Problems of agrarian history of Siberia in the 19th - early 20th centuries in the Englishand German-language historiography

In the English- and German-language historiography of social and economic development of Siberia peasant colonization and agricultural development of the region are considered among the most significant factors of Russia's presence in Asia. Special attention is paid to the 19th - early 20th centuries when there was a considerable increase in number of newcomers to Siberia. In the first half of the 20th century problems of peasant colonization of Siberia were studied by scholars who were descendants from Russia (W. Klumberg, H.-J. Seraphim, A. Baikalov, A. Lobanov-Rostovskiy). In the 1950s-1970s these issues were addressed by the British and American researchers who used mostly the theory of "modernization" (H. Ellison, R. Drew, D. Kazmer). In American historiography the most well-known work on the history of agricultural colonization of Siberia is D. Treadgold's monograph published in 1957 and devoted to the mass resettlement of peasants during the post-reform period. In his theoretical scheme D. Treadgold combined concepts of "modernization" and "colonization" with elements of the "frontier" theory formulated by J.F. Turner. In the late 20th century J. Channon, A. Donnelly and S. Becker focused on specifics of agrarian development of Siberia. J. Channon presented a study dealing with institutions of traditional society and "vestiges of feudalism and serfdom" in Siberia while many Western researchers used to praise success of modernization and capitalist development of the Siberian village in the 19th - 20th centuries. The American historian A. Donnelly applied theoretical tools of the "frontier" concept. His fellow countryman Stephen Marks wrote about the key role played by the Russian state and its representatives in colonization of Asian territories and considered any attempts to apply the "frontier" theory as futile. He prefers to use the more traditional "colonization" theory developed by the Russian historians in the 19th century. In the works by I. Stebelsky and A. Kappeler the role of certain ethnic groups of settlers in the course of colonization of Siberia was analyzed. On the whole foreign researchers of agrarian history of Siberia in the 19th - early 20th centuries used various theories and concepts ("Russian eastward expansion", "frontier", "colonization", "modernization", "imperial" approaches). Change in concepts reflected main trends in development of the English- and German-language historiography of Siberia. In the early 20th century works by Western historians were characterized by the "objectivist approach", search for the common patterns of historical development, while many contemporary researchers focus on the subject of historical process, ethnic and cultural aspects of colonization, as well as specifics of development of the Empire's peripheries.

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