From the history of studying the administrative-territorial division of the soviet Russia

The article examines some aspects of contemporary Russian historiography of the administrative-territorial system of Soviet Russia. Main focus is made on the analysis of E.G. Karelin's book “The mechanism of power and management of Soviet Russia's Western krai in 1917–1939” (Smolensk, 2008). It is shown that the author was the frst to analyze the formation, transformation and functioning of the mechanism of regional power in Russia's Western krai (region) in correlation with its administrative-territorial structure. In conclusion it is stated that the book is apologetic of the policy of the Soviet power in the area of state-building and territorial-administrative system.