Tobolsk Men's Gymnasium and the revolutionary unrest of 1905-1907.

Introduction

One of the biggest events in the history of Russia was the First Russian Revolution of 1905-1907 . It shook the old system of bourgeois-landowner Russia, sweeping in a wide wave from St. Petersburg to the Far East. In addition to workers and peasants, representatives of educational institutions of the country took part in the struggle against autocracy. The events of the revolution did not bypass the educational institutions of the Tobolsk province.

The issues of participation of students in the events of the First Russian Revolution of 1905-1907 in Russia were considered by B. K. Tebiev ^[1]. A. G. Evdokimova analyzed the social activity of various strata of the population of Kursk province in the conditions of the 1905 revolution ^[2]. Protest actions of pupils of secondary educational institutions of St. Petersburg, Kazan, Yaroslavl, Vyatka, Orenburg, Yeletsk, Tyumen were studied in the works of T. I. Pashkova, E. V. Mironova, S. Y. Jerusalem, A. S. Masyutin, A. S. Aleshin, O. A. Savvin, V. S. Sulimov ^{[3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]}. Ishchenko O. V. the analysis of texts of student newspapers and magazines published in Siberia was carried out, the main requirements put forward by pupils of various institutions of Siberia in the studied period were characterized ^{[11, 12]}.

To date, the performances of the students of the Tobolsk classical gymnasium during the First Russian Revolution have not been adequately reflected in Russian historiography. The problems associated with the activity of representatives of the working class and students of theological schools in the region during the revolutionary period were mainly studied ^{[13, 14, 15, 16]} In the study of Yu. P. Pribilsky, the evolution of the secondary education system in Siberia was analyzed, attention was paid to certain periods of the history of the Tobolsk men's gymnasium ^[17].

A detailed study of the participation of students of secular schools in Tobolsk province in the events of 1905-1907 was hindered, first of all, by the lack of a sufficient source base in local archives, as well as stereotypical approaches of researchers of the Soviet period in favor of ideology. Nowadays, it has become possible to consider many issues more objectively, including the work of secular schools in the region in the period 1905-1907. The purpose of this work is to reveal for the first time the activities of students of the Tobolsk Men's Gymnasium during the First Russian Revolution. The subject of this study is the activity of students of the Tobolsk Men's Gymnasium in 1905-1907. The object of the study is the Tobolsk men's gymnasium. The work is based on the principles of historicism, integrity, objectivity, comprehensiveness. Both general scientific and traditional methods for historical research are used: systematic, historical-comparative, problem-historical.

 The study was conducted on the basis of previously unpublished documents of the State Archives of Tobolsk and Tomsk relating to the history of the Tobolsk Men's Gymnasium.

The main part

Since 1879, the Tobolsk Men's Gymnasium was headed by the Master of Theology Pyotr Ivanovich Panov ^{[18, p. 213]}. Being a rather cautious leader, Pyotr Ivanovich tried to protect high school students from interfering in revolutionary processes. The Pedagogical Council of the Tobolsk Men's Gymnasium in 1905 took measures for the normal course of educational work, somewhat disturbed by the surrounding conditions of public life in Russia ^{[19, l. 60]}.

The progress and behavior of the gymnasium students were monitored by classroom teachers. At the end of each quarter, they reported at the meetings of the pedagogical council accurate and detailed information regarding the progress and behavior of students. Special attention has always been paid to underachieving students, possible measures were discussed to raise their academic performance and correct their behavior ^{[19, l. 69 vol.]}.

Often there was a need to communicate with parents, guardians and relatives of students. Classroom teachers sometimes visited their students at home, got acquainted with the conditions of students' home life, with the environment in which they spent extracurricular time [Ibid.].

The students were also monitored outside the gymnasium – on the street and in public places. Despite all these measures, the quiet course of life of the gymnasium in 1905 was disrupted under the influence of external events: at the end of the first half of the year and in the first half of the second ^{[19, l. 70]}.

On April 29, a 6th grade student Shabunin brought a proclamation signed by Gapon to the class, addressed to the Russian proletariat and offering the extermination of the entire existing law and order in the empire. Classmate Lebedev, according to one version, asked to read this printed sheet, and according to another, he snatched it out of the reader's hands (the authenticity of the fact has not been established due to different indications) – and put it in the pocket of his blouse, explaining that "such filth" should not be read, and that he knows how to deal with this document. Without telling the director of the gymnasium about this, he handed the leaflet to his father, a member of the Tobolsk provincial administration. In this regard, on April 30, at the big break, excitement among high school students became noticeable: high school students saw in this act Lebedev not only a violation of the rules of camaraderie, but even espionage. Although the director explained that Lebedev's act could not be seen as malicious intent, that his act could only be called tactless. However, the students continued to worry, and on May 2, they demanded that this student be removed from the gymnasium. This requirement could not be fulfilled, and some students voluntarily left the gymnasium, for which they were immediately temporarily dismissed by the pedagogical council with the right to return admission only after passing exams in all subjects at the end of August ^{[19, l. 70-70 vol.]}.

The administration of the gymnasium conducted a thorough investigation of the incident. The investigation did not establish any "political lining" in the act of the students who arbitrarily stopped classes from May 2, but only revealed irritation against Lebedev's unorthodox behavior. The petitions of parents and those taking their place were taken into account to show leniency to their pets and to take them back to the gymnasium without any examination. In addition, the students, although not all, expressed regret to the director of the gymnasium and the teacher Shillerov about the strike they had made. Due to the need to supervise students during the summer holidays, the pedagogical council decided: of the students who voluntarily left the gymnasium on May 2, to exempt from exams after the holidays all students who have completed educational courses, with the exception of a 6th grade student Sinitsyn who does not even have satisfactory knowledge of the subjects of the Law of God and the Greek language ^{[19, L. 71]}.

In relation to Sinitsyn, the requirements were also revised. The student, at the request of his mother, stopped supporting the strikers from May 10, and attended classes with the permission of the director. He behaved immaculately at this time and received quite satisfactory scores in all subjects for the year. Therefore, the pedagogical council found it possible not to subject the student to any penalty and transfer him to the 7th grade without tests ^{[19, l. 71 vol.]}.

Despite all possible actions on the part of the gymnasium management, the conflict between the gymnasium students and the Lebedev family continued. Students of the 6th grade Sobolev and Kotovsky appealed to the director of the gymnasium with a complaint about the insult to them by Lebedev's father. Having met the students on the street, Lebedev swung a stick at them, publicly shouted and threatened to expel them from the gymnasium, without hesitating in expressions. The director of the gymnasium advised the students to ask their parents to appeal Lebedev's actions, since the insult was inflicted on the students outside the walls of the educational institution.

Lebedev's father, trying to justify his actions to the trustee of the district, sent a telegram to Tomsk in August. In the dispatch, Lebedev indicated that his son had selected the "criminal Gapon proclamation" in the class in the spring, which led to a strike of students, including the son of the gymnasium director. Lebedev's father did not succumb to the persuasions of the teachers and did not take his son out of the gymnasium. The family was boycotted ^{[20, l. 24 vol.]}.

The first three days of the new school year passed quietly. However, when Lebedev came to class on August 22, classmates could not help but discover their hostile feelings towards him. As soon as he managed to climb to the top floor, students of grades 5-8 shouted at Lebedev – "spy". The next day, the students pelted Lebedev with raw eggs. To justify their request to remove Lebedev, the high school students accused him of arrogance and short temper.  The reason for this was mainly the behavior of Lebedev himself and his father, who behaved defiantly towards high school students ^{[20, l. 41 vol.]}.

The latter circumstance and other pedagogical considerations forced the pedagogical council to come to the conclusion that the student Lebedev should leave the gymnasium. He left school on October 10. Meanwhile, in Russia during this period, events took place that made the whole society, including parents and guardians of students, not live quietly. The slightest spark was enough to start a fire. This spark, initially planted in the theological seminary, whose pupils presented a number of demands to their superiors, then got into the gymnasium ^{[20, l. 73]}.

In this state, the Tobolsk Gymnasium entered during the First Russian Revolution. 1905 in the reports on the state of the educational process could not differ much from the reports of previous years, however, the echoes of the events of Bloody Sunday on January 9 left their mark on the life of the men's gymnasium.

The next meeting of the pedagogical council of the gymnasium was held on October 15. The report of the director was heard at the meeting. Almost simultaneously with the strike of atheistic students of the theological seminary, over the rejection of their petition by the diocesan authorities, in which they asked for changes to the curriculum, fermentation began in the high school. It was expressed in the fact that meetings were held during the changes. There was not enough time at recess to discuss issues, and the students of the four senior classes came to the director with a request to allow them a meeting to discuss pressing issues. They stated that they did not want to hold meetings without the knowledge of their superiors outside the gymnasium in any private house or in Ermak's garden. In view of such a frank request and taking into account the difficult situation experienced by the secondary school, and guided by the example of gymnasiums in European Russia last year, when students were granted the temporary right to hold meetings in educational institutions, the director allowed the students to gather on one of the next holidays to discuss topical issues. However, he stipulated that the meeting be held in a room next to his office, where he would monitor the event.

On Monday, October 17, after mass in the gymnasium church, the director went down to his office and waited for the students. After 5-10 minutes, he was informed about the gathering of students in one of the upper floor classrooms. The students locked the door and started the meeting. There were six fourth-grade students in the class, and the director offered to let the younger students out, since they were not allowed to participate in the meeting. The high school students said they could not find the key, which was a lie. After the students left the meeting, the assistant mentor asked about the decisions of the meeting. The high school students replied that they had not decided anything definite because of disorganization. The next day at 12 o'clock, the students again came to the director with a request to allow the meeting to continue during the last two lessons, but Panov refused. Then the students asked for the continuation of yesterday's meeting after school. The director agreed and gave permission to attend the meeting at the choice of teachers I.P. Lvov and P. P. Ershov. The latter led the order of the meeting, which was held "completely quietly and calmly" ^{[20, l. 67 vol.]}.

The fruit of two meetings was a petition of students from 29 points sent to the pedagogical council. The students began their petition as follows: "The abnormalities of school life, such as its depressing colorlessness, pedantry, disenfranchisement of students, suppression of their personality, the wrong attitude of educators to pupils, have become unbearable for us. The awakened consciousness of these abnormalities makes us protest against them, because the school, instead of giving us a stock of true knowledge and making us workers for the happiness of the motherland, tries to suppress all independence and the ability to think freely in us" ^{[20, l. 68]}. The petition was signed by students of grades 5-8 and handed over on October 19 at 10 o'clock after the prayer service on the occasion of the tsar's manifesto. The director did not want to give a course to the petition, as drawn up by the students, but, wanting to calm the "strongly elated mood of the students" in the past days, he decided to submit to the pedagogical council for discussion all the points of the document to save the gymnasium from the impending strike. Before discussing the petition, the director expressed his opinion on its nature. Firstly, it was not an independent fruit of gymnasium students, but, most likely, it was sent from European Russia, and signed by them in its entirety, without additions, in order to join according to the wishes of secondary school students throughout the country. Secondly, two points served as proof of this assumption. For example, students were asked to introduce the teaching of law, the history of philosophy and psychology, as well as to increase the number of math lessons. These measures have been taken since the beginning of the school year. Thirdly, the director was convinced that among the 66 students who signed the petition, half, if not more, did it under pressure from the main group of students, fearing a boycott on their part. This way of self-expression, to the great regret of the director, "built a nest" in secondary schools, having acquired a "broad right of citizenship" ^{[20, L. 68]}. Of the 29 points of the petition, the pedagogical council decided to satisfy 18 points that did not violate the charter of the gymnasium at all. For example, the human, conscientious and equal attitude of the school administration towards students, polite treatment of all students, providing a choice of apartments to the parents of students, their guardians and those who take their place, allowing judgments on issues of religion, politics and life.

On the remaining points, the students were denied satisfaction as not subject to the competence of the pedagogical council. For example, the abolition of compulsory worship services, the admission of student gatherings, the removal of out-of-school supervision of students, the right to live for visiting nonresident students wherever they want, the right to offer to dismiss teachers. When the decision of the pedagogical council was announced to the students, the last order in the gymnasium was not violated until the end of the reporting school year ^{[20, L. 72]}.

The events of the second half of October 1905 quickly erased the incident with the student Lebedev from the memory of high school students and teachers. In connection with the tsar's manifesto on October 17, "in commemoration of civil freedom," two "completely peaceful walks" were arranged in Tobolsk on October 20 and 22. P.I. Panov noted in a message to the trustee at the end of the month: "The grandiose procession to the cemetery to the graves of the Decembrists stood out especially." The organizers of this event, "celebrating such a celebration of freedom and inviolability of the individual," invited pupils of educational institutions of the city, including many high school students, to participate. "Surrounding the graves of the Decembrists with a dense ring", a crowd of about 2,000 people sang "eternal memory", listened to speeches and poems, shouted "hurrah" and "long live freedom". On the way back at 5 p.m., the crowd sang student songs of revolutionary content. The audience sang eternal memory against the building of the gendarmerie department, which "embarrassed the quiet, calm" local society until then ^{[20, l. 65]}.

The next unrest was connected with the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Decembrist uprising on Senate Square. The director of the gymnasium, fearing rumors about the upcoming street demonstration, and the occurrence of accidental clashes of demonstrators with a crowd that could attract school students during classes, at the request of some parents and by agreement with the governor, allowed students not to go to the gymnasium that day. The headmaster warned the high school students not to join the demonstration, fearing all sorts of misfortunes. In other educational institutions, students were also dismissed to their homes ^{[20, l. 73]}.

On June 13, 1906, a secret order came from the Ministry of Public Education (hereinafter MNP) to the trustee of the school district to request from the director of the Tobolsk Gymnasium about the incident related to the 6th grade student A. Shabunin, who read aloud to the students a revolutionary appeal. In the spring of 1906, the Ministry of Internal Affairs received a message about an explosive shell found in Tobolsk on March 28 on the front porch of the governor's house. There was an indication that the projectile had been placed by one of the students. From the same information it followed that many students of the gymnasium abused alcoholic beverages and were all "imbued with the spirit of self-will, while easily succumbing to the corrupting influence of foreign gymnasium and harmful elements" ^{[21, l. 37-38 vol.]}.

The denunciation indicated that the director did not enjoy proper authority among the pupils due to his advanced age and weakness of character. As a result, the MNE, by order of the Deputy Minister, requested a review from the trustee "on the content of the information provided" ^{[20, L. 72]}.

At the beginning of August 1906, the director of the gymnasium reported to the trustee about the absence of any secret investigations into the accusation of gymnasium students of political crimes. Some high school students "fell under the influence of harmful elements, but no active manifestations of their sympathy for propaganda were found" ^{[20, l. 79]}. Further, P. I. Panov objectively observed: "Under the present difficult living conditions that are experienced by the whole of Russia, and by educational institutions in particular, it is extremely difficult and even impossible to keep young students from being carried away by fashionable anti-government ideas" ^{[20, L. 80]}. Pyotr Ivanovich believed that the information about the gymnasium that was available in the ministry was the result of a denunciation by a private individual who openly stated that he would take revenge on the gymnasium for the incorrect attitude of students towards him.

This comrade, fearing the insults of society in his address, fled early in the morning from the city, sneaking onto the steamer just before its departure. Panov was sure it was Lebedev. Lebedev, who was on business in St. Petersburg, tried to denigrate the gymnasium, since his son was asked to leave the gymnasium last academic year and take the exam for the 6th grade as an external.

On the evening of May 1, 1907, a popular demonstration was held in Tobolsk about the importation of exiles. The crowd with shouts and songs passed by the boarding house. Shouts of "hurrah" were heard from the second floor of the building through the open windows. The tutor was on the lower floor. Panov urgently reported the incident by telegram to Tomsk. I promised to send the details by mail.

Governor N. L. Gondatti sent a confidential message to the trustee L. I. Lavrentiev on May 4. In accordance with it, on May 1, at about eight o'clock in the evening, a party of 179 political prisoners arrived in Tobolsk from Tyumen, on a specially chartered steamer with a barge. Among them, 101 were sentenced to hard labor for political crimes.

The meeting was attended by an outsider, kept at a decent distance by a military outfit from the prisoners. Among the public, many high school students were noticed, following the prisoners when the party left the pier from the prisons. They sang revolutionary songs. During the passage of the party past the boarding school of the gymnasium, some of the boarders, most likely, together with the incoming students, climbed into the building, opened the windows and began waving handkerchiefs to the convicts, shouting "hurrah". The same actions were repeated on the way back, when part of the townspeople, dispersed by soldiers, ran past the boarding house. The high school students again expressed their sympathy from the boarding school. At the same time, the administration of the gymnasium did not take any measures to influence the students. The governor asked the director of the gymnasium to "recover as strictly as possible" from the high school students who participated in these outrages. Gondatti considered it necessary to inform the trustee about the incident.

On the same day, the report on the misconduct of the students was sent to Tomsk by the director of the gymnasium with his version of what was happening. It followed from it that in the evening, on May 1, the first steamer arrived in Tobolsk, on which 180 convict sailors from the Tyumen prison arrived. It was a good day, and the public traditionally met the first steamers en masse. A lot of people gathered on the pier out of ordinary curiosity. Among them were political exiles and students from different schools. There were also a lot of high school students who stood out for their uniforms. Curiosity was also fueled by the arrival of a company of soldiers at the pier. The administration did not know at all about the arrival of the steamer with the prisoners and did not make any orders. In addition, this event took place on parents' day and a lot of people gathered at the cemetery to remember their relatives. There were rumors that a rally with speeches was being prepared there, and the director instructed the inspector to go to the cemetery. The fact of the presence of high school students at the cemetery was not confirmed. From the mountain he saw an approaching steamer from Tyumen and a crowd running to the pier. There was already a huge crowd standing in groups at the gangplank, cordoned off by soldiers. After the withdrawal of the first batch of convict prisoners to the shore, everything was calm. In the second turn, they brought out a party of sailors who sang a revolutionary song. The audience made a noise and accompanied the procession to the mountain. Some of the people climbed the mountain to the prison. When the party of prisoners drew level with the boarding house, the sailors began to sing again, and the townspeople raised "a terrible noise, shouting hurrah" ^{[21, l. 110 vol.]}.

The windows on the upper floor of the boarding house were open. The senior boarders, "accidentally getting into the crowd," stopped at the building where the inspector was, who made his way through the crowd to the boarding house. On the upper floor, five boarders of grades 1-2 remained at the open windows. Carried away by the roar of the crowd, they also shouted and waved handkerchiefs in two windows. The supervisor on duty was at that moment on the lower floor, learning a play with a 6th grade boarder. After seeing off the prisoners, the crowd returned back singing songs. It was already dark, the sky was covered with clouds, it began to rain. The police and a military patrol, using the narrow passage at the boarding house, blocked the way for the crowd. The hubbub began, sharp whistles were heard. By the time the director arrived at the boarding house, thanks to the supervision of the duty officer and senior boarders, the windows were closed and the pupils were not allowed to the windows. The whistles were most likely directed at the police. The older boarders thought they were booing them for not leaving the boarding house. Then the crowd went on and dispersed on Bolshaya Arkhangelskaya Street. There were no high school students in the crowd, except for one student of the 5th grade, who had to leave the gymnasium after the exams. This was the version of the incident of the director P. I. Panov.

Having received the message from Panov, the trustee was very determined, believing that the high school students took an active part in seeing off the prisoners from the pier to the prison. Lavrentiev asked to report whether an investigation was conducted about the participants of this event, whether the behavior of high school students was discussed at the pedagogical council. What penalties were imposed on students who took part in the demonstration and dared to "express sympathy for the notorious enemies of the Sovereign, the Fatherland and any reasonable order" ^{[21, l. 111]}.

P. I. Panov replied to the trustee on May 28 that the governor of the province and the Tobolsk gendarmerie department had not recorded a single case with the active participation of high school students in the demonstration on May 1. A large crowd of people gathered mostly out of simple curiosity, "without any political backing" ^{[21, l. 112]}. The students of the gymnasium who accompanied the crowd were also among the curious. Due to the large number of people, it was difficult to establish who exactly participated from the high school students in the procession. Three people were involved in the inquiry – philistines of Tobolsk. There was no active participation of high school students in singing and shouting. However, at a meeting with members of the pedagogical council, the director censured the high school students with a warning for their participation in the crowd, if only out of simple curiosity. If in the future even passive participation in any popular demonstration is noticed, then strict penalties will be imposed on the perpetrators, up to expulsion from the gymnasium. As for the shouts of "hurrah" and waving handkerchiefs from the boarding house windows during the passage of the noisy and singing crowd, the inspector's investigation found that five elementary school students were carried away by the mood of the crowd. They shouted "hurrah" without awareness, "without expressing any sympathy for the criminals," not knowing who these people are, and why they are being sent to a hard labor prison ^{[21, l. 113]}.

The director of the gymnasium was deeply convinced that "the children joined the voices of the roaring crowd from the herd beginning, so characteristic of childhood" ^{[21, l. 114]}. Pyotr Ivanovich reprimanded them and informed his parents. Regarding one student of the senior class who left the boarding school for the mountain, as well as about the second student who returned from the mountain with the crowd, the director was going to express his opinion after passing the exams by these students.

Another protest action took place on October 17, 1907. An unknown person hung a black flag with the image of a death's head on the roof of the boarding house near the chimney. The size of the flag was no more than a yard in length, and the skull, cut out of paper, rested on two bones. This offense could have been committed at night or in the early morning, when the yard guard was removed from his post. Panov vouched for the senior boarders that they could not do this, so they themselves found out about it only in the morning at the 8th hour after the removal of the flag. It was difficult for small boarders to hang the flag, as they had to climb a high staircase from the courtyard, besides it was risky to climb up the roof to the pipe to which the flag was tied. The shaft was a stick taken out of a broom. The director considered the incident a matter of outsiders. Boarders were locked up at night at 8 p.m. and the back doors opened only at 7 a.m., when it was dangerous to climb to the roof for fear of being noticed. The unpleasant incident ended with the removal of the flag ^{[21, l. 115]}.

It should be noted that P. I. Panov was quite loyal to the violation of discipline on the part of the gymnasium students, trying to objectively consider the difficult moments associated with the behavior of students. He had no desire to escalate the situation around the growing tension in society associated with the increasing role of politics in the life of the country for no reason.

Conclusion

The events of 1905-1907 led to the departure of P. I. Panov from the post of director of the gymnasium. Having a long teaching experience, he was not ready to accept the trends of the new time, believing that the current situation would not lead Russia to anything good. The penetration of one revolutionary proclamation into the walls of the gymnasium after the events of January 9, 1905 led to a prolonged conflict between the students of the educational institution. A number of students went on strike, which resulted in a refusal to attend classes due to the failure of the gymnasium administration to fulfill the requirements of the gymnasium students.

The manifesto of October 17, 1905 granted the population civil freedom, personal inviolability, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly, unions. However, the conservative school system was not ready to provide students with the declared rights and freedoms in full. The intensification of the activities of the students of the Tobolsk Men's Gymnasium after the proclamation of the Manifesto on October 17 was associated with the preparation of a petition to amend the educational process to counter prohibitions and restrictions. High school students began to take an active part in demonstrations, meetings, gatherings, unauthorized by the authorities. They participated in the celebration of the anniversary of the Decembrist uprising at the Zavalny Cemetery, celebrated May Day, and regularly gathered to discuss current issues in Ermak's Garden.

It should be recognized that the actions of the students of the Tobolsk Men's gymnasium did not manifest a certain political program, formed beliefs, which led to participation in spontaneous events.