Civilian governors of Akmola region: main activities (1906-1917)

The governors, as representatives of the highest regional administration on the ground, were vested with the power to determine the main directions in the development of their regions. The solution of numerous local problems depended upon their personal experience, interests, and initiatives. With some short intervals, starting from 1868, it was the military governors who were at the head of the Akmola region. By the beginning of the XXth century the practice was changed and as a result, in August of 1906, the title of the position was changed. In the period from 1906 to 1917 six people were in the position of the civil governor of Akmola region. Persons of civilian ranks in the position of the governor predominated due to the changes adopted in 1906. The changes lead to the renaming of the position. During the period under review, the educational level of the region’s leaders, their experience of administrative management, and the length of the term in the office corresponded to the then existing all-Russian tendencies. It was one of the evidence of the process of integration of periphery into the all-imperial space. The governors’ activities were aimed at the solution of social and economic problems, at the development of the cultural sphere, at the supervision over administrative institutions and officials of civil departments.