Alexandr Anatolievich Burmatov,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Institute of History of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Science, Novosibirsk, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Socio-Demographic Situation in Western Siberia during the Years of the New Economic Policy (1921–1929)
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2023-4-13
The article examines socio-demographic situation in the West Siberian region since the end of the Russian Civil War in this territory until the end of the 1920s. Based on the publications of the local authorities, the changes in the social sphere of the population life (the state of nutrition, housing problem, the development of medical services) and its impact on the demographic situation in the region are traced. The specific material shows the disastrous situation in the demographic sphere at the beginning of the NEP (epidemics, famine). The sources used to examine the problem are those that were published on the spot, so they contain information that was hushed up by the authorities in the future. The publications of the early 1920s prepared by the authorities of the districts were practically inaccessible for researchers. The small number of copies, poor preservation, deliberate destruction, and disregard for the publications themselves all contributed to this. There is a description of the social sphere and the activity of local authorities on its development, which was not always positive in conditions of chronic shortage of funding. The authorities tried to shift part of the burden of expenditures onto the population itself. It is concluded that the population of the West Siberian sub-region entered a period of demographic transition, when a significant part of the population regulated childbearing. Economically, fertility was supported through the distribution of land in rural areas and the preservation of small-scale agriculture.
Publishing: 28/08/2023
The article has been received by the editor on 12/05/2023
How to cite: Burmatov А.А. Socio-Demographic Situation in Western Siberia during the Years of the New Economic Policy (1921–1929) // Historical Courier, 2023, No. 4 (30), pp. 181–191. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2023/ISTKURIER-2023-4-13.pdf]
The article was made on the topic of the state assignment “Dynamics of the Economic and Social Development of Asian Russia in the Context of Geostrategic Challenges of the Late 19th – Early 21st Centuries” (FWZM-2021-0003).
Links: Issue 4 2023
Keywords: NEP; population reproduction; birth rate; mortality; health care development; Western Siberia; Altai province; Omsk district; Barabinsky district