Archival description of cases of the Kursk Gendarme Police Department as a source for studying the activities of the railway police (1869-1916)

Abstract

We highlight the need to study the activities of gendarme police departments of railways on the basis of reliable sources and versatile approaches. We made a structural analysis of the archive inventory of the affairs of the Kursk Gendarme Police Department of the Moscow Gendarme Police Department of railways for the period of 1869-1916. The basic directions and some features of the organization of service of the gendarme railway police are revealed. A longitudinal study of the clerical work allowed us to see in the dynamics of meaningful practice, to identify the subjects of the system of relations between the railway gendarmes, their role and place in the law enforcement system of the Russian Empire. In classifying cases of the Kursk Gendarme Police Department by the institutional criterion, a retrospective assessment of the activities of railway gendarmes was given. On the basis of the obtained statistical data, critical conclusions were drawn up about the social processes that took place in Russian society in the post-reform period. Studying the cases of the model department of one of the gendarme police departments of railways allowed to draw conclusions about the role of the railway gendarme police units of the lowest level in the overall implementation of police and special functions, including in solving administrative issues, interacting with various officials, employees of railways, citizens.