ИСТИНА

The first quarter of the XX century is one of the most dynamic periods in the history of the country. The chain of acute social and political events (including several wars and revolutions) ultimately resulted in a radical consequences for Russia. It concerns in particular the sharply increased migration activity of the population, about three-fourths of which at that time were peasants. One of the most informative sources to study migration flows of that period is the USSR population census of 1926. The results of this census, which characterize the size and composition of the population of the USSR on December 17, 1926, were published in 56 volumes. The publication has been divided into seven sections. For our purposes, the most interesting is section III ("Family composition. Place of birth and length of stay. Lame"), the proceedings of which were published in the volumes ? 35-51. Data on the intensity of migration flows are derived from the summary of responses to the 6th and 7th questions of the individual census form ("Where were born: here or not; if not here, then where and how long he/she has lived here?"). Table III of the section of census publications ("The natives of other regions of the birth place. Results by social groups") presents those data in the form of a matrix containing the numbes of migrants for each pair of regions. Useful information on migration flows is also contained in the source tables "Population by length of residence, ethnicity, employment status and sector of the economy" and "Non-natives living permanently in the location fixed by census, by place of birth and place of residence". In the introduction to the publication of the Section III census the main objectives of these tables are characterized as follows: a) the study of the directions of migration flows within the country, b) the identification of centers that attract people, and c) the identification of areas that are attracted to these centers. This source has important features: 1) the data is actually summarizing the development of migration processes in the country (especially in the previous quarter of a century), allows us to study migratory population flows without artificial rupture of the temporary cut of October 1917, 2) the data section "Natives of other areas on the place of birth. Summary of social groups "covers the country, allowing to overcome the local scope of the study, 3) the inputs and outputs of each migration flow are clearly documented by indication of a respective pair of regions. Proceedings of the 1926 Census summarize the results of the mechanical movement of the population within the territorial limits of the Soviet Union , approximately covering thirty-years period (1926 census put the number at about 90% of "non-indigenous natives" who have changed their place of residence after 1897 Census). A characteristic feature of this period is the high level of migration activity of the population. This period is actually completing a long-term phase of the natural development of migration processes in Russia/USSR. We use statistical methods (aggregation of graphs) and GIS to study and present the structure of peasants’ migration flows in Russia/USSR in the first quarter of the 20th century.