From the countryside to the cities: a comparative historical analysis of rural-urban migration in Russia and in the Soviet Union during the industrialization drive.

Abstract

The author analyzes the rapid process of urbanization (which involved large-scale rural-urban migration) that occurred in the USSR during its industrialization during the 1930s. Data are from official Soviet sources, including the censuses of 1918, 1926, and 1939. The author examines factors that attracted migrants to cities as well as those that drove them from the countryside. The system of internal passports and residence stamps that was developed to control internal migration is described.