Lidzhieva I.V. The Public Administration of the Kalmyk Steppe in the Context of the 300-year Jubilee of the House of Romanov

Abstract: The jubilee of the 300-year reign of the House of Romanov was the occasion for charity events all over the Russian Empire, initiated by the emperor Nicholas II. The assembly as an institute of local government in the Kalmyk steppe during the 19th–20th centuries was introduced on the legislative level by the Highest Decree of Nicholas I on the 23th of April 1847. The Ulus and Aimag assemblies discussed ways of perpetuating the jubilee date. The operative part of the resolutions recorded the decisions of these societies, which devoted particular attention to the social sphere. The article’s aim is to review the activity of the institute of local government in the Kalmyk steppe within the context of the commemoration of the 300-year rule of the House of Romanov. On the basis of an analysis of the unpublished sources in the funds of the National Archive of the Kalmyk Republic the author comes to the conclusion that the jubilee date served as a pretext for the initiation of socially-orientated construction projects, such as schools, hospitals, as well as the establishment of stipends for students in various educational institutions. The issue of the local government’s activities in the Kalmyk steppe during the 19th – early 20th century has not been addressed as a separate topic. This is why its analysis in this article allows to clarify the currently existing perceptions regarding the specifics of social policy implementation in the national peripheries of the Russian Empire.

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