Mineralnye Vody: the capital of the North-Caucasus region – the solution remaining in the project

The article is devoted to the discussion of the issue of the new administrative center of the North-Caucasus Region (NCR), formed in January 1934, after the separation of the Azov-Black Sea Region from it. The then leadership of the country decided to place the capital of the NCR in the city of Georgievsk, but as a result of further discussion, two months later – in Mineral Waters. At the same time, it was planned that before the construction of administrative buildings in the new center, the regional authorities were to be located in the resort city of Pyatigorsk.

The author reveals the main reasons for making a decision in favor of Mineralnye Vody. This city as the center of the North-Caucasus Region had the following advantages: 1. Mineralnye Vody was the largest railway transport hub in the region. 2. The largest airport in the South of Russia was located there. 3. Industry was developing dynamically in the city, and the working class was the dominant population – this was important for the state of the «dictatorship of the proletariat». 4. Proximity to the resort town allowed the leadership of the region to live in Pyatigorsk, and work in Mineralnye Vody.

The article provides some reasons why the central and regional authorities reconsidered the decision to build the administrative center of the North-Caucasus Region in Mineralnye Vody. Firstly, there was the need to invest significant financial resources in the construction of the center. Secondly, it was the reluctance of regional officials to leave the temporary center of the region, Pyatigorsk. Thirdly, the central authorities of the country continued to search for the optimal, from their point of view, administrative-territorial structure, which could once again change the decision on the regional center. A way out of this situation was found in the official consolidation of the status of the permanent center of the North-Caucasus Region for Pyatigorsk.

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