The Dynamics of Number and Personal Composition of the Party and Soviet Elite of Siberia in the 1920s ; Динамика численности и персонального состава партийно-советской элиты Сибири в 1920-е гг.

This paper considers the party and Soviet elite of Siberia in the 1920s. The main tasks of the research consist in determining the scope and essence of the notion of “party and Soviet elite of Siberia” and establishing their number and personal composition. The author relies on the achievements of national historiography referring to documents found in central and regional archives. The author shares the opinion that the main criterion indicative of political elite is not social background, education, strong leadership skills or experience, but the possession of real power and corresponding privileges. Such an approach determines the understanding of the party and Soviet elite of Siberia as a group of party and Soviet officials of regional / krai level, whose position entitled them to take important political decisions which they did take. In 1920s Siberia, such people were members and alternate members of the Siberian Revolutionary Committee, Siberian Bureau of the Central Committee of RCP(b), the Bureau of the Siberian Krai Committee of RCP(b)–AUCP(b) and the Presidium of the Siberian Krai Executive Committee of the Soviets. The analysis of the personal composition of the four abovementioned bodies demonstrates that from January 1920 to December 1929, the number of party and Soviet elite members increased from 5 to 34 persons. At the same time, at the beginning of the 1920s, the growth dynamics were rapid but starting with 1923 they slowed down significantly. The author concludes that its main cause was the introduction of a nomenclature system of recording and distributing the staff; in such conditions, it was not revolutionary merits or length of membership in the party, but the position occupied that was considered of primary importance. From that time onward, the renewal of the party and Soviet elite occurred mainly due to the rotation of officials heading the krai party, Soviet, economic, and military bodies and social organisations. Thanks to permanent renewal of personal composition in the 1920s, the ...