Revolutionary tribunals of the Tambov province 1918–1922

Abstract

Importance. Reforming the public administration system is impossible without analyzing and taking into account the historical experience of the activities of punitive authorities. Revolutionary tribunals, created as a weapon in the fight against opponents of the Bolshevik regime, became a form of legitimization of state violence. Studying the mechanism of functioning of these bodies of the Soviet system has important heuristic significance, along with the need for public understanding of the role of repression in the fight against social protest. Modern scientific publications testify to the attention of researchers to this problem. An analysis of the historiography of the issue gives grounds to assert that a promising direction in the study of the topic of “revolutionary justice” is the analysis of the activities of provincial revolutionary tribunals, as well as clarification of the nature of their relationships with other repressive authorities.Materials and Methods. The source base for this work consists of materials identified in the funds of central and local archives and introduced into scientific circulation, most of them for the first time. The documents used made it possible to study the process of organization and practical activities of revolutionary tribunals in the Tambov province of the period 1918–1922. Factual material related to the struggle of these bodies with peasant protest is extracted from materials of local periodicals. The work used a systematic approach, as well as general scientific and historical research methods.Results and Discussion. An analysis of the process of creating revolutionary tribunals in the Tambov province is carried out. Their place and functionality in the management system, as well as the criteria for personnel selection of their employees, are established. The role of the military revolutionary tribunal in the fight against mass desertion is studied. The nature of the relationship between the provincial regional tribunal and the local Cheka is clarified. Based on investigative materials and sentences, the nature of the charges and penalties applied to peasants, participants in rural “rebellions”, as well as food workers who committed violence during the seizure of grain are established. The repressive activities of the Tambov provincial RVT and its visiting sessions to combat and prosecute both armed rebels and the civilian population of the village assisting them are considered.Conclusion. Based on a wide range of archival and other sources, it is established that the activities of the revolutionary tribunals of the Tambov province in the period 1918–1922 was punitive in nature and aimed at suppressing anti-government protest.