Social Image and Fate of Peasant Rebels of 1920–1921: Materials from the Fonds of the State Archive of the Tambov Region

УДК 94(47)+94(470.326)

DOI 10.28995/2073-0101-2019-3-685-699

Oleg V. Bezay, Vladimir B. Bezgin,

Tambov State Technical University, Tambov, Russian Federation

Social Image and Fate of Peasant Rebels of 1920–1921: Materials from the Fonds of the State Archive of the Tambov Region

Abstract

The forthcoming centenary of the beginning of the peasant revolt of 1920 – 1921 in the Tambov gubernia has caused an increased interest of scholars in studying the issues of the insurgent movement and its role in the Civil War. Portrayal of ordinary combatants and understanding social and demographic nature of the guerilla is of great significance. Having studied lists of bandits and members of their families in the fonds of the State Archive of the Tambov Region (GATO), the authors analyze social identity, property status, age and marital status of peasants in partisan groups. The names of the personnel show the actual combat loss of the insurgent peasants; they allow to assess the activity of population in “rebellious” areas, the nature of counterinsurgency and punishment of the anti-government movement participants. It has been established that average age of the Tambov Rebellion participant was 26. The typical insurgent was a peasant, a local resident, year of birth about 1896, usually married with two or three children. The property status in such families was mostly below average. Most rebels were poor. The poor numbered from 66% to 93% in the lists. As a part of counterinsurgency operations, all “bandits’ property” or part of it was confiscated, heads of the family were shot, other family members of were declared hostages and taken in temporary custody to concentration camps. Those participants of the revolt who gave themselves up or were captured were brought to “revolutionary justice.” Depending on their involvement in armed struggle against the Soviet power, they were sentenced to 1–5 years of prison.

Keywords

Mass historical sources, peasant uprising, Tambov Rebellion of 1920–1921, lists of peasant rebels, social image, age, property status, marital status, repressions.

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References

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About the author

Bezay Oleg Vasilievich, Tambov State Technical University, history and philosophy department, graduate student, Tambov, Russian Federation, +7-910-754-29-64, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Bezgin Vladimir Borisovich, PhD in History, professor, Tambov State Technical University, history and philosophy department, professor, Tambov, Russian Federation, +7-910-758-43-83, vladyka62@ mail.ru

Grant information

The article has been prepared with financial support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 18-09-0014 “The phenomenon of Red insurgency in the Civil War: Contingency of ideological attitudes, military and organizational solutions in the insurgency of the Central Black Earth Region, the Volga region, and the Southern Ural.”

Submitted 22.05.2019, published (for citation):

BEZAI, O. V., BEZGIN, V. B. Sotsial'nyi oblik i uchast' krest'yanskikh povstantsev 1920–1921 gg. Po materialam fondov Gosudarstvennogo arkhiva Tambovskoi oblasti [Social Image and Fate of Peasant Rebels of 1920–1921: Materials from the Fonds of the State Archive of the Tambov Region. In Russ.]. IN: Vestnik arhivista / Herald of an Archivist, 2019, no. 3, pp. 685-699. doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2019-3-685-699