“Letters to the authorities”: reflection of migrants of Western and Eastern Siberia on state and confessional policy (second half of the XIX — first quarter of the XX centuries)

Abstract

The study is devoted to identifying the specifics of migration behavior, largely due to satisfaction/ dissatisfaction with the religious needs of immigrants. The purpose of the article is to compare the reflection of migrants from the western and eastern regions of Siberia on state and confessional policy during the most massive migration movement from the European part of Russia to the Asian one.

The chronological framework of the work is determined by the resettlement policy of the government of the Russian Empire aimed at the development of Asian territories as part of the state and includes the second half of the XIX — first quarter of the XX centuries.

The source base of the research was made up of archival storage materials from the funds of the Russian State Historical Archive, the State Archive of the Tomsk Region, the State Archive of the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

The research methodology is determined by the specifics of the analyzed array of documentary materials and includes methods of content analysis, comparison, synthesis and generalization.

Conclusions are drawn about the differences in reflexive practices that found expression in «letters to the authorities». The appeals of migrants from Eastern Siberia pursue purely individual goals, are compiled directly by the authors, addressed to the clergy in search of targeted protection. The letters from Western Siberia are of a collective nature, compiled by authoritative representatives of the local society, addressed to the first persons of the state, members of the government and governors with the requirements of providing more comfortable conditions for the exercise of religious worship.