CHUVASH-RUSSIAN RELATIONS AND CONTACTS IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE XIX – EARLY XX CENTURY IN THE WORKS OF V.D. DIMITRIEV OF THE SOVIET PERIOD
Authors: Nikolaev Gennady A. 
Published: December 2024

Vasily Dimitrievich Dimitriev, who by his fundamental works inscribed his name in the cohort of outstanding scientists of the Volga-Urals, was a deeply national historian. With that said, it seems relevant to clarify his views on the relations and contacts of the Chuvash and the Russians in the second half of the XIX – early XX century. In the regional literature, this issue is addressed only in the most general terms.

The purpose of the study is to provide a detailed historiographical analysis of the historian’s works on the outlined issues published by him during the Soviet period.

Materials and methods. This publication analyzes the essay, the article and the brochure written by V.D. Dimitriev before 1991, which relatively fully reflected his position on the topic under consideration. The study was carried out on the basis of using the systematic, historical-comparative and historical-anthropological methods.

Research results. V.D. Dimitriev devoted a number of works to the topic of Chuvash-Russian relations and contacts in the Soviet times, which differ significantly from each other in the form of material presentation. A panoramic picture of the relationship between representatives of two ethnic communities, appearing from the essay «Communication of the Chuvash with the Russians and the influence of the Russian culture on the Chuvash one in the late XIX – early XX centuries» (1968), is based on the testimonies and observations of the villagers. The essay is distinguished by its pronounced factual character. Based on reports from local correspondents, ethnographic essays and notes from contemporaries, in the context of individual localities, the author shows the contacts of Chuvash and Russian peasants in the Chuvash region at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries, qualifying them as friendly. At the same time, he identifies populated areas where ethnic partners were somewhat wary of each other. Strengthening of capitalist relations in the countryside, seasonal work, commercial and industrial activities of peasants, progress in the development of school education are considered in the publication as channels that stimulated assimilation of the Russian language by the Chuvash, the influence of Russian material and spiritual culture on the Chuvash way of life, economy and behavioral stereotype. In the article he wrote, «I.Ya. Yakovlev – a proponent of peoples rapprochement» (1969) the author’s analytical statements concerning contacts between the Chuvash and the Great Russians were reflected mainly indirectly, through the optics of analyzing the worldview and practical activities of the Chuvash teacher I.Ya. Yakovlev. The main socio-cultural components of Chuvash-Russian relations in the era of market relations are briefly shown in the brochure «Forever with the Russian people» (1976). Structurally, the material presented in it by the author serves as an information and analytical bridge connecting the realities of different historical eras into a single whole.

Conclusions. The works written by V.D. Dimitriev in the Soviet time on the topic of Chuvash-Russian relations and contacts, which are not free from the ideology of the Soviet era, are executed in a classical manner and represent a methodologically verified, well-structured sample of a scientific product, which in its basic provisions continues to remain modern and in demand by the scientific audience today.