Tsaritsyn of Peter’s Time in Modern Historiography

Abstract

Introduction. The jubilee of Peter I intensified the study of the era of reforms, when important events and changes took place not only in the center of the country but also on the outskirts, in particular in Tsaritsyn and the Lower Volga region. Volgograd historians have recently reexamined these events in the city’s history, utilizing fresh documents from both central and local archives. Methods and materials. The collection of the latest scientific publications (articles, monographs, publications of sources) devoted to the history of Tsaritsyn and its district in Peter’s time served as the material for this review. The methods of historiographical analysis allow us to compare the achievements of modern researchers with the achievements of historians of previous generations, to see the updating of the source base and the involvement of modern research approaches. Analysis. The article analyzes new editions of sources drawn from local and central archives. Despite some archaeological shortcomings, the publication of documents opens up wide opportunities for military-historical, regional, urbanistic, prosopographic, and genealogical research. The author considers the two-volume edition “Tsaritsyn Line: Monument of Fortification of the Peter the Great Era: Construction, Operation, Current State, and Prospects of Museification,” which was prepared by the creative team under the leadership of I.O. Tyumentsev, a kind of scientific result. The analysis of the collective monograph shows that in connection with the construction of the Tsaritsyn line, a whole layer of the history of the south and southeast of Russia from the Azov campaigns to the second half of the 18th century is considered. Along with military plots, many problems of the economy and economic development of the Lower Volga region, issues of social history, and national relations have been studied. Results. It is concluded that the authors of the latest publications, despite their particular shortcomings, managed to show at the modern research level that the Peter the Great era inscribed a bright, eventful page in the history of Tsaritsyn-Volgograd and its surroundings.