Resettlement of Russian Peasants as a Factor in the Transformation of Turkestan into the National Outskirts of the Russian Empire

The article deals with the resettlement of Russian peasants in Turkestan Governor-General. Attention is focused on the resettlement policy of the Russian Empire in Turkestan, as a necessary component of the General Imperial course on the incorporation of the local population in the provincial structure. On the Russian element in an alien society, the government had high hopes as the demographic support of the Empire on the territory of the national outskirts. However, despite the great work carried out by the government and the local administration in the resettlement, it was not possible to avoid a number of mistakes, which, in the author's opinion, were in the absence of a legal framework, a clear plan of resettlement, inconsistency of actions between the Imperial and local administration, etc. Imperfect resettlement policy became an obstacle to the acculturation impact of alien and indigenous elements, and Russian peasants became hostages of administrative ambitions of the authorities. The study is based on the use of materials deposited in the three archives of the Russian Federation, as well as sources involved published documents.