Crisis of the System of Local Governance in Siberia before the Fall of Autocracy

Abstract

The article comprehensively considers the local governance in Siberia on the eve of the revolution of 1917. The powers and activity of local governance as well as the role of administrative and police authorities are examined. The analysis reveals that the powers of the administrative and police authorities in the region had their own specificity and were much wider than in the central provinces of the Russian Empire. In order to maintain order in the region before the revolution oppressive measures were taken. The combination of police arbitrariness, based on formalism and paperwork, with oppressive measures was a usual practice of local administration in Siberia. The economy of the Russian Empire was unprepared for continuous tension. The war and the issues caused by it led to the destruction and stagnation of the economy. The Siberian region, as an integral part of Russia, was no exception. The entry of the country into the First World War brought about destabilization of the socio-economic and political situation. The rise of anti-government sentiments, along with the inevitable increase in crime, showed that the opportunity for the modernization of the regional governance was passed up. The war served as a catalyst for the degradation of the political system of the Russian Empire. The growth of social tension and grave economic crisis in the region paralyzed the activities of local administration and police authorities, determining their decay. This was due to a whole complex of reasons and prerequisites of objective and subjective nature, most important of which was the overwhelming structural crisis of all spheres of life in the state and society. The system of administrative and police governance in the region, as well as throughout the country, began malfunctioning since it was ill-equipped for prompt and rapid response to emerging events and issues. Being incapable of withstanding the new pressure, it quickly degenerated and collapsed under the onslaught of revolutionary events in February — March 1917.