Census as Heroism
On the 100th Anniversary of the 1926 All-Union Census
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24218429 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elena Glavatskaya (0000-0001-7013-5013, Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterinburg), Elizaveta A Zabolotnykh (0000-0002-1002-8723, Institute of History and Archaeology, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ekaterinburg) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 828-846 |
| Publication date | 2026-09-30 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Quaestio Rossica (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2311-911X • E-ISSN: 2313-6871 |
| Publisher | Ural Federal University (PUBLISHER • RU) |
| DOI | 10.15826/qr.2026.3.1089 |
| References cited | 9 |
This article is devoted to the First All-Union Population Census of 1926, an event of outstanding scale and scientific significance. Its materials captured a detailed portrait of a society that had experienced a series of revolutions and wars and stood on the threshold of new global social upheavals. The relatively brief period of calm and freer development in the country had a positive impact on the character of the census. It was prepared with due account of the latest international experience and with a desire to discuss openly the demographic processes taking place in the USSR. The aim of the article is to pay tribute to this remarkable event and to its direct participants, as well as to examine the atmosphere and environment in which it was conducted. Based on a variety of materials published almost daily between November 1926 and January 1927 in the newspaper Pravda, the article analyses how the authorities shaped attitudes toward the census, how it was perceived by the population, and what difficulties enumerators encountered in different regions. It is concluded that the authorities attached enormous importance to informing the population about the preparation and conduct of the First All-Union Census of 1926. As a propaganda tool, reacting almost instantly to events, the newspaper published materials that have not been preserved in other sources. These materials make it possible to synchronise particular events on a countrywide scale and provide an understanding of the regional specifics of this crucial undertaking. The event received comprehensive and fairly objective coverage in the press, accessible to the entire population of the country. Journalists fearlessly published reports on the social ills of society, which could still be attributed to the consequences of wars and intervention. The article provides details of the census describing problems and curious situations that arose during population registration, including in the republics of Central Asia, in the Transcaucasia, and in the Far North. Many tasks were set for the first time in world history, and their solution in remote and hard-to-access regions often demanded genuine heroism on the part of organisers, instructors, and registrars.
| Highly cited | No |
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