“In silent bottom...”: crime in Olonets province (19th – early 20th centuries)

Abstract

The study reviews the problems of formation and development of trends in the criminal sphere on the territory of Olonets province between the 19th and early 20th centuries. It is revealed that the situation in the field of crime has undergone significant changes throughout the period under study. In the first half of the 19th century, relatively weak property differentiation and a noticeable influence of the Orthodox Church significantly reduced the scale of deviant manifestations. However, bourgeois reforms and the gradual spread of religious indifferentism markedly changed the favourable picture. The number of crimes and their severity increased significantly.

Keywords

• crime
• deviance
• police
• legislation
• peasantry
• clergy
• social control