Dynamics of social differentiation of the population of cities in the south of Western Siberia based on census data (late 19th – early 20th century)

Muratova Svetlana R. ORCID: 0000-0001-9088-795X PhD in History Senior Researcher; Tobolsk Complex Scientific Station of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 626152, Russia, Tyumen region, Tobolsk, Academician Yuri Osipov str., 15 s.r.muratova@utmn.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

The concept of "social differentiation" is based on the Latin word "differentia", which means difference and is used to classify statuses, roles and social institutions. Social differentiation is understood as the division of society into different social groups that occupy different positions in it, that is, they have a certain social status. These social groups may differ in age, gender, professions, religion, nationality, position, education, etc. the grounds. Social differentiation can include social stratification, cause status inequality, and consider the division of society into strata according to criteria of income, power, education, and prestige. Experience shows that social and economic inequality is most often singled out, meaning unequal access to benefits in public and economic life ^[18].

When studying the dynamics of social differentiation of the population, it is necessary to consider patterns: the complication of social differentiation and its simplification. The first occurs when new social differentiations and forms of ownership arise, and the second occurs when the ruling elite with its privileges disappears and the hierarchy of owners in terms of income is destroyed. Simplifying the social differentiation of the city's population can help reduce inequality. The reduction of inequality itself may be a consequence of the positive impact of public policy ^{[31, pp. 251-252)]}

An important source for studying the dynamics of social differentiation of the population of cities in the south of Western Siberia and the Steppe Region are statistical reports and descriptions ^{[13, 21]}, materials of one-day urban censuses, materials of the population censuses of 1897^[22-27], 1920^[16], 1923^[17], 1926^[6-8], 1937.^[9].

The issues of the demography of the city, the ethnic and confessional structure of urban communities, the class composition of the urban population, and the problems of privileges in Soviet society were the subject of interest to many researchers. We note the researchers who addressed the problems described above. In the pre–revolutionary period - G. N. Potanin ^[28]. In Soviet historiography, the sociology of the city was addressed by A. D. Kolesnikov, N. M. Dmitrienko, V. A. Skubnevsky, M. V. Shilovsky. In modern Russian historiography, the study of the population of cities in Western Siberia, its social structure and social differentiation has become a more attractive topic and has interested many researchers: I. A. Konovalov, Yu. M. Goncharova ^{[11, 12]}, V. A. Isupova^[15], V. N. Vladimirova^[5], O. B. Dashinamzhilov, etc. In these works, the dynamics of urban population, national, class, class composition of the population, employment structure, demographic processes in individual cities of Western Siberia are studied.

In choosing the subject of the study, we relied on the concept of limology as a methodological approach. The historical conditions of the formation of the urban framework along the borders of Western Siberia in the XVI-XVIII centuries ^[20] determined the choice of the territorial framework of the study. The fortress cities founded during the XVI-XVIII centuries became the focal points of communication between the Siberian regions and the center and predetermined the trajectory of further urbanization. The framework of urbanization in Asian Russia repeated the trajectory of the location of fortresses on the Siberian lines. The axes of the urban framework predetermined the features of the resettlement of immigrants, as well as the population density in these territories.

The object of our research is the totality of the urban population of the south of Western Siberia, the subject is the patterns and forms of social differentiation of the population of Omsk, Petropavlovsk, Semipalatinsk, Pavlodar, Biysk and Ust—Kamenogorsk. The territorial scope of the study is outlined by the south of Western Siberia, namely the cities of Petropavlovsk, Omsk, Semipalatinsk, Pavlodar and Ust-Kamenogorsk, Biysk. The purpose of the study was to analyze the forms of social differentiation of the population of cities in the south of Western Siberia in the chronological framework of the late 19th century – the first third of the 20th century. and to identify patterns. The chronological framework, the end of the XIX – the first third of the XX century. was not chosen by chance: during this period, Siberia was actively involved in all the political, economic and socio-cultural transformations that took place in the country. The political circumstances in which Russia found itself caused the need for management reforms, in the field of economics, education, the military sphere, etc. They, in turn, stimulated the growth of the region's population and, in particular, contributed to the development of cities.

Methods and methodological approaches in the study:

Our local historical research is based on an integrative methodological approach — historical methods of studying regional history are combined with methods of microsociology, based on the study of urban settlements through the analysis of census statistics. This allows us to declare the systematic method one of the main ones in this study, which allowed us to describe the patterns and forms of social differentiation of the population of cities in the south of Western Siberia, the comparative historical method is to compare the facts in the development of cities in the south of Western Siberia and identify common and special signs in the dynamics of social differentiation of their population. Statistical data on the number and composition of the population and other data are classified and processed with the identification of absolute and relative values, average values, using demographic indicators. In general, the research is based on the principles and methods of historical knowledge, namely the principles of historicism and scientific reliability.

The main part

The population of Russia has not only grown during industrial modernization and industrialization. There were periods of recession, which occurred during the First World War, the revolutions of 1917 and the Civil War. The following facts of demographic jumps and declines in the cities of the south of Western Siberia are recorded in the statistical data. For example, from 1897 to 1912, the number of cities in Omsk increased by 95,904 people, Petropavlovsk by 21,599 people, that is, by 3.7 and 3 times, respectively (the share of growth was 72% and 66.3%). On average, the population of Omsk increased by 6,394 people annually, and Petropavlovsk — by 1,837 people. At the same time, in the period from 1912 to 1920, there was a significant decline in the population of these two cities: Omsk by 21,599 people (16.2%) and Petropavlovsk by 11,816 people (28.4%). The population of Omsk and Petropavlovsk in 1912 amounted to 133280 and 41539 people. Accordingly, in 1920, 111681 people were registered in Omsk, and 29723 people in Petropavlovsk. In 1923, there were 143,380 people in Omsk, and 35,884 people in Petropavlovsk.^{[21, p. 28]} The movement of the population of cities in the south of Western Siberia is shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 1. The movement of the urban population in the south of Western Siberia from 1897 to 1937. The materials of the censuses of 1897, 1920, 1923, 1926 and 1937 were used ^[6-9]; ^[22-27].

V. A. Isupov in his monograph "Demographic catastrophes and crises in Russia in the first half of the XX century: Historical and demographic essays" also pointed out that at the beginning of the XX century the population of Russia was subjected to many trials: three revolutions, an unprecedented Civil War, the madness of war communism, the First World War ^{[15, p. 3]}.

Forced collectivization, famine of 1921-1922 and 1932-1933, accompanied by epidemics of infectious diseases, influenced the dynamics of population growth ^{[15, p. 3]}. These demographic shocks had a strong impact on the movement of the Kazakh population in the region. N. L. Krasnobaeva notes that during the period from 1897 to the end of 1926, the percentage of the Kazakh population fell from 74.1% to 57.1% ^{[19, p. 30]}.

We examined the dynamics of social differentiation of the population of the selected cities (Omsk, Petropavlovsk, Semipalatinsk, Pavlodar, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Biysk and Novokuznetsk) through the analysis of functional and rank social differentiation ^[18].

Let's consider the rank differentiation of the population of cities in the south of Western Siberia by their class and class composition. Representatives of different estates and classes had unequal access to power and privileges, property, status and prestige. This reflects the inequality in society.

It is known that urban estates built on the principles of inheritance of rights and corporate organization were legislated in the era of Catherine II. At the same time, merchant rank was not hereditary, and guild artisans did not have personal class rights. During the 19th century, the legal framework of the urban estates changed, but nobles and merchants remained privileged, petty bourgeoisie, guild artisans occupied the lower rung in this hierarchy. The reforms of Alexander II influenced the complication of Russian society, the urban population acquired a complex social structure, and there was a transition from a rigidly class-based tax system to wordless taxation. The dynamics of changes in the class composition and the number of representatives of individual estates can be traced by statistical materials presented in the Commemorative Book of the Akmola region in 1887, comparing it with the results of the census of 1897.

For example, the class composition of the population of Omsk and Petropavlovsk was represented by ministers of worship, nobles, serving and non-serving soldiers, Cossacks, burghers, merchants, raznochintsy, foreigners and even peasants. Their number is shown in table 1.

Table 1.

The class composition of the population of Omsk and Petropavlovsk*^[21]

* Commemorative book of the Akmola region for 1887, p. 19., Appendix 2. P. 1.

In the materials of the 1897 census, the following class groups were identified: hereditary nobles and their families; personal nobles, non-noble officials and their families; persons of spiritual rank, of all Christian faiths and their families; hereditary and personal honorary citizens and their families; merchants and their families; burghers; peasants; military Cossacks; foreigners; Finnish natives; persons who do not belong to the named estates; persons who did not indicate the estates; foreign subjects. The number and proportion of representatives of these class groups is shown in table 2.

When comparing, one can notice an increase in representatives of the clergy and merchants in Omsk, as well as peasants, at the same time a decrease in the nobility, the military class and the bourgeoisie. In Petropavlovsk, the number of clergy decreased, and the number of nobility, Cossacks, merchants, burghers and peasants increased.

Thus, according to the 1897 census, the share of representatives of the noble class in the cities under consideration ranged from 2% (Biysk) to 13.8% (Omsk). In Semipalatinsk, Petropavlovsk, Pavlodar and Ust-Kamenogorsk, about 3-4%, in Kuznetsk up to 6.3%. The percentage of clergy, hereditary and personal honorary citizens with their families did not exceed 1%. The proportion of merchants and their families among citizens in different cities ranged from 0.7% to 2.5% (Table 2).

A contemporary, G.N. Potanin, left evidence about Omsk of that period, who noted that "a significant percentage of the urban population were retired officials and retired officers and soldiers." He wrote that Omsk has the cheapest life in the entire distance from St. Petersburg to Irkutsk. But the governor-General's residence made the city a center of cultural life and attractive to retired officials and the military. Here, according to G.N. Potanin, "concerts, performances, balls and fireworks" were organized. Therefore, even retired officials from Orenburg and Irkutsk came to Omsk to live out their retirement (28, pp. 84-85).

The boundaries between the population groups were unclear. This, at one time, was noted by the Russian statistician of the beginning of the XX century N. A. Rubakin, "it is not uncommon to meet a person who does not know himself to which class he belongs." Yu. M. Goncharov, a researcher of the history of Siberian cities, noted that real life in the Russian Empire "did not fit into a legally fixed four-word system" and the system itself was very changeable. It is known that the Siberian city was also distinguished by the fact that such a category of the population as exiles stood out in it ^{[12, p. 125]}.

A. Rieber wrote that the reforms of the 1860s and 1870s "reduced the barriers that divided the Russian population into hereditary estates, but they did not completely eliminate legislative differences that continued to hinder the formation of social classes and national citizenship within Russia, at least in the sense in which they are known in Western and Central Europe"^{[29; 12, p. 125]}.

Yu. M. Goncharov, discussing the class composition of the population of cities in Western Siberia, noted a noticeable reduction in a number of categories: the military, who were the second largest group among citizens who disappeared from statistics during the post-reform period; merchants, honorary citizens, clergy. The most widespread urban class is marked by philistinism^{[12, p. 129]}.

The formation of the bourgeoisie was conditioned by legislative acts of the time of Catherine II. The charter of 1785 outlined the source of replenishment of this category of citizens. The petty-bourgeois class of cities was replenished initially from among the townspeople, freed serfs, from among the lower military ranks, free "walking people", state peasants, foreigners ^{[3, pp. 28--281]}.

In terms of numbers, the middle-class class in the cities of Western Siberia was the largest. According to the 1897 census, the proportion of this category of citizens in the cities of southern Western Siberia ranged from 36.7% to 81.3%: Omsk — 37.3%, Petropavlovsk — 45.2%, Semipalatinsk — 38.2%, Pavlodar 36.7%, Ust-Kamenogorsk — 54.5%, Kuznetsk — 61%, Biysk — 81.3%. The percentage of philistines in Omsk was low, compared with other cities under consideration. G. N. Potanin also noted this fact in his work ^{[28, p. 84]}. If we take into account that the burghers in the period under consideration were mainly replenished at the expense of peasants, then it is possible to increase these percentages at the expense of such a category of townspeople as peasants separately allocated in the 1897 census (Table 2).

Table 2

Distribution of the population by estates and states according to the census of 1897*

*Numerator – absolute value; denominator – specific gravity in %. The table is based on the materials of the 1897 census ^{[22, pp. 230-231; 234-235; 26, pp. 124-125; 128-129; 27, pp. 137-143]}.

According to Yu. M. Goncharov, despite the existence at the end of the XIX – beginning of the XX century of all-russian citywide self-government bodies introduced during the era of Alexander II's urban reform, the government preserved and supported estate self-government bodies. He proves his point of view on the example of the petty-bourgeois class of cities in Western Siberia ^{[11, pp. 48-49]}.

Yu. M. Goncharov separately examines the activities of such bodies of estate (communal) self-government in cities (especially large ones) as petty-bourgeois assemblies and councils, and notes their relevance. Petty-bourgeois societies could own real estate. In large cities, this property could be quite significant. Merchants and artisans had such societies separately. Such estate societies, being a legal entity, owned real estate, which, due to leasing, brought passive income ^{[11, pp. 48-49]}.

In social mobility, philistinism was attractive to peasants from the point of view that class affiliation was passed on to the wife, even if she was of lower origin, to children, and even adopted. That is, a peasant girl could increase her social status by marrying a philistine. A middle-class woman who married a peasant retained her status. But not everyone could become a part of this class. There were certain conditions, one of which was the purchase of real estate in the city, the second condition was the occupation of trade or craft, etc.

In general, at the beginning of the XX century, there was a tendency to reduce the nobility, an increase in representatives of the business and commercial world (merchants and burghers), the desire of newly arrived citizens to enroll in the bourgeois class, which gave the Russian citizen, albeit a small, but noticeable privilege and status.

According to the data of 1907, it is possible to consider changes in the social structure of Semipalatinsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk, comparing statistical indicators with the data of the census of 1897. In Semipalatinsk, the numerical number of nobles, officials, and officers decreased compared to 1897 (there were 1071 people, 4% of the total population of the city, there were 762 people, 2.9% of the total population). The clergy decreased from 78 people (0.3%) to 27 people (0.1%). The number of burghers increased from 10020 people (38.2%) to 14,805 (56.2%); at the same time, the number of peasants in the city is noticeably decreasing: from 4,480 people (17.1%) in 1897 to 2,660 (10.1%) in 1907; Cossacks from 642 (2.4%) to 227 (0.9%). According to the census of 1897, 9191 foreigners were counted. This category included not only Kazakhs, but also other Asian peoples. According to the data of 1907, there were 6,586 (25.0%) Kazakhs in Semipalatinsk, 56 (0.2%) — foreign nationals ^{[30, p. 20]}.

In Ust-Kamenogorsk, there was also a decrease in the nobility from 336 (3.9%) to 191 (1.5% of the total population of the city; clergy – from 59 (0.67%) to 40 (0.3%); peasants — from 1933 (22.2%) to 1443 (11.4%); Cossacks — from 730 (8.4%) to 114 (0.9%). At the same time, there was an increase in merchants and honorary citizens — from 152 (1.75%) to 235 (1.9%); burghers from 4753 (54.5%) to 10007 (78.9%) ^{[13, p. 20]}.

The class structure of the city differs markedly in these two cities. At the beginning of the 20th century, the share of the ethnic population was quite significant — in Semipalatinsk, a third of the urban population were foreigners, while in Ust-Kamenogorsk it was only 7.8% (Table 2).

The urban population of the south of Western Siberia, as well as other regions of the country, grew due to the resettlement of rural residents to cities who were not ready to give up their usual life overnight. The proportion of the population of cities in the south of Western Siberia engaged in agricultural labor was quite high. The largest number of peasants was in Omsk (35.7%), in other smaller cities: in Petropavlovsk – 25.8%, Semipalatinsk — 17.1%, Pavlodar 28.3%, Ust—Kamenogorsk - 22.2%, in Biysk – 13.2%, in Kuznetsk — 21.3%. But if we consider that in Semipalatinsk the percentage of the foreign population was quite high (35%), then the indicator of the population engaged in agricultural labor in this city reached 52%, and in Petropavlovsk — up to 38%, Pavlodar — 48% and Ust-Kamenogorsk — 30% (Table 2).

The large proportion of people engaged in agricultural labor in the composition of the townspeople was objectively determined by the peculiarity of the Russian city. The researchers note that since the second quarter of the 19th century, the government, concerned about the slow growth of the share of urban estates in the urban population, did not even try to impede the access of the peasantry to the urban environment – so obvious was the futility of combating the presence of peasants and their penetration into cities. The government turned to other means of stimulating urbanization – to attract people from rural and other classes to urban ones, to provide the latter with some benefits – and achieved notable success in this way ^{[14, p. 42]}.

A significant part of the population of cities in the south of Western Siberia were artisan workers, industrial workers, and small employees. Many of them were also engaged in agriculture. Kazakh and Russian workers at industrial enterprises worked seasonally, in spring and summer. Especially the Kazakhs, when they migrated to mines and factories.

The preservation of urban ties with agriculture was considered by Russian historiography to be a feature of the domestic industrialization of the late 19th century – early 20th century. The researchers noted that class formation in cities, and especially the working class of cities, took place at the expense of peasant outsiders who left their families as part of the peasant household and returned to the village in the summer season to participate in field work. The seasonal nature of the supply of their labor by peasants in cities, on the one hand, caused such a feature of hiring workers in industrial labor markets, on the other hand, it became a factor in preventing rapid proletarization, which was characteristic of the economies of England, Europe and North America. Describing the Russian model of modernization X. Kessler noted it as "a unique Russian path to industrialization, which has no analogue in history. The reforms carried out at the turn of the century and in the first decades of Soviet power were supposed to save the country from an imbalance between limited land resources and a rapidly growing rural population ^{[1, p. 12]}

After the October Revolution, during the NEP period, the social structure of the young Soviet state underwent significant changes. Class survivals were overcome. In the censuses of 1920, 1923 and 1926, the population was ranked by class: by position in occupation. In the 1920 census, the following social groups were identified: workers, employees, people in an off-duty position, owners without hired workers, helping family members, owners with hired workers, rentiers, clergy, army and navy, declassified groups, persons who inaccurately designated occupations, dependents of state and public institutions. The list of divisions in 1923 and 1926 underwent only minor changes, so that the urban population was ranked according to these sections ^{[5, pp. 61-62]}. The mentioned classifications of occupations are given below for comparison (Table 3).

Table 3

Social groups identified by the censuses of 1920, 1923 and 1926.

In the new Soviet society, the ranks were built in a new way: in the Constitution of the USSR in 1924, the liquidation of the exploiting classes was declared, workers, peasants and intellectuals remained.

The census identified an amateur population. It included both the working population, who have earnings and are economically independent, and people who are temporarily unemployed for reasons beyond their control. The self-employed population could receive income both active and passive (rent, trade and craft, interest on deposits, etc.). Table 4 and Figure 2 show the population of the cities in question, ranked by class and occupation.

Fig. 2. The amateur population of the south of Western Siberia according to the 1926 census (the population is represented by social groups identified in the census materials) ^{[7, pp. 78-123; 8, pp. 183,190-193]}

The most numerous were workers and employees, who made up just over 20% of the population of Omsk, Biysk, Petropavlovsk, 25% — Ust-Kamenogorsk, and 17.2% — Semipalatinsk and 13.7% — Pavlodar. It should be noted that in the 1926 census, the category of "persons who do not have or do not indicate occupations" included rentiers, declassified groups, dependents of state and public institutions, persons who inaccurately designated occupations. According to the 1926 census, this figure was the highest in Biysk and amounted to 6.9%, in Omsk, Petropavlovsk and Semipalatinsk — slightly more than 5%, in Pavlodar and Ust-Kamenogorsk — slightly more than 4%.

We examined the functional differentiation of the urban population based on the analysis of the division of labor among citizens, professional and role differentiation. We have analyzed the amateur population of cities in the south of Western Siberia and identified an indicator of its activity. The ratio of the number of amateur population to the total population is called an indicator of amateur activity of the population or an indicator of its activity. Figure 2 clearly shows the numerical composition of the amateur population of Omsk, Biysk, Petropavlovsk, Semipalatinsk, Pavlodar, Ust-Kamenogorsk by individual social groups. Table 4 shows the proportion of the economically active population of cities in the south of Western Siberia by individual social groups.

Table 4

The self-employed population of the cities of the 1926 census, by social groups, indicating the proportion of each group among the employed population*

* In the numerator – the absolute value, in the denominator – the proportion of the social group among the amateur population of the city in %. The table is based on the materials of the 1926 census ^{[7, pp. 78-123; 8, pp. 183,190-193]}

As we noted above, workers and employees who made up from 1/4 to 1/5 of the urban population, as well as the category of the registered population "persons who do not have or have not indicated occupations" (from 7.5% in Ust-Kamenogorsk to 16% in Biysk), possibly having passive income from property, stood out significantly in number.

Table 4a shows the number of economically active population by individual occupational groups, taking into account the involvement of men and women.

Table 4a

Population group "B" – employees in separate professional groups*

* In the numerator – the number of men, in the denominator – the number of women. The table is based on the materials of the 1926 census ^{[7, pp. 78-123]}

The employment of men in such professional groups as "senior staff" (92.4% in Omsk and 90.3% in Biysk), "senior technical staff" (95.1% and 95%), "average technical staff" (95.2% and 94%), "economic staff" (93.3% and 86.2%), "commercial and economic personnel" (88.5% and 94.9%), and high employment of women in such groups as "secondary medical personnel" (71%), "junior medical personnel" (83.4% and 88.9%), "cultural and educational personnel" (63.2% and 71.3%), and a very large percentage of women's employment in the "personal servants" group (99.7%).

Let's consider the dynamics of the activity of the amateur population of cities according to the censuses of 1897 and 1926 in comparison. By 1926, the population of Omsk had increased 4.3 times since 1897, by 124,308 people, 1.5 times — Ust-Kamenogorsk, 2.3 times – Pavlodar, 2.4 times — Petropavlovsk and 2.2 times – Semipalatinsk.

According to the 1897 census, the largest indicator of economic activity was in Omsk (49.3%), in the other cities under consideration from 32.4% in Biysk to 39.9 in Semipalatinsk. The high economic activity in Omsk is explained by the fact that by the end of the XIX century a railway passed through Omsk, which greatly influenced the development of both the city's economy and its growth. By 1926, the economic activity of Omsk decreased from 49.3% to 41.4%, and in the city of Ust-Kamenogorsk, on the contrary, increased from 34.5% to 57%. Table 5 shows the dynamics of development of both the total population of cities in the south of Western Siberia from 1897 to 1926, and the amateur population, as well as an indicator of the activity of the amateur population of cities.

Table 5

The indicator of activity of the urban population of the south of Western Siberia according to the censuses of 1897 and 1926.*

*The materials of the censuses of 1897 and 1926 were used to compile the table ^[6-9]; ^[22-27].

In the materials of the 1926 census, there is an indication of the skill level of the amateur population. For such a ranking of the working population, data on literacy/illiteracy and educational level were used. The numerical composition of the qualified, semi-skilled, unskilled amateur population of Omsk and Biysk is shown in Figure 3.

Fig. 3. The amateur population of cities by skill level ^{[7, pp. 78-123]}

There were more skilled workers in Omsk and their share was higher than semi-skilled, unskilled and workers without a specialty designation combined. In Biysk, the situation was reversed. The social status of a skilled worker and an unskilled one was different, since their incomes were much different: the incomes of the former were higher. Therefore, it can be assumed that the social situation of workers in Omsk was better than in Biysk.

The sources for analyzing the differentiation of income of the population by salary were the Bulletin of Labor Statistics of the Siberian Territory. An indicator of social differentiation is the average earnings, which reflected the prestige and relevance of certain professions, affecting social status and status. The average earnings reflected the existence of a disparity in the remuneration of people in various professions. The analysis in the table is given separately for two cities in the south of Western Siberia and for the cities of Siberia as a whole.

Table 6

Salaries of employees in the cities of the south of Western Siberia and in Siberia as a whole in August 1927*

* Compiled from the source: Bulletin of Labor Statistics of the Siberian Region. No. 6, January 1928. Novosibirsk, 1928. 95 p.

The average salary in Siberian cities ranged from 43.65 rubles in public institutions to 48.07 rubles in cooperative and public institutions and 44.36 rubles. in all institutions. The salary increase in August 1927 compared to the same month in 1926 amounted to 105.9% (Table 6). It should be noted that by 1926-1929, the Soviet government tried to equalize the salaries of workers and employees in order to eliminate the differentiation of the population by income. The dynamics of the average salary of employees in all cities of Siberia amounted to 41.94 rubles in August 1926 and 44.36 rubles in August 1927 (in budget rubles). But the salary increase could be a consequence of a change in the qualification composition of the accounting mass of employees as a result of rationalization and staff reduction ^{[2, p. 6-7]}

The average monthly earnings of employees and junior maintenance personnel of the Siberian factory industry for the quarter of July-September 1927 in the manufacturing industry amounted to 97.41 budget rubles for senior administrative and technical personnel, 51.28 rubles for employees (without Adm. and tech.), 21.79 rubles for junior service personnel. In the extractive industry, respectively – 102.29 rubles, 58.91 rubles and 21.01 rubles. ^{[2, pp. 25-26]}. The salaries of party workers were set at 150% of the average salary in the institutions under their control.

V. N. Vladimirov analyzed the level of wage inequality by calculating the decile coefficient and the Gini index. The researcher noted an increase in inequality in employees' salaries (an increase in both coefficients: decile – from 5.35 to 5.41, Gini index – from 0.34 to 0.35), a decrease in inequality in workers' salaries (the decile coefficient fell from 3.56 to 2.50, and the Gini index – from 0.25 to 0.19). A rapid increase in the salaries of low–paid workers was found (by 127% or 2.27 times in 4 years – from 16.10 rubles in 1925 to 36.54 rubles in 1929) compared with the salaries of high-paid workers (salary growth was 59.1% – 1.59 times). The increase in wages of low-paid workers by 1928-1929 led to a certain equalization of workers' wages (along with the general trend in the country) ^{[4, pp. 90-92]}.

Conclusion

In general, in the late XIX – early XX centuries, there was a complication of the social structure of the urban population, which was a consequence of the reforms of the late XIX century. and the transition to wordless taxation. The dynamics of the class composition and the number of representatives of individual estates were traced using statistical materials using four forms of differentiation.

Rank differentiation was considered based on the materials of the 1897 census, the following class groups were identified: hereditary nobles and their families; personal nobles, non-noble officials and their families; persons of spiritual rank, of all Christian faiths and their families; hereditary and personal honorary citizens and their families; merchants and their families; burghers; peasants; military Cossacks; foreigners; Finnish natives; persons who do not belong to the named estates; persons who did not specify the estates; foreign subjects. There was an increase in representatives of the clergy, merchants, and peasantry in Omsk and a noticeable decrease in the nobility and the military class. The high percentage of representatives of the nobility and bureaucracy in Omsk (13.8%) compared to other cities studied is explained by the attractiveness of this city for retired officials, officers and soldiers. The reason for this was the variety of entertainment in Omsk, as the Governor-General's residence made this city the center of cultural life.

In the pre-revolutionary period, the social structure of cities in the south of Western Siberia was as follows: the proportion of clergy, hereditary and personal honorary citizens with their families in the population of cities did not exceed 1%. The proportion of merchants and their families among the townspeople in different cities ranged from 0.7% to 2.5%. The most numerous class in the cities of southern Western Siberia were the bourgeoisie, whose proportion according to the census of 1897 ranged from 36.7% to 81.3%: By 1907, an increase in the number of burghers in Omsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk, Semipalatinsk.

After the October Revolution, during the NEP period, the population of cities was ranked by class: by position in occupation. The natural consequence of these changes was the simplification of the social structure of Soviet society.

Within the framework of functional differentiation, the self-employed economically active population of cities in the south of Western Siberia was analyzed. Workers and employees made up 1/4 to 1/5 of the self-employed urban population. The majority of professional groups were represented by men, but professions were noted in which the number of employed women was greater than men — these were "middle and junior medical personnel", "cultural and educational personnel", which consisted of female representatives by 63 to 88%, in the group "personal servants" women made up 99.7%.

The Soviet government, through wages, sought to reduce the social differentiation of the population. But the income inequality between the main population and the nomenclature indicated that the latter had become a privileged stratum of the population in the Soviet state.