Articles

“One of the Finest Means for Consolidation of the Russian Culture and Citizenship” (on the Resettlement Policy in the North Caucasus)

Vostok/Oriens '2016, №2

 
The article discusses the role and place of the governmental resettlement policy in the processes of the late imperial Russification of the North Caucasus. During the Russian empire’s penetration into the North Caucasus the administrative and legal actions of the Russian government were closely interwoven with activities for colonization of this areas, which resulted in not only economic developments of the region, but changes of its social-demographic background. The official measures taken to regulate migration flows in the Terek and Kuban areas, were aimed at solving the priority state task – consolidation of the Russian component in the local populations for their cultural convergence with other parts of the empire. New settlers from the Central Russia carried with themselves a powerful cultural potential which had a significant influence on social-economic development of the region. However, the special government’s and local administration’s attention to the Russian immigrants along with indecisive resettlement policy exacerbated a land issue, which always distinguished with particular acuteness for Mountaineers and eventually turned into a separate conflict factor.

Keywords: Russian Empire, North Caucasus, resettlement policy, colonization, Russification, Terek Area, entrants (“inogorodnie”), temporary residents (“vremennoprozhivayuschie”), land issue

Pages: С. 45–57