Peasant Migration to Siberia and Far East during the Post-Reform Era as Evaluated by the Anglo-American and German Researchers (Late XIX - Early XXI centuries)

The aim of the paper is to present a comprehensive historiographical analysis of the works of Anglo-American and German authors who studied the history of mass peasant migration to Siberia and Far East during the post-reform era. Since the late XIX century up to the present the Western researchers have shown a great interest in the progress and results of the mass peasant resettlements beyond the Ural. In their numerous publications they used new theoretical and methodological approaches, made some valuable observations and conclusions. However, the majority of their publications have been neglected by the Soviet and contemporary Russian scholars. The present paper is meant to fill this gap, so it has the following tasks: to determine the range of relevant issues addressed by Western researchers; to delineate the main periods in the history of studying the peasant migration to Siberia; to characterize main theoretical and methodological approaches used by Western scholars; to evaluate their contribution to this field of research. The author notes that Anglo-American and German researchers considered the mass peasant migrations along with the construction of Trans-Siberian railroad as significant factors ensuring a stronger Russia's presence in Asia. In their works the agrarian history of Russia and Siberia is analyzed in the global context, while the Russian peasantry's way of life is viewed as part of the global peasant culture. In the late XIX - mid-XX centuries the English- and German-language scholars used an objectivist approach and "universal theories" of colonization (K. Wiedenfeld, W. Klumberg, H.-Y. Seraphim) and modernization (D. Treadgold). They retrieved their data from a limited amount of available sources which was offset partially by the widespread use of the works of pre-revolutionary and Soviet specialists. As the international scientific cooperation increased, Western scholars increasingly used documentary materials from the central and local archives of the USSR and Russia. In the second half of the XX - early XXI centuries one of the main distinguishing features of Siberian studies in the West was an extensive use of the "frontier" theory (D. Treadgold, D. Kazmer, A. Kappeler). A contemporary German researcher E.-M. Stolberg attempted at summarizing various theoretical approaches representing the cultural history of Siberia within the political and socioeconomic frameworks, thus contributing to the development of the "frontier" theory, trans-regional and trans-cultural history. The author comes to conclusion that over the last century Western researchers demonstrated a variety of opinions: from the mostly negative attitudes in the early XX century to the mostly positive ones - in the contemporary historiography. While admitting failures in implementation of some governmental measures and specific situation in Southern and Eastern Siberia or in the Far East, contemporary authors tend to write about the migrations' positive impact on the social and economic development of Asian Russia. Focusing on the specifics of situation in Siberia they often underestimate the results of governmental policy aimed at unification of social groups and creation of a "big Russian nation" in Asia. However some historians (St. Marks, A. Wood and others) urge their colleagues not to exaggerate the success of "modernization" or specifics of the Siberian frontier. Such approach along with the use of a traditional theory of "colonization" resembles evaluations and forecasts made by the researchers at the beginning of the XX century.

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