RUDN Journal of Russian History

In their study, the author examines the life and service activities of one of the most prominent Siberian atamans, former Don Cossack Dementy Zlobin. Based on the analysis of the documentary material, the author established Zlobin's origin, social and financial position, kinship, as well as his participation in the events of the Time of Troubles and service in Siberia. It is shown through an analysis of said material, that thanks to his military experience and leadership qualities acquired on the Don and in Central Russia during the Time of Troubles, D. Zlobin rose from an ordinary Cossack to an influential Siberian ataman. It is noted that D. Zlobin served in the difficult conditions of the South Siberia frontier, with under constant danger and threats from nomadic rulers, and other difficulties associated with the initial development of the southern part of the Yenisei region by the Russian Empire. During his service in the Krasnoyarsk prison, the ataman led many military campaigns against warlike nomads, actively defended the interests of the service class people before the military governors and central authorities and was engaged in economic activities. The author also considers the ataman’s family environment and the performance of official duties by his sons and grandsons. The author makes the conclusion about the typicality and significance of the figure of D. Zlobin and his descendants, who in many respects corresponded to the behavioral stereotypes of their social environment, a characteristic of the Russian oldtimer population of Siberia, and who have made significant contribution to its development.

The authors examine the evolution of landownership in the German colonies of St. Petersburg governorate from the second half of the 18th century to the early 20th century. The research is based on the unpublished documents found in the Russian State Historical Archive and the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg. These materials include: administrative records, interdepartmental correspondence, minutes of colonists’ meetings, petitions from colonists addressed to provincial and central executive bodies, and ownership records. Most of these sources are introduced into scientific use for the first time. The research shows that in the period from 1765 to the 1810s, the St. Petersburg colonies located in close proximity to the capital were primarily established on patrimonial (later appanage) lands, which in the first half of the 19th century were under the jurisdiction of the Cabinet, the Ministry of the Imperial Court, and members of the Imperial family. Until the 1860s, these colonists utilized land allotments. However, the peasant reforms of the 1860s were extended to the German colonies as well, when they were implemented on the same general principles. The redemption payment allowed the Germans to become full owners of their land during the 1870-1890s. However, the implementation of the reforms led to drastic stratification: only homeowners (direct descendants of the first settlers in the male line) received land, while they were in the minority in the colonies. The vast majority of colonists were subsequently left landless. This gave rise to the “land question” in the colonies, which was not resolved in the pre-revolutionary period.

Based on the normative acts of the last third of the 19th century, the author examines the internal policy of the authorities of the steppe regions and Turkestan towards the Tatar population and the reaction of the Tatars to their actions in the initial period of the First Russian Revolution of 1905-1907. They also provide a brief description of the demographic image of Tatar societies in Central Asia. The purpose of the study is to reconstruct the practices of the Tatars of the region in filing petitions and to analyze the texts of petitions in order to identify their needs and aspirations. The participation of a number of Tatar societies of the region in the petition campaign is assessed as a manifestation of their social activity in defending their rights before Imperial structures. In the context of the analysis of the organization of filing petitions by regions, the author reveals: their number (14) and chronological framework, a list of societies/settlements and activistorganizers, dates of petitions and their addressees, and legislative innovations of the autocracy which became the motivation for filing petitions. In addition, the author illustrates the degree of use of model texts from outside and neighboring societies and highlights the forms of filing petitions (by groups or proxies elected at meetings of parish or class societies). They also analyze available sources on such issues as the strengthening and expanding of religion, cultural autonomy, and the establishing additional protection of ethnic confessional and civil rights.

In their study, the author considers the influence of the Russian oil industry on the development of the VolgaCaspian transport corridor in the last third of the 19th - early 20th century. Within their text, they illustrate that in the postreform period, due to the emergence of a free labor market, an opportunity arose for the development of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial initiative. Based on a set of legislative documents and archival materials, some of which are introduced into scientific use for the first time, the author characterizes the main directions of the state policy in the oil industry in the period under study. They reveal in their text the interdependence between oil production volumes and the rapid development of the ports of the VolgaCaspian transport corridor, and the influence of scientific and technological progress on the successful development of the oil industry. In addition, the logistics infrastructure of the region is assessed as well as the changes in the territorial and transport structure of the VolgaCaspian transit route in the last third of the 19th - early 20th century. Within the framework of the theory of organizational and economic mechanisms, the author comes to the conclusion that the modernization processes in the oil industry in the last third of the 19th - early 20th century contributed to a positive transformation and complication of the infrastructure of the VolgaCaspian region. This transformation was expressed in the rapid development of new types of transport and the creation of new transport routes, a change in the range of goods in traditional cargo turnover, and an increase in the economic profitability of both transport and freight traffic. In addition, the expansion of markets for goods and the beginning of the merging of oil production and trade and transport capital and their participation in the development of strategically important sectors of the economy showed the benefit of this transition.

The author examines the socio-economic phenomenon of the Murghab sovereign’s estate, formed in the Merv oasis on August 6, 1887. It shows the process of developing the Murghab estate and turning it into a large agroindustrial enterprise, which was set to become a benchmark for other similar establishments. At the same time, the task was set to make the estate an effective farm, part of the profit from which was to eventually go to the State Treasury. The authors reveal that, in the conditions of the need for significant expenditures on irrigation work, Emperor Alexander III ordered the establishment a sovereign’s manor at the expense of the Appanage Department. At the same time, a task was set to make the manor an effective enterprise, part of the profit from which was eventually to go to the State Treasury. Based on the materials of the official reports, the data on expenses and revenues of the Murghab sovereign’s manor were examined, and the conclusion was made that the Appanage Department was to invest heavily into: the acclimatization of plant varieties, the construction of factories for primary processing of agricultural raw materials in the manor and communication routes, the electrification of production, and the creation of special conditions for the service and life of the manor workers. In 1911 the manor began to yield stable profit. In other words, the initial economic task set out was accomplished.

In 2010-2024 Russian auxologists have expanded the scope of their research. Recently, they have considered height, weight, and body mass index as indirect or proxy indicators of wellbeing, a shift which allows them to identify epochal trends in the dynamics of the standard of living. The results obtained by auxologists confirmed existing conclusions about the upward secular trend of body size and, accordingly, about the epochal increase in the standard of living in Russia in the 19th - 20th centuries. In fact, auxologists have made a sociohistorical turn in terms of biological anthropology, as well as in the field of studying wellbeing, and this has greatly helped Russian historians who do not study anthropometric history. Abroad, this new direction of research has rapidly developed since the 1970s and has already turned into an important academic discipline with its own communities, journals, and departments at universities. According to the author, the most important reason for the indifference of Russian historians to anthropometry is their unpreparedness to work with a new type of source in an interdisciplinary manner including using mathematical and statistical method as well as big data. However, the experience and knowledge of Russian auxologists are of great value for historians. The latter can not only borrow the necessary data from them, but, more importantly, learn from their works the art of conducting anthropometric studies in terms of methodology, analysis methods, and the interpretation of anthropometric indicators.

The author examines the formation of the secondary vocational education system in the Turkestan region during the period of the first Russian modernization. They identify factors that, on the one hand, stimulated the development of education in new territory that became part of the Russian state, and, that on the other hand, hindered the training of local specialists. First of all, they take also into account the interest of the Russian administration in the modernization and incorporation of the region, one of the tools of which was educational policy. The emergence of various enterprises and cultural institutions in the region also generated a need for specialists who largely determined the direction of its development. At the same time, the preserved national traditions, interests of the clergy, and activities of local religious schools stood in the way of training specialists, especially those recruited from among the indigenous population. The source base of the study includes documents, stored in the Central State Archive of the Republic of Uzbekistan, reports and reviews of schools, regions, and departments of the Governorate General, reference and memorandum books of regional boards, as well as materials from the regional periodical press. The author identifies several stages in the creation of the educational system in the Turkestan region, determines the range of educational institutions, opened by the Russian authorities, and examines the results of their activities. The author comes to the conclusion that professional educational institutions, being a completely new experience for the local population, did not attract significant attention from the indigenous peoples. This was due, among other things, to a language barrier and insufficient adaptation of curricula to local conditions. The shortage of experienced teachers and limited funding for the education system also had a negative impact. Nevertheless, the professional schools that were created, especially in the field of agriculture, had a positive impact both on the development of the region’s economy and on the training of personnel that both the authorities and the indigenous population urgently needed.