Migration situation and migration policy in the Black Sea area of the Notrh-Caucasus krai in the 20th years of the XXth century

Jus soli and Jus sanguinis are basic international principles for the policy toward migration and citizenship. These principles were the traditional basis for migration policy in Tsarist Russia and the USSR (in the first half of the XXth century). Despite this, the Russian Government and Soviet leaders tried to attract migrants from abroad if they could serve the socio-economic development of Russian regions. The Black Sea area of the North Caucasus Krai in the 20th years of the XXth centuries was an example of such a policy. Its ethnic structure emerged at the end of the XIX century. Since the Caucasian War’s end (1817-1864), ethnic groups from other territories in Russia and from abroad have migrated to the historical lands of the Circassians in the Northwest Caucasus (including vast territories, some of which were part of Kievan Rus in the Xth century). The migration policy of party and state leaders over the Black Sea area had three overriding goals: to prevent population outflow; to use migrants for the regional development; and to integrate migrants into the realities of the Soviet system in a civilizational and formational sense. The Novorossiysk area was the most developed in the district (knowledge-intensive industry, agriculture, seaport, railway), likewise the city of Tuapse. Sochi was the most backward area, virtually devoid of modern lines of communication. Slavonic’s ethnic groups dominated the county’s population, primarily the representatives of Russian nationality. But Armenians occupied the priority positions in the share of inhabitants in Sochi district (Russians occupied the second place there). Slavonic’s and especially Germans ranked first in the Black Sea area in terms of educational attainment. German agricultural organizations had elements of agro-industrial enterprises. Germans sympathized with agricultural co-operation. Slavonic’s occupied neutral position in this question. The civilizational basis of the Greeks and the titular nations of Russia was identical. As a rule Greeks integrated into Russian reality quickly and without problems. The labouring social groups took an active part in the Bolshevik partisan armed movement against the Russian White Guard Forces and foreign troops during the Russian Civil War (1918-1920). However the level of education among Greeks was low (women were illiterate as a rule). The overriding goal of Bolsheviks' policy was to educate the Greeks to read and write their native Greek, and then already in Russian. The following goal was to train Greeks in the various professions required in modern sectors of the economy. The degree of education of Armenians was the lowest among the ethnic groups over the Black Sea area. Armenian women usually could neither read nor write. In industry, the lowest skilled workers were Armenians. Peasants of this ethnicity lived in remote villages without modern lines of communication. During the Civil War in Russia (1918-1920), they took an active part at the partisan struggle within Sochi District against the White Guard forces, but their troops cannot be considered pro-Communist. As a rule, Armenians had local (not even regional) views and were indifferent to politics. The Jewish community was well educated, highly organized and self-contained. The standard principle (non-Byzantine) served as a key reference point for its members in building interactions with other ethnic groups. The Jewish community was the sole object of the emigration plans of the Soviet leaders. It was inner emigration within the territory of the Soviet Union. The Jewish community of the Black Sea area was destined to migrate to those parts of the Far East where Soviet leaders planned to create an administrative-type autonomy.