Portrait of a Russian Province: Economy, Society, and Civilization in Nineteenth-Century Nizhnii Novgorod (Russian and East European Studies)

Several stark premises have long prevailed in our approach to Russian history. It was commonly assumed that Russia had always labored under a highly centralized and autocratic imperial state. The responsibility for this lamentable state of affairs was ultimately assigned to the profoundly agrarian character of Russian society. The countryside, home to the overwhelming majority of the nation’s population, was considered a harsh world of cruel landowners and ignorant peasants, and a strong hand was required for such a crude society. A number of significant conclusions flowed from this understanding. Deep and abiding social divisions obstructed the evolution of modernity, as experienced “naturally” in other parts of Europe, so there was no Renaissance or Reformation; merely a derivative Enlightenment; and only a distorted capitalism. And since only despotism could contain these volatile social forces, it followed that the 1917 Revolution was an inevitable explosion resulting from these intolerable contradictions—and so too were the blood-soaked realities of the Soviet regime that came after. In short, the sheer immensity of its provincial backwardness could explain almost everything negative about the course of Russian history. This book undermines these preconceptions. Through her close study of the province of Nizhnii Novgorod in the nineteenth century, Catherine Evtuhov demonstrates how nearly everything we thought we knew about the dynamics of Russian society was wrong. Instead of peasants ground down by poverty and ignorance, we find skilled farmers, talented artisans and craftsmen, and enterprising tradespeople. Instead of an exclusively centrally administered state, we discover effective and participatory local government. Instead of pervasive ignorance, we are shown a lively cultural scene and an active middle class. Instead of a defining Russian exceptionalism, we find a world recognizable to any historian of nineteenth-century Europe. Drawing on a wide range of Russian social, environmental, economic, cultural, and intellectual history, and synthesizing it with deep archival research of the Nizhnii Novgorod province, Evtuhov overturns a simplistic view of the Russian past. Rooted in, but going well beyond, provincial affairs, her book challenges us with an entirely new perspective on Russia’s historical trajectory. Contents 8 List of Maps, Figures, Tables 10 Preface 12 List of Abbreviations 16 1. Imagining the Russian Provinces 20 2. Soil, Forest, River: The Ecology of Provincial Life 40 3. Urban Topography 62 4. Rhythms: The Local Economy 74 5. An Artisanal Case Study: The Southeast 106 6. Social Space: Numbers, Images, Biographies 125 7. Managing the Province: Local Administration 158 8. The Cadastral Map in the Service of the Zemstvo 190 9. Church and Religion 207 10. Provincial Cultural Nests 231 11. The Idea of Province 253 Notes 276 Selected Bibliography 318 Index 334 Imagining The Russian Provinces -- Soil, Forest, River : The Ecology Of Provincial Life -- Urban Topography -- Rhythms : The Local Economy -- An Artisanal Case Study: The Southeast -- Social Space : Numbers, Images, Biographies -- Managing The Province : Local Administration -- The Cadastral Map In The Service Of The Zemstvo -- Church And Religion -- Provincial Cultural Nests -- The Idea Of Province. Catherine Evtuhov. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Through this study of the province of Nizhnii Novgorod in the nineteenth century, far from the power centers of Petersburg or Moscow, Evtuhov demonstrates how almost everything we thought we knew about Russian society was wrong.