Escapes of exiles from the Northern provinces in the late 1870s and early 1880s

Author(s):  N.R. Slavnitsky, candidate of Sciences, State Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, Saint Petersburg, Russia, slavnitski@bk.ru

Issue:  Volume 45, № 4

Rubric:  Topical issues of russian history

Annotation:  In the 1870s, the northern regions were actively used by the government as the places of exile, where political opponents of the monarchy were located too. However, exiles were often able to escape from places of supervision. The article examines cases of escapes of political exiles from the northern provinces and ways in which the local authorities and the police tried to organize their search. The first reason for successful escape in all cases was negligence or the formal attitude of local police officers to their duties. As the second reason we consider the help of friends or relatives of suspect. Both allowed the escapees to move a good distance from the place of surveillance at the time when their escape was discovered. In such cases, the searches were organized through the governors, which added to the runaway for a few days odds before starting searches. Firstly the reports of the police chief about the escape reached the governor, then he contacted the governors of neighboring regions, and they lowered orders to their subordinate officials. The search mechanism, in fact, did not yet exist, and at that time it was only taking shape.

Keywords:  political exile, political repression, Arkhangelsk province, Vologda province, Chaikots circle, P.L. Lavrov.

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