THE MIGRATION PROCESSES IN ALTAI DURING 1917–1926: INFORMATION POTENTIAL OF STATISTICAL SOURCE

Abstract

The study presents an attempt to assess the information potential of official publications of central and regional statistical institutional bodies in the early 20th century for studying migration processes in Altai. The aim of the research is to generate the information system on the historical statistics of Altai of the second half of the 19th century – the first third of the 20th century. The modern historiography of migration processes in the early 20th century is full of theoretical and practical concepts of resettlement in the early Soviet period. Nevertheless, the issues of population dynamics in Altai and the role of migration processes in the early Soviet period remain relevant. The official publications of the central and provincial statistical institutional bodies, materials of the population censuses of 1916–1917, 1920, 1923, and 1926, publications of the Altai Provincial Statistical Bureau are among the sources for studying migration processes in Altai in 1917–1926. The authors state that official statistical materials, despite certain difficulties in comparing and analyzing data, allow them to trace the main trends, as well as the role and significance of migration processes for Altai. The dynamic ranks in terms of the population of counties and cities for 1917–1923, made by the Altai Provincial Statistical Bureau, as well as data from population censuses of 1917, 1920, 1923, and 1926, are the most informative sources. Special characteristics of migrations in Altai compared to similar Siberian processes are revealed in the paper. The authors conclude that, by 1926, migrations of the early Soviet period played a key role in the formation of the Altai population.