Population Processes

Number 7 (1), 2022

3-7
To the Issue of Demographic Processes in the Keret Village at the end of the 19th – the first half of the 20th centuries

Authors: Aleksandr A. Cherkasov

Abstract

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The paper attempts to consider the demographic situation in the Keret village in the modern Republic of Karelia in the late XIX – first half of the XX centuries. There were used as sources the unpublished documents of the National Archive of the Republic of Karelia (Petrozavodsk, Russian Federation). The documents were found in two funds –F. 25 (Metric books for the Kemsky district) and F. R-1606 (Population records for 1931 for the Keret village). To analyze the situation at the end of the XIX century, the published materials of the First All-Russian Population Census of 1897 were used. The author concludes that the demographic situation for the Keret village developed in the context of the national situation. During the period from 1897 to 1931, the villagers lived in terms of three wars (Russian-Japanese, World War I and Civil War) and two revolutions (1905 and 1917). Despite these social upheavals, the population of the Keret village increased from 712 in 1897 to 856 people in 1931. Both in 1897 and in 1931, the female population prevailed over the male. At the same time, if in 1897 women made up 52.3 % of the total population, then in 1931 the female population reached 54.2 %. It should also be noted that if in 1897 the male population in the age group up to 19 years prevailed over the female, then by 1931 the majority in this group began to be women. The causes of the gender imbalance were increased mortality of the male population, including from diseases. Meanwhile, at the reproductive age, both in 1897 and in 1931, the parity was observed among the population of Kereti.

8-18
Features and Results of Demographic Processes Among the German Population of Armavir (late 1880s – 1941)

Authors: Vladimir G. Schneider, Sergey N. Ktitorov

Abstract

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This study examines the demographic processes among the largest German community in the North Caucasus, Armavir. The most important sources of information when considering the dynamics of the population of this ethno-local group are the metric books of the Armavir Lutheran prayer house, the books of civil status records of the city registry office, as well as materials from the population censuses of 1897, 1920, 1923 and 1926. It has been established that all Armavir Germans were migrants of the last quarter of the 19th – early 20th centuries, or their children, who were already born in the Kuban. The vast majority of immigrants came from the Volga region, mainly from the Samara province (65.6 %) and from the Saratov province (23.6 %). The remaining 10.8 % of Germans moved to Armavir from other regions, mainly from the Baltic states, as well as Ukraine, Bessarabia and Crimea. The main factors of migration to the Kuban were a complex of economic reasons, first of all, lack of land and difficult life circumstances, aggravated by lean, famine and epidemic years in the lands of the Volga region. In Armavir, the majority of Germans retained the official status of residents of the Samara and Saratov provinces. During the pre-revolutionary period, the size of the local community increased. In 1897, 1,269 Germans lived in Armavir, in 1910 – 2,834 people. In 1904, Deutsche accounted for 8 % of the total population of Armavir (25,449 people), which exceeded similar figures for other urban centers of the Russian Empire, with the exception of the Baltic states, Poland and areas of German colonization of the Volga region. According to the data of the first All-Union census of the population of the USSR in 1926, considering the ethno-local community (2,913 people), it becomes the largest in the North Caucasus, ahead of even the former German colonies of the region. In the next decade and a half, the number of Germans in Armavir decreases. By determining the dependence of the number of marriages, births and deaths on the total number of the considered ethnic group, the authors conclude that by 1941 there were from 1453 to 1565 Germans in the city. After the start of the Great Patriotic War, the vast majority of the inhabitants of German origin were evicted from Armavir to the northern regions of Kazakhstan.

19-29
Comparative Analysis of the Families of the Old Believers in the Votkinsk Region of the Udmurt Republic and the Artisans of the Izhevsk Factory According to the 1897 Census Book

Authors: Nicholas W. Mitiukov, Axina N. Mitiukova

Abstract

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To identify the features of the cultural traditions of the Old Believer families of the Votkinsk region, they were compared with the families of the artisans of the Izhevsk plant. Both categories had a certain isolation, somewhat reminiscent of clans. The 1897 Population Census Book was used as the main source. The following regularities were found in the results. Old Believer families were usually large (only close relatives lived in the family), while urban families were simply numerous (distant relatives could live). This is probably due to the relative cheapness of a village house compared to a city one. The generation of great-grandfathers in the city turns out to be 5-10 years older than in the countryside. This is due to the need for vocational training in order to have an independent income. In peasant families, the opportunity to provide for the family appeared immediately upon reaching physical maturity. In peasant families there are rare names given according to the holy calendar, family names are typical for urban families. This is probably due to the greater piety of the peasants. In Old Believer families, it is typical that the wife is older than the husband, or they are of the same age; in urban families, the husband is almost always older than the wife. The Old Believers had a limited circle of potential spouses who were “appointed” from outside (matchmakers, parents). City dwellers had a greater choice. The literacy rate of the Old Believers is less than that of the workers of the Izhevsk plant, but higher than that of ordinary peasants. In both samples, this is male literacy. Women in the village and in the city are all illiterate. This is explained by the fact that the Old Believers themselves had to conduct church rites, so there must be at least one literate person in the family. For workers, literacy is a necessary professional skill. And since women ran the household, they had no need for literacy.