Siberia: Worlds Apart

256 Pages·1998·26.47 MB·English

by  Victor L. Mote

Westview Series on the Post-Soviet Republics
Alexander 1. MotyI, Series Editor
Siberia: WorEcls A~artV, ictor I:,. Mote
The CPntml Asian Stntes: Discoueri~zgI tzdependence, Gregory GIeason
Lilhzta~~iiTl:li e Rebel Natiou, V, Stdey Vardys and fudith B. Scdaitis
Belam?;:A t a Cmssroad?;i n Wistn-ry, Jan Zaprudnik
Estonia: Xeizdrn to fndependen~eR~e in Taagepera
ds Apart
VICTOR L. MOTE
University of F-foustm, tlnivcrsity Park
1
A Member of the 1"erseus Books <;rc?u.lup
-,
All Iligl-tts reserved, Printed in tlw United States of America, No part of this pt~bIicatic~mna y
be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, inclucl-
in8 photcscopy, recording, or any infonnal.ian storage and retrieval system, without permis-
sion in writing from the publisl~er.
Copyright O 1998 by West-riiew Press, A Member of the Perseus Dcwh Group
hblisl~edin 1998 in the United States of girnerica by Wml-itiew Press, 55i10 Centrat givenue,
Boulder, Colorado 80301-2877, and in the United Kingdom by Westview Press, 12 Hid's
Copse Road, Cumnor Hill, Oxfod OX2 9JJ
A CXP catalog record for this book is available from the Libraq of Congress
lSBN 61-8133-129&1 (hardcover); 0-8133-1837-8 (pbk.)
The paper used in this ptrbitication meets the requirements of the American National Slan-
dard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Librar~M~a terials 239.48-1984.
To Fabia~aH e~u~uarwd ith love: May your beauty reign forever;
To my mother and children with love;
To Alan "Robin" Wood arld all his mewy nleu:
May you always be seekers of truth;
To all Siberians:
May you at long last come in from the cold.
We liwf ar nzoay in Siberia, the land of gulags.
We Izave rebel blood,
-A Eexandcr Smimov
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Contents
Tables and fllustrations
Preface
Acbzourledgnzcnts
Aufhor's Note os-z Transliteration
1 Greater Siberia: A Resource Frontier
htrnduction, 1
Greater Siberia: Russia's '""Freig~T~e rritory," 2
The Periphery as a &source Frontier, 5
Conclusion, 10
Notes, 10
2 Greater Siberia: The Land and Its People
htroduction, 13
Western Siberia, 13
Eastern Siberia, 19
The Russian Far East, 25
Conclusion, 29
Notes, 29
3 The Little Siberians: On the Planet" Periphery
htrnduction, 31
The Peapling of Siberia, 31
Ethnography Before the I(ussimsf 32
Russians in Siberia, 39
Conclttsion, 51.
Notes, 52
4 Regionalism, Separatism, and
Russificatian 1Befo.se the Revolution
The Birth oE a Region, 57
Russification and the Siberims Before 1917,6Q
viil CQMTENTS
Chmges in the hdigelzaus People
on the Eve of the Soviet Period, 72
Conclusion, 74'
Notes, 74
5 Revoltrtian, Civil War, and Stalinism in Greater Siberia '79
Regionalists and Revofutionaries, 79
Siberia h the Civil Nr, 81
The NEIP and Greater Siberia, 85
Greater Siberia Under Stalin, 90
Stalhism and the Native Question, 99
Conclusion, 100
Notes, 101
6 Salad Days: The East-West Rebate and Greater Siberia 105
htroduetion, 105
Labor, Research, and Development After Stalin., 106
The Siberian Eccmomy, 1950-1985,109
Siberim Politicians Affer the Stigma, 114
Greater Siberim Indigenes, 195%1985,123
Conclusion, 124
Notes, 125
7 Dog Days and the Rise of the Little Siberians, 198S1993 131
htroduetion, 131
Kuzbas Goes on Strike, 132
Nal;ionali$ies Policies, 137
Regionalism and Federa,lism, 142
Conclusion, 3149
Notes, 149
8 Greater Siberia Today: Roaring Mice and Wage Amears 155
Octfiber 's Aftermath: National Supremacy
vs. Ehoregional Rghts? 155
Organized Entercrst Grougs, 157
The Mice 'That Roar, 1'78
Conclznsian, 192
Notes, 195
es and I lustrations
Tables
A.1 Greater Siberian Governorships in 1917
md Ethoregions h 1997
B. 1 Socioecmomic Characteristics of Etharegions
in Greater Siberia in 1997
Maps
1.1 Greater Siberia and the Little Siberias, 1998
2.1 Greater Sfieria: Physical Geography
2.2 Greater Siberia: Ethnic Groups
3.1 Conquest af Siberia, 15&1868
5.1 Infamous Siberian Railway Projects and the Gulag
61 Ob"asi_n Oil and Gas Fields
6.2 The Baykal-huf Mail1 Line (BAM)
8.1 Results of the 1996 Russim Presidential
Runoff Election in Greater Siberia
Photos
The Rcrssiya (Russia) rolls from Moscow to
Vladivostok in eight days xii
3.1 Bust af Andro~~aviwmo man ca. 2000 B.C. 35