Assessment of social transformation and moral character of the west siberian village in periodical press (october 1917 - may 1918)

The study of the behaviour and sentiments of the peasantry, the emotional atmosphere during the era of the revolutionary changes enables us to focus on the internal characteristics of the revolutionary process in the Siberian village. The purpose of the article is to study the process and consequences of social transformation, its impact on the moral and psychological state of the Siberian village from October 1917 till May 1918 on the materials of the regional press. The author extensively used the periodical press as a source for the study, which to a large extent serves as a reliable reflection of real events. The autumn of 1917 saw the rise of protests among the poor, destitute strata of the West Siberian peasantry. In their resolutions on authority peasants expressed willingness to support the Soviet government. The majority of peasants hoped for a fair, equitable distribution of land, forest and water among the rural population. Despite the Decree on land, many contradictions and difficulties in solving the agrarian issue in West Siberia appeared. Moreover, the socialization of land contributed to the further growth of social conflicts and economic strengthening of the kulaks. The problems of forest management deepened as well. The facts mentioned in the article indicate that during the revolutionary reforms proprietary instincts of the West Siberian peasants intensified, and the realization of socialist ideas often turned into an ordinary redistribution of property. Despite the fact that the Soviet government had formally taken control of Siberian villages by the spring of 1918, the power wasactually concentrated in the hands of wealthy villagers. Many war veteranswere hostile to kulaks, members of village councils and land committees. However, in the spring of 1918 the veterans lost their social activity under the influence of the richpeasants. The impact of social reforms on the mass psychology of the peasants largely depended on the moral character of local representatives of the state government. In some districts party organizations were trying to get rid of the fellow travellers of the revolution, adventurers and money-grubbers. Numerous abuses by local administrations, together with the Soviet government's policy of monopolizing the grain trade, caused serious discontent among West Siberian peasants, exacerbated by the violation of trade between the city and the village. In some villages there were evident anarchist sentiments: the peasants stubbornly defended their own people's government from any restrictions from the authorities, offered resistance to the militia. The general crime rate in West Siberian villages quickly rose from February 1917, the cases of peasants' disobedience became more frequent. The author came to the conclusion that in the post-revolutionary West Siberian village two opposite trends were oddly combined. On the one hand, there was a thirst for social reorganization on fair principles, on the other hand there were conservative, purely pragmatic, destructive and anarchist manifestations. In reality the relations between the town and rural population, the authorities and peasantry had seriously aggravated by the springsummer of 1918.

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