Early Colonization of Siberia: Meanings and Lessons of History
Based on the analysis of peculiarities of Siberia’s colonization during the period prior to 1917, the article discusses the issue on “colonial” status of Siberia, as well as economic and political- administrative factors which gave the birth to the colonial syndrome in its development. Historical analysis allows assertion that the notion “colony” when used in relation to Siberia isn’t quite relevant to the existing, habitual and established, meanings of this term. On the one hand, colonial syndrome should be seen as the inevitable development stage in the “life cycle” of newly developing territory, on the other hand, it had been conditioned by the deeper reasons of political nature concerned with the so called “minimalist” approach to managing the Siberian development. In significant part, these problems were the logical consequence of the structural weaknesses of the Russian economy in itself.