Formation of a special settlement network in North-Western Siberia (based on the materials of the Tobolsk district land administration)

The subject of the study is the activities of the Tobolsk District Land Administration in the planning of new settlements during the period of mass collectivization in the territory of North-Western Siberia. The article analyzes on the basis of archival documents the normative-legal base defining key directions of activities of land-regulation bodies at the initial stage of special colonization, conditions and specifics of production activity of Tobolsk district land department, its experience of interaction with party and Soviet bodies, as well as forestry and fish industry trusts, main customers of workers from among special resettlers. The impressive scale of the territory served, the difficult natural and climatic conditions of the taiga and tundra, the inflexibility of personnel policy, the turnover of personnel, unsatisfactory living conditions made it difficult to achieve the objectives. The secrecy of the special colonization carried out, the lack of information on the scale of the peasant exile and the lack of a regulatory framework in the initial period, the unpreparedness of enterprises and organizations to receive workers, and the extremely weak material base delayed the land and water drainage and the design of new settlements. The special settlements had their own territorial and spatial features in the settlement network of the region.