The development of sociocultural infrastructure in rural localities of Tobolsk and Tomsk governorates in the early XX century: comparative analysis

Tatarnikova Anna Ivanovna PhD in History Senior Scientific Associate, Tobolsk Complex Scientific State of Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences 626152, Russia, Tyumen region, Tobolsk, Ak. Yu. str. Osipova, 15 tatob777@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

Introduction

Over the past few decades, the Russian village has been going through difficult times. The number of its inhabitants is steadily decreasing, there is an outflow of young people to cities, the population is aging, medical, educational institutions, communication offices, shops, etc. are being closed (or enlarged by combining with nearby settlements).

The viability of many villages and villages largely depends on state support, the creation of attractive economic conditions for the villagers, the development of social (industrial, economic and socio-cultural) infrastructure. When solving the latter problem, it is important to take into account the historical experience of previous generations in creating and supporting the functioning of various institutions and organizations that provide living conditions for the population. 

The purpose of this work is to conduct a comparative analysis of the development of the socio–cultural infrastructure of rural settlements, to identify common and specific features of this process in the two main provinces of the region – Tobolsk and Tomsk – at the turn of the XIX-XX centuries.

The choice of the chronological framework of the study is due to the fact that in the late XIX – early XX centuries. Western Siberia was undergoing a process of intensive agrarian colonization. The mass resettlement of peasants from the central part of the country to the periphery led to the enlargement of existing settlements and the emergence of new settlements in the places of settlement of new settlers. In Siberia, most of the settlers settled on the territory of the Tobolsk and Tomsk provinces, which led to an expansion of the settlement network of these administrative-territorial units, an increase in the density of villages within their borders.

Having settled in a new place, having acquired the necessary residential and economic buildings, the peasants sought to satisfy their religious, educational and other needs, petitioning the local authorities for the construction of churches, chapels, literacy schools, libraries, hospitals in their village.

The turn of the XIX–XX centuries thus became a period of intensive development of the socio-cultural infrastructure of rural settlements in Western Siberia. The latter is understood as a set of objects of the non-productive sphere (healthcare, education, culture, etc.) that contribute to the reproduction of spiritual, intellectual (through the cultural and educational environment), physical properties of an individual, his formation as a person.

The main source for the infrastructure of rural settlements in the West Siberian provinces was the "Lists of Populated places" ^{[7, 9-11]}. This is a massive statistical source containing valuable information about the elements of infrastructure in villages, villages, zaimkas, settlements, resettlement settlements and other types of rural settlements. On the basis of the "Lists", calculations were made of the number of settlements in which there were certain institutions of socio-cultural infrastructure. A comparative analysis of the infrastructure of the Tobolsk and Tomsk villages was carried out on two time slices – for 1903-1904 and 1911-1912.

The main part

In the late XIX – early XX centuries, following the acceleration of industrial and economic development of rural settlements in Western Siberia, changes in their socio-cultural characteristics begin. The reasons for the positive changes in the social infrastructure were the acceleration of the economic development of the region, the beginning of the active use of its resource potential to solve the problem of land shortage in the central regions of the country, the construction of the Trans-Siberian railway, the increase in population, the gradual transformation of the traditional way of life of Siberians, the growth of their social and spiritual needs.

One of the most common elements of socio-cultural infrastructure in rural areas were religious institutions. Depending on the religion of the main part of the inhabitants of the settlement, these institutions were represented by Orthodox churches and chapels, Catholic temples, Old Believer prayer houses and "Mohammedan" mosques.

By 1903-1904, there were 1949 settlements on the territory of the two Western Siberian provinces that had religious institutions (23.2% of the entire settlement network of the region). The Tomsk province was the most provided with them. In 1904, religious institutions were present in every fourth Tomsk settlement. In the period from 1875 to 1911, the number of churches increased 2.4 times – from 471 to 1,158, respectively. The settlement network of Zmeinogorsky (there was a temple in every 2nd of its villages) and Biysk counties (in every 3rd village) differed in the largest number of churches, and Kainsky (in every 7th) was the smallest.

In the Tobolsk province, "God's houses" were less widespread. Only in the Tyumen District, the named infrastructure element was found in every second settlement. In the remaining counties of the agricultural strip of the Tobolsk Province, liturgical institutions were present on average in one of the five settlements. In the northern Berezovsky and Surgut counties, there were religious institutions in one out of every 15 and 32 villages, respectively.

By 1911-1912, "God's houses" existed in 2,367 Tobolsk and Tomsk settlements (23.4% of the total number of villages). Biysk, Zmeinogorsky, Barnaul, Tyumen and Yalutorovsky counties of Western Siberia were distinguished by a more dense network of religious institutions.

At the beginning of the XX century, the church began to gradually lose its dominant role in the life of Russian society. Alienation from the church was observed in the peasant environment, manifested in indifference to the sacraments of confession and communion ^{[5, pp. 131-151]}. Children and especially young people appeared in the church relatively rarely and therefore did not experience its daily influence. The scientist and public figure S. P. Shvetsov, describing the Siberian "free lands" of the beginning of the XX century, noted: "There are few churches in Siberia in villages, which the settlers do not really like: there are one or two churches for each parish, rarely more. Siberians are not very diligent to the church..." ^{[14, p. 41]}. The authorities tried to strengthen the influence of the state church on the education of rural youth through the intensified construction of churches. It is important to note that, despite the non-observance of some church sacraments, the peasantry for the most part remained believers and not only advocated the construction of a church in their village, but also donated all possible means for this ^{[13, p. 427]}.

During the period under review, the socio-cultural infrastructure of rural settlements was significantly replenished with educational and educational institutions. The development of industry and trade, the improvement of agriculture required more and more literate people. It was possible to fill the educational vacuum only through the creation of a developed network of educational institutions.

In the second half of the XIX century, the network of educational institutions in the region was quite rare. So, in the Tobolsk province by 1880, only 7% of rural settlements had secondary schools, 1/3 of villages were located up to 10 versts from the location of schools, 2/3 of villages were located at such a distance from schools that children were not able to attend them ^{[6, pp. 252-253]}.

The commissioning of the Trans–Siberian Railway and the growth of the resettlement movement in the late XIX - early XX centuries actualized for the government the task of cultural development of the Siberian population. Since the end of the XIX century, the period of the most fruitful development of the school network in the villages begins. In 1894-1911, in rural areas of Western Siberia, the number of official schools increased from 1,157 to 3,096, i.e. by 167.7%, and the number of students in them – from 33,036 to 140,951 (by 326.6%). The growth of the education system in the villages of Western Siberia began to outpace the pace of its development in local cities (the corresponding indicators were 162.4 and 241.5% in the latter) ^{[2, p. 125]}.

In 1903-1904 educational institutions operated in 2210 settlements of Tomsk and Tobolsk provinces. On average, there was an educational institution in one of the four villages of the studied region. In Tomsk Province, educational institutions were part of the infrastructure of every third settlement. In the Tobolsk province, the school network developed worse than in the Tom region. During the period from 1903-1904 to 1911-1912, educational institutions appeared in 114 more settlements in the Tomsk and Tobolsk provinces. As we moved north, the density of the school network weakened. If in the southern counties of the Tobolsk province there was a school in every 13th settlement, then in the northern Berezovsky - in every 20th, Surgut – in the 38th. 

At the beginning of the XX century, along with quantitative, qualitative changes in the school network began. Schools of the lower type were replaced or transformed into colleges, the duration of study in which was longer, and the curriculum was more extensive. The positions of the church schools were weakening, and the "ministerial" ones, on the contrary, were strengthening. The desire of an increasing number of rural residents to receive at least primary education has become one of the evidences of the crisis of traditional society and the beginning of the transition to a modern society.

A significant contribution to the development of the school network was made by the Committee of the Siberian Railway, which allocated funds for the opening of schools of the Ministry of Public Education, especially in the Tyukalinsky and Tarsky counties of the Tobolsk province. By 1906, 244 church and 164 school buildings were built in Siberia with the funds of the Committee allocated to the charitable Foundation named after Emperor Alexander III ^{[8, p. 111]}.

The creation of active societies for the promotion of public education in many cities, the opening of new teachers' institutes and seminaries contributed to the development of education.

The peasants' craving for literacy generated a need for reading. Libraries and reading rooms began to be created in villages and villages ^{[3, p. 331]}. By 1903, libraries and reading rooms existed in 78 localities in the Tobolsk province, i.e. in every 61 villages. By 1912, the number of settlements in the Tobolsk province, the infrastructure of which included libraries, increased by 1.4 times. At the same time, the density of the library network has increased. On average, one library in the province accounted for 48 settlements.

Fragmentary data on the number of libraries in the Tomsk province makes it impossible to compare the level of development of its library network with that in the Tobolsk province. Presumably, the higher the level of economic development of settlements, the more often libraries and other educational institutions were found in their infrastructure.

The network of medical institutions in rural areas of the West Siberian region was in a deplorable state during the period under study. According to our calculations, by 1903-1904 in the Tomsk and Tobolsk provinces there were only 83 settlements in which medical institutions functioned. On average, one medical institution accounted for 101 settlements. At the same time, in the Tobolsk province, medical institutions operated in one out of every 84 settlements, and in Tomsk – in one out of 140. Such a sparse medical network, of course, did not meet all the needs of medical care for the population. In Tomsk Province, the number of medical institutions tripled from 1904 to 1911. In 1911, medical institutions were present in every sixty-first village.

The higher density of the network of medical institutions was in the economically developed regions of Western Siberia, through which the Transsib passed ^{[1, p. 15]}. Here, the medical sites had a smaller radius of action than in the northern regions, which made medical care more accessible.

Among the educated people of that time, there were many rural residents who advocated the development of professional medical care ^{[12, p. 72]}. An increasing part of the peasants realized the need for vaccination as a means of preventing various diseases. Often rural and volost peasant societies maintained rural medical institutions and their personnel at their own expense ^{[4, p. 69]}.

The socio-cultural development of rural settlements in Western Siberia has found its manifestation in the work of communication institutions: postal or telegraph offices, postal and telegraph offices, telephone stations. These institutions were part of the infrastructure of the administrative and economic centers of the region. Often, such an element of social infrastructure was present in villages located along large postal and zemstvo tracts.

By 1903-1904, there were 149 settlements on the territory of the Tomsk and Tobolsk provinces that had communication facilities. Postal and telegraph institutions functioned in one out of every 58 Tomsk settlements, in one out of every 55 Tobolsk villages. In the period from 1904 to 1911 in the Tomsk Province, the number of settlements in which postal and telegraph service institutions existed increased from 63 to 93, or almost 1.5 times.

The development of a network of communication institutions influenced the expansion of the external circle of communication of Western Siberian peasants, increased their need for education, acquiring knowledge about the world around them, and traveling.

There were many settlements with rich infrastructure in the economically developed regions of Western Siberia. For example, in the Biysk district of the Pristanskaya parish in the village of Ust-Charyshskaya Pier, where about 12 thousand inhabitants lived, there was a church, 2 educational institutions, a telegraph, a pharmacy, 2 photo studios, a library, etc.

It is important to note that the socio-cultural development of the settlements of the indigenous inhabitants of the region (Tatars, Khanty, Mansi, etc.) remained weak. Of the infrastructure institutions, some of them had only religious institutions (mosques) and schools attached to them.

Conclusion

Thus, at the beginning of the XX century, the settlement network of Zmeinogorsky, Biysk and Barnaul counties was the most developed in socio–cultural terms in Tomsk province, while in Tobolsk - the network of settlements of Ishim, Kurgan, Yalutorovsky and Tyukalinsky counties. The socio-cultural infrastructure of the Tyumen District, through which the famous Siberian "chugunka" passed, developed most dynamically. The northern counties of the region – Berezovsky, Surgut and Tomsk - were distinguished by a weak level of socio-cultural development. In the latter, due to the sparsely populated Narym Region, which was part of the county, there were practically no institutions of socio-cultural infrastructure.

In the Tobolsk province, compared with Tomsk, the network of medical institutions was more developed. As for religious and educational institutions, mail, telegraph, libraries, the Tomsk Province held the palm in terms of their number and density, the socio-cultural infrastructure of which turned out to be more developed than in the Tobolsk province.

In general, during the period under review, there were significant changes in the development of the socio-cultural infrastructure of rural settlements in Western Siberia. The number of religious, school, medical, postal institutions has consistently increased, but their network still remained sparse, and the pace of development was slow and did not correspond to the growth rate of the settlement network of the region.