History
December 29, 1708 Tsar Peter the Great issued an edict which established seven governorates. The description of the borders of the governorates was not given; instead, their area was defined as a set of towns and the lands adjacent to those towns. The present area of Novgorod oblast was a part of Ingermanland Governorate, which was renamed Saint Petersburg Governorate in 1710. The governorates were subdivided into uyezds, and uyezds into volosts. In 1727, a separate Novgorod Governorate was established. It was subdivided into five provinces, and the current area of Novgorod Oblast was split between two of them - Novgorod and Velikiye Luki Provinces. In 1772, Velikiye Luki Province was transferred to newly established Pskov Governorate. In 1775, Novgorod Governorate was transformed to Novgorod Viceroyalty, and in 1777, Pskov Governorate was transformed to Pskov Viceroyalty. In 1796, both governorates were re-established. By the 1920s, most of the area of current Novgorod Oblast belonged to Novgorod Governorate. Kholmsky and Soletsky Districts belonged to Pskov Governorate, and a part of Batetsky District belonged to Petrograd Governorate.
On August 1, 1927 the governorates were abolished, and merged into newly established Leningrad Oblast, which included the northwestern part of Russian Federation. The oblast were subdidived into 140 districts, which were grouped into nine okrugs. The current area of Novgorod Oblast was spread into six of these nine okrugs, Borovichi, Cherepovets, Leningrad, Luga, Novgorod, and Velikiye Luki Okrugs. On June 3, 1929 Velikiye Luki Okrug, which included Kholmsky District, was transferred from Leningrad Oblast to Western Oblast. Later on, it was transferred into Kalinin Oblast. In 1930, the okrugs were abolished, and the districts were directly subordinate to the oblast authoroties.
Between autumn of 1941 and spring of 1944, during the World War II, western parts of the current area of Novgorod Oblast, including the city of Novgorod, were occupied by German troops. After the liberation, the administrative division of Soviet Union was considerably changed, and on July 5, 1944 Novgorod Oblast with the center in the city of Novgorod was established.
On August 22, 1944 Kholmsky District, which was a part of Novgorod Oblast, was transferred to newly established Velikiye Luki Oblast. On October 2, 1957 Velikiye Luki Oblast was abolished, and Kholmsky District was transferred to Pskov Oblast. On July 29, 1958 it was transferred back to Novgorod Oblast.
In the middle of the 1960s the oblast went through the aborted Khrushchyov administrative reform, when districts were first divided into large-scale agricultural and industrial district, and several years later these were abolished, and the oblast got a district structure different from that before the reform.
Read more about this topic: Administrative Divisions Of Novgorod Oblast
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