Electrification of Altai (late XIX – 50s of XX centuries) in Russian historiography

The energy sector is one of the most priority areas of industrial development in any country. The regional component in the state electrification is also an important component element, since it is from such components that the entire energy system is composed. The problem of Altai electrification continues to be poorly studied, nevertheless, certain stages of the history of regional energy have a fairly high degree of elaboration. In this regard, the primary task is to identify and analyze the patterns of change and approval of historical concepts and theoretical and methodological approaches in the study of Altai energy throughout all historical periods. This article presents and analyzes works related to various aspects of the electrification of the Altai territory in the context of the electrification of Siberia and the USSR as a whole.  The historiographical research used traditional methods of historical research (historical-genetic, historical-comparative). The presentation is based on a chronological principle, based on which it is possible to demonstrate the formation and transformation of various points of view. The literature analyzed in the article is divided into pre-revolutionary, Soviet and modern in accordance with the periodization accepted in Russian historiography. It is concluded that despite the abundance of published literature on the country's energy sector, the topic of electrification of Altai remains poorly studied. Researchers often considered in more or less detail individual chronological segments of the history of regional electrification (the pre-revolutionary period, the period of the Great Patriotic War) or specific energy facilities (the Central Power Plant in Barnaul, Zyryanovskaya HPP, etc.), however, collectively, the history of Altai energy was practically not a single object of study in time, except for a small number of works, having not so much scientific as educational value. The only exception is the fundamental work of V.V. Alekseev "Electrification of Siberia", but even here Altai is considered only as one of the numerous regions of the country.

history of technology, energy industry, electrification, industrialization of the USSR, Siberia, Altai Territory, historiography, article, the Russian Empire, GOELRO plan