• The Korean Journal of Archival Studies
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• no.10
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• pp.324-370
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• 2004

This paper aims to research the historical development of the archival systems in the Soviet Union from 1917 to the 1920's. The Russian revolution was the turning point not only for the political and social changes but for the archival administration in Russia, as it provided the new Soviet regime with the chances to reorganize the archival institutions under Bolshevik rule. However, we must not forget the fact that the Russian Archival Workers' Union had taken part in the organization of the archival systems together with the Bolshevik revolutionaries. The Soviet government intended to transform the decentralized and poorly organized archival systems in the prerevolutionary years into the centralized and bureaucratized ones. In this meaning, the decree signed be V. I. Lenin on 1 June 1918 was estimated as the real basis for the Soviet archival centralization. Lenin's archival decree of 1918 encompassed the entire national documentary legacy, which was gradually extended to all types and categories of manuscripts and archival records by successive legislation. The concept of state proprietorship of all documentary records was designated "Single State Archival Fond"(Edinyi Gosudarstvennyi arkhivnyi fond), which was renamed as "Archival Fond of the Russian Federation" after the collapse of the USSR. The independent state administrative agency, that is, "Main Administration of Archival Affairs"(Glavnoe upravlenie arkhivnym delom) was charged with the management of the entire "Single State Archival Fond". While the Soviet Union reorganized its archival systems in the twenties, the archival institutions became under the severe control of the government. For example, M. N. Pokrovskii, the well-known Marxist historian and the political leader, headed the organizational work of archives in the Soviet Union, which resulted in the exclusion of the prerevolutionary specialists from the archival field in the Soviet Union. However, the discussions over the concept of "the Archival Fond" by B. I. Anfilov helped to develop the archival theories in the USSR in the twenties. In conclusion, the Soviet Union, having emphasized the centralization of the archives, developed its archival systems from the early period, which were the basis of the systematic archival institutions in Russia.

• Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.23-39
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• 2004

The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 resulted not only in the establishment of the Socialist regime, but also in the critical changes in the Russian archival system. The Soviet government issued "Decree On the Reorganization and Centralization of Archival Affairs in the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic", which prepared the ground for the archival administration in USSR. After having been revised and supplemented in the 1920's, the decree, signed by V. I. Lenin, was changed into "The Decree on the Archival Administration of Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic", by which the Bolshevik government was able not only to develop the conception of the State Archival Fond with the Single Archival Fond, but also to enlarge the archival collection. Besides, it was remarkable that the archival decree of 1929 provided the justification for actual developments of the archival institution. And from the practical point of view, the decree improved the archival affairs by means of the defining of the conservation period. It was at the beginning of the Stalin's period that the decree of 1929 was issued. Therefore, it may be said that the decree was one of the proofs as well as the agricultural collectivization and the industrialization that Stalin gained the overall control of the Soviet government. It was confirmed when the Second Conference of Soviet Archivists was held from 25 May to 1 June in 1929. After this meeting, M. N. Pokrovskii, who was the director of the Archival Administration in the course of the 1920's, lost the influence over the Soviet archival organizations, which meant that the autonomy of the Soviet archivists was reduced in a great degree. The Central Archival Administration of the Bolshevik regime experienced the analogous changes. It was changed into the Central Archival Agent in 1929 when the Stalinist system became strengthened. At the same time, it was significant that the Central Archival Administration of USSR was established. However, the Soviet archival affairs became under the direct control of the N. K. V. D. in the period of the Great Purge.