On the quantitative and qualitative composition of Komsomol organizations in Kalmykia and Chechnya in the second half of the 1920s

The article aims to summarize the results of the statistical surveys of Komsomol organizations in national autonomous regions in southern Russia, Kalmykia and Chechnya. These statistical surveys were conducted in the late 1920s, as Soviet Russia started its transition to a new territory-administrative division. The article is based on unpublished documents about these statistical surveys which were conducted following the decision of the Central Committee of VLKSM (All-Russian Leninist Communist Youth Union). The statistical data indicate that Komsomol organizations in Kalmyk and Chechen autonomous regions helped to successfully solve problems of cultural construction in their regions. At the same time the active work of the regional Komsomol organizations striving to increase the Komsomol membership resulted in false inflated figures, “dead souls” and “overgrowns”. The reports on the performance results of regional VLKSM committees concerning the improvement of the qualitative composition of Komsomol organizations did not always reflect the reality either. Despite the work being done to do away with the illiteracy of the population and sending the youth to various educational institutions, the majority of youth in the two regions still remained illiterate.