Organizational legal structure and activities of the territorial militia units of the NKVD of the Bashkir ASSR in the 1920s

The analysis of the historical and legal literature has shown that the formation of regional militia bodies in the first half of the 20th century remains largely unexplored. In this connection, the study of regulatory legal acts and archival sources containing information on the organizational and legal structure of the workers’ and peasant’ militia formed during the first years of the establishment of the Bashkir ASSR is of particular relevance. The article pays particular attention to the analysis of the legal status of the cantonal and volost (district) militia apparatus and to the ethnic composition of the militia personnel. The main purpose of the study is to consider the structure and activities of the Bashkir ASSR militia in the 1920s. In preparing the article, the authors use comparative and historical methods. On the basis of new archival documents, it is concluded that, despite certain organizational difficulties, effective local militia bodies were formed, which carried out active work to eliminate crime in the region.