Дискурс Пи (Jan 2022)
Composition and Transformation of the Regional Elite in the Ural Oblast during the Period of the New Economic Policy and Industrialization (1923–1934)
Abstract
The reform of the administrative division of the USSR in 1923-1930 was an attempt to find the optimal balance of power between the Center and the regions. The consolidation of regions, primarily in the format of oblasts, led to the strengthening of regional political elites and the growth of their influence on the state of affairs within the country. As part of the reform, the Ural oblast was created in 1923 and existed until 1934. The article reveals the specifics of the Ural elite, which, on the one hand, was determined by the general patterns of social changes during the revolutionary upheavals of 1917-1920, on the other hand - by the peculiarities of the region (first of all, the need for effective management of mining and metallurgical enterprises and military plants). Based on the archival materials, the author traces the evolution of social characteristics and political behavior of managers who in 1923-1934 were part of the Ural Regional Committee (Uralobkom) of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), also known as the VKP(b). It is noted that the social structure of the Ural elite persisted throughout the period under study, but the party leadership constantly changed the top officials of the Uralobkom, trying to prevent the proliferation of patron-client relations in the region. The characteristic features of Moscow appointees are highlighted: emphasized distancing from their local environment; positioning loyalty to the Central Committee; readiness for repression against socalled "class-alien elements", etc. The conflicts between Moscow appointees and the local nomenclature are analyzed, as well as the reasons for the Resolution of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (January 17, 1934) on the division of the Ural oblast into three regions - Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, and Ob-Irtysh oblasts.
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