Izvestiya of Saratov University.
ISSN 1819-4907 (Print)
ISSN 2542-1913 (Online)


Saratov Volga region

Church and state policy: Problems of interaction (based on the example of the Saratov Volga region 1917–1920s)

The authors of the article, based on archival material, characterize and analyze the measures of the Soviet government in relation to the church and believers in the 1917–1920s. The article examines events related to the confiscation of churches from believers, the seizure of church valuables from religious buildings in the Saratov Volga region under the pretext of helping the hungry.

Ideology and practice of the anti-Bolshevik “Peasant War” of 1921 in the Saratov Volga region

The article is devoted to the mass resistance of the peasants of the Saratov Volga region in 1921 to the policy of “war communism” of the Bolshevik government. It acquired an armed character and was accompanied both by the fighting of spontaneously formed detachments moving across the territory of the region and occupying certain localities and settlements, and by the general resistance of the peasants of virtually every village to the prodrazverstka measures. The war was brutal, accompanied by mass violence and the destruction of representatives of the opposing side.

The role of Emelyan Mikhailovich Yaroslavsky in the anti-religious campaign of the 1930s (By the example of the Saratov Volga region)

Based on archival materials, the author of the article analyzes the activities of the Union of Militant Atheists in the Saratov Volga region and the role of the leader of this organization in the 1930s. Examples of the activities of the organization are given, both within the framework of anti-religious agitation and propaganda of the communist ideology, and as an initiator of the closure of churches and prayer houses of all faiths. Emelyan Yaroslavsky is characterized as the main ideologist of state atheism.

Religious life in the Saratov Volga region in the 1930s.

The paper investigates the multi-faith religious life of the population of the Saratov region in the 1930s. Anti-church policy of the state has carried out since 1917, but in the early 1930s. sharply intensified, accompanied by mass lawlessness and repression. Defeating the church to the middle of the 1930s., The Bolshevik government was not able to destroy the religious life, which lasted semi-legally and illegally, in spite of persecution and repression.

«These Bashi-Bazouks Locals are Worthy of Hatred», or the Reverse Side of the «Triumphal March of Soviet Power» in the Saratov Volga Region

The article attempts to rethink one of the clichés of Soviet historiography of the great Russian revolution, known as the «triumphal March» of the socialist revolution in the country. The author, on the basis of the analysis of sources of personal origin and materials of periodicals, considers political, moral and psychological collisions, and also characteristic features of usurpation of the power by Bolsheviks in Saratov and the cities of province after October revolution.

Daily Life During the Grain Campaign of 1929: on the Eve of the «Great Turning»

The article exploresthe dailylife of peasants of the Saratov Volga region on the eve of collectivization, associated with the implementation of the policy of the Soviet leadership on a large-scale “pumping out” food resources and “fighting the kulak” from the village. on the one hand, they were caused by a shortage of food for the cities and the army, on the other, they were the consequence of a ripening in the central government of the USSR decisions on accelerated collectivization.

Confessional diversity of the Saratov Volga region of the 1930s

Based on the population census and archival materials, the article examines the confessional diversity of the Saratov Volga region in the late 1920s – early 1940s. Orthodoxy prevailed in this territory, however, a characteristic feature of regional life has always been polyconfessionalism, due to historical and geopolitical factors. In the article, the author characterizes the confessional space of the Saratov Volga region and gives a quantitative ratio of various confessions.

Socio-economic everyday life of individual farms in the Saratov Volga region in the first half of the 1930s

 The article examines the features of the life of individual peasants in the Saratov Volga region in the conditions of the dominance of collective farms. On the basis of archival documents, the direction and content of state policy in relation to individuals is revealed. Having survived the nightmare of the first years of collectivization, individual farmers began to gradually adapt to new conditions and show their resilience in an unfavorable environment. As a result, instead of joining the collective system, they discredited it by their example.