The chigirin conspiracy and peasant psychology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2017.1.220Abstract
This article considers the psychology of the peasants who took part in the Chigirin conspiracy in Kiev province in the second half of the 19th century. The analysis is based on a variety of sources kept in the State Archive of the Russian Federation. The author focuses on the unique combination of objective and subjective factors reflecting how the peasant movement was divided by national, interclass, and class conflicts, as well as opposing religious views. It was due to these factors that the Chigirin conspiracy acquired its unique character, which can help clarify how traditional psychology works during protests. The author points out the psychological factors which led to a temporary union between the revolutionary Narodniks and the peasant movement as part of the Secret Druzhina: this had the purpose of raising a rebellion and fighting for the redistribution of land. The article describes the reasons for the failure of the self-styled conspiracy organised by the revolutionary Narodniks, who pretended to be the tsar’s commissars and presented the Chigirin peasants with what was claimed to be documents approved by the tsar but were in fact forged papers. The analysis is based on an interdisciplinary approach. Relying on the hermeneutic paradigm in his attempt to interpret events of the past, the author tries to understand the motives behind their protest and reveal some of the general and peculiar components of peasant psychology during the post-reform period. These components were characteristic of Little Russia’s peasants compared to the peasants of other Russian provinces of the time.References
Chigirin conspiracy; peasant psychology; Narodniks; tsar’s commissars; forged gramota.
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Andreev, I. L. (1995). Samozvanstvo i samozvancih na Rusi [Impostors and Imposture in Russia]. In Znanie – sila, 8, pp. 46–56.
Balagurov, Ya. A. (1969). Kizhskoe vosstanie 1769–1771 [Kizhi Uprising of 1769–1771]. 100 p. Petrozavodsk, Kareljskoe knizhnoe izdateljstvovo.
Berman, B. I. (1982). Chitatelj zhitiya [Readers of Hagiography]. In Khudozhestvennihyj yazihk Srednevekovjya. Moscow, Nauka, pp. 159–183.
Beskova, I. A. (1995). Problema sootnosheniya mentaljnosti i kuljturih [The Issue of the Correlation of Mentality and Culture]. In Kognitivnaya ehvolyuciya i tvorchestvo. Moscow, Institut filosofii RAN, pp. 123–163.
GARF [State Archive of the Russian Federation]. Stock 112. List 1. Dopp. 473; 475; 476; 477.
GARF [State Archive of the Russian Federation]. Stock 109, (3-ya Ehkspediciya. 1877 g.). Dopp. 262. Ch. 1.
Grebenkin, K. (Ed.). (1934). Materiali do istorii selyansjkikh revolyuciyjnikh rukhiv na Chigirinthini (1875–1879 pp.) [Materials for the History of the Peasant Revolutionary Movement in the Chigirinschina (from 1875 to 1879)]. 440 p. Kharkiv : Vidannya Centraljnogo arkhivnogo upravlinnya Ukraїnsjkoї Socіalіstichnoї Radyansjkoї Respublіki.
Dokumentih po Chigirinskomu delu (1906) [Documents on the Chigirin Conspiracy]. In Bihloe, 12. pp. 257–261.
Zayjonchkovsky, P. A. (1968). Otmena krepostnogo prava v Rossii [The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia]. 368 p. Moscow, Prosvethenie.
Zayjonchkovsky, P.A. (Ed.). (1968). Krestjyanskoe dvizhenie v Rossii v 1870–1880 gg. [The Peasant Movement in Russia between 1870 and 1880]. 612 p. Moscow : Nauka. Ignatovich, I. I. (1911). Bezdna [The Abyss]. In Velikaya reforma. T. 5. Moscow, Izdanie Tovarithestva I. D. Sihtina, pp. 211–219.
Litvak, B. G. (1989). Krestjyanskoe dvizhenie v Rossii 1775–1904 gg. Istoriya i metodika izucheniya istochnikov [The Peasant Movement in Russia between 1775 and 1904. The History and Methodology of Source Study]. 256 p. Moscow, Nauka.
Litvak, B. G. (1991). Perevorot 1861 goda v Rossii: pochemu ne realizovalasj reformatorskaya aljternativa [The 1861 Revolution in Russia: Why the Reform Alternative Was Not Realised]. 302 p. Moscow, Politizdat.
Micik, Yu. A. (2007). Chigirin – getjmansjka stolicya [Chigirin – the Hetman Capital]. 392 p. Kiev, Kievo-Mogilyansjka akademіya.
Nosov, N. E. (Ed.). (1967). Krestjyanstvo i klassovaya borjba v feodaljnoyj Rossii [The Peasantry and Class Struggle in Feudal Russia]. 456 p. Leningrad, Nauka, Leningradskoe otdelenie.
Novicky, V. D. (1991). Iz vospominaniyj zhandarma [From the Memoirs of a Gendarme]. 254 p. Moscow : Izdateljstvo Moskovskogo universitetata. Pamyatniki novoyj russkoyj istorii (1873). [The Monuments of New Russian History. 3 Vols.]. Vol. 3. 439 p. St Petersburg, Tipografiya Mayjkova.
Pelevin, Yu. A. (2014). Yuzhnihe buntari i “Chigirinskiyj zagovor” [Southern Rebels and the “Chigirin Conspiracy”]. In Rossiyjskaya istoriya, 1. pp. 130–150.
Poberezhnikov, I. V. (1995a). “Dobrihe cari” na Urale [“Good Tsars” in the Urals]. In Rodina, 2. pp. 73–74.
Poberezhnikov, I. V. (1986). Zauraljskiyj samozvanec [The Trans-Ural Impostor]. In Voprosih istorii, 11. pp. 182–185.
Poberezhnikov, I. V. (1995b). Slukhi v socialjnoyj istorii: tipologiya i funkcii (po materialam vostochnihkh regionov Rossii XVIII–XIX vv.) [Rumors in Social History: Typology and Functions (Based on Materials from the Eastern Regions of Russia of the 18th and 19th Centuries]. 58 p. Yekaterinburg, Bank kuljturnoyj informacii.
Poyjda, D. P. (1960). Krestjyanskoe dvizhenie na Pravoberezhnoyj Ukraine v poreformennihyj period (1866–1900 gg.) [The Peasant Movement in Right-bank Ukraine in the Post-reform Period (1866–1900)]. 488 p. Dnepropetrovsk, Dnepropetrovskoe oblastnoe izdateljstvo.
RGADA – Rossiyjskiyj gosudarstvennihyj arkhiv drevnikh aktov [Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts]. Stock 6. List 1. Dossier 405.
Rut, M. E. (2001). Imya i obraz: dinamicheskiyj aspekt [The Name and the Image: The Dynamic Aspect]. In Imya: vnutrennyaya struktura, semanticheskaya aura, kontekst : tezisih mezhdunarodnoyj nauchnoyj konferencii. Ch. 1. Moscow, Institut slavyanovedeniya RAN, pp. 15–19.
Sivkov, K. V. (1950). Samozvanchestvo v Rossii v posledneyj treti XVIII v. [Imposture in Russia in the Last Third of the 18th Century]. In Istoricheskie zapiski, 31. pp. 88–135.
Stepnyak, P. P. (1906). Podpoljnaya Rossiya [Underground Russia]. 240 p. St Petersburg, Tipolitografiya A. Eh. Vineke.
Tolstoy, N. I. (Ed.). (1995). Slavyanskie drevnosti : ehtnolingvisticheskiyj slovarj : v 5 t. T. 2. [Slavic Antiquities : Ethnolinguistic Dictionary, 5 Vols.]. Vol. 5. 689 p. Moscow, Mezhdunarodnihe otnosheniya.
Tun, A. (1917). Istoriya revolyucionnago dvizheniya v Rossii [The History of the Revolutionary Movement in Russia]. 293 p. Petrograd, Tipografiya P. P. Soyjkina.
Usenko, O. G. (2005). Novihe dannihe o monarkhicheskom samozvanchestve v Rossii vtoroyj polovinih XVIII veka [New Information on Royal Imposture in Russia in the Second Half of the 18th Century]. In Mininskie chteniya : materialih nauchnoyj konferencii. Nizhniyj Novgorod, Izdateljstvo Nizhegorodskogo universiteta, pp. 74–97.
Usenko, O. G. (1995). Samozvanchestvo na Rusi: norma ili patologiya? [Imposture in Russia: A Norm or Pathology?]. In Rodina, 1. pp. 53–57; 2, pp. 69–72.
Uspensky, B. A. (1996). Izbrannihe trudih [Selected Works, 2 Vols.] : Vol. 1. 608 p. Semiotika istorii. Semiotika kuljturih. Moscow, Yazihki russkoyj kuljturih. Chigirinskoe delo : (Po officialjnihm istochnikam) (1877). [The Chigirin Case (according to Official Sources)]. In Kievlyanin, 97. Aug., 16.
Chistov, K. V. (2003). Russkaya narodnaya utopiya (genezis i funkcii socialjnoutopicheskikh legend) [Russian Folk Utopia (Genesis and Functions of Social-utopian Legends)]. 539 p. St Petersburg, Dmitriyj Bulanin.
Yudin, P. L. (1896). K istorii Pugachevthinih [The History of the Pugachev Rebellion]. In Russkiyj arkhiv, 6. pp. 5–46; 161–184.
Andreev, I. L. (1999). Anatomiya samozvanstva [The Anatomy of Imposture]. In Nauka i zhizn', 10, pp. 110–117.
Andreev, I. L. (1995). Samozvanstvo i samozvancih na Rusi [Impostors and Imposture in Russia]. In Znanie – sila, 8, pp. 46–56.
Balagurov, Ya. A. (1969). Kizhskoe vosstanie 1769–1771 [Kizhi Uprising of 1769–1771]. 100 p. Petrozavodsk, Kareljskoe knizhnoe izdateljstvovo.
Berman, B. I. (1982). Chitatelj zhitiya [Readers of Hagiography]. In Khudozhestvennihyj yazihk Srednevekovjya. Moscow, Nauka, pp. 159–183.
Beskova, I. A. (1995). Problema sootnosheniya mentaljnosti i kuljturih [The Issue of the Correlation of Mentality and Culture]. In Kognitivnaya ehvolyuciya i tvorchestvo. Moscow, Institut filosofii RAN, pp. 123–163.
GARF [State Archive of the Russian Federation]. Stock 112. List 1. Dopp. 473; 475; 476; 477.
GARF [State Archive of the Russian Federation]. Stock 109, (3-ya Ehkspediciya. 1877 g.). Dopp. 262. Ch. 1.
Grebenkin, K. (Ed.). (1934). Materiali do istorii selyansjkikh revolyuciyjnikh rukhiv na Chigirinthini (1875–1879 pp.) [Materials for the History of the Peasant Revolutionary Movement in the Chigirinschina (from 1875 to 1879)]. 440 p. Kharkiv : Vidannya Centraljnogo arkhivnogo upravlinnya Ukraїnsjkoї Socіalіstichnoї Radyansjkoї Respublіki.
Dokumentih po Chigirinskomu delu (1906) [Documents on the Chigirin Conspiracy]. In Bihloe, 12. pp. 257–261.
Zayjonchkovsky, P. A. (1968). Otmena krepostnogo prava v Rossii [The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia]. 368 p. Moscow, Prosvethenie.
Zayjonchkovsky, P.A. (Ed.). (1968). Krestjyanskoe dvizhenie v Rossii v 1870–1880 gg. [The Peasant Movement in Russia between 1870 and 1880]. 612 p. Moscow : Nauka. Ignatovich, I. I. (1911). Bezdna [The Abyss]. In Velikaya reforma. T. 5. Moscow, Izdanie Tovarithestva I. D. Sihtina, pp. 211–219.
Litvak, B. G. (1989). Krestjyanskoe dvizhenie v Rossii 1775–1904 gg. Istoriya i metodika izucheniya istochnikov [The Peasant Movement in Russia between 1775 and 1904. The History and Methodology of Source Study]. 256 p. Moscow, Nauka.
Litvak, B. G. (1991). Perevorot 1861 goda v Rossii: pochemu ne realizovalasj reformatorskaya aljternativa [The 1861 Revolution in Russia: Why the Reform Alternative Was Not Realised]. 302 p. Moscow, Politizdat.
Micik, Yu. A. (2007). Chigirin – getjmansjka stolicya [Chigirin – the Hetman Capital]. 392 p. Kiev, Kievo-Mogilyansjka akademіya.
Nosov, N. E. (Ed.). (1967). Krestjyanstvo i klassovaya borjba v feodaljnoyj Rossii [The Peasantry and Class Struggle in Feudal Russia]. 456 p. Leningrad, Nauka, Leningradskoe otdelenie.
Novicky, V. D. (1991). Iz vospominaniyj zhandarma [From the Memoirs of a Gendarme]. 254 p. Moscow : Izdateljstvo Moskovskogo universitetata. Pamyatniki novoyj russkoyj istorii (1873). [The Monuments of New Russian History. 3 Vols.]. Vol. 3. 439 p. St Petersburg, Tipografiya Mayjkova.
Pelevin, Yu. A. (2014). Yuzhnihe buntari i “Chigirinskiyj zagovor” [Southern Rebels and the “Chigirin Conspiracy”]. In Rossiyjskaya istoriya, 1. pp. 130–150.
Poberezhnikov, I. V. (1995a). “Dobrihe cari” na Urale [“Good Tsars” in the Urals]. In Rodina, 2. pp. 73–74.
Poberezhnikov, I. V. (1986). Zauraljskiyj samozvanec [The Trans-Ural Impostor]. In Voprosih istorii, 11. pp. 182–185.
Poberezhnikov, I. V. (1995b). Slukhi v socialjnoyj istorii: tipologiya i funkcii (po materialam vostochnihkh regionov Rossii XVIII–XIX vv.) [Rumors in Social History: Typology and Functions (Based on Materials from the Eastern Regions of Russia of the 18th and 19th Centuries]. 58 p. Yekaterinburg, Bank kuljturnoyj informacii.
Poyjda, D. P. (1960). Krestjyanskoe dvizhenie na Pravoberezhnoyj Ukraine v poreformennihyj period (1866–1900 gg.) [The Peasant Movement in Right-bank Ukraine in the Post-reform Period (1866–1900)]. 488 p. Dnepropetrovsk, Dnepropetrovskoe oblastnoe izdateljstvo.
RGADA – Rossiyjskiyj gosudarstvennihyj arkhiv drevnikh aktov [Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts]. Stock 6. List 1. Dossier 405.
Rut, M. E. (2001). Imya i obraz: dinamicheskiyj aspekt [The Name and the Image: The Dynamic Aspect]. In Imya: vnutrennyaya struktura, semanticheskaya aura, kontekst : tezisih mezhdunarodnoyj nauchnoyj konferencii. Ch. 1. Moscow, Institut slavyanovedeniya RAN, pp. 15–19.
Sivkov, K. V. (1950). Samozvanchestvo v Rossii v posledneyj treti XVIII v. [Imposture in Russia in the Last Third of the 18th Century]. In Istoricheskie zapiski, 31. pp. 88–135.
Stepnyak, P. P. (1906). Podpoljnaya Rossiya [Underground Russia]. 240 p. St Petersburg, Tipolitografiya A. Eh. Vineke.
Tolstoy, N. I. (Ed.). (1995). Slavyanskie drevnosti : ehtnolingvisticheskiyj slovarj : v 5 t. T. 2. [Slavic Antiquities : Ethnolinguistic Dictionary, 5 Vols.]. Vol. 5. 689 p. Moscow, Mezhdunarodnihe otnosheniya.
Tun, A. (1917). Istoriya revolyucionnago dvizheniya v Rossii [The History of the Revolutionary Movement in Russia]. 293 p. Petrograd, Tipografiya P. P. Soyjkina.
Usenko, O. G. (2005). Novihe dannihe o monarkhicheskom samozvanchestve v Rossii vtoroyj polovinih XVIII veka [New Information on Royal Imposture in Russia in the Second Half of the 18th Century]. In Mininskie chteniya : materialih nauchnoyj konferencii. Nizhniyj Novgorod, Izdateljstvo Nizhegorodskogo universiteta, pp. 74–97.
Usenko, O. G. (1995). Samozvanchestvo na Rusi: norma ili patologiya? [Imposture in Russia: A Norm or Pathology?]. In Rodina, 1. pp. 53–57; 2, pp. 69–72.
Uspensky, B. A. (1996). Izbrannihe trudih [Selected Works, 2 Vols.] : Vol. 1. 608 p. Semiotika istorii. Semiotika kuljturih. Moscow, Yazihki russkoyj kuljturih. Chigirinskoe delo : (Po officialjnihm istochnikam) (1877). [The Chigirin Case (according to Official Sources)]. In Kievlyanin, 97. Aug., 16.
Chistov, K. V. (2003). Russkaya narodnaya utopiya (genezis i funkcii socialjnoutopicheskikh legend) [Russian Folk Utopia (Genesis and Functions of Social-utopian Legends)]. 539 p. St Petersburg, Dmitriyj Bulanin.
Yudin, P. L. (1896). K istorii Pugachevthinih [The History of the Pugachev Rebellion]. In Russkiyj arkhiv, 6. pp. 5–46; 161–184.
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2017-04-12
How to Cite
Maul, V. (2017). The chigirin conspiracy and peasant psychology. Quaestio Rossica, 5(1), 221–240. https://doi.org/10.15826/qr.2017.1.220
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