general committee uniting a merchant and a worker is completely incapable of leading a movement; such a committee would, as experience has shown, only be a place for disputes and not for action...”.

The main reason for the split was the disagreement of the liberal part of the committee with the Bolsheviks’ intention to organize an armed uprising. However, the Bolsheviks' hopes of supporting the workers in escalating the strike into an armed uprising did not materialize, which was greatly facilitated by the split in the social movement. On October 20, the city duma announced the end of the strike, but this was not the end of the revolution.

After the October events, the criminal situation in the city became more complicated: robberies and robberies became a widespread phenomenon on the streets of Irkutsk. In December, an attempt was made on the civilian vice-governor V.A. Mishina, officer Andrulaitis was wounded, acting police chief A.P. was killed. Dragomirov. The police could not cope with restoring order on their own, and the city duma proposed creating self-defense units, completely independent from the police and consisting of 200 foot and 50 mounted armed guards. They were to be supported by voluntary self-taxation of homeowners. The Governor-General objected to this decision, proposing to expand the police force and improve its financial situation, using funds raised for self-defense. Nevertheless, the Duma nevertheless created a small detachment, which for some time carried out night and day guard duty in the central part of the city. However, in January 1906, the self-defense squad was disbanded as “illegal.”

Irkutsk is on the verge of martial law

The political events of October 1905 gave impetus to the massive creation of professional organizations of workers and employees. On October 30, the union of clerks and the union of railway workers were formed, on November 1 - the telegraph employees of the Trans-Baikal Railway, on November 6 - the printing workers, and on November 15 - the union of engineers and technicians.

The massive organized action and the political nature of the strikers' demands led the provincial government to a state of confusion and helplessness. Governor General Kutaisov promised not to use troops to suppress the strike, and in the current situation he could hardly count on their reliability, which was confirmed by the November events. On October 19, Kutaisov sent a telegram to the center:

« The situation is desperate. The revolt is complete, general. Messages with no one. I fear that the rebels will be reinforced by arriving railway workers. There is still little hope for pacification. I request permission to declare martial law....».

But there was no unity among the opposition either. The disagreements about the goals and means of political struggle that arose during the All-Russian October Strike deepened after the announcement of the Manifesto of October 17, 1905 “On the Improvement of State Order.” The autocracy made an obvious concession, on the one hand, “ordering the subject authorities to take measures to eliminate direct manifestations of disorder, outrages and violence,” on the other hand, granting the population “ unshakable foundations of civil freedom on the basis of actual personal inviolability, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and unions" The manifesto also spoke about expanding voting rights and giving the State Duma legislative functions.

They learned about this event in Irkutsk belatedly, since only on October 22, after more than a week's break, the telegraph and post office began to work. The next day, the text of the manifesto was actively discussed at rallies. The manifesto not only split the opposition, but also noticeably activated extreme radical forces, both left and right, which was typical for Irkutsk and most Russian cities. It should be noted that the process of organizational formation of right-wing conservative-monarchist forces in Irkutsk proceeded at a slow pace and did not reach such a scale as in European Russia. This was a consequence of the absence of landownership in Siberia and the presence of a large contingent of political exiles. In Irkutsk, the right was grouped around the church “Brotherhood in the Name of St. Innocent,” led by Archbishop Tikhon and the rector of the theological seminary, Archimandrite Nikon. Police chief Dragomirov and bailiff Shcheglov formed and armed the Black Hundred, whose plans included organizing pogroms and dispersing demonstrators. Even during the October strike, about 20 people died at their hands. The murders of the Winner brothers, a high school student and a student, who were returning from a rally, made a particularly grave impression on the people of Irkutsk; young talented scientist, ruler of VSORGO affairs A.M. Stanilovsky and the worker Sizov. At the beginning of 1906, pogroms took place in the Glazkovsky suburb, where people from the Caucasus lived.

Influenced by the actions of the right, as well as guided by the instructions of the central committee, the Bolsheviks did not abandon the idea of a violent overthrow of the monarchy and an armed uprising. They viewed the Manifesto of October 17 as a temporary concession, boycotted the elections to the State Duma and called for the continuation of the revolutionary struggle. To protect rallies and meetings, a military squad was created, which was supposed to counter the right and become the main force in the event of an armed uprising. The Bolsheviks placed particular hope in the soldiers' movement, which in November resulted in a military strike. The Bolshevik agitation found fertile ground among soldiers who were dissatisfied with unsatisfactory conditions of service, insufficient food allowances, and the intentions of the command to use troops to perform police functions. The soldiers were also influenced by reports about the performance of soldiers and sailors in Sevastopol, Kronstadt, and Vladivostok. On November 26, at a general meeting of soldiers of the Irkutsk garrison and the Cossack division that joined it, demands were developed regarding the financial and legal status of military personnel: the issuance of lost government allowances, the dismissal of reserves, polite treatment of officers with soldiers, the abolition of the death penalty, political amnesty, the convening of a Constituent Assembly. The soldiers and Cossacks were supported by some officers, especially those who were drafted into the army during the Russo-Japanese War. The demands were presented to General Lastochkin, but he refused to consider them. Then the soldiers decided to go on strike - “ peaceful, but with weapons in hand" And " enter into contact and unity with local revolutionary organizations" A strike committee was elected for leadership, which included not only representatives from soldiers and officers, but also from trade unions, the RSDLP committee, and the Siberian Union of Socialist Revolutionaries. The officers who did not support the soldiers were removed from official duties and ordered to leave the city within 12 hours, while the commanders were chosen from among loyal officers. The garrison commander's attempt to arrest the instigators of the strike failed; he himself miraculously managed to avoid arrest. The soldiers freed those arrested from the guardhouse and seized the weapons there. On November 30, a mass meeting took place, at which, according to eyewitnesses, the townspeople warmly supported the soldiers and Cossacks. However, this strike never developed into an armed uprising. The leading role in the military strike committee belonged to the Mensheviks, since the most active of the Bolsheviks by this time were arrested or left Irkutsk. The strike committee thus managed to maintain the goal of a “peaceful” strike. The idea of an armed uprising was not supported by the Council of Workers and Employees of the Management of the Trans-Baikal Railway, Irkutsk Depot and Station, formed at the end of November 1905. It limited itself to establishing control over the activities of the administration, facilitating the transportation of military units from Manchuria, and defending the economic interests of railway workers.

At the height of the military strike, Governor General P.I. was removed from office. Kutaisov. In revolutionary circles, his resignation was regarded as an escape, but I.I. Popov, a witness to the revolutionary events in Irkutsk, who knew Kutaisov well, gives another version. Minister of Internal Affairs P.N. Durnovo ordered the arrest of the strike committee of postal and telegraph employees, who, by the way, put forward very moderate demands. The Governor-General not only refused to comply with this order, but in a reply telegram recognized the demands of the telegraph operators as legitimate. 24 hours later he was already dismissed. Instead of him, A.N. was appointed in June 1906. Selivanov.

It was possible to avoid tragic consequences and brutal reprisals against strikers, similar to those that occurred in Chita, Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk, and Irkutsk, not only because of the moderate, tolerant position of the local authorities, regardless of whether this was explained by indecision or sympathy for the social movement , but also thanks to the influence of the reformist-minded public. According to the famous Bolshevik B.Z. Shumyatsky, who arrived here in January 1906, found Irkutsk to be an unpromising city in relation to the armed uprising and the activities of radical revolutionaries.

Formation of political organizations

Supporters of the reformist path of development of Russia, as the most acceptable means of social progress, despite the difference in their social composition, political and party orientation, were united by their rejection of violent methods of fighting the authorities and hopes for the State Duma. Leader of the Irkutsk Mensheviks V.E. Mandelberg, speaking at a rally at the end of October 1905 and objecting to the Bolsheviks who announced a boycott of the Duma elections, said: “ I do not share the pessimism of my comrades: after October 17, there is no longer tsarist autocracy in Russia!»

Elections to the State Duma accelerated the process of organizational formation of political forces, primarily the liberal opposition. At the end of December 1905, the organization of the Irkutsk department of the People's Freedom Party (cadet) was announced, but only in May 1906 was a provincial committee of 7 people elected. It included representatives of local business circles A.V. Witte, Z.I. Pomus, doctor P.I. Fedorov. In their activities, the cadets relied on the bourgeois strata of the city, professional corporate associations and educational organizations. The Cadets turned out to be the only liberal party organization in Irkutsk that survived the inter-revolutionary period, although their activities " manifested itself in most cases only during elections, state or local X".

In January 1906, an announcement appeared about the creation of a department of the right-wing liberal “Union of October 17” in Irkutsk. However, this party did not leave a noticeable trace of its activities in Irkutsk. In 1906, the left wing separated from the Octobrist party and formed the Peaceful Renewal Party; it was the branch of this organization, registered in February 1907, that represented the right-wing liberal movement in Irkutsk. In general, the Siberian liberal movement was characterized by some radicalism and a close connection with regionalism, so the Octobrists and peaceful renovationists in Irkutsk did not have a stable social base.

After the Manifesto of October 17, the political activities of the right were also put on a legal basis. One of the first, back in March 1905, to take shape was the monarchical “Russian Assembly”, headed by Archpriest F. Vernomudrov, chairman of the judicial chamber Kh.F. Kolokolov and Colonel V. Popov. Later, at the end of 1906, the Irkutsk branch of the largest right-wing monarchist party, the Union of the Russian People, arose, the first chairman of which was A.L. Strashkevich. The goal of this party was " while preserving Orthodoxy, autocracy, and the dominance of the Russian people, implement universal education, justice, insurance for workers, reducing the working day, allocating land to those with little land, and establishing small state land credit" The politicization of public consciousness, the spontaneous revolutionary spirit of the masses and the social populism of the program initially attracted a significant number of supporters to this organization (according to the gendarmerie administration, in the province in 1907 there were more than 3.5 thousand members of the “Union of the Russian People”), however, for the majority, membership in right-wing parties it was nominal. The Black Hundred movement in Irkutsk did not gain wide scope; it was not supported by either the population or the authorities. Later, in 1909, the Ministry of Internal Affairs noted that right-wing monarchist organizations in Siberia had practically liquidated themselves. An attempt made in 1910 at a meeting of representatives of monarchist organizations to unite and revive the work of the “Union of the Russian People” and the “Russian People's Union named after Michael the Archangel” was not crowned with success. The activities of the right were limited to rare meetings with a small number of participants and the establishment in 1907 of a men’s gymnasium at the “Russian Assembly”, and in 1909, at the expense of the merchant Borovikov, a women’s gymnasium at the branch of the “Union of the Russian People”.

Elections to the State Duma and the decline of the revolutionary movement

The law on elections in the Irkutsk province to the State Duma (Bulygin) was published on October 20, 1905 and was slightly changed after the Manifesto on October 17. In the province, deputies were elected in two curiae: one each from urban and rural. The elections were not direct and not universal; women, military personnel, and students did not have voting rights; the age limit was set at 25 years. Therefore, the total number of voters in Irkutsk was only 5,302 people, and 80 electors. Due to the remoteness of the region, the revolution, and martial law, the election campaign was delayed. The First State Duma was dissolved already at the beginning of July 1906, so the deputy from Irkutsk was elected only to the Second Duma. The struggle for deputy mandates was between the Social Democrats (the Mensheviks and Bolsheviks nominated a single candidate) and the Cadets. By the majority of votes, or rather by the minority of those who voted against, the doctor, Menshevik V.E., was elected. Mandelberg. The Second State Duma also did not work long: on June 3, 1907, it was dissolved. According to the new electoral law, the number of voters was reduced and only one deputy could represent the province; he became the Social Democrat (Menshevik) T.O. Belousov.

Elections to the State Duma took place in conditions of a gradual decline in the revolutionary movement. On December 31, 1905, martial law was introduced in Siberia. Two punitive expeditions were sent here: from the west - A.N. Meller-Zakomelsky, from the east - General P.K. Rennenkampf. Local authorities have also become more active. City government employees were prohibited from joining any political organizations, trade unions, educational societies and some newspapers were closed, the RSDLP committee ceased its activities due to mass arrests, and trials began against the organizers of strikes and walkouts. Fearing reprisals, many public figures from among the former political exiles left Irkutsk.

In 1905-1907 Irkutsk did not become a Siberian revolutionary center and avoided the fate of many Siberian cities, where revolutionary uprisings were brutally suppressed by punitive expeditions. The first Russian revolution did not solve the main problems of democratization of the country, and although the social movement froze for a while, the political potential and conditions for its revival remained, which was fully manifested in 1917.

Years 1917-1918

Economic crisis

The political and economic situation in Irkutsk by the beginning of 1917 turned out to be even more difficult than on the eve of the first Russian revolution. The economic crisis, which worsened during the First World War, also affected the distant Siberian outskirts of Russia. In 1916, 5 thousand refugees and several thousand workers from the Lena gold mines arrived in Irkutsk, having left them due to a reduction in work. The city was again catastrophically short of food and fuel. In January, due to a lack of coal, the electricity and water stations stopped working. More coal was mined at the Cheremkhovo mines than before the war, but there were no wagons to deliver it to Irkutsk. Compared to 1914, food prices increased by an average of 84.6%. The City Duma considered the need to introduce a rationing system for basic types of food. One of the correspondents of the Sibir newspaper described the situation in the city as follows:

“The wave of refugees that poured into Siberia in 1915 settled here in the past and made some changes in the way of urban and rural life. Food devastation unfolded in all its ugliness. Abundant and rich Siberia felt an acute shortage of essential products, and the delights of the so-called transport disorder appeared here too. Accustomed to the insatiable appetites of trading intermediaries, Siberia gasped at the phenomenon that acquired the modest name “speculator”... Abundant and rich Siberia ceased to be the rear this year.”.

The economic crisis led to the fact that by 1917 Irkutsk occupied a dominant position among Siberian cities both in the number of strikes and in the number of their participants. The liberal opposition movement also intensified. In April 1916, the First Regional Congress of Eastern Siberian Cities took place in Irkutsk, which put forward the following demands: the introduction of zemstvos “ based on broad suffrage corresponding to the democratic composition of Siberia"; reform of city regulations and expansion of the sphere of competence of city departments; elimination of all conditions that hinder the development and manifestation of public initiative; concentration of all food affairs in the hands of public organizations consisting of representatives of city and zemstvo unions, military-industrial committees; provision of customs benefits for goods transported through the mouths of Siberian rivers. All these factors paved the way for a new mass anti-government movement.

February Revolution

At the end of February - early March 1917, information began to reach Irkutsk about mass protests and a change in the ruling system. However, there were no official statements. There was tense anticipation as to how the crisis of power would end. One of the Irkutsk newspapers wrote that “ the average person lives in an atmosphere of guesses and rumors, in an atmosphere of uncertainty and uncertainty". Only on March 1, the rescript of Nicholas II on the dissolution of the State Duma and the State Council on February 25 was published. On March 3, the province announced the creation of a Provisional Government from members of the Duma and the formation of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' Deputies, and their appeals to the population of the country were published. The Provisional Government announced the arrest of members of the old government, called for calm, not to interrupt work, and to concentrate efforts on the problems of defense and food supply. The Council of Workers' Deputies stated that it is fighting to strengthen " political freedom and popular government" and in turn calls for "to rally around the Council, form local executive committees and take control of all local affairs».

Late the night before, the Irkutsk Governor General held an emergency meeting of representatives of all local public organizations and newspapers, as well as high-ranking officials of the local administration: the governor, the police chief, and the district court prosecutor. Those present unanimously approved the formation of the Provisional Government, supported its appeal to the population and decided to create a Committee of Public Organizations in Irkutsk. The official announcement of the emperor's abdication was made public in Irkutsk only on March 5. Thus, even before the decision on the fate of the Russian throne was completed, the construction of the organs of the new government began.

The Committee of Public Organizations included representatives from the City Duma, the teachers' union, postal workers, railway workers, city workers and political parties - 200 people in total. Among them were 38 Socialist Revolutionaries, 33 Mensheviks, 27 Cadets, 8 People's Socialists, 7 Bolsheviks and 1 bourgeois nationalist. Menshevik I.G. was elected chairman of the executive committee of KOORG. Tsereteli, his assistant was the Socialist Revolutionary A.B. Gots, who headed the Sibir newspaper. Both of them also took a direct part in organizing the Council of Workers' Deputies, but soon left for Petrograd, where they became members of the executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet.

Immediately upon receiving news of the fall of the autocracy in Irkutsk, Governor General A.I. Piltz, police chief Petrovsky, officers of the provincial gendarme department, division chief Bobrovsky, governor Yugon, commander of the military district Shkinsky, chief inspector of public schools Vasilenko were removed from office. Soon all of them were allowed to leave Irkutsk. By order from the capital, all political prisoners from the provincial prison and the Aleksanrovsky Central were released and political exile to Siberia was canceled.

Already on March 7, the main sections of COORG (fuel, railway, food, industrial, financial) were formed and their staff was staffed. The local intelligentsia and bourgeoisie showed the greatest interest in organizing the COORG. On the twentieth of March, the Committee of Public Organizations declared itself a representative of the Provisional Government within the Irkutsk province. I.A. was appointed Commissioner of the Provisional Government for the Administration of the Province. Lavrov.

On March 5, the first meeting of the Council of Workers' Deputies took place. Menshevik L.I. was elected its chairman. Goldman. The executive committee of the Council included Social Democrats (Mensheviks and Bolsheviks) and Socialist Revolutionaries. The Council, on behalf of the COORG, began to create a people's militia. Almost simultaneously, the Council of Soldiers' Deputies was created under the chairmanship of Second Lieutenant A.A. Krakovetsky. Contrary to the opinion of the Bolsheviks, both Councils spoke out in support of the Provisional Government and the continuation of the war to a victorious end.

Somewhat later, the City Duma was reorganized; representatives from the Councils of Deputies, trade unions and the Jewish community were introduced into its composition. The consolidation of socialists and the liberal public in the bodies of city and provincial government contributed to the rapid liquidation of the previous government, which in 1917 did not have social forces on its side capable of defending it.

Revolutionary enthusiasm swept through Irkutsk. For several weeks there were endless rallies. The completed revolution was welcomed by the troops of the Irkutsk garrison, cadets of the warrant officer school, students, workers and employees of city enterprises and institutions. The head of the Trans-Baikal Railway officially stated that all railway workers support the Provisional Government and local authorities represented by KOORG. On March 10, a celebration of Freedom Day took place, which included a military parade, a solemn prayer service in the Kazan Cathedral with the proclamation of many years to the “God-protected Russian Power and the Provisional Government.” A few days later, the people swore an oath to the Russian state and the city public administration swore an oath to the Provisional Government.

The Council concentrated its activities in the working environment, primarily agitating for the creation of trade unions. This call was heard, and in just one day, March 7, 14 trade unions were registered in the provincial center. In addition to those that were active before February, one of the first to be organized were the trade unions of railway workers, postal and telegraph employees, metal workers, construction workers, and even the unions of bakers and cab drivers. Succumbing to general enthusiasm, the bourgeoisie also created their own trade union, but entrepreneurs viewed their organization rather as regionally representative, defending their interests before the central and local authorities.

From the very beginning, the trade unions focused their main attention on the struggle for an 8-hour working day, increased wages, improved working conditions, and the conclusion of tariff agreements. In April, a coordinating body was created, uniting 22 trade unions. By the way, it was he who proposed a municipal program to the City Duma, according to which the municipalization of water supply, telegraph, electrical networks should be carried out, and an income tax should be introduced. Income from municipal enterprises was to be used to provide public education, healthcare, police, fire stations, legal assistance to the population and the church. It was also planned to install a sewer system in Irkutsk, electric street lighting, a tram line to the village of Innokentyevsky, and the construction of a stationary bridge across the Angara. Trade unions quickly became an influential force, and it is no coincidence that the Bolsheviks made significant efforts to win them over to their side. A number of Irkutsk trade unions were led by Bolsheviks P. Postyshev, S. Lebedev, A. Remishevsky. In August they created an alternative body - the Central Bureau of Professional Organizations of the city, which was given a leading role in the Bolshevization of the Soviets and in preparation for the seizure of power.

Under pressure from trade unions, during March, an 8-hour working day and a 50 percent wage increase were introduced at all city enterprises, and conciliation chambers were formed to resolve conflicts between workers, entrepreneurs and administrations. However, not in all industrial enterprises the administration agreed with this order of the COORG and the Council, citing its refusal by the fact that a reduction in the working day in wartime conditions would lead to a drop in productivity and the collapse of production. The Soviets generally supported the trade unions and carried out corresponding agitation among the workers. COORG pursued a more restrained line in this regard, in a number of cases openly taking the position of entrepreneurs, which was explained by the greater degree of responsibility assigned to it for the economic and social situation in the region.

Party system

The revolution created the opportunity for political parties to become involved in real politics and required the development of behavior in new conditions. One of the first to be reorganized was the Irkutsk Committee of the People's Freedom Party. By a majority of votes, the Cadets spoke in favor of a democratic republic, support for the Provisional Government and bringing the war to a victorious end. D.A. was elected to the new committee. Kochnev, P.I. Fedorov, Ya.D. Frizer, Z.I. Pomus, K.F. Dubrovin, A.S. Pervuninsky. Leadership in the cadet organization remained with the entrepreneurs. In addition to the Cadets, in the very first month of the revolution, the organizations of the Socialist Revolutionaries, who enjoyed the greatest influence and support in the city, the Social Democrats (the united organization of Mensheviks and Bolsheviks), officially took shape. Somewhat later, organizational meetings of the Jewish Social Democratic Party (Bundists), Polish socialists united in the “Polish Social Democratic Union”, Latvian Social Democrats and anarchist communists were held. Socialist parties clearly predominated numerically. All of them, although with some reservations, supported the new government, the continuation of the war (except for the Bolsheviks) and the political programs of their central committees. However, regional problems were not reflected in their statements and programs.

Program of Siberian regionalists

The exception was the regional autonomists, who published their program somewhat later. In Irkutsk they were represented by a relatively small group, but it included well-known and respected people in the city: local historian and public figure I.I. Serebrennikov, I.A. Yakushev, K.V. Dubrovsky. The regionalists did not form their own political party, but represented a social-democratic movement, the ideas of which were supported by representatives of the cadet and socialist-revolutionary organizations, local intelligentsia and business circles. The provincial peasant, Cossack and Buryat congresses declared their solidarity with the regionalists on a number of positions.

The regionalists believed that the reorganization of the Russian government should be carried out on the basis of decentralization - through the partial transfer of legislative rights (according to local conditions) from the center to the regions. From this point of view, Siberia was supposed to receive “legislative autonomy,” but this did not mean “the secession of Siberia from Russia,” but at the same time it did not allow the central government to “trample the interests of the region and predatoryly plunder its wealth.” The competence of local government bodies should have included the following: the right to manage natural resources and establish forms and rules for their use; determining the size and methods of colonization of the region; protection of natural resources; agricultural and industrial development of the region; construction and operation of transport routes (except for strategic ones); public education and health care; criminal and civil legislation; participation in the development of national tariffs. In addition, the regionalists proposed to withdraw land from commercial circulation and turn it into national property, since there were no traditions and practices of private land ownership in Siberia; grant the right of national cultural autonomy to certain indigenous peoples; resettlement to Siberia is considered desirable if the interests of the local old-timer population are not violated; unconditionally prohibit political and criminal exile to Siberia.

Disagreements between political parties

The revolution and the overthrow of the autocracy could not lead to an automatic solution to all problems; the new government inherited from the old an extremely difficult situation in almost all spheres of life. COORG, which tried to concentrate all management of the city and province in its hands, saw its main goal as “to bring political and economic life into the mainstream of organization and planning.” The primary task was, if not a complete resolution, then at least reducing the severity of the food crisis. The food committee was reorganized and included representatives from workers' councils, military deputies, cooperatives and trade unions. One of the first orders of the committee banned the export of food outside the province and the production of alcoholic beverages from agricultural raw materials. Agreements were concluded for the supply of bread from Harbin and Western Siberian provinces. However, according to the chairman of the committee, I. Yakushev, the problem was not so much the lack of food supplies, but the difficulties of their delivery to Irkutsk. Therefore, from September 1, the COORG and the City Duma were forced to introduce cards for bread, sugar, meat, and textiles. Strikes by workers and employees of various enterprises have become more frequent in the city. COORG issued a resolution prohibiting speeches not authorized by the Council of Workers' Deputies.

There were no serious disagreements between the COORG, the Soviets and the city government, which was explained by the similarity of their political structure and the participation of the same people in the executive and administrative bodies. However, over time, the Council of Workers' Deputies began to pay more attention to social issues, and the Committee of Public Organizations and the City Duma began to pay more attention to strengthening local government. Accordingly, their social orientation and determination of political course began to differ. In June 1917, at a general meeting of Irkutsk Social Democrats, it was decided that, “ since the contradictions between the bourgeoisie and democracy are becoming more and more pronounced... representatives of people's democracy cannot direct the government's policy along the desired line, since they remain in the minority, therefore, it is necessary to transfer all power into the hands of democracy", that is, the Soviets of Workers' and Military Deputies.

Problems of city management

Despite all the efforts of local authorities, the economic situation continued to deteriorate. The lack of stability in the country, the organic connection between the central government and the provinces, the outdated and contradictory nature of the legislative framework, and the delay in resolving many issues until the convening of the Constituent Assembly did not contribute to the normalization of the situation in both the political and social spheres.

In an effort to somehow improve the situation, in June the COORG initiated a regional congress of committees of public organizations with the aim of coordinating and unifying their activities. The congress, held in Irkutsk, was attended by representatives from the Irkutsk and Yenisei provinces, Yakutsk and Transbaikal regions. Interesting data about the participants of the congress: out of 61 delegates, 25 were born in Siberia, 13 people lived here from 10 to 20 years, 13 - from 5 to 10 years, and 9 people - from 1 to 5 years. A significant part of the delegates were represented by exiles; in total, they spent 163 years in prison, including 36 years of hard labor. Moreover, their average age was 36 years. In party terms, Socialist-Revolutionaries predominated - 23 people, Social Democrats - 22 people (mostly Mensheviks), in addition there were Cadets, regionalists, anarchists, and non-party members.

The agenda of the congress included the following issues: the introduction of zemstvo self-government in Siberia and the reorganization of the city; relations between the executive committees of COORGs and local governments; national question; form of administrative and political unification of the region; creation of economic councils and their functions; abolition of hard labor and exile to Siberia. The majority of delegates spoke in favor of autonomy for Siberia within federal Russia " in the sense of broad local self-government", socialization of the land, unification of East Siberian provinces and regions into a single political and economic union, since "the regional unity of Eastern Siberia is dictated by its entire way of life" A regional committee was created, which included two representatives each from the Bureau of the Soviets of Eastern Siberia, Yenisei and Irkutsk provinces and one representative each from the regions and the Buryat National Committee. The duties of the chairman of the committee were to be performed by the regional commissar, who became A.P. Kruglikov. It should be noted that, despite the seriousness of the issues discussed, most of the adopted resolutions did not have practical significance, not only because there was no time left for their implementation, but primarily because of the lack of unity of views in understanding the essence of socialization and municipalization of the land, federal and autonomous structure countries and regions, the rights and competence of local governments and their relations with the central government.

The political sympathies of Irkutsk residents were clearly demonstrated during the elections to the city duma in July 1917. In this regard, both the list of electoral lists and the election results are interesting. A total of 28,815 residents of Irkutsk (about 26% of the total population) took part in the elections; voting took place on 10 lists. 51% of Irkutsk residents voted for the list of Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs), 13% of Social Democrats (Mensheviks), 1.7% of Zionists, 12.7% of Cadets, 0.4% of residents of the outskirts of the mountainous part, and 0.4% of People's Socialists. 1.2%, Social Democrats (Bolsheviks) - 11.8%, homeowners - 4.5%, citizens of the Nagorny district of the city - 1.6%, government employees - 1%. 90 members were elected to the City Duma, among them 47 Socialist Revolutionaries, 12 Mensheviks, 11 Cadets, 11 Social Democrats (Bolsheviks). N.A. became the mayor. Chichinadze. Thus, the predominant influence remained with the socialist parties.

Despite its rather radical composition, the Duma did not play a noticeable role in the political life of the city, dealing primarily with economic problems: providing food, fuel, maintaining order on the streets, as well as preparing the opening of a university in Irkutsk.

Fundamentally, this issue was resolved under the old government at the end of 1916; the debate was only about which faculties and in what sequence to open: legal, historical-philological or medical. The university commission was looking for funds to open a university, collecting donations and organizing a “university week”, and looking for suitable premises for the future first higher education institution in Eastern Siberia. The City Duma decided to give the university the best and most beautiful building in the city - the former residence of the Governor General (White House). Although the main preparatory work was completed by the autumn of 1917, the opening of the university due to revolutionary events took place only a year later - in October 1918.

Despite the difficult economic conditions and political instability, the city administration in its work paid attention to the preservation and development of the public education system no less than the food business. During the period between the March and October revolutionary events in the city, not only all the previous educational and educational institutions continued to operate, but also a free school was opened in Rabochaya Sloboda, a gymnasium course at the Orphanage House, new reading rooms, general education courses, in addition, all church schools were transferred under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Public Education, that is, under the control and guardianship of the city administration. However, the creative activity of city authorities in the conditions of the revolution was not, and could not be, decisive.

By the fall of 1917, the political and economic situation was increasingly out of the control of local authorities, worker strikes continued, and unrest began among the military. The largest was the performance in September of soldiers of the Irkutsk garrison, which was considered one of the calmest. It was provoked by the anarchist organization “Bread and Freedom”. Anarchist-communists at rallies called on the population to mercilessly fight the bourgeoisie, destroy private property, and seize power. The soldiers of the 11th and 12th reserve Siberian Rifle Regiments primarily responded to their agitation. The non-partisan Union of Soldiers they created expressed distrust of the local and central authorities and demanded radical measures to sabotage traders and speculators. The Council of Military Deputies condemned this speech and decided to ban the Union of Soldiers and arrest the instigators. The chairman of the council, A. Krakovetsky, who tried to pacify the soldiers, was himself arrested. A detachment of cadets who arrived to his rescue, in response to his refusal to surrender their weapons, opened fire on the barracks. As a result, the rebellion was suppressed, 300 of the most active soldiers were arrested, and the garrison was disarmed.

Since the end of August, in the city, by decision of the trade union bureau, led by the Bolsheviks, flying armed detachments of workers began to be created to fight profiteering, which was also a manifestation of the disbelief of a significant part of the population of Irkutsk in the ability of the city authorities to restore order. The Irkutsk provincial commissar reported to the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Petrograd about mass profiteering, the closure of retail establishments, riots at food stores, increased robberies and murders on the streets of the provincial center and concluded that convictions had lost force and more drastic measures were required to restore order. Thus, by October Irkutsk was on the verge of a new revolution. The situation in the city repeated, although in slightly different forms and scales, the events in the center of the country.

Bolsheviks

The Bolsheviks, taking into account the experience of the first Russian revolution, attached special importance to Irkutsk. It was the administrative center of Eastern Siberia; not only administrative structures were concentrated here, but also significant military forces (9, 10, 11 and 12 Siberian reserve rifle regiments, artillery and Cossack divisions, a military school, three schools for warrant officers). In addition, Irkutsk could influence the Far East, Yakutia, and Transbaikalia. For propaganda work and preparation of the All-Siberian Congress of Soviets, the Central Committee of the RSDLP(b) sent a group of Bolsheviks to Irkutsk: B.Z. Shumyatsky, V.N. Yakovleva, Ya.E. Okulova, Ya.D. Janson. With their participation, the Irkutsk Social Democratic organization split, the Bolsheviks created an independent party committee, and K. Gershevich was elected its first chairman.

The strengthening of the Bolshevik position in the fall of 1917 was shown by elections to the Constituent Assembly. 9,908 people out of 30,378 voted for list No. 1 (Socialist Revolutionaries), No. 2 (Irkutsk provincial organization of the RSDLP) - 1,737, list No. 3 (bloc of Siberian regional autonomists and the Irkutsk group of people's socialists) - 1,082, list No. 4 (People's Freedom Party) - 5669, list No. 5 (Buryat national) - 29, list No. 6 (Orthodox parishes of the Irkutsk province) - 810, list No. 7 (Irkutsk organization of the RSDLP Bolsheviks and Menshevik internationalists) - 11,143 people. The predominant influence of the Bolsheviks was precisely in the city; a significant advantage was given to them by the votes of the soldiers of the Irkutsk garrison. In the whole province, the Bolsheviks received only 30 thousand votes, and the Socialist Revolutionaries - 110 thousand.

The decisive demarcation occurred at the congresses of the Soviets, held in Irkutsk in October, which adopted diametrically opposed decisions. The Second Congress of Soviets of Eastern Siberia, where among the delegates there were more Mensheviks and right Socialist Revolutionaries, spoke in favor of transferring power to the Constituent Assembly and local government bodies - city dumas and zemstvos, since, in their opinion, the Soviets had already fulfilled their revolutionary role and could not be bodies authorities. The All-Siberian Congress of Soviets adopted a resolution proposed by the Bolsheviks and Left Socialist Revolutionaries on the need to take power in the center by the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets, and in the periphery by the locals. The congress formed the Central Executive Committee of the Soviets of Siberia (Tsentrosibir), which initially included 5 Bolsheviks, 3 Socialist-Revolutionary Internationalists, 1 Menshevik Internationalist, 3 Right Socialist-Revolutionaries, 1 Menshevik Defencist. B.Z. was elected chairman. Shumyatsky, and later he was replaced by N.N. Yakovlev. Irkutsk was chosen as the seat of Centrosiberia, which the Bolsheviks promised to make a citadel of Bolshevism in a month, although some of the congress delegates were against it, considering Irkutsk an “unreliable revolutionary base” and offering Krasnoyarsk as an alternative.

Immediately after receiving the news of the seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in Petrograd, Centrosibiria declared its readiness to take power in the city and region into its own hands. Commissars were sent to the post office, telegraph office, and industrial enterprises, and the arming of workers and the creation of their own militia and Red Guard began. However, at first, Centrosiberia found itself in political and informational isolation. Some workers and soldiers supported the Bolsheviks, but in most public and administrative organizations employees opposed them. The post office and telegraph office did not accept correspondence from the Central Executive Committee of Siberia, did not allow its representatives to receive direct wires, and printing houses refused to print newspapers and leaflets. The chairman of the executive committee of KOORG, E. Trofimov, stated in his appeal that the organizations of the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, railway and postal and telegraph employees do not recognize the violent seizure of power and that this “ capture is a crime against the country and death for the revolution" From this moment the struggle enters a decisive phase, the strengths of the parties are finally determined.

On November 27, the City Duma formed the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution. He considered his goals to be the fight against Bolshevism, the protection of state and public institutions, and the protection of the lives and property of citizens. The committee included E.M. Timofeev, N.P. Patlykh, S.I. Fainberg and N.A. Fishman. The practical organization of the anti-Bolshevik forces was entrusted to the revolutionary commandant's office, under whose jurisdiction all military and civilian institutions were transferred.

In turn, the Bolsheviks re-elected the Soviets of Workers' and Military Deputies, together with the Left Socialist-Revolutionaries they gained a majority in them and formed a single Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies. On November 21, a military revolutionary committee was also created - the operational body for the seizure of power - headed by Ya.D. Janson. The former residence of the Governor General was occupied, where all Soviet organizations were located. On December 4, the Military Revolutionary Committee occupied the treasury, the treasury chamber, the post office, the telegraph, the State Bank, arrested the provincial commissar Lavrov, the chief of staff Nikitin, colonels Lange and Skipetrov (they were soon released), while simultaneously releasing the soldiers who took part in the September soldiers' uprising. A commission formed under the Military Revolutionary Committee to control production and combat profiteering conducted searches of traders and distributed the confiscated food to the poorest population, took into account all sugar reserves, removed the excise tax from it and sold it at a reduced price. The populism of slogans and first events allowed the Bolsheviks to attract soldiers and workers to their side and, unlike the revolutionary commandant’s office, to act more decisively.

Officer mutiny

At the same time, none of the warring parties believed in a peaceful resolution of the conflict and were preparing for armed struggle. The revolutionary commandant's office, through the district commander, ordered the release of 10% of the garrison soldiers in order to remove the pro-Bolshevik part of them from Irkutsk. In turn, the Military Revolutionary Committee and Tsentrosibir, rushing to establish Soviet power in the city and region by the opening of the Second All-Siberian Congress of Soviets scheduled for January 1918 and to carry out the order of the People's Commissar for Military Affairs Podvoisky, announced the cessation of promotion to officers, the allocation of funds and the dissolution of the military school and warrant officer schools. The young officers and command were presented with an ultimatum: military educational institutions must self-liquidate, weapons must be surrendered, and officers must leave the city by 2 p.m. on December 8. This was unacceptable for graduates of military schools. In their memoirs, the Chairman of Centrosibiria B. Shumyatsky and the Commissioner of Transport and Communications V. Ryabikov define the military forces of the officer mutiny at 4 thousand people. This is clearly an exaggeration. The forces of the opposing sides were approximately equal, although the anti-Bolshevik camp was superior both in military training and in weapons. The troops of the military garrison and part of the Caucasian Division, which supported Centrosiberia, under the command of N. occupied the Angara Embankment from the White House to the pontoon bridge. Their headquarters was located in the building of the Gaiduk women's gymnasium. The cadets were occupied by the military school, the 1st and 2nd warrant officer schools (the 3rd warrant officer school, located on Innokentyevskaya station, did not take part in the rebellion), Cossacks - a theological seminary and a children's hospital. The center of the fighting was the White House, where a group of Central Siberians and a Red Guard detachment were located, and the bridge across the Angara. The fighting began with cadets firing at a group of Red Guards. In response, at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, artillery began shelling the warrant officers' school on Kazarminskaya Street. From this point on, the battle went on almost continuously for several days. The Junkers managed to occupy the city center, the telegraph office, and the building of the Geographical Society Museum, from the windows of which machine gun fire was coming from the White House. The artillery, which was in the hands of the Soviet side, continuously shelled city blocks in the immediate vicinity of the White House, preventing the cadets from capturing it. The Centrosiberians who were there, desperately defending themselves, withstood several attacks. In the forty-degree frost they had no food, water, medicine, they ran out of ammunition, many were killed or wounded. On the ninth day of fighting, the White House was surrendered, and its surviving defenders were arrested. Fires started in the city from artillery shelling: a commercial courtyard and Vtorov's arcade burned down, the buildings of the State and Russian-Asian banks, the bell tower of the Tikhvin Church were destroyed, and residential areas were damaged. The population of the central part of Irkutsk, having left their homes, fled across the pontoon bridge to the station area. Robberies and looting began in the city. From December 10, work detachments from Cheremkhov, Krasnoyarsk, Achinsk and Kansk began to arrive to help the Soviet forces.

Heavy nine-day battles ended with the conclusion of a truce on December 17. Its conditions were the creation of a coalition government (People's Socialists, Socialist Revolutionaries, Mensheviks and Bolsheviks), the recall of the Central Siberian commissars from all institutions, the disbandment of ensign schools, the demobilization of officers, the dissolution of Soviet troops, the deportation of the Red Guard working detachments that arrived here from Irkutsk. On behalf of the Soviets, a truce with the Committee for the Defense of the Revolution was signed by Y. Yanson and P. Postyshev, they were supported by a meeting of Irkutsk Bolsheviks. However, under pressure from Red Guards arriving from other cities, these conditions were canceled, and on December 20, demands were made for unconditional recognition of Soviet power, complete disarmament and demobilization of officers, and the abolition of the coalition provincial council. Unable to continue resistance, the rebels were forced to accept them. On December 22, the Irkutsk Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies decided to transfer all power to the Irkutsk Council and the District Bureau of Soviets of Eastern Siberia. This resolution was then consolidated by the III East Siberian Congress and the II Congress of Soviets of Siberia.

The consequences of the December battles for Irkutsk were severe: more than 300 people were killed, about 700 were wounded, many of them civilians, and great damage was caused to city neighborhoods. The Council of People's Commissars allocated 300 thousand rubles to eliminate the consequences of the December battles, but this amount could not compensate for material and moral damage. Irkutsk became one of the few cities in the country where Soviet power was established by force and where serious resistance was offered to the Bolsheviks.

The killed Cossacks, cadets and warrant officers were buried near the Assumption Church, and the dead Red Guards were buried near the White House in a mass grave. After the fall of Soviet power in the summer of 1918, they were reburied at Amur Cemetery.

Soviet authority

In March, Irkutsk residents greeted the revolution with solemn processions, support rallies, singing “Marseillaise” and hopes for a better future. In December, the attitude of Irkutsk residents to the revolutionary events was different - alarming and wary. One of the participants in the December battles in Irkutsk wrote in a letter in those days:

“There is no evening noisy traffic, streams of people or loud shouts in the city. Quiet and uncrowded. Wounds are healed. The White House is riddled with bullets. He is covered with them like smallpox. On Kharlampievskaya, half a block burned out. Smoke, black smoke settled on the snow, on the walls, on the roofs. The city has darkened..."

On December 26, at a joint meeting of Central Siberia, the District Bureau of Soviets and the executive committee of the Irkutsk Council, the Committee of Soviet Organizations of Eastern Siberia was organized, and although it was declared as a regional body, in reality its powers extended to Irkutsk and the Irkutsk province. The chairman of the committee was J. Janson. At first, the bodies of city and zemstvo self-government were preserved, but were subordinate to the KSOVS. From the very first days, the Bolsheviks faced massive overt and hidden resistance. In January, employees of the city government, banks, telegraph, printing houses, and teachers went on strike to protest against the new government. The strike movement became especially active after the message from Petrograd about the dispersal of the Constituent Assembly, which was supposed to resolve the issue of power. The City Duma openly called for a fight against Bolshevism and attempted to create armed self-guard units, declaring that the Duma was the only power in the city and “ can hold events at his own discretion" The provincial conference of the Mensheviks spoke in favor of ending the Civil War, the need to convene a Constituent Assembly, re-electing Soviets on the basis of representation of all layers of the democratic public, continuing the ideological struggle against Bolshevism, but without bringing it to an armed conflict. Rumors about a new armed uprising were actively circulating in the city. In response, the Committee of Soviet Organizations accelerated the liquidation of the previous management system and the implementation of its own measures. The positions of commissioners of the Provisional Government were abolished, the office of the former General Government was disbanded, the district school council, the food committee, and all judicial institutions were liquidated, and their functions were transferred to the relevant departments of the KSOVS. Already at the beginning of January, the newspaper “Siberia” was closed, and “The Power of Labor” began to appear in its place. Dozens of officers were dismissed from the headquarters of the Irkutsk Military District, and the Bolshevik M.N. was appointed commander of the district. Ryutin, and the chief of staff - T.M. Stromberg. After the December battles, officers in Irkutsk found themselves in the most difficult situation. If soldiers after demobilization could return to the village or to the factory, then officers, with growing unemployment and hostility towards them on the part of the new government, were deprived of all means of subsistence and could not find a job. They were allowed to create artels of woodcutters, shoemakers, hairdressers, and loaders, which could not satisfy them and did not solve the problem. Therefore, it was the officers, along with the bureaucrats of the liquidated institutions, that formed the basis of the anti-Bolshevik forces and prepared the uprising in the summer of 1918 on the eve of the fall of Soviet power. At the same time, the formation of the Red Guard was underway, military crash courses were opened, the police came under the jurisdiction of the Committee of Soviet Organizations, but attempts to disband the self-guard units led to armed clashes on the streets of the city.

The policy was no less radical in the financial and economic sphere. First, commissioners were appointed to the Treasury, Treasury Chamber, Excise Department, State and commercial banks, and on January 18, on the basis of a decree of the Council of People's Commissars, the Committee of Soviet Organizations united and then nationalized all banks. Anticipating possible resistance, this action was supported by an armed demonstration by the duty company, machine gun and bomb teams. To cover the costs of the police, the establishment of cheap canteens for the poor, the purchase of food, and assistance to the families of Red Guards who died in the December battles, all owners of commercial and industrial establishments and warehouses were imposed a one-time “bourgeois tax” in the amount of 3 million rubles. To replenish the treasury, searches and confiscation of property from wealthy citizens were widely practiced.

On January 16, the Main Road Committee of the Trans-Baikal Railway, with the assistance of the KSVS and Tsentrosibiri, abolished the positions of the head of the road and his assistant and took over the management of the entire road. In trade and industrial enterprises, under trade unions and factory committees, commissions of workers were created to control production and distribution, which intervened not only in the technical side of the matter, but also in finance, hiring and firing workers and employees. There were also cases of forced removal from business of owners and administration. Worker control was established at all tanneries in the city, in the transport workshop, printing houses, and the Irkutsk departments of the Singer and Siemens-Schuckert companies. N. Nasimovich-Chuzhak, who was appointed commissioner of the press and printing houses, announced that he considered his duties as temporary, and in the future he intended to entrust workers with full control not only over the quality of work and the timing of their execution, but also over the nature of the literature produced. Soon newspapers were closed for “anti-Soviet propaganda” "Irkutsk life", “New Siberia”, "Free Edge". Workers' control turned out to be a very effective means for the Bolsheviks to attract workers to their side and draw them into socialist measures.

The primary action of the Soviet government was the creation of a revolutionary judicial and legal system. On January 11, the KSOVS abolished the judicial chamber, the district court and prosecutorial supervision, most of the judicial officials who refused to cooperate with the Soviet authorities were dismissed. The chairman of the judicial chamber, Erakov, handed over the cases only after the threat of “use of force.” Instead of the previous judicial regulations, a revolutionary tribunal was established, headed by P. Postyshev, and the workers Muller, Petrovsky, and Zilbert were elected to the investigative commission. The Revolutionary Tribunal considered cases of counter-revolutionary speeches and agitation, opposition to Soviet power, sabotage, speculation, banditry; the most common were cases related to complaints from citizens and institutions about arbitrary searches with subsequent confiscations of property. The first sentences were relatively lenient. Thus, at one of the first sessions of the tribunal, two cadets - Pavlovsky and Sergeev, who did not surrender their weapons after the December battles, although they were found guilty, but, given their young age and sincere repentance, they were given a public reprimand and released from custody. Later, especially from the spring of 1918, the sentences were no longer so lenient. As the political situation of the Soviet government worsened, the Revolutionary Tribunal, together with the Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage (chaired by I. Postolovsky), increasingly resorted to the policy of red terror.

By the beginning of March, most of the government bodies of the previous government were liquidated. The Second Congress of Soviets of Siberia, held in Irkutsk at the end of February 1918, adopted the “Project for the Organization of Soviet Power in Siberia,” which is sometimes called the “Siberian Soviet Constitution.” It was prepared by a young Bolshevik, a member of Centrosiberia, who was a little over 20 years old, F. Lytkin. According to this document, a system of provincial, city and district Councils was created. The City Council of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies was elected on the basis of representation from different layers of workers, united by industries, professions and military units and who had reached the age of nineteen. The intelligentsia also enjoyed the right of representation, but only that part of it that recognized Soviet power. Former employees of security departments were deprived of both active (to elect) and passive (to be elected) rights, and former police officers and gendarmes were deprived only of active rights. The Council was headed by a presidium, and the administrative body was the Council of Commissioners. To manage various spheres of city life, the corresponding departments were created: municipal economy, finance, labor, food, public education, post and telegraph, judicial, medical and sanitary, management of public real estate, as well as the council of the national economy, “organizing the production of the most necessary industrial products.” factory and craft industry." At the same time, it was recommended to use the apparatus of zemstvo and city self-governments, but with appropriate changes relating primarily to their personnel.

However, the former local government bodies turned out to be superfluous links in the Soviet system of government, especially since they were often in opposition to the Soviets. In March, the zemstvo government was dissolved, and in May, the Irkutsk City Duma was dissolved; its functions were transferred to the municipal economy department of the Soviet of Deputies, formed on May 8. As a reason for the dissolution of the Duma, the Irkutsk Council of Deputies used a strike of lower-level employees of the city government, protesting against a reduction in staff by one third and almost completely paralyzing its work, not allowing meetings either in the building of the Duma itself or in any other place. Workers from the electric and water plants and the fire station joined the strike. The Duma was accused of “negligent management of affairs” and “inability to manage the city economy,” but the real reason was its opposition to Soviet power.

In the spring of 1918, the political situation in Siberia became critical for the Soviet government. To fight the troops of Ataman G. Semenov, Centrosiberia created the Daurian Front under the command of S. Lazo and sent detachments of Irkutsk Red Guards there. Japanese troops landed in Vladivostok. It was known about the impending anti-Soviet protests in Siberian cities. In Irkutsk at the end of March, a conspiracy against the Soviets was discovered and its leaders were arrested - Lieutenant Nakhobov and Baroness Grinelskaya, who allegedly acted in the interests of Semenov. The greatest danger was posed by the Czechoslovak prisoner-of-war corps, which was being withdrawn from Russia through Vladivostok and stretched along the entire line of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Irkutsk was crowded with people fleeing the Soviets from European Russia. Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of Siberia N.N. Yakovlev telegraphed Lenin on this matter:

“Centrosiberia strongly objects to the plan to evacuate criminal inoperative elements first. Their flooding of a narrow cultural strip, given the small number of the Siberian proletariat, is extremely dangerous for Soviet power.”.

There was a real danger that Soviet Irkutsk could be blocked from both the west and the east and cut off from the center. In April, Centrosibiria announced the introduction of martial law in the region, the creation of a Siberian military-revolutionary headquarters, which was given full civil and military power, the Red Army and the Extraordinary Commission to fight counter-revolution. A circular letter from the NKVD of the RSFSR ordered the Irkutsk Council of Deputies to strengthen supervision over the press, street propaganda, “ vigilantly monitor all the machinations of counter-revolutionaries and White Guards, resolutely suppressing with a firm, ruthless hand any attempt to discredit the power of the workers and poor peasants...". Former officers of the tsarist army were prohibited from entering Eastern Siberia, and especially Irkutsk. To this end, travel documents were carefully checked on all trains, and anyone who aroused the slightest suspicion was taken to prison. Organizations of front-line soldiers were also banned, various self-guard companies were disbanded, with the exception of anarchist detachments, which could not be disarmed.

Realizing the strategic importance of Irkutsk, Centrosibirsk decided to make the city a military base in the east of the country. The formation of army divisions, artillery battalions and even an air flotilla proceeded in a hurry, for which several airplanes were delivered to Irkutsk. All Soviet employees were declared mobilized and, upon request, were obliged to appear at the disposal of the military commissariat.

The Bolsheviks did not have to hope for mass support from the townspeople; there were few large industrial enterprises in Irkutsk, but even of those that existed, the attitude of the workers towards the Soviet government was ambiguous. In May, several railway workers were arrested for criticizing Soviet policies, and a fairly large rally in their defense was dispersed by force. The Bolsheviks tried to strengthen their positions with the help of prisoners of war of the First World War, released from camps in the fall of 1917. By the Decree of Central Siberia, all foreign prisoners of war, at their request, could be accepted into Russian citizenship with the provision of all rights on an equal basis with other Russian citizens. At the end of April 1918, a congress of internationalist workers (former prisoners of war) took place in Irkutsk. It was attended by 60 delegates, mostly Hungarians and Germans. The elected committee included 3 Austrian Social Democrats, 3 Hungarian and 1 German. The main content of the resolutions of this congress was a call on all prisoners of war to defend Soviet power and join the Red Army. Within a few days, an international cavalry squadron was formed. The internationalists also became part of A. Rydzinsky’s detachment, sent in May to Yakutsk to establish Soviet power there. International detachments in Irkutsk were also created by anarchists.

The Bolsheviks tried to find support among young people. In order to remove young people from the influence of the Socialist Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, on April 21, under the auspices of the Soviet of Deputies, the Union of Proletarian Socialist Youth and the Union of Socialist Student Youth united, and the main condition for this unification was the recognition of “socialism and Soviet power.”

The emergency measures taken to save Soviet power in Irkutsk pushed all other problems into the background. By the beginning of summer, the inevitability of a military clash became obvious. By this time, trains with Czechoslovaks arrived at Irkutsk. On May 26, a Red Army platoon attempted to disarm two echelons at Innokentyevskaya station. A firefight ensued, and about 50 people were killed and wounded on both sides. The Czechs managed to capture the station and the surrounding area up to the Irkutsk bridge. But this time (through the mediation of the American consul Harris and the French consul Bourgeois) it was possible to reach a temporary agreement and resolve the conflict. The trains of Czechoslovaks were allowed to go east, partially returning their weapons. However, even before the end of negotiations with the command of the Czechoslovak corps, an anti-Soviet coup occurred. Its leader, former member of the IV State Duma I.N. Mankov, presented an ultimatum to the Irkutsk Council of Deputies to transfer all power in the province to the city duma and zemstvo administration within 24 hours. The Mensheviks and Right Socialist Revolutionaries in the Council supported the demand for the restoration of the previous public administration. In response to this, a state of siege and curfew were introduced in Irkutsk, mass arrests were made among former front-line officers, officials of the former provincial and city departments, and unauthorized executions of prisoners in the city prison.

On the night of June 14, the city was awakened by machine gun fire and factory whistles. In the morning it became known that a group of officers numbering about 300 people attacked state-owned wine warehouses in Rabochiy Suburb, seized the weapons there and freed imprisoned officers from prison, killing the head of the prison, Augul. They attempted to occupy the transport workshops and the pontoon bridge across the Angara. However, by morning the rebellion was suppressed. Witnesses to this event put forward several versions of the reasons for the defeat of the officer uprising and its relatively easy suppression, but in any case, regardless of whether anyone gave out the timing of the speech or the discovery of the impending rebellion was an accidental coincidence, the uprising in the city where significant Soviet forces, without external reinforcements, were doomed to failure. On June 16, twelve participants in the performance were shot by a military court, but in the city they said that there were many more executed without trial, and the Magyars were primarily blamed for this. The abbot of the Innokentievsky (Voznesensky) Monastery, Zosima, who condemned the mass repressions of the Bolsheviks, was searched, and gold crosses, panagia, and money were confiscated. Two soldiers who prevented the robbery were killed on the spot. The terror was the last desperate but hopeless attempt to save Soviet power. The Nizhneudinsk Front had practically collapsed by this time, the Red Army and Red Guard detachments were pushed back by the Czechoslovaks to Irkutsk itself. Centrosiberia faced a dilemma: surrender Irkutsk without a fight and retreat to the east or defend it, as they had intended before. The residents of Irkutsk, realizing that the city could become an arena of fierce struggle, anxiously awaited the resolution of this issue. N.S. Romanov wrote in his diary during those troubled days:

“No one knows or can say with confidence what Irkutsk will experience in the coming days. But it is obvious that the Czechoslovaks will soon drive the Bolsheviks into the city and there will be events here: the pontoon bridge will catch fire, the railway bridge will be blown up, hostilities will begin in the city and, perhaps, December history will repeat itself, but in an even worse form, now it’s summer, it’s hot, you may be afraid of fires. There are a lot of alarming conversations, ridiculous rumors too... Many people leave for Baikal to villages, many go by boat down the Angara to Balagansk, Ust-Uda, anywhere, just not stay in Irkutsk.”.

The intention of the Soviet command to blow up bridges, a power plant, a water supply system, a telegraph, and the largest buildings in the city is confirmed in his memoirs by a member of Centrosiberia V. Ryabikov, but the Irkutsk Bolsheviks, confident in their imminent return, convinced the leadership not to do this, so as not to turn the population against themselves.

Even before the final decision was made, Soviet organizations began evacuating Irkutsk. Food, bank valuables, military supplies, property and documentation of Soviet institutions were exported to Verkhneudinsk. The masters in the city, in essence, became anarchist detachments engaged in outright robbery and robbery. Ultimately, the military commissariat of Eastern Siberia decided to leave Irkutsk without a fight, motivating this decision by the strategically inconvenient location of the city for defense, the food crisis, the anti-Soviet mood of the population and the failed mobilization into the Red Army. On the night of July 11, all Soviet troops and institutions left Irkutsk. During the retreat, military warehouses at the Batareinaya station were blown up and the railway bridge across Irkut was damaged. On the same day in the afternoon they entered the city through the Znamensky Bridge. parts of the Czechoslovaks and the White Guards. On June 13, it was announced that all power in Siberia would be transferred to the regional Duma of the Siberian Provisional Government, and in Irkutsk to the City Duma.

Russian legislation of the 10th-20th centuries. // Legislation of the era of bourgeois-democratic revolutions. - M., 1994. - T. 9. - P.16.
Popov I.I. Forgotten Irkutsk pages: Notes from the editor. - Irkutsk, 1989. - P.251.
Dulov V., Kudryavtsev F. 1905 in Eastern Siberia. - Irkutsk, 1941. - P.37.
Romanov N.S. Chronicle of the city of Irkutsk for 1902-1924. - Irkutsk, 1994. - P.54.
Kharus O.A. Liberalism in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century: Author's abstract. for the degree of Doctor of Historical Sciences. - Tomsk, 1998. - P.28.
Sagalaev A.M., Kryukov V.M. G.N. Potanin: experience of understanding personality. - Novosibirsk, 1991. - P.156.
Quote By: Dulov V.I., Kudryavtsev F.A. Revolutionary movement in Eastern Siberia in 1905-1907. - Irkutsk, 1955. - P.80.
Revolutionary movement in the Irkutsk province during the first Russian revolution: Sat. materials. - Irkutsk, 1955. - P.142.
Russian legislation of the 10th-20th centuries. - T. 9. - P.41.
Dulov V.I., Kudryavtsev F.A. Revolutionary movement in Eastern Siberia... - P. 127.
Popov I.I. Decree. op. - P.284.
Shumyatsky B.Z. Siberia on the way to October. - Irkutsk, 1989. - P. 107.
Eastern Review. - 1905. - November 13.
Quote By: Tolochko A.P. Political parties and the struggle for the masses in Siberia during the years of the new revolutionary upsurge. - Tomsk, 1989. - P.97.
Quote By: Romanov N.S. Decree. op. - P.70.
Kiryanov Yu.I. The number and composition of extreme right-wing parties in Russia (1905-1917): trends and reasons for change // About national history. - 1999. - No. 5. - P.32.
Siberian truth. - 1910. - Oct 9.
GAIO, f. 25, op. 3, d. 1706, l. 39.
Romanov N.S. Decree. op. - P.82.
Siberia. - 1917. - February 18.
Right there. - Jan 1
Siberian notes. - 1916. - No. 3. - P. 145.
Siberia. - 1917. - March 2.
Right there. - March, 3rd.
Right there. - March 23.
Romanov N.S.- Decree. op. - P.234-235.
Siberia. - 1917. - April 16.
GAIO, f. 741, op. 1, d. 27, l. 6.
Right there. F. 756, op. 1, d. 18, l. 60.
Siberia. - 1917. - June 8.
News of the Executive Committee of Public Organizations of Irkutsk. - 1917. - June 22; GAIO, f. 756, op. 1, d. 31, l. 21.
Calculated by: Romanov N.S. Decree. op. - P.246-247.
The struggle for Soviet power in the Irkutsk province: Collection of documents. - Irkutsk, 1957. - P.139.
Siberia. - 1917. - October 21.
Agalakov V.T. Feat of Centrosiberia. - Irkutsk, 1968. - P.34.
GAIO, f. 756, op. 1, d. 3, l. 1.
Shumyatsky B.Z. Siberia on the way to October. - P.337.
Quote By: Agalakov V.T. October in Irkutsk. - Irkutsk, 1987. - P.16.
Siberia. - 1917. - 21, 30 December.
The power of labor. - 1918. - January 31
October in Siberia: Chronicle of events. - Novosibirsk, 1987. - P.244.
Agalakov V.T. Feat of Centrosiberia. - P.72.
News of Centrosibiri. - 1918. - December 8.
The struggle for Soviet power in the Irkutsk province... - pp. 241-243, 343.
Feat of Centrosiberia (1917-1918): Collection of documents. - Irkutsk, 1986. - P.236.
Right there. - P.303.
Romanov N.S. Decree. op. - P.47.
Right there. - P.301.
Right there. pp. 303, 306.
Ryabikov V.V. Irkutsk is the capital of revolutionary Siberia. - Irkutsk, 1957. - P.159.