Manifestation of Russia's National Crisis in Siberia in the Autumn of 1917

Abstract

The paper considers the problem of the systemic crisis development in the Russian Siberian region in the autumn of 1917 as a part of the national crisis on the eve of the October political coup in the country. The purpose of the paper is to identify the essence of the general Siberian region crisis of this period, to define its internal and external manifestations, to understand the scenarios and ways of its overcoming in the concept of region public attitudes and social forces. The issue is investigated on the basis of dialectical materialism method through the historicism principles, the specific historical experience in connection with other historical events of the time. The First World War caused the huge over-extension of all society life areas in Russia. Socio-economic problems, unresolved on the eve of war, grew worse. The ruling elite failed to create the crisis management system adequate to the situation requirement, which led to the autocracy downfall and the democratic revolution in February of 1917. Having emerged from the wreckage of the old management system, the February power regime trying to carry out the revolutionary transformation in conditions of total war only worsened the national crisis and led to the state collapse. There appeared the projects to overcome the national crisis and revive the country, proposed by the Bolsheviks ("the proletariat tasks in the revolution") and the cadets ("the Kornilov action program") There were also the crisis separate overcoming scenarios offered by national and regional elites. This plan required the situation research in the Siberian region with the specific form of the systemic crisis, caused by both national problems and historical "Siberian issues". Moreover there appeared the regional scenario of crisis overcoming.

DOI 10.14258/izvasu(2017)2-10