Abstract
The article is aimed to study the participation of Latvians of Russian province in the events of the Civil War. The study of their role in the revolutionary everyday life is carried out by applying the concept of the "generation of the revolutionary turning point" and the methods of social history, prosopography and ethnopsychology. Using the example of the destinies of representatives of the studied cohort, the behavioral models and career trajectories of Latvians in the revolutionary era are considered. By analyzing the biographical characteristics of Latvian political prisoners, the ways of integration of adolescents of this ethnic minority into the revolutionary movement are established. Particular attention is paid to study of the problem of service of Latvians in the provincial Cheka and revolutionary tribunals. Based on the autobiographies and questionnaires of Latvian communists, the age, social origin, level of education, profession, military service, as well as their positions in the punitive and repressive organs of the Soviet government are established. It is concluded that the significant proportion of Latvians of the considered generation in the punitive organs of the Soviet power and among the Red Army soldiers was due to their noticeable percentage on the eve of the Civil War both among the Bolsheviks and among representatives of other socialist parties. It is shown that for many radically minded Latvians, participation in the Civil War became an opportunity to achieve rapid career growth in the conditions of the formation of Soviet authorities and coercion.
Published Version
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