Известия высших учебных заведений. Поволжский регион: Гуманитарные науки (Jun 2020)

LAND MANAGEMENT POLICY BY SETTLEMENT ENTITIES OF THE BLACK SEA (KUBAN) COSSACKS IN THE END OF THE XVIII–XIX CENTURIES

  • I. M. Fedina

DOI
https://doi.org/10.21685/2072-3024-2020-2-1
Journal volume & issue
no. 2

Abstract

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Background. The study of the history of the Black Sea (Kuban) Cossacks provides a generalization of historical experience, both from the point of view of preservation of the traditional agricultural way of life, and from the point of view of bringing some novel life principles into the functioning of modern settlement formations. Understanding the land use by the Kuban Cossacks should allow one to broaden the scientific horizons of the Cossack way of life, the essence of which was the active protection of state interests in the South of Russia and the consistent development by the growing Russian state of territorial spaces, retaining at its core the two common components of the Cossack land ideology – the land and freedom. Throughout the history of their existence, the Black Sea (Kuban) Cossacks have been closely interconnected with the history of the Russian agriculture, land tenure and land use. The purpose of the work is to analyze the land management policy of the Black Sea Cossack population during the settlement of the Kuban lands in the end of the XVIII–XIX centuries. Materials and methods. This study is based on the collected and systematized archival material concerning the history of land use in the Kuban region. To understand the history of land policy in its diversity, we tried not only to introduce new materials from the archive collections of documents into scientific circulation, but also focused on the characteristics of the settlement structures. A large layer of information and documentary materials has been preserved in the State Archive of Krasnodar Region (GAKK). They made it possible to trace the history of origin, formation and development of land issues within the settlement structures. The volume of archival content presented in the GAKK’s archive collections is very diverse, reflecting a wide range of issues that contribute to the definition of specifics of land management development and detailed ideas about settlements. In the presented research we relied on some methodological constructs and theoretical ideas, which conditioned the understanding of historical development as a complex, multilayered process under the influence of a set of economic, social and cultural factors. From these basis, the induction method is supposed to be used to make judgments within the framework of the all-Russian historiography of the agrarian direction of historical science. An important methodological concept for understanding the problems is the local history, which implies the study based on the individualization and detail of research objects. This concept is a study of the region history in the research field of all-Russian history, while using the standpoint of an interdisciplinary approach. Results. The study considers such problematic historical subjects as the folding of the archetype of the Cossack world based on the rules of land acquisition, economic and administrative structure of the Kuban settlements. Some peculiarities in the formation of settlements by the Black Sea (Kuban) Cossacks have been revealed and the progressivity and efficiency of land management policy. In addition, the historical legality of the world settlement model has been substantiated. Conclusions. The dynamics of land use development in the end of the XVIII century and during the XIX century clearly demonstrates the huge socio-economic potential. Undoubtedly, the positive or negative character of this dynamics was significantly influenced by both external and internal factors. As external circumstances, it is necessary to highlight the presence of serious military danger, as well as the activities of the military administration, including the ones under the pressure of senior military and civilian officials. Land management was greatly influenced by the state policy on purposeful resettlement of new settler groups to Kuban, at least during the first half of the XIX century. The land management policy had allowed the Cossacks to be involved in the process of introduction of agrotechnical innovations with encouragement of business initiatives among the resettled Cossacks.

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