ANTI-LANDLORDS ACTIONS IN KAMIANKA COUNTY IN 1917

Abstract

Summary. Purpose of the research – to describe villagers’ uprisings against feudal lords in Kamianka and the surrounding villages and towns of Kamianka county, Chyhyryn district, Kyiv region in 1917. Methodology – the research is based on historic principles, objectivity and the dialectic connection of processes in the society, usage of which enabled rethinking of those events and important conclusions. Particularly, when preparing this work we used comparative-historic method which allowed us to follow and compare historic events with certain historic conditions and stages of their development; logical, retrospective and statistical research methods allowed to perform an analysis of historic processes at the ending stage of their development and to make conclusions according to their results. Scientific novelty – the research depicts previously unknown facts and events of Kamianka 1917 history that previously were not available for researchers and historians. It is related to the appearance of a new unique epistolary source in the Kamianka reserve funds – «Marianna Davydova’s diary». The diary’s author was married to the last owner of the town: Lev Oleksiyovych Davydov. This source was gifted to the funds by Marianna’s great grandchildren, Richard Vice and Roksana Vagner – the US citizens who visited Kamianka in 2011. Conclusions – revolutionary wave and related robberies in Kamianka were caused by governmental chaos – the result of the breakdown of the Russian Empire and populist propaganda of different socialist parties that saw the owners as the biggest threat for proletarian people. Expansion of anti-feudal movements in 1917 resulted in examples of improper conduct which led to many innocent victims. The Davydov family, Kamianka owners, fled the town due to the revolutionary conflicts and never came back.