Dagestan on the Eve of the Year 1917

Abstract

Proceeding from archival sources and literature, the article aims to show the situation in Dagestan on the eve of the Great Russian Revolution of 1917. By the time Dagestan joined Russia, the former was a traditional society. Reforms introduced by the Tsarist Government precipitated its socio-economic development. The paper notes that the halfness of the peasants Reform of the 1860s and the remaining dependence of some peasants led to an increase in social tension in rural areas - within the dependent population. The peasants refused to pay imposts and perform duties to their beks (or beys, i.e. ‘landlords’), fired their property. On returning to their homelands, the peasants who had performed some seasonal work in cities contributed to the growth of anti-feudal insurgencies in villages. The mass anti-feudal peasants’ revolts forced the authorities to implement a reform that abolished feudal dependence in 1913. In the early 20th century, there emerged an intelligentsia layer which took shape after Russophone schools had been opened. A certain role in the dissemination of anti-government propaganda among the highlanders was played by seasonal workers. Many of them had worked in the oil fields of Baku and Grozny where they got inspired by revolutionary ideas, took part in workers' strikes. The economic claims of theirs were gradually replaced by political ones. So, in May-June 1916, weavers of the Caspian Textiles went on strike, and earlier - in April - either did workers of Mikhailov's Tobacco Factory. The emergence of industry and the working class facilitated further development of the revolutionary movement in the towns of the region. The worsening of economic living conditions lead to significant changes in the social and political situation in Dagestan. World War I intensified the social tension in the community. Workers’ strikes began, peasants en masse refused to conscript for works in the rear combat zone, which largely contributed to the increasing social tension in Dagestan.