Power and society in the conditions of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878: on the documents of the Smolensk State Archive

Scientific article

doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-3-685-702

For citation

Gorskaya, Natalya I. (2024), Power and Society in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878: on the documents of the Smolensk State Archive, Herald of an Archivist, № 3, pp. 685-702, doi 10.28995/2073-0101-2024-3-685-702

Gorskaya, Natalya I., Smolensk State University, Smolensk, Russia

Power and society in the conditions of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878: on the documents of the Smolensk State Archive

Abstract

The article deals with the interaction between the authorities and society in solving problems in the rear in connection with the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. Smolensk province, thanks to the presence of railroads and self-government bodies in the form of zemstvos and towns, despite the remoteness of the province from the front, was involved in the all-Russian programs of assistance to the army and the population affected by the war. However, these events on the territory of the province have not been studied so far. The presence in the Smolensk State Archive of dozens of files with great information potential makes it possible to analyze the contribution of the inhabitants of Smolensk province and its administration to the liberation of the Slavic peoples of the Balkan Peninsula. The materials of the Smolensk State Archives on the subject are of a clerical nature. They are stored in the fonds of the Office of the Smolensk Governor (F. 1), Smolensk provincial zemstvo (F. 7), Smolensk city council (F. 65). The uniformity of the sources corresponds to the objectives of the study. The system of local administrative institutions and public organizations for the treatment of the wounded, accommodation of prisoners and assistance to the families of servicemen and the activities accompanying these activities are studied from the perspective of the system approach and event analysis. The analysis of sources has shown that the system of rear institutions and relations was formed under the influence of the central government, but its organizational forms, practices and procedures of interaction were formed locally and were a reflection not only of government policy, but also of the positive perception of the war by the local population and the presence of the necessary public structures on the territory of Smolensk province. The central place in the system of these institutions was occupied by the local Care for Wounded and Sick Soldiers, which was a structural subdivision of the Red Cross on the territory of the province, with the governor acting as coordinator. During the war years in Smolensk province an extensive network of temporary evacuation hospitals was created, which were under the jurisdiction of the provincial administration of the Care for the Wounded and Sick and zemstvo institutions. Thousands of wounded were treated in them. The article presents other actions to help the army: collection of warm clothes among the population, assistance to the families of servicemen who suffered from the war. The author concludes that the organizational forms and practices developed in Smolensk province during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 became a kind of approbation of similar measures applied in the rear during the First World War.

Keywords

Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878, Smolensk province, power and society, local administration, Red Cross, zemstvo, rear hospitals, social support, historical sources.

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About the authors

Gorskaya, Natalya I., Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Smolensk State University, Faculty of History and Law, Department of Russian History, Professor, Smolensk, Russia, +7-910-761-69-80, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Grant information

The article was prepared with the financial support of RNF (project No. 24-28-20194) within the framework of the regional competition “Carrying out fundamental scientific research and search scientific research by small individual groups”: https://grant.rscf.ru/site/user/bids?role=master

The article was received in the editorial office on 12.03.2024, recommended for publication on 20.06.2024.