“If the Samara province had not been subordinated to the Orenburg Governor-General, it would now have to be subordinated”: the view of A. P. Bezak
Natalia L. Semenova, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor
Sevastopol State University, Sevastopol, Russia, natalja_leonid@mail.ru, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9201-3842
Abstract
The article analyzes the reasons for the inclusion of the newly formed Samara province into the Orenburg and Samara governorate-general in the mid-19th century. The study is based on archival documents and available literature. The author came to the conclusion that the unification of the Samara and Orenburg provinces into one governorate-general was due to the need to solve specific foreign policy problems: the preparation of the Syr Darya expedition against the Kokand Khanate and the beginning of Russia’s conquest of the Central Asian states. On the other hand, the Governor-Generalship was also created “under” Count V. A. Perovsky, who was appointed to the region for the second time and was now at the head of two provinces. This emphasized the “personal” nature of the post of Governor-General, his “personal, operational, supra-legal and charismatic power”. During the 1861 reform to abolish serfdom, the supreme authority considered it necessary to leave the Samara province as part of the Orenburg and Samara Governorate General due to fears of peasant unrest, given that there was a significant proportion of peasant settlers here.
Keywords
Samara province, Orenburg and Samara governor-generalship, civil governor, Committee of Ministers, peasant settlers.
For citation:
Semenova N. L. “If the Samara province had not been subordinated to the Orenburg Governor-General, it would now have to be subordinated”: the view of A. P. Bezak. Vestnik of Orenburg State Pedagogical University. Electronic Scientific Journal, 2025, no. 4 (56), pp. 208—217. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32516/2303-9922.2025.56.13.
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