TRANSFORMATION OF THE SYSTEM OF MILITARY-PEOPLE’S ADMINISTRATION IN THE CAUCASUS UNDER ALEXANDER III IN 1882–1888

Introduced in the 1850s, the military-public administration, along with the institute of viceroyalty, was one of the main distinguishing features of the special administrative status of the Caucasus as part of the Russian Empire. Various aspects of this system have been the object of historians’ research many times. However, the period from the 1880s to 1917 is still poorly studied. The article is devoted to the analysis of the circumstances of the discussion, development and implementation of projects for the transformation of the military-people’s administration in the Caucasus Region in the 1880s. The process of developing the reform in 1882 was initiated by the Minister of War in connection with the planned general transformation of the administration system of the Caucasus. The reform project was developed by the new chief of the Caucasus, Prince A. M. Dondukov-Korsakov, who opposed the abolition of the military-public administration. Of the two projects submitted by him to St. Petersburg in 1883 and 1885, only the former was implemented. The project included: the abolition of the Central Caucasian military-people’s administration in Tiflis; subordination of local military-people’s administrations to military governors; annexation of the districts of the Batumi region and the Sukhumi district, where the military-people’s administration was maintained, to the Kutaisi province.