Institutions of Power of the Lityn District in the Conditions of Revolutionary Transformations in the Spring of 1917

Abstract

Purpose of the research is to analyze the qualitative changes that have taken place in the control system at the regional level after the fall of the autocracy in Russia and to identify certain segments of the problems that have been manifested on the territory of the Lityn district. Research methodology is based on the principles of scientism, historicism, systematicity, historical source studies, as well as the use of general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special historical (historiographic, terminological, typological) methods. Scientific novelty of the research is that for the first time, on the basis of a still unknown complex of documentary sources, the transformation processes of the institutions of power at the level of a separate district of Podillia province were reconstructed during the landmark period of the revolutionary upheavals of spring 1917. Conclusions. As a result of retrospective analysis of the socio-political situation in Podillia region, which was determined by the fall of autocracy in Russia, the qualitative changes that took place in the system of public administration at the regional level were demonstrated. It is proved that at the beginning of the Revolution of 1917, not only the imperial institutional structures changed in the Lityn district, but also the personnel of the state administration bodies determined by the Provisional Government’s resolutions was qualitatively updated. Public organizations representing different segments of the population and professional corporations have made a significant impact on this process. Under their direct pressure and control, a district commissioner appointed by the Podillia provincial commissioner had to resign. Particular attention is focused on the reorganization of the Lityn County Zemstvo Assembly, which in March 1917 was supplemented by representatives from cooperative organizations, peasant societies, councils of officers and soldiers, deputies, workers, clergy, teachers and national minorities. The circumstances of the formation of the new composition of the county government have been clarified. The most important decision of the self-governing body related to determining the structure and conditions of functioning of militia units in the district has been analyzed. Some aspects of socio-political reality have been emphasized, which determined the unfolding of the revolutionary processes in the Lityn county and had the qualitative effect on the reorganization of the institutions of power.