Demographic profile of the “revolutionary turning point” generation of the Russian village in the first half of the 1920s

Importance. The demographic portrait of peasantry in the first half of the 1920s is examined. The relevance of the study is due to the need for a comprehensive study of the Russian peasantry of the “revolutionary turning point” generation (born at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries). The pur pose of the research is to provide a detailed demographic description of the specified age cohort of rural society during a period of large-scale socio-political upheavals.

Materials and Methods. The authors focus on the main demographic indicators: birth rate, mor tality, marriage rate, and natural population growth. In order to determine the factors that influ enced the model of demographic behaviour of peasants, statistical collections for the Voronezh, Oryol, Kursk, and Tambov provinces are analysed. These sources are characterised by the pres ence of objective data on the population with minimal ideological distortions. The paper uses a wide range of materials based on censuses, surveys, special studies, and observations. The works of prominent ethnographers of the 1920s are also considered.

Results and Discussion. The authors have analysed the demographic behaviour of the “revolu tionary turning point” generation during the new economic policy period. The influence of wars and revolutions on the family behaviour of peasants is studied. The features of marriage and di vorce are considered. The specifics of compensatory birth rate after a series of wars are examined. The main causes of mortality among peasants of the “revolutionary turning point” generation are established. The factors increasing life expectancy and decreasing the mortality rate of the rural population have also been determined.

Conclusion. Based on a wide range of sources, the conclusion is made about the contradictory model of demographic behaviour of peasants of this generation, which combined elements of tra ditionalism and modernist features.

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