History of Irkutsk region

Archaeological studies of recent years have revealed the existence of stone age people, contemporaries of the mammoth and antediluvian bull in the Irkutsk province, in the valleys of the Angara river and its tributaries, weapons, jewelry and utensils of the stone period were found in different places. In the same places, a lot of things were also found related to periods of a person's acquaintance with metals.

The settlement of the territory of the Irkutsk region began in the Paleolithic era .

Artifacts of the Lower Paleolithic were found at the location of Georgievskoye-1 ^[1] .

The Igethean log III site belongs to the Middle Paleolithic.

Late Paleolithic sites include Malta (24 thousand years ago ), Buret , Igeteysky log I, Makarovo III, Krasny Yar, Sosnovy Bor layer 4, Glazkovsky necropolis and others ^[2] . On the territory of Irkutsk, the Upper Paleolithic sites include the following sites: Military Hospital named after Arembovsky, Schapov I-III, Relocation Point, them. Gerasimova, Mammon II, the lower horizons of Verkholenskaya Mount I, Grove "Star". The Shchapov I site is dated by the radiocarbon method with an age of 39900 ± 1285 l. N., parking them. Gerasimova - 36750 ± 380 l. N. — 26985 ± 345 l. N., parking Mamon – II - 31400 ± 150 l. N., parking Military hospital - 22900 ± 500 l. N. — 29700 ± 500 l. n., Verkholenskaya Gora – I layer 3 - 12570 ± 180 years ago ^{[3] [4]} .

In the Usolsky district, near the village of Buret, there is a Paleolithic site of Buret , and in the village of Malta, there is a site of Malta . The MA-1 boy from Malta, who lived 24 thousand years ago, had a Y-chromosome haplogroup R * and a mitochondrial haplogroup U. These sites are known for the finds of Paleolithic Venus .

The multi-layered parking Kovrizhka IV in the Bodaibo district dates back to the age of 15-18 thousand years ago ^[5] .

The study of mitochondrial DNA in paleopopulations of the early Neolithic Chinese culture ( Lokomotiv burial ground in the upper Angara , in the zone of the city of Irkutsk ) and the Isakov culture of the developed Neolithic ( Ust-Ida I burial ground on the middle Angara) replacing it led to the conclusion about the genetic relationship of the population of these cultures ^{[6 ] [7]} .

In the burial ground of Shamanka II , located not far from Slyudyanka on the southwestern coast of Lake Baikal, on the western exposure of the slope of the second hill of the Shaman Cape, a cultural layer was recorded containing finds of the early Neolithic - Bronze Age.

The representative of the Ust-Belsk culture I1526 from the Ust-Belaya burial ground on the Angara River in the Usolsky District (4225 ± 25 years ago) identified the mitochondrial haplogroup C4a1a3 and the Y-chromosome haplogroup Q1a2a ^[8] .

On the sites of the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Pribaikalye (Lokomotiv ^[9] , Shamanka II, Ust-Ida, Kurma XI) Y-chromosome haplogroups R1a1 , K ( N1a1-TAT> F1419> Y24317> pre-B187 , sample DA345, ~ 3000 years BC, Ust-Ida, Isakovskaya culture, Late Neolithic), C3 , Q1a3 and E-L914 . Y-chromosome haplogroups R1a1-M17 (LOK_1980.006 and LOK_1981.024.01), K ( N1a2-pre-L666 , sample DA359, ~ 4700 BC) were identified on the Lokomotiv site of the Glazkovsky necropolis (8000–6800 bp ). ., Chinese culture, Early Neolithic), C3 and mitochondrial haplogroups F , A, D, C , U5a , G2a . At the Shamanca II site, Y-chromosome haplogroups K ^[10] and mitochondrial haplogroups A, D, C, G2a were identified. The Y-chromosomal haplogroups N1a2-L666 (samples DA245, DA248, DA250, DA251 and DA362), the Chinese culture), N2-Y6503 (sample DA247) and the mitochondrial haplogroups C4, G2a1, D4e1, D samples of the Bronze Age — Y-chromosome haplogroups Q1a2a-L53, Q1a2a1c-L330 and mitochondrial haplogroups C4a1a3, C4a2a1, F1b1b, G2a1 ^[11] . At the site of Kurm XI of the late Neolithic – Early Bronze Age, mitochondrial haplogroups A , D , F , Z, and the Y chromosome haplogroup Q were identified ^[12] .

The earliest historical news of the local population of the Angara region dates back to the end of the XII century , that is, to the time, as is assumed, the occupation of these places by the Buryats. By the time the Russians appeared on the banks of the Angara River, the Buryats were already the most numerous and strong people here, and the Tungus lived there. Before the arrival of the Russians, this territory was part of many Proto-Mongolian and Mongolian states that replaced each other.

In the archive of ancient acts, the report of the Yenisei voivode I. I. Rzhevsky to the Siberian order was revealed. It contains a detailed account of the circumstances of the foundation of the Irkutsk fortress by the Yenisei son of the boyar Yakov Ivanovich Pokhabov in the summer of 1661 .

In 1628 , in the middle reaches of the Angara, the first prison on this river appeared - Rybinsky. In 1630 , the Ilimskiy winter hut was founded, on the road leading to the Lena River, and on the last, Nikolsky Pogost, renamed in 1655 in Kirensky Ostrog. In 1652 , the foundation was laid for the Irkutsk lambing winter hut, and in 1654 , the Balagansky prison was laid in the very center of the Buryat wanderings.

The first clerk of the new prison was appointed Cossack foreman Vasily Ezdakov. Under his command were 20 servants. At first, the prison was called Yandashsky, named after the local prince Yandash Roads, but already in 1662 it became known as Irkutsk (in the old days they wrote “Irkutsk”), since it was located near the mouth of the Angara tributary - Irkut.

In difficult conditions and with limited means, immigrants in Siberia started arable land, mowing, built houses, villages, villages and towns, salt mines, flour mills, forges, mined iron ore and smelted iron, searched for mica, and later silver, gold and others minerals, engaged in crafts and crafts, laid the foundations of industry, created cultural centers on the Siberian outskirts of Russia. Gradually, the region began to turn into a province and on its territory there were more than 500 settlements. The population grew due to the arrival of new parties of Russian immigrants and exiles.

In 1700, Irkutsk became the center of these exchanges, as well as the control center of the entire cross-border mining and factory industry. The first mines of Transbaikalia were attributed to him. In 1717, the influence of the Irkutsk region extended to Yakutsk, a more ancient center for the development of Northern Siberia.

In 1708 , the Siberian order was liquidated and the Siberian province formed (from Vyatka to Kamchatka).

The Tunkinsky Territory joined only in 1709, with the construction of the Tunkinsky fort (see Buryats ).

The situation at the borders is gradually stabilizing. And the year 1719 makes Irkutsk the youngest in the list of five main cities of the newly established Siberian province. 1724 the Irkutsk province was formed . The province included the cities of Irkutsk, Verkhneudinsk , Ilimsk , Kirensk , Nerchinsk , Nizhneudinsk and Yakutsk . In those same years, he became the most important religious center. In connection with the refusal of admission to China, the missionary bishop is organizing a priestly church chair, the largest after Tobolsk.

In 1736, the Siberian province was first divided into two parts, thereby opening up competition between Eastern and Western Siberia, Tobolsk and Irkutsk. The West of Siberia in this rivalry trumped with antiquity, proximity to native Russia and European sales markets, but the victory remained with the young east, where the bulk of the mineral resources turned out to be.

The Siberian province in 1764 was renamed the Siberian kingdom , divided into Tobolsk and Irkutsk governor-generals.

The finally re-established Irkutsk province opens in 1765 . The borders of Eastern Siberia (just west of the Yenisei River) are determined in 1773 , when the Irkutsk governorate opens. In November 1775, the division of provinces into provinces was canceled ^[13] . And in 1799 there was a new impulse in connection with the establishment of the Russian-American company (the memorial building of its first office was preserved). Irkutsk is becoming not only a border city, but also an ocean city. State expeditions organized by the Russian government to the Far East, to Yakutia, Mongolia, China, and Alaska were also formed in Irkutsk. From here began the second settlement of the Amur. Through Irkutsk all the embassies traveled to Beijing, caravan trade routes passed to Mongolia and China. Wholesale trade in Eastern Siberia was also concentrated mainly in the hands of Irkutsk merchants.

At the beginning of the 19th century, Irkutsk became the official residence of the Governor General and the capital of Eastern Siberia . In 1805 , the Yakutsk region was allocated from the Irkutsk province. In 1818, the prominent lawyer Mikhail Speransky was appointed Siberian governor. The city is turning into a center of local legislative creativity. Here legislative acts on the management of Siberia and its peoples were created and rolled around. Later, Speransky was the compiler of the Code of Laws, the first in three centuries, and it can be assumed that this Code of Laws was also rolled around in Siberia . The legal culture selected by the Speransky management team even more sharply singled out the Irkutsk bureaucracy not only against the Siberian, but also against the all-Russian background.

In 1822 , the East Siberian Governor General was created (since 1887 the Irkutsk Governor General ).

By 1825 , when Alexander I died, Irkutsk took second place in Siberia in population and first in the number of registered merchants (financial and industrial elite of the entire region). Only in Tobolsk the population by inertia was a little larger, but he was sick. The boundaries of its influence were clearly defined, Petersburg control was felt much stronger. The first capital of Siberia had nowhere to develop.

And the Irkutsk region continued to develop. Strengthened ties with China , slowly spreading influence in Mongolia , held the shores of the Arctic and Pacific oceans . The growing region also strengthened the growth of its center.

The expulsion of convicted Decembrists had a significant impact on raising the social status of the Siberian capital. They were scattered throughout Siberia, but only Irkutsk turned out to be the place of their subsequent concentration. This kind of "cultural landing" significantly spurred the development of the city. But even more spurred by his discovery of gold provinces. Before the discovery of California deposits in 1849, Irkutsk until the second quarter of the 19th century was a center for monitoring gold mining of world significance.

1848 is the heyday of Irkutsk. The beginning of the governorship of Muravyov (the future Count of Amur) was marked by a new decisive onslaught to the east, as a result of which the regions that had once been lost under the Nerchinsk Treaty were returned to Russia. However, the Amur and Primorsky regions immediately began to show a desire for isolation and for the independent construction of local centers. A little later, Alaska is breaking away from Siberia. Eastern projects, in particular the Manchurian and Primorsky regions, are developing more actively. Of course, Vladivostok is beginning to claim the role of a border center opposite St. Petersburg .

Since 1851 , since the separation of the Trans-Baikal region , the Irkutsk province has been within its present borders.

At the end of the XIX century, the territory of the current Irkutsk region was called the Irkutsk province .

Pre-Revolutionary Period

The Japanese war of 1905 stopped the rapid decline of Irkutsk as the center of Siberia and returned some of the capital's functions here. People rushing to the Sakhalin and Harbin areas again began to settle here. The rapid economic development of the Irkutsk province, associated with the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, continues.

Revolution and Civil War

After the February Revolution in 1917, the Irkutsk governor-general that existed before, which included the Irkutsk and Yenisei provinces , the Trans-Baikal and Yakut regions , ceased to exist.

The dramatic events of the Civil War of 1917-1922 took place in the region. After the October Revolution of 1917, the Bolsheviks over the years broke the emerging system of self-organization of production, nationalized joint-stock and private industrial enterprises and even small artisan workshops. All products were declared state property and were subject to centralized distribution. Economic incentives disappeared, production ties were disrupted. The market economy has been replaced by an administrative command system.

There was also a Siberian anti-Bolshevik government, red partisans and detachments of Kolchakites and ataman Semenov. In 1920, Admiral A.V. Kolchak was shot in Irkutsk.

The interwar period

On August 15, 1924, the territory of the Irkutsk province was divided into 3 districts - Irkutsk, Tulun, Kirensky and 2 industrial regions - Cheremkhovsky and Bodaibo.

From 1925 to 1930, the territory of Irkutsk was part of the Siberian Territory (the regional center is the city of Novosibirsk ), on June 28, 1926, by the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, the Irkutsk province was abolished, and 3 districts were created on its territory - Irkutsk, Tulunsky and Kirensky, and from 1930 . and until 1936 it was part of the East Siberian Territory , in 1936-1937 it was part of the East Siberian Region ( Irkutsk was the regional and regional center).

September 26, 1937 by the decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR, the Irkutsk Region was formed (the regional center is the city of Irkutsk ) ^[14] . On January 15, 1938, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR approved the creation of the region ^[15] .

World War II

The Great Patriotic War bleached the Irkutsk village. A huge number of men were called to the front. Their share in the total population of the region decreased from 51% in 1940 to 20% in 1944 . The fleet of tractors and combines has been reduced. The receipt of new equipment has ceased. A large number of horses were sent to the army. The main force of collective and industrial production became women and adolescents. It was on their shoulders that the burden of worries fell on housekeeping, production and supplying the front and rear with food and weapons. During the war years, agricultural production declined, the number of livestock decreased, and grain farming turned out to be in disrepair. However, despite the difficulties, the belief that “the enemy will be defeated and victory will be ours” did not allow to lose heart. People worked tirelessly at factories, on collective farms, women and girls mastered men's professions, got up to machine tools, sat on tractors and combines, teenagers worked at machine tools, primary school students were busy collecting ears of wheat.

The peasants of the Irkutsk region contributed to the defeat of the enemy. During the war, collective and state farms donated 800 thousand tons of grain, 150 thousand tons of potatoes and milk, 44 thousand tons of meat, 1.5 thousand tons of wool to the state defense fund.

During the years of World War II, the economy was even more centralized and subordinated to the needs of defense. Industrial enterprises switched to the production of military products. From the western regions, 22 large enterprises of machine building and light industry, 10 trusts and over 25 thousand workers and specialists were evacuated to the Irkutsk region.

Evacuated enterprises were quickly deployed on the basis of existing facilities and in the shortest possible time gave the front the necessary products. So, at the Irkutsk plant them. Kuibyshev installed equipment from a machine-building plant from Kramatorsk, and a machine-building enterprise from the Luhansk region was placed in Cheremkhov. In addition, equipment arrived from Irkutsk from the Dnepropetrovsk shoe factory, and sewing factories evacuated from Odessa and Dnepropetrovsk started production in Usolye-Sibirsky , Telma and Cheremkhov.

The war required the greatest exertion. At the enterprises, front-line brigades were organized that exceeded daily plans. The motto was widespread: "Do not complete tasks - do not leave work." Overtime work of children, adolescents, girls and women has become the norm. The population of the region was collecting warm clothes for the front. All workers deducted money from their earnings to the victory fund, subscribed to military loans.

Over the years of the war, the industry of the region mastered the production of 50 types of weapons, ammunition, equipment and food for the front. The role of the Irkutsk coal basin as the most important fuel and energy region in the east of the country has increased. New industries appeared. The production base of existing machine-tool and heavy machine-building, food and light industry enterprises has expanded.

In total, from 1940 to 1945, the volume of industrial production increased by 21% and in 1945 exceeded the level of 1913 by 13.8 times.

Post-war time

After the war, the first post-war five-year plan began and industry transferred to a peaceful track. The Irkutsk Heavy Engineering Plant has mastered the production of new types of machines for the metallurgical, oil and gold mining industries. In Cheremkhovo , the construction of the Novogrishinsky coal mine with an enrichment plant, the second and third phases of the Khramtsovsky open-cast mine and the Khramtsov enrichment factory, as well as mine No. 6, began. In Usolye-Sibirsky , the construction of a mining plant and the new largest salt factory in the country began. Biryusinsky and Tulunsky hydrolysis plants were built. The construction of the Taishet-Lena railway resumed, which opened up the opportunity for the development of the natural wealth of the middle Angara .

In the spring of 1945, on the banks of the Angara, near Irkutsk , between the Sukhovskaya and Kita station, preparations began for the construction of the country's largest chemical plant and the city called Angarsk . This marked the beginning of the creation of a new petrochemical industry for Eastern Siberia and the Far East .

In 1951 - 1955, the modern industrial appearance of the region began to take shape. At the same time, the Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power Station was being built. On the Angara, in the Padun range, preparatory work began on the construction of the Bratsk Hydroelectric Power Station . The construction of the largest port of Osetrovo has begun on the Lena River. The construction of industrial enterprises continued in Angarsk, where separate workshops of the first petrochemical plant in Eastern Siberia were commissioned. In 1951, in the vicinity of Irkutsk, the construction of an aluminum plant and the city of Shelekhov began . In 1959, the construction of the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill and the city of Baikalsk began . The first batch of Extra-white salt was released. The Osetrovsky river port began to operate. In December 1960, the Irkutsk Aluminum Plant produced the first metal. The city of metallurgists Shelekhov grew rapidly. Open movement of trains on the mountain section of Irkutsk - Slyudyanka . The section of the Trans-Siberian Railway from Cheremkhov to Irkutsk and the 700-kilometer Taishet-Lena railway commissioned in 1958 were electrified. The Abakan -Tayshet railway was laid. On Ilim, the Korshunovsky mining and processing plant was built and the city of Zheleznogorsk was built. In Irkutsk, a television center, a cold storage plant, student and academic campuses were built.

Since June 1957, in the USSR, management of industry and construction passed to the economic councils . The Irkutsk Economic Council brought together about 250 enterprises and 25 industries, producing 75% of the total output of the Irkutsk region.

In August 1958, a representative conference on the development of the productive and industrial forces of Eastern Siberia was held in Irkutsk, at which the economic problems of the region were discussed. 600 organizations took part in its work, including more than 100 institutes of the USSR Academy of Sciences and universities. Conference materials are taken as a basis for the development of new industrialization projects. In 1973, the Hrebtovaya - Ust-Ilimsk railway, 214 km long , was put into continuous operation. In 1974, construction began on the Western section of BAM (the laying of this railway, north of Lake Baikal , with access to the Pacific Ocean in the area of ​​the Imperial Harbor, was planned in the pre-revolutionary period). By the end of the five-year plan, 13 bridges were built at BAM, including two large ones across the Lena and Tayuru . On the Taishet - Lena section, a second path was laid. Over the years of industrialization, the Irkutsk region has become the largest center of energy and energy-intensive industries. Here, non-ferrous metallurgy, the petrochemical and pulp and paper industries, the woodworking industry, mechanical engineering, and the extraction of valuable minerals have been developed. The region has become a major supplier of aluminum, petroleum products, timber, pulp and paper, organic synthesis products, coal. In terms of industrial growth, the degree of development of natural resources, specialization and concentration of industrial production, it is ahead of many other regions, territories and republics of Siberia and the Far East.

In the mid-80s, " perestroika " began, which introduced significant changes in the economic, political, demographic and social life of the entire USSR , and the Irkutsk region was no exception.

After the collapse of the USSR

In 1991 - 1997, the head of the administration of the Irkutsk region was Yuri Abramovich Nozhikov.

With the adoption of the Russian Constitution of 1993 , the Irkutsk region became a subject of the Russian Federation.

In March 1994, the first elections to the Legislative Assembly of the Irkutsk Region were held in the Irkutsk Region . 45 deputies of the first convocation were elected. At the same time, elections were held for the governor of the Irkutsk region . The first governor was Yuri Nozhikov . In 1995, the Charter of the Irkutsk region was adopted.

In 1997-2005 , the governor of the Irkutsk region was Boris Alexandrovich Govorin .

In 2000, the Siberian Federal District was created with its center in Novosibirsk , which included all the Siberian regions of Russia , including the Irkutsk Region.

Since 2002, the Baikal International Economic Forum has been held in Irkutsk once every four years. Since 2011, the Baikal Economic Forum has been held every two years.

In 2005-2008 , the head of the Irkutsk region was Alexander Georgievich Tishanin .

On October 11, 2005, an agreement was signed between the authorities of the Irkutsk Region and the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug in the village of Ust-Ordynsky .

The new constituent entity of the Russian Federation is called the Irkutsk Region and is the legal successor to both entities. The Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Autonomous Okrug is part of it with a special administrative status and is called the Ust-Ordynsky Buryat Okrug.

On October 11, 2005, the parliaments of the Irkutsk Region and the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Region adopted an appeal to the President of the Russian Federation “On the Formation of a New Subject of the Federation”. On April 16, 2006, a referendum was held to unite the Irkutsk region and the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug, as a result of which on January 1, 2008 the Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug became part of the Irkutsk Region.

From November 22, 2008 to May 10, 2009, the head of the Irkutsk region was Igor Eduardovich Esipovsky , who on May 10, 2009, died tragically during the crash of a Bell 407 helicopter .

From June 8, 2009 to May 18, 2012, the governor of the Irkutsk region was Dmitry Fedorovich Mezentsev .

From May 18, 2012 to October 2, 2015, the region was headed by Sergey Vladimirovich Eroshchenko .

Since October 2, 2015, the region has been headed by Sergey Georgievich Levchenko .

In the summer of 2019, 22 people died during a flood in the Irkutsk region, the flood damage amounted to at least 29 billion rubles ^[16] .