The Influence of Disposession Policy on Population Migration in the Kalmyk Autonomous Region. 1929-1934

Introduction. In 1929–1934, in the Kalmyk Autonomous Region, as part of the policy of dispossession in the country, measures were taken to liquidate farms and relocate to new places the most financially well-off part of the rural population of the Kalmyk Autonomous Region. Mass population movements have had a noticeable impact on the social, demographic and ethnic structure of the autonomous region. This aspect of the collectivization policy initiated by the leadership of the USSR in relation to Kalmykia has not been studied specifically. The purpose of the study is to highlight the migration policy of the state during the period of mass dispossession in the Kalmyk Autonomous Region in 1929–1934. The source database includes materials from the funds of state and party authorities of the National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia. Results. The article examines the external and internal migrations in the region caused by the policy of dispossession. The resettlement of Kulaks was planned, the conditions of transportation of kulak families, as well as their adaptation to new places, were difficult. The main contingent of dispossessed and exiled, due to the peculiarities of the economic development of the region, were not farmers, but cattle breeders and fishermen. The state did not use their professional skills, employing the repressed in an industrial sphere unfamiliar to them. For the sparsely populated and economically underdeveloped Kalmykia, the dispossession and expulsion of the most enterprising and economic part of the peasantry had negative consequences. It should also be noted that Kalmykia is located in natural conditions that are generally unfavorable for human habitation. The evicted people were old-timers who were adapted to living in difficult local natural conditions, adapted to traditional economic activities. At the same time, the Kalmyk Autonomous Region was the host country. There were many remote and sparsely populated places on its territory, so it attracted runaway kulaks. In its settlements and just in the steppe, they hoped to wait out the persecution and return to their homeland or gain a foothold in a new place of residence. The actions of the authorities to evict the Kulaks increased the migration of the population in the Kalmyk Autonomous Region. On the one hand, it led to a forced mass outflow of the population, on the other to the illegal resettlement of a significant number of people who fled from the dispossession of people. 

1. National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia.

2. State Archive of the Astrakhan region.

3. Borisenko I. V. Dekulakization in Kalmykia. Science and Higher School of Kalmykia. 2000. No. 2(3). Pp. 84–101. (In Russ.)

4. Danilov V. P. The History of the Peasantry in Russia in the XX century: Selected Works. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2011. Part 1. 861 p. Part 2. 831 p. (In Russ.)

5. Ivnitsky N. A. Collectivization and Dispossession (early 30s). Moscow: Interprax, 1994. 267 p. (In Russ.)

6. Fitzpatrick Sh. Stalin's Peasants: the Social History of Soviet Russia in the 30s: Village. Moscow:ROSSPEN, 2008. 421 p. (In Russ.)The History of Kalmykia from Ancient Times to the Present Day: in 3 vol. Vol. 2. Elista: Gerel, 2009. 840 p. (In Russ.)

7. Maximov K. N. The Tragedy of the People. Repressions in Kalmykia in 1918–1940 s. Moscow: Nauka, 2004. 311 p. (In Russ.)

8. Oglaev Yu. O. The Implementation of the Lenin Cooperative Plan in Kalmykia (1917–1937). Elista: Kalmykia Book Publ., 1987. 159 p. (In Russ.)

9. Selunskaya V. M. The Struggle of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union for the Socialist Transformation of Agriculture. October 1917–1934. Moscow: Higher School, 1961. 205 p. (In Russ.)

10. Teptsov N. V. In the Days of the Great Turning Point. The History of Collectivization, Dispossession and Peasant Exile in Russia (USSR) by Letters and Memoirs. 1929–1933. Moscow: Zvonitsa, 2002. 414 p. (In Russ.)

11. Trapeznikov S. P. Leninism and the Agrarian and Peasant Question. Vol. 2. Moscow: Mysl, 1967. 622 p. (In Russ.)

12. Zelenin I. V. Stalin's “Revolution from above” after the “Great Turning point”. 1930–1939: Policy, Implementation, Results. Moscow: Nauka, 2006. 313 p. (In Russ.)

13. Zuev A. V. Dispossession of Peasant Farms in the Astrakhan Region (based on the materials of the State Archive of the Astrakhan region) // From Totalitarian Thinking to the Civic Consciousness of Astrakhan: Materials of public readings (March 30, 2000, Astrakhan). Astrakhan: Astrakhan State Ped. University, 2000. Pp. 6–11. (In Russ.)