Kalmykia’s Party Structure: Activities of the Department for Agitation and Propaganda (1921–1928)

The Communist Party had been central to the Soviet political system and society. Now that there is no ideological pressure, it is essential to view the history of the party of Bolsheviks (Communists) in deeper and non-biased perspectives, including on the regional level. Despite there are quite a number of publications examining the history of Kalmykia’s Communist movement, those to have studied its structure in the 1920s — and, namely, activities by the Department for Agitation and Propaganda of the Kalmyk Oblast Committee of the RCP(B) — are virtually absent. So, the issue has remained understudied, and the work is a first attempt to investigate the former. The article uses materials accumulated by the National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia. The documents contain valuable information about activities by departments of the Kalmyk Oblast Party Committee, the actual state and development of the party organization as such. The study aims to analyze activities by the regional Department for Agitation and Propaganda between 1921 and 1928. It uses the historical-and-genetic method to have made it possible to view the mentioned arrangements over time. The analysis of archival materials has been based on the principles of scientificity, objectiveness, and historicism that largely contributed to the issue be examined in certain historical contexts. The paper concludes Kalmykia’s party structure had emerged to instantly intersect with government bodies. This was typical enough for all regions during the Soviet era. The Department for Agitation and Propaganda was also — in addition to the functions declared — in charge with print media and directed activities of political-and-educational organs (Rus. politprosvet). The latter proved key conductors of the Party’s policies in the sphere of ideological propaganda. Party organizations laid special emphasis on public political education and constantly sought to develop and strengthen corresponding institutions that served as centers of such work in rural areas. The Department initiated establishments of party schools that would train cadres for the Kalmyk Party Organization and facilitate their better understanding of ideology and policies. This was actually a great achievement of the Kalmyk Oblast Soviet Party School. The conclusions made are essential for further understanding of Kalmykia’s party structure and activities by the regional Department for Agitation and Propaganda between in 1921–l928.

1. НА РК ― Национальный архив Республики Калмыкия

2. Natsional’nyy arkhiv Respubliki Kalmykiya [National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia]

3. Бадмаев 1969 ― Бадмаев Н. Х. Партийное строительство в Калмыцкой автономной области (1921–1929 гг.). Элиста: КНИИЯЛИ, 1969. 51 с.

4. Бадмаева 2010 ― Бадмаева Е. Н. Нижнее Поволжье: опыт и итоги реализации государственной политики в социально-экономической сфере (1921–1933 гг.). Элиста: ЗАОр «НПП «Джангар», 2010. 544 с.

5. Гладкова 2008 ― Гладкова С. А. Большедербетовская партийная организация в период нэпа (20-е гг. ХХ в.) // Россия и Центральная Азия: историко-культурное наследие и перспективы развития. Мат-лы конф. Ч. 2. Элиста: КИГИ РАН, 2008. С. 28–32.

6. Гладкова 2006 ― Гладкова С. А. Место и роль Калмыцкой областной организации РКП(б) в политической системе 1920-х гг. // Вестник КИГИ РАН. Вып. 20. Элиста: ЗАОр «НПП «Джангар», 2006. С. 89–98.

7. Гладкова 2005 ― Гладкова С. А. Государственный аппарат Калмыцкой автономной области: бюрократизм и методы борьбы с ним // Вестник КИСЭПИ. 2005. № 2. С. 164–167.

8. История Коммунистической 2014 ― История Коммунистической партии Советского Союза / отв. ред. А. Б. Безбородов; науч. ред. Н. В. Елисеева. М.: Политическая энциклопедия, 2014. 671 с.

9. Киевская 1975а ― Киевская Т. Н. Некоторые вопросы марксистско-ленинского воспитания коммунистов в Калмыцкой областной партийной организации в восстановительный период (1921–1925 гг.) // Ученые записки. № 12. Серия историческая. Элиста: КНИИ ИФЭ, 1975. С. 112–125.

10. Киевская 1975б ― Киевская Т. Н. Партийное строительство в Калмыкии в первые годы нэпа (1921–1922 гг.) // Ученые записки. Серия историческая. Вопросы истории социалистического строительства в Калмыкии, 1975. № 12. С. 90–111.

11. Максимов 2002 ― Максимов К. Н. Калмыкия в национальной политике, системе власти и управления России (XVII–XX вв.). М.: Наука, 2002. 524 с.

12. Очиров 2006 ― Очиров У. Б. Калмыкия в период Гражданской войны (1917–1920 гг.) / отв. ред. А. С. Сенявский. Элиста: ЗАОр «НПП «Джангар», 2006. 448 с.

13. Романов 1971 — Романов А. С. Печать Калмыцкой автономной области 20-х годов. Элиста: Калм. кн. изд-во, 1971. 196 с.

14. Сангаева 1971 ― Сангаева И. Э. Образование Калмыцкой областной партийной организации (1918–1921) // Вестник Калмыцкого НИИЯЛИ. № 5. Серия историко-партийная. Элиста: КНИИЯЛИ, 1971. С. 25–69.

15. Сартикова 2017 — Сартикова Е. В. Организационное оформление Калмыцкой областной партийной организации (1920–1921) // Genesis: исторические исследования. 2017. № 8. С. 52–64.

16. Сартикова 2008 ― Сартикова Е. В. Кампании по ликвидации неграмотности калмыцкого народа и их результаты // Культурная жизнь Юга России. 2008. № 4 (29). С. 71–76.

17. Сартикова 2000 ― Сартикова Е. В. Образование Калмыкии: истоки и становление. Элиста: АПП «Джангар», 2000. 160 с.

18. Badmaev N. Kh. Partiynoe stroitel’stvo v Kalmytskoy avtonomnoy oblasti (1921–1929 gg.) [Party construction in Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast: 1921–1929]. Elista: Kalm. Res. Inst. of Lang., Liter. and Hist., 1969. 51 p. (In Rus.)

19. Badmaeva E. N. Nizhnee Povolzh’e: opyt i itogi realizatsii gosudarstvennoy politiki v sotsial’no-ekonomicheskoy sfere (1921–1933 gg.) [The Lower Volga Region: experience and outcomes of socioeconomic policies of the Government (1921–1933)]. Elista: Dzhangar, 2010. 544 p. (In Rus.)

20. Gladkova S. A. Bolshederbetovskaya Party Organization during the NEP period (1920s). Rossiya i Tsentral’naya Aziya: istoriko-kul’turnoe nasledie i perspektivy razvitiya. Conf. proc. Part 2. Elista: Kalm. Hum. Res. Inst., 2008. Pp. 28–32. (In Rus.)

21. Gladkova S. A. Kalmyk Oblast Organization of the RCP(B): its place and role in the political system of the 1920s. Vestnik KIGI RAN. Is. 20. Elista: Dzhangar, 2006. Pp. 89–98. (In Rus.)

22. Gladkova S. A. The state apparatus of Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast: bureaucracy and methods of struggle against it. Vestnik KISEPI. 2005. No. 2. Pp. 164–167. (In Rus.)

23. Istoriya Kommunisticheskoy partii Sovetskogo Soyuza [History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]. A. B. Bezborodov, N. V. Eliseeva (eds.). Moscow: Politicheskaya Entsiklopediya, 2014. 671 p. (In Rus.)

24. Kievskaya T. N. Kalmyk Oblast Party Organization during the reconstruction period (1921–1925): some aspects of Marxist-Leninist training of Communists revisited. Uchenye zapiski. No. 12. Ser. ‘History’. Elista: Kalm. Res. Inst. of Hist., Phil. and Econ., 1975. Pp. 112–125. (In Rus.)

25. Kievskaya T. N. Kalmykia’s party construction in the early years of the NEP (1921–1922). Uchenye zapiski. Ser. ‘History’. Socialist Construction in Kalmykia: Issues of History. 1975. No. 12. Pp. 90–111. (In Rus.)

26. Maksimov K. N. Kalmykiya v natsional’noy politike, sisteme vlasti i upravleniya Rossii (XVII–XX vv.) [Kalmykia in Russia’s national policies and administrative system: 17th – 20th cc.]. Moscow: Nauka, 2002. 524 p. (In Rus.)

27. Ochirov U. B. Kalmykiya v period Grazhdanskoy voyny (1917–1920 gg.) [Kalmykia during the Russian Civil War: 1917–1920]. A. S. Senyavsky (ed.). Elista: Dzhangar, 2006. 448 p. (In Rus.)

28. Romanov A. S. Pechat’ Kalmytskoy avtonomnoy oblasti 20-kh godov [Print media of Kalmyk Autonomous Oblast in the 1920s]. Elista: Kalm. Book Publ., 1971. 196 p. (In Rus.)

29. Sangaeva I. E. Establishing the Kalmyk Oblast Party Organization (1918–1921). Vestnik KNIIYaLI. No. 5. Ser. ‘Party History’. Elista: Kalm. Res. Inst. of Lang., Liter. and Hist., 1971. Pp. 25–69. (In Rus.)

30. Sartikova E. V. Institutional registration of Kalmyk Regional Party Organization (1920–1921). Genesis: istoricheskie issledovaniya. 2017. No. 8. Pp. 52–64. (In Rus.)

31. Sartikova E. V. Illiteracy eradication campaigns among the Kalmyk people and their outcomes. Kul’turnaya zhizn’ Yuga Rossii. 2008. No. 4 (29). Pp. 71–76. (In Rus.)

32. Sartikova E. V. Obrazovanie Kalmykii: istoki i stanovlenie [Establishing Kalmykia: beginnings and development]. Elista: Dzhangar, 2000. 160 p. (In Rus.).