The Soviet project in the Nogai Steppe in the 1930s–1940s: from collectivization to land reclama-tion

Abstract

The publication examines the history of the development of irrigation systems on the territory of the Nogai steppe, as well as the role of land reclamation on the administrative and socio-economic situa-tion of nomadic and semi-nomadic Nogai people during the collectivization of agriculture. Despite the rich historiography on the history of relations between the socialist government and nomadic peoples, the specifics of the implementation of the Soviet project in the Nogai environment did not become the subject of separate studies, which determines the novelty of our study. Of no small im-portance in solving the research work is the study of the influence of natural and climatic factors on the transformation of the economic activity of the Nogais in the 1930s and 1940s. The main source base was materials extracted from the State Archive of the Russian Federation and the State Ar-chive of the Modern History of the Stavropol Territory. The inclusion of previously unpublished sources in the scholarly realm has enabled us to ascer-tain the progressive nature of the integration of reclamation technologies into the economic fabric of Nogai life. The intensive development of surface waters facilitated the advancement and moderni-zation of animal husbandry in the steppe region, through the creation of a substantial fodder reserve and the extensive mechanization of labor-intensive tasks in Nogai collective and state farms. The inundation of the Nogai steppe presented new prospects for regional development to both the gov-ernment and the local population, by establishing irrigated zones that brought about a radical altera-tion in the socio-economic landscape of the nomads. The issue of water management measures and the economic progress of the Nogai people during the period under review was a pressing one, and its resolution prompted Soviet leadership to segregate the territory of the Nogai steppe from the Da-gestan Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and incorporate the Achikulak, Kayasulinsky, Kara-nogai, Kizlyar, and Shelkovsky districts into the Ordzhonikidze Region. Nevertheless, the initial stages of developing irrigated tracts posed certain difficulties for the Nogais. The successful development of the irrigation system in the arid regions of Southern Russia was interrupted by the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, and the Nazi occupation caused enor-mous damage, disabling most of the water resources of the region.