Peasants of the Dnipro Ukraine are becoming Soviet People (1920s – the beginning of the 1930s): a Religious Aspect
Abstract
An analysis of the latest research shows that the interest of Ukrainian historians in the pages of the so-called "big change" in the village, which dates back to the late 1920s – early 1930s, is significant, but it is almost unrelated to the religious aspect. According to the author, it is as important for a general adequate understanding of the epoch-making changes, that took place in the peasant society, as knowledge of the social, economic or political spheres. This creates the relevance of the proposed research. As a result of the research, the author concluded that in historical conditions of modernization, which took place synchronously with the preservation of the foundations of the traditional village, there were several options for further historical evolution of the peasantry. The Bolshevik political scenario according to which the Naddniprianschyna peasants fell into the ideological orbit of "class theory", and then had to become Soviet people, is one of them. In this case, the key role belonged to changes that affected consciousness. "Materialization" of the inner world of people in general and the patriarchal way of life meant almost the most complex version of such a modification, because they had to not only transform their inner world within the framework of the Christian faith, but rather pass on to atheistic ideological positions. We have every reason to assert that on the eve of such sweeping and cruel events as collectivization, "dispossession" and Holodomor, the peasants suffered a great moral upheaval – apostasy from God. The loss of traditional religiosity took place against the backdrop of general social modernization, which is clearly evident in the context of formation of a new rural man ("kolhospnyky"). If in an agrarian society peasants adhered to religious traditions closely and directly related to natural cycles and labor on land, they now had to minimize their dependence on these traditions. The authorities made any ideological and worldview alternative impossible for them, at the same time the industrial society with its mechanization, agronomy, veterinary medicine, medicine, radio, new transport infrastructure offered the kind of perspective. Peasants had to survive a peculiar stress, which provided for the destruction of a sense of human dignity.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15421/30180109
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