Social Reflections Of Former Civil War Red Partisans In The Post-War Period

Abstract

The article is devoted to the little-studied problem of the post-war life of ex-combatants of civil confrontation of 1917-1920. For the first time the authors introduced personal documents into a scientific circulation (complaints, petitions, letters and claims), which humanize such a big historical period as the early Soviet era. The content analysis of ego documents of former Red partisans was carried out on the basis of regional archives. As a result of this work it was possible to reconstruct the material, psychological and political components of the daily life of Ossetian combatants in -1920s and -1930s. Letters helped understand a financial situation of combatants, as well as inability to get a job, to support a family. The authors of the letters appealed to the former commanders with a request to get a job, to study, and to apply for a personal pension. In their opinion, these circumstances could provide an upward career growth and social elevator. With the help of complaints and claims that were sent by their authors to different bodies, it was possible to identify the reasons for deprivation of status, the mechanisms for conducting regular “purges” in the partisan community. Especially a lot of information was obtained from the materials of the local and North Caucasus committees on the former Red partisans. The analysis of these documents made it possible to reconstruct the main trends in the social adaptation of combatants, their mental set and everyday problems.