Post-Revolutionary Daily Life of Remote Countryside: According to the Diary of Village Constable V.A. Ostchepkov, March, 1906

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Ryazanov S.M.,

Perm, Russian Federation

Post-Revolutionary Daily Life of Remote Countryside: According to the Diary of Village Constable V.A. Ostchepkov, March, 1906

Abstract

Police activities in the Russian Empire is a well-studied topic in modern historiography. Interest in it that sprang in regional studies in late 1990s hasn’t yet disappeared. Contribution of E.P. Sichinsky to studying the Ural police should be noted. Also draws attention insufficient number of publications of historical sources on the topic, while they could have significantly enhanced regional studies and stimulated publication of general works. Soviet historiography declared that the main task of the imperial police was to suppress the revolutionary movement and defend the interests of the ruling class. The latest researches refute this thesis. In fact, police functions were extremely broad, which is evident on the example of police constables duties. Their real daily work can be gauged from a valuable document stored in the fonds of the State Archive of the Perm Region – extracts of the official diary of V.A. Oshchepkov. In total there are 6 extracts preserved (all for spring of 1906). However, for reasons of space, this publication includes only the first two extracts (for March). This fragment showcases not only struggle against the revolutionary movement but implementation of many other supervisory and enforcement functions in the interests of the entire population of the volost. The publication may be of interest not just to researchers of police. Issues touched upon in this source are wider. It reveals many aspects of everyday life in Russian countryside in the early 20th century, primarily concerning unlawful behavior of rural residents. The extracts echo the revolutionary events. The publication is in accordance with current rules for publication of historical documents.

Keywords

Source, State Archive of the Perm Krai, Perm gubernia, village constable, Russian imperial police, official dairy.

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References

1. Galaj Yu.G., Belyakov А.V. Nizhegorodskaya politsiya v XVIII – nachale XX veka [Nizhny Novgorod police in 18th – early 20th century]. – Nizhnij Novgorod, 2012, 144 p.

2. Koksharov А.V. Politsiya Vladimirskoj gubernii vo vtoroj polovine XIX – nachale XX vv. K 150-letiyu reformy politsii Rossii [Police of Vladimir gubernia in the second half of the 19th – early 20th century. For the 150th anniversary of the Russian police reform]. Ivanovo, Sprint publ., 2012, 248 p.

3. Sichinskij E.P. Politsiya Yuzhnogo Urala v period krizisa samoderzhaviya [Police of the Southern Urals in the crisis of autocracy]. Moscow, А. I. Osipenko publ., 2005, 266 p.

About the authors

Ryazanov Sergey Michaylovich, PhD in History, senior lecturer at the Perm State Institute of Culture, Perm, Russian Federation, +7-909-111-09-23, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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