Complaints of Soldiers' Families of the Voronezh Province Against the Actions of the County Zemstvos During the Russian-Japanese War of 1904-1905

Abstract

Relevance. Currently, the charity of the families of the lower ranks called up for mobilization during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 is a poorly studied topic in Russian historical science. This article is intended to identify and summarize the complaints of the peasants of the Voronezh province about the illegal, in their opinion, activities of the county zemstvos when assigning payments to their families that are required by law. The purpose of the study is to consider the reasons for rejecting applications for assigning food allowances to families of lower ranks. The objectives is to study the practical application of the "Temporary Rules on the recognition of families of re-serve ranks and soldiers of the state militia called up for service in wartime" on the territory of the Voronezh province. Metodology. The methodological basis of the research is general scientific (analysis, synthesis, generalization) and special historical methods (system and comparative historical method). Results. The first mass application of the "Temporary Rules..." of June 25, 1877 occurred in the Russian Empire during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Then, due to the system of private mobilization, spare senior service members who had large families were called up to the army. Local funds, which were supposed to compensate for the absence of the head of the family and the breadwinner, were usually not enough for the family of the lower rank. Therefore, the local authorities sought to interpret the provisions of the law in their own way, which led to a mass of complaints about the actions of the county zemstvos. Conclusions. When assigning a food allowance to the families of the mobilized lower ranks, the district zemstvos of the Voronezh province often sought to reduce the number of people being looked after, which caused protest moods among the soldiers and dissatisfaction with the actions of the Zemstvo from the lower ranks.