Volost in Russia at different times meant both a land community and an independent administrative-territorial unit. The abolition of volosts took place at the beginning of the 20th century after the emergence of new territorial units - districts.
The words "volost" and "power" in the ancient Russian annals were encountered equally often and had the same meaning.
What is a volost in Ancient Russia
A volost in Ancient Russia was a territory that was subordinate to one power, most often a princely one. However, volosts could be located not only on princely, but also on monastic, boyar, palace lands. Usually, the prince gave the administration of the volost to one person - the "volostel", in favor of whom duties and levies were collected from the inhabitants of the volost. This system was called "feeding" and was abolished in the 17th century with the emergence of city governors.
Subsequently, a volost was called not a land community, but an administrative district, the boundaries of which could coincide with the previous boundaries of the volosts. This coincidence was due to several reasons: the well-established relations between the inhabitants of the volosts and natural conditions, including the geographical connectivity of the settlements with each other. Settlements were often located on the banks of rivers and lakes and united around one church parish or land community. Volost in Ancient Russia was the most characteristic type of peasant community. Each volost had its own name, and people living on its territory were distinguished by a characteristic reprimand and were united by close family ties.
Volost in Russia 18-20 centuries
The volost again became a full-fledged administrative-territorial unit at the end of the 18th century after the establishment of volost boards. Subsequently, the following changes took place: in 1861, the volost turned into a unit of estate peasant administration and became subordinate to the county presence for peasant affairs. Since 1889, the management of the volost passed to the zemstvo chiefs.
After the 1917 revolution, the volost is a unit of all-estate self-government. Subsequently, the territory of the volosts was fragmented due to the transfer to the peasants of the land that had previously belonged to the state, landlords and monasteries. In 1923, a reform began in the Soviet Republic, the result of which was the enlargement of the volosts and the complete disappearance of the differences between the volost and the uyezd. The final elimination of volosts from administrative maps took place in 1928-30, when a new administrative-territorial division came into use - the district division. This division was based on the economic attraction of the region's population to a single center.
