Resettlement towns in Western Siberia in the late imperial period: population, social infrastructure, sanitary condition

Abstract

In the late 19th - early 20th centuries after the lifting of the government ban on the resettlement to Siberia, people from European Russia - peasants suffering from the shortage of land - rushed to settle the vast expanses of the region. The central and local authorities carried out land management work, allocating special areas for settlers and agriculture for the needs of the settlers. Mass resettlement is accompanied by the formation of a new type of settlements on the Siberian land, the so-called resettlement settlements, which become an integral part of the rural settlement network. The aim of the article is to characterize the quantitative and qualitative results of the government's policy in the formation of a network of resettlement settlements in the territory of Western Siberia at the end of the imperial period by determining their number and social infrastructure development, and by describing their sanitary condition. As a result of the analysis of the statistical data, it is concluded that from 1893 to 1911-1912 the number of resettlement settlements increased from 54 to 1869 (34.6 times!) in two West Siberian provinces of Tobolsk and Tomsk. By 1911-1912, resettlement settlements accounted for 12.9 % of the entire settlement network of Tobolsk Province and 24.2 % of the network of settlements in Tomsk Province. The time of the settlement foundation varied from three to twenty-five years and depended on the natural and geographical conditions of the terrain, the level of material well-being of new settlers, the assistance of local authorities, transport accessibility, the degree of remoteness from other settlements and infrastructure facilities. The greater the economic importance of the village for the surrounding district, the more developed its social infrastructure was. Most often resettlement villages had mills, smithies, trading benches. In the early 20th century, with the efforts of the local administration and the inhabitants themselves schools were established, churches were built in the settlements. Unlike settlements of Siberian old residents, resettlement villages were in a poor sanitary condition. In the first years of their stay in Siberia, newcomers often lived in dugouts, tents, sheds. They needed time to build sturdy, warm houses. In the resettlement house, people often lived together with livestock. There were no beds, chairs and other furniture. Floors were mostly earthen, windows had only one frame, and ventilation came from numerous chaps. Settlers' yards had no baths, toilets for a long time after their arrival, they were not cleaned. The bad sanitary condition of houses and lack of personal hygiene provoked infectious diseases - measles, trachoma, scarlet fever, cholera and others. A high level of morbidity and mortality were typical features characterizing the life of settlers in Western Siberia. Nevertheless, resettlement villages of the late 19th - early 20th centuries greatly condensed the settlement network of the region, contributed to the growth of its scale and complication of its structure. The formation of the network of resettlement villages had a positive impact on the development of settlements of Siberian old residents and indigenous residents of the region. Closely in contact with old residents and the natives, settlers had personal, industrial and cultural relations with them.