Ethnic composition and features of the deployment of military formations in the Turgai region according to the results of the First General Population Census of the Russian Empire in 1897

This article continues the study of the ethnic and national composition of the Armed Forces and Cossack formations of the Russian Empire based on the results of the First All-Russian Population Census in 1897. The purpose of this study is to show the ethnic composition of the armed forces and Cossack troops of the Russian Empire in the Turgai region; an attempt to identify patterns and causal relationships in the deployment of troops, their national composition, taking into account the socio-political qualities and mental characteristics of the local population. In addition, the task is not only to show a possible management system for national policy in the military sphere of tsarist Russia, but also to analyze the causes of its emergence using the example of the Asian region of the state. According to a brief historical and geographical information about Turgai region, it is located in the Aral-Caspian lowland and borders on Orenburg province, Syr Darya and Ural regions. The region, like the Ural Region, was formed in 1868 on the territory of the Orenburg Kyrgyz Region (formerly the Trans-Ural Kyrgyz Steppe) after it was divided into two regions. The climate is continental, and the northern part of the region is quite suitable for agriculture. So, at the time of the regional census, the population of the region in the number of 453,416 people had an ethnic composition of 25 nationalities, in which, Russians (including Little Russians and Belarusians) - 7.71%, Kyrgyz (Kazakhs) - 90.63%, Tatars - 0.71%, Mordvins and Cheremis - 0.47%, Bashkirs - 0.35%. Formations of the armed forces and Cossack units formed a part of the troops of the Kazan Military District and were in very small numbers. The situation in the Turgai region, in the counties bordering the Central Asian regions, in the field of national relations and the historical memory of the population was not easy -Kazakhs, who made up the absolute majority of the population, lived on these lands, which caused tension in national relations. In our case, the territory of the region was considered by St. Petersburg as extremely unstable and dangerous. However, the composition of the deployed troops did not correspond in any way to the current situation, as shown by the national uprising of 1916. The author declares no conflicts of interests.

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