Vol 22, No 4 (2023): Volga-Vyatsk and Ural Regions in the Retrospective Focus of History

VOLGA-VYATSK AND URAL REGIONS IN THE RETROSPECTIVE FOCUS OF HISTORY

Bogatyrs and Rulers: Folklore Characters in the Ethnic Identity and Religious Practices of the Vyatka Mari

Ustyantsev H.Y.

Abstract

The author examines the mythological aspect of the entoregional identity of the modern Mari population in the Kirov oblast’ (the Vyatka, the Urzhum-Vyatka Mari) living in the Malmyzhsky and Urzhumsky districts. The author identifies the role of heroic images in modern ethno-cultural activism and the representation of the Vyatka Mari as the main problem of the study. Due to the multidimensional aspect of the problem, the article includes thematic sub-items: Features of the ethnic and religious identity of the Vyatka Mari - Images of folklore rulers in the perception of local residents - Legendary rulers in ethno-cultural activism and commemorative practices - Sacralization of folklore characters. The author considers this problem on the basis of the field materials (interview texts) collected during his expeditions to the Kirov oblast’ in 2015, 2017, 2021, and the regional media. In a multicultural region, inhabited by different ethnic groups, the Mari represent their identity through festive and sacred practices, as well as the veneration of local legendary rulers and heroes: Princes Akpatyr, Akmazik, Boltush (Poltysh) and others. Folklore heroes are objects of the religious cult of the Mari traditional religion, which is manifested in the ethnoregional self-consciousness of the Mari population. Legendary heroes are perceived by the local population as real historical characters. It is revealed that the beliefs in reality of the Mari heroes reflect the idea of the “golden age” of the history of the Vyatka Mari and their heroized past. The images of Boltush, Akpatyr are actively broadcast through the media, the ethnic component in education, local history literature. Thanks to the efforts of local activists, new objects of the cultural landscape emerge in the Malmyzhsky district - monuments at the sites of the symbolic burials of the Mari rulers. The conclusion is formulated that cultural activism, which appeals to the images of Mari folklore, plays a significant role in marking the ethnoregional identity of the Vyatka Mari people. In the text of the article the characters of the Mari folklore of Vyatka are considered in the context of identity. The obtained result allows to apply this theoretical framework for the study of folklore images in relation to the identities of ethnographic groups of the Mari and other peoples of the Volga region. The article is based on the dissertation “The system of mythological characters in the representation of the identities of modern Mari” for the degree of Candidate of Historical Sciences, defended in 2022 in the N.N. Miklukho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):532-545
pages 532-545 views

Conflict of Military Governor A.N. Muravyov with Nizhny Novgorod Nobility during the Peasant Reform

Seliverstova N.M.

Abstract

The author analyzes complex relationships between military governor of the Nizhny Novgorod province A.N. Muravyov and the local nobility during the preparation and implementation of the peasant reform of 1861, as well as the trace that they left in historical memory twenty years later. There are considered the personalized mechanism of interaction between the government and society at the micro-social level, the method of resolving conflicts, including through appeals to higher authorities. The subjective and objective reasons for the enmity are revealed, including the experience of confrontation between the main protagonists during the Decembrist uprising, the consistent expansion of the circle of participants in the conflict, due to the inclusion of the governor’s supporters among the nobility after his resignation. The purpose of the study is to identify the peculiarities of social behavior of officials and noblemen through the analysis of correspondence between government officials and local nobility. The author found that the bureaucracy was always guided by the viewpoint of the monarch, and members of the nobility were much more independent in words and actions. This type of behavior was consistent with the privileged role of the upper class in the Russian Empire, especially in the pre-reform period. The conflict between the military governor and the local nobility was reflected in the controversial memories of A.N. Muravyov and his contribution to the abolition of serfdom in the Nizhny Novgorod province. The officials remembered A.N. Muravyov as an exponent of the will of the Tsar Liberator.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):546-558
pages 546-558 views

Activities of the Guardianships of National Sobriety in the Urals in Late XIX - Early XХ Century: Regional Experience in the Anti-Alcohol Struggle

Kazakova-Apkarimova E.Y.

Abstract

The author reconstructs the regional historical experience of the anti-alcohol struggle in pre-revolutionary Russia. There is emphasized important practical significance of the problem under study in the context of solving problems of promoting a healthy lifestyle in modern Russian society. A wide range of historiographical literature and sources is involved, on the basis of which it is shown that by the beginning of the XX century in the work of the Ural guardianships of national sobriety there dominated the cultural and educational trend. The author comes to the conclusion that in late XIX - early XX centuries the guardianships of national sobriety failed to stop the spread of drunkenness in the region. However, despite the limited material resources allocated from the treasury, these institutions made a significant contribution to the organization of “reasonable” leisure for the Ural residents and to the development of the culture of the Ural society as a whole. The social support of guardianships of national sobriety in the Urals was one of the prerequisites for strengthening the temperance movement in the region during the period under review. Under the harsh conditions of the state-owned wine monopoly, the temperance movement was the spiritual and mental response of the public (secular and church) to the challenges of the time, and the promotion of the idea of sobriety was a palliative means of resolving this issue.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):559-572
pages 559-572 views

Establishment of the System of Sanitary and Medical Services for Workers of the Caspian-Volga Fisheries in the Second Half of the XIX - Early XX Century

Vinogradov S.V., Eshchenko Y.G.

Abstract

The authors examine the history of the establishment of the system of sanitary inspection and medical care for workers of the Caspian-Volga fisheries. There is considered the fishing legislation of the XIX - early XX century. It is stated that, despite the approved rules, fishery workers actually had no qualified medical care, the provision of which was entrusted to the owners of the fishing business. The authors come to the conclusion that the supervision of the sanitary condition of the fisheries was not effective due to a number of reasons: unresolved personnel problems, the large territorial expanses of sanitary areas with a lack of vehicles for sanitary doctors, the difficulties of bureaucratic interaction between the Department of Fisheries and Seal Fisheries, regional authorities and owners of the fishing business, etc. The shortcomings of the sanitary and medical services for fisheries, as well as the specific geographical location and natural and climatic conditions of the Astrakhan province contributed to the wide spread of various epidemic diseases. Due to the lack of the public free healthcare system and qualified medical personnel, there emerged infectious diseases, which led to high mortality among fishery workers.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):573-586
pages 573-586 views

Socialization of School Youth of the Southern Urals in the 1950s - Early 1960s

Almaev R.Z.

Abstract

The author considers the influence of the main social institutions of the state and society on the socialization of school youth in the post-war decades. The use of archival materials and sources of private origin allows highlighting the behavior and leisure activities of adolescents aged 14-18 years. Based on the materials of the RSFSR, there is analyzed the contradictory impact of social reality on the moral and ethical standards of Soviet schoolchildren’s behavior declared by the Soviet state. At the same time, the focus is on urban school youth of the Southern Urals - the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, Kurgan, Orenburg, Chelyabinsk regions during the Khrushchev Thaw. In addition to the high moral stability of the younger generation, which was required in the conditions of the ideological confrontation between the two systems, Soviet schoolchildren were seen as a powerful labor resource for restoring the economy and building the communist future. The author identifies numerous difficulties that hindered the formation of the “new man” of communist society. There are revealed the main activities of schools and out-of-school institutions for the education of Soviet youth. Special attention is paid to the study of social problems and offences among young people. The main reasons for the shift in moral and ethical standards of adolescents’ behavior are determined. It is concluded that in the conditions of contradictions of the state, society and school, a significant role in the socialization of youth was played by education in a team. The main institutions of the state and society formed in schoolchildren such moral qualities as honor, dignity, friendship, and mutual assistance.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):587-598
pages 587-598 views

Industrial Development of the National Republics of the Volga-Vyatka Region during the Implementation of the Reform of Industry and Construction Management in 1957-1965

Mineev A.I.

Abstract

The author describes the results of the industrial development of the industry of the republics of the Volga-Vyatka region (Mari, Mordovian and Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) during the implementation of the Sovnarkhoz reform (1957-1965), when instead of the sectoral principle of industrial and construction management, a model of territorial administration represented by the councils of the national economy operated. It is shown that the reform carried out contributed to the intensification of industrial construction in the republics of the Volga-Vyatka region: the existing industrial enterprises expanded and modernized, new factories and factories were put into operation, the structure of industry changed in favor of more knowledge-intensive industries, rationalization developed, labor productivity increased. The growth rate of industry in the Mari, Mordovian and Chuvash Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic during the seven-year period exceeded the average Russian indicators. One of the factors that contributed to the rapid industrial development of the republics at the turn of the 1950s - 1960s was the course of the Soviet government to equalize the socio-economic conditions of various national regions of the country by modernizing their industrial potential. It was concluded that the reform of territorial administration became a powerful impulse to accelerate the development of the republics of the Volga-Vyatka region. By the beginning of the administrative reform, all three republics were territories with the predominant development of agriculture, but in the 1960s they turned into industrial-agrarian republics. The increase in the level of industrial development of the republics of the Volga-Vyatka region was accompanied by an increase in the level of urbanization, the creation of new educational and scientific institutions, and an increase in the scale of housing construction.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):599-611
pages 599-611 views

USSR ON THE EVE AND DURING THE YEARS OF THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

Combat Training of Personnel of the Moscow Military District units in 1934-1940

Sitdikov A.M.

Abstract

The author analyzes the indicators reflecting the level of combat training of the units of the Moscow Military District in 1934-1940. There is considered the organization of the training process of units as one of the main components of effective military training. The data collection on the level of training of the Red Army personnel and headquarters commanders in the framework of tactical and marksmanship training is studied. The source base of the work was the office documents stored in the Russian State Military Archive. It is concluded that in the course of implementing the process of combat training of the Moscow Military District units, some progress was made. In particular, individual training of soldiers and small units increased; the results of shooting improved. At the same time, there were constant problems, such as the organization of the training, the shortage of qualified personnel, as well as the level of tactical training.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):612-628
pages 612-628 views

“Voluntary Mobilization” in July 1941: Recruitment of Divisions of People's Militia of Moscow

Bezugolny A.Y.

Abstract

The author presents an analysis of the peculiarities of manning divisions of the People's militia, formed in Moscow in July 1941. Despite the abundance of literature on the history of the Moscow militia, this aspect of its history has not been studied enough. The research is based on archival sources: both documents of the military department and on documents of the Commission on the History of the Great Patriotic War at the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, which have been actively introduced into scientific circulation in recent years. The content of the regulatory framework of the militia, the formation of the administrative and command vertical, the production and territorial principle of recruitment and related features of the selection of commanding and enlisted personnel are considered. Special attention is paid to the analysis of voluntary and mobilization aspects of recruitment, as well as propaganda support of the campaign. Conclusions are drawn that the formation of militia was carried out in the shortest possible time set by the state, however, being organized as a typical mass campaign of that time, it had many drawbacks, among which the quality of personnel selection occupied one of the most prominent places and then required numerous adjustments that took several months.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):629-644
pages 629-644 views

Czechoslovak and Yugoslav Military Units Created in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War: Effectiveness Analysis

Sinitsyn F.L.

Abstract

Based on the example of the history of the 1st Czechoslovak Army Corps and the 1st Yugoslav Infantry Brigade created on the territory of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War, there are revealed the peculiarities of the effectiveness of “foreign” military units on the territory of a third country. To date, these issues have not been sufficiently studied in historical science. The source base used in the research includes both published and unpublished documents from the funds of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, the Russian State Military Archive and Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. It is shown that despite similar conditions of the formation and assistance from the USSR, the destinies of the Czechoslovak army corps and the Yugoslav brigade were different. The former became a symbol of Czechoslovakia’s struggle against Nazism and the basis of the new Czechoslovak army, whereas the Yugoslav brigade underwent “reformatting”, “dissolved” in the People’s Liberation Army of Yugoslavia; it did not become the basis of the new Yugoslav army and then practically passed into oblivion. The author concludes that with regard to the effectiveness of the Czechoslovak army corps and the Yugoslav brigade, the decisive role was played by the relationship of their command with the main political participant in the process of creating these military units, on whose will both the achievement of the goals set and their very existence depended; the other factors were indirect.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):645-655
pages 645-655 views

Hungarian Volunteer Anti-Fascist Armed Groups during the Great Patriotic War

Kondratenko S.Y.

Abstract

Using the example of the history of Hungarian volunteer anti-fascist groups created during the Great Patriotic War, the author identifies the factors that became decisive in the formation of a “foreign” military unit. The source base used in the research includes both published and unpublished documents from three federal archives - the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History, the Russian State Military Archive, and the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The creation of Hungarian military units was complicated by the lack of an organized anti-fascist movement among prisoners of war, who for the most part remained loyal to the regime of Miklós Horthy. The changes in the domestic and foreign political situation of Hungary in 1944 contributed to the development of the volunteer movement and the beginning of the process of forming Hungarian volunteer anti-fascist groups. The author comes to the conclusion that the decisive factors that influenced the formation of the Hungarian volunteer units were the external ones. They contributed to the growth of anti-fascist and anti-German sentiment among prisoners of war, which led to a change in the attitude of the Hungarians to the idea of creating volunteer units; it allowed the Soviet command to begin their deployment at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):656-669
pages 656-669 views

ARTICLES

Western Religious Propaganda in the Holy Land in the Correspondence of V.N. Khitrovo and K.P. Pobedonostsev in the 1880s

Blokhin V.V.

Abstract

The author has examined the correspondence of socio-religious figure and founder of the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IOPS) V.N. Khitrovo with Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod K.P. Pobedonostsev in the 1880s; the problem of propaganda of the Catholic and Protestant churches in the Holy Land is explored. It is shown that in his detailed reports, historical essays and letters V.N. Khitrovo informed K.P. Pobedonostsev about threats to Orthodoxy in the Holy Land. V.N. Khitrovo rightly supposed that the success of Western propaganda was due to the Western powers’ implementation of their national interests. The religious policy of France and the Protestant powers (England and Germany) was a “tool” for promoting their national interests. “Propaganda” and religious penetration of Western faiths manifested themselves in religious and political forms, which was embodied in the creation of educational institutions, hospitals, the spread of semi-secular women’s orders, and the education of the local population. V.N. Khitrovo associated the success of Catholicism with the activities of Latin Patriarch I. Valerga. A special way of penetration into the Holy Land was biblical research, one example of which was the activities of Victorian General Gordon. V.N. Khitrovo considered that the weakening of Orthodoxy in the Holy Land was due to not only modest funding, but also insufficient coordination of secular and church institutions of the Russian Empire in the implementation of state religious policy. The author comes to the conclusion that the correspondents had trust-based relations and similar views on major religious and political issues.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):670-679
pages 670-679 views

Situation of Religious Communities in the USSR National Autonomies in 1985-1991: The Case of the Khakass Autonomous Region

Dashkovskiy P.K., Goncharova N.S.

Abstract

The authors consider the situation of religious communities in the Khakass Autonomous Region in the context of the state-religious policy of the USSR during the period of perestroika in 1985-1991. The study was carried out on the basis of the records of state Soviet, party institutions and religious associations stored in the National Archive of the Republic of Khakassia and the State Archive of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, as well as regulatory documents. In the course of the research it was established that in Khakassia, as well as throughout the country, from 1985 religious life was intensified. At the same time, the Commissioners of the Council for Religious Affairs under the Council of Ministers of the USSR for the Krasnoyarsk Territory characterized the religious situation in Khakassia as turbulent from the 1960s and asked for a dedicated post for this national autonomy. It was found that the largest part of the religious communities in the region belonged to different trends of Protestantism, although there were also followers of Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Islam. In Protestant communities there was an increase in missionary work, and in some cases they wanted to avoid contacts with authorities. The liberalization of the state policy was not always adequately reflected in the actions of the authorities of the Khakass Autonomous Region. There was found relationship between ethnic and religious processes. It was noted that Khakassians tended towards Pentecostalism and Jehovah's Witnesses; representatives of German and Polish nationalities tended towards the communities of Catholics, Lutherans, and Seventh-day Adventists. In addition, in the region there was recorded an increase in the preaching activities of religious leaders from Sweden and the United States.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2023;22(4):680-695
pages 680-695 views

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