Kirov Oblast - History

History

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Vyatka remained a place of exile for opponents of the tsarist regime, including many prominent revolutionary figures. In 1920, a number of small southern and eastern districts (volosti) and villages were shifted from Vyatka as a result of the formation of the Tatar Autonomous Republic and the Mari and Votskaya autonomous regions.

The territory did not escape the Civil War and intervention of 1918-1921. Then in 1921-1922, it was hit by famine, followed by a typhus epidemic in late 1922. The death rate doubled during those years. The postwar period was accompanied by rebuilding of the province on the basis of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which consisted of free trade, entrepreneurship, and private sector stimulation. However, the basic principles of the NEP never really took hold in agriculture, where the only effect was to reduce all the peasants to the same level, or in industry.

The country's first office of the International Organization for Aid to Fighters of the Revolution (IOAR) began operations here in January 1923.

The administrative and territorial reforms of 1929 eliminated the old division of the country into provinces and districts (uezdy, volosti) and introduced a new system of division into regions, territories, and districts (raiony). Vyatka Province was abolished, and its territory became part of Nizhny Novgorod Territory. The city of Vyatka became a district center.

On December 5, 1934, the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee (VTsIK) passed a resolution renaming the city from Vyatka to Kirov, and Kirov Territory was formed on December 7. It included the Udmurt Autonomous Region, 37 districts (raiony) of Gorki Region (which had formerly been part of Vyatka Province), as well as Sapapulsky and Votkinsky districts of Sverdlovsk Region. Following the adoption of the new Constitution in 1936, Kirov Territory was transformed into Kirov Region and the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) was separated from it.

Kirov residents played an important role during the Second World War. Red Army units were quickly mobilized, and infantry divisions were formed. The people of Kirov not only worked heroically in industry and agriculture to bring about a speedy victory, but also rendered all possible assistance to the front. In the postwar years, the successes of Kirov residents in communal livestock farming and in fulfilling their socialist obligations to the state often received high praise from the Soviet government.

On June 25, 1974, the region was awarded the Order of Lenin for achievements in economic and cultural development, and the city of Kirov received the Order of the Red Banner of Labor. The economic reforms and political transformations that took place during the perestroika years led to a deterioration of the region's socioeconomic situation.