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In the article one of the loudest judicial and political processes in Russia in the early XX century is discussed, wherethe Social Revolutionary S. V. Balmashev was sentenced to death penalty (he was son of the famous saratovnarodnik V. A. Balmashev) for the murder of the Minister of Interior D. S. Sipyagina - terrorist attack, which initiated the so-called "Central terror" of the Social Revolutionaries.

The article considers the unknown pages of the history of Saratov during the first twenty years after the foundation of the city, the characteristic of the "Saratov Annals", composed 120 years ago is given. The main studies concerning this period of Saratov’s history are discussed in detail and their shortcomings are indicated.