The Stalin Region was created by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 3, 1938. This administrative-territorial formation was absolutely artificial, because the region was formed from part of the Donetsk region that existed at that time.
Stalino - the center of the region
This largest city by the standards of Ukraine, a modern city that today found itself in a zone of military conflict, was founded in 1869 by British entrepreneurs. Foreigners mastered new raw material bases, so it was logical to observe the emergence of new workers' settlements on the territory of the Russian Empire. The city of Stalin was originally called Yuzovka.
The village developed very quickly. From 1870 to 1901, the number of residents of Yuzovka increased from 164 to 54718 people. Such demographic growth is associated with the constant creation of new metallurgical enterprises and the opening of coal mines. The Stalin region essentially appeared due to the formation of workers' settlements, which already in the 20th century became large cities of miners and metallurgists.
Creation of Donetsk region
In the 1920s, in the USSR there was an administrative-territorial division of land, adopted even under tsarism. Provinces, counties and volosts existed practically within the old borders. The country's leadership absolutely justifiably considered the continued functioning of such a division of territories to be an element of backwardness.
In the early 1930s, a reform of the administrative structure of the state was carried out. Donetsk region was formed in the summer of 1932. At that time, it was the largest region of the Ukrainian SSR, because it included the lands of the present Donetsk and Lugansk regions (including those controlled by the DNI and LNR organizations). Managing such a huge area was very difficult, especially in the face of repression and the lack of a developed communications network. Donetsk region in the old format lasted six years.
Stalin region
This region was actually created within the borders in which the Donetsk region functioned before the advent of the DPR. The area of the region was 26.5 thousand square meters. km As of 1971, the population of the region exceeded 4 million people. The region was created by order of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 3, 1938. Under this name, the Stalin region lasted until 1961. Then the region was returned to its old name.
The region with the center in the city of Stalin (Donetsk) is a large industrial region. In principle, this was originally conceived by English entrepreneurs who created the village of Yuzovka. In the city itself there were more than 20 coal mines, as well as well-known metallurgical plants.
The administrative structure of the region is very clearly visible as of September 1, 1946. At that time, in the Donetsk (Stalin) region there were 28 cities (12 of them were of regional subordination) and the same number of districts, 94 villages, 356 village councils (the structure of these councils included 1756 villages). The region was bordered by Kharkov in the north, with Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhya in the west, and Lugansk in the east.
Districts of the Stalin Region
We list all the administrative districts of this region alphabetically:
- Avdeevsky (existed from 1923 to 1930, and also from 1938 to 1962 with a center in the village of Avdeevka);
- Aleksandrovsky (formed in 1923, located in the north-west of the region, the district center is Aleksandrovka);
- Amvrosievsky district with a center in the city of Amvrosievka (the population of the district is 45 thousand people);
- Andreevsky district;
- Artyomovsky (the district center Artyomovsk is known as the location of a large salt plant);
- Budennovsky;
- Veliko Veselovsky district with an administrative center in the urban-type settlement Velikaya Novoselka;
- Volodarsky;
- Volnovakhsky;
- Dzerzhinsky;
- Dobropolsky (town Dobropolie);
- district with center in Yenakievo;
- Konstantinovsky district (a football team from the city of Konstantinovka used to play in the second league of the Ukrainian championship);
- Krasnolimansky;
- Maryinsky (one of the areas most affected by the military conflict controlled by Ukraine);
- Olginsky (currently does not exist);
- Pershot equal;
- Primorsky (the area of present Mariupol);
- Selidovsky;
- Slavic;
- Snezhnyansky;
- Starobeshevsky district is located in the southeast of the current Donetsk region with a center in the town of Starobeshevo;
- Staromlinovsky (does not exist, the center of the district was the village of Staromlinovka, now it is part of the Verkhneveselkovsky district);
- Telmanovsky;
- Khartsyzsk;
- Yamsky (does not exist).
Cities of regional subordination
As we have already said, the Stalin Region included in its territorial structure not only districts, but also cities of regional subordination, among which were:
- Stalin (created in 1869 as the village of Yuzovka);
- Artyomovsk (now Bakhmut, founded according to historical documents, in 1571);
- Horlivka (founded in 1779, controlled by the DPR);
- Debaltseve (one of the most destroyed cities during the conflict, founded in 1878);
- Druzhkovka (the village was created in 1781, received the status of the city in 1938);
- Enakievo was first mentioned in 1782, and received city status in 1925;
- the city of Konstantinovka appeared in 1870;
- the city of Kramatorsk, was badly damaged by shelling of the DPR, created in 1868;
- Makeevka (at the moment it is practically part of Donetsk);
- Mariupol (one of the two largest in the number of residents of the regional centers of Ukraine);
- Chistyakovo (now the city of Torez, controlled by the DPR) - a village founded in 1778, received the status of the city in 1932.
Modernity
Now Donetsk region is in the zone of armed conflict. In fact, it is divided in half into two zones of influence controlled by Ukraine and its opponents. Such a situation negatively affects the situation in the region. The industrial power of the region is almost lost. Many mines have already closed and will never begin their work.
The population was badly damaged as a result of hostilities, so the purchasing power of people fell significantly.
Today it is very difficult to live normally in the once prosperous region of the Ukrainian state.