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Formation of Kemerovo Region
The origins of the very name Kuznetsk Land go back to the ancestors of modern Shors who lived in the upper reaches of the Tom, Mras-Su, and Kondoma Rivers, and who were still called kuznetsy (blacksmiths) by Siberian chroniclers for their ability to obtain iron from ore. Active settlement by Russian colonists of the Upper and Middle Pritomye began in the 17th century during the reign of Mikhail Feodorovich. Kuznetsky (1618), Sosnovsky (1657), Verkhotomsky (1665) and later Mungatsky (1715) ostrogs were founded. The first Russian settlers (Siberian Cossacks, peasants, hunters, missionaries) began to engage in taiga crafts, conduct trade, and form villages. Furs were sent to the royal treasury in the form of yasak, which became a prominent source of state revenue in the 17th century and one of the main items of Russian exports.
In the 18th century, the active industrial development of the Kuznetsk land began. In 1698, Peter I, having learned about the silver ores found near the Kitat River, gave an order to the Tomsk voivode “to promote with every diligence and diligent zeal the ore-prospecting and ore-smelting business on the tributaries of the Kiya River”. So the silver ores of Salair, iron ores in Gornaya Shoria, gold in Kuznetsk Alatau were discovered. In 1721, the Cossack Mikhailo Volkov discovered a “burnt mountain” on the banks of the Tom River in the territory of modern Kemerovo, becoming the discoverer of Kuznetsk coals. Since the 1780s, the Salair polymetallic deposits began to be developed. The Tomsk Iron-making (1771), Gavrilovsky (1795) and Guryev (1816) silver-smelting plants were built. From 1747 to 1917, the territory of the modern Kemerovo Region was part of Kolyvan-Voskresensky (since 1834 – Altai) Mountain District.
In 1842, geographer and geologist P. A. Chikhachyov undertook an expedition to Altai. Having collected and summarized information about coal deposits, starting from the banks of the Kondoma River, Mras-Su and Usa Rivers in the south and the Inya River in the north, he made the first geological map of the coal basin and proposed to name it Kuznetsky after the city located in its southern part. Thus, the geographical name Kuznetsk Coal Basin was introduced, which, according to P. A. Chikhachyov, was “one of the largest coal deposits in the world”. The first attempt at industrial coal mining was recorded in 1851 at the Bachaty field. The Bachaty mine became the “firstling” of the Kuzbass coal industry. Rapid economic development of the region in the late 19th – early 20th centuries was facilitated by the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway (Transsib) (1881-1900), which connected it with the European part of Russia.
During the Soviet period, the territory of the modern Kemerovo Region was part of Siberian Territory (1925-1930), then West Siberian Territory (1930-1937), and Novosibirsk Region (1937-1943). From 1921 to 1925, the Autonomous Industrial Colony (1921-1926) operated in the region, employing 566 specialists from America, Austria, Belgium, Holland, and Germany. One of its main projects was the construction of the Kemerovo Coke-Chemical Plant, launched in 1924.
During the Great Patriotic War, Kuzbass was the main supplier of coal and metal. The output of industrial products exceeded the all-Union rates by 10-11 times. In 1941, the equipment of 71 enterprises from the central regions of the country was evacuated here. The Kuznetsk Iron and Steel Plant, which for many years remained the only enterprise on this side of Ural with a full metallurgical cycle, became the “forge” of Victory. On January 26, 1943, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree on the separation of Kuzbass from Novosibirsk Region and on the creation of Kemerovo Region on its territory with the center in the city of Kemerovo. The new region included 17.5% of the territory of Novosibirsk Region, and its population was 42% of the total population of Novosibirsk Region.
In the 1950s-1980s, heavy industry dominated the economy of Kemerovo Region, new coal mining enterprises were opened, the Novokemerovsky Chemical Plant (1956) and the West-Siberian Metal Plant (1964) were built, and the Raspadskaya Coal Mine, the largest in Russia, was put into operation (1973). During this period, a system of higher professional education was formed in the region: pedagogical, medical, mining institutes, technological institute of food industry, institute of culture, higher military command school of communications were opened. The network of cultural institutions has been greatly developed through theaters, museums, libraries, etc.
The biographies of many talented and creative people who have contributed to the development of Russian culture are associated with Kuzbass. Writer V. A. Chivilikhin and poet V. D. Fedorov were born here, while writer A. N. Voloshin, artists A. N. Kirchanov and N. I. Bachinin worked here.
On March 27, 2019, the decree of the President of the Russian Federation approved the new name of the subject of the Russian Federation: Kemerovo Region – Kuzbass. The names Kemerovo Region – Kuzbass, Kemerovo Region and Kuzbass are declared equivalent names of the region.
Lit.: Мить А. А. Кемеровская область. Исторический очерк: история // Большая российская энциклопедия; Раздел «Краеведение» // Государственная научная библиотека Кузбасса им. В. Д. Фёдорова. Режим доступа: https://kemrsl.ru/kraevedenie/; История // Администрация Правительства Кузбасса. Режим доступа: https://ako.ru/oblast/obshchaya-informatsiya/history.php; Закон Кемеровской области от 21 декабря 2018 г. № 113-ОЗ «О внесении поправок в Устав Кемеровской области». Режим доступа: https://docs.cntd.ru/document/550287909; Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 27.03.2019 № 130 «О включении нового наименования субъекта Российской Федерации в статью 65 Конституции Российской Федерации». Режим доступа: https://docs.cntd.ru/document/553938189.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials: