Militiamen of the workers’ militia of the Vyborgsky district and the city militia of the Spassky district of Petrograd – victims of the soldiers’ and residents’ violence (March – October 1917)

The article analyzes examples of violent actions of soldiers and residents, whose victims in March – October 1917 were militiamen of the Vyborgsky and Spassky districts. The militia of Vyborgsky District, which was formed in the days of the February Revolution at its industrial enterprises, differed in composition from the militia of the Spassky district, which was staffed on the basis of free-and-easy hire, i.e. the militia of the Vyborgsky district consisted of workers, while any volunteer could join the militia of the Spassky district. In other words, a comparison of soldiers’ and residents’ violence against militiamen of the two districts of Petrograd, fundamentally different in terms of the personnel composition of their militia, allows us to solve an important scientific issue: what type of militia, workers’ militia or city militia, was more respected by soldiers and residents?
For the first time, on the example of numerous sources, an attempt is made to consider and systematize cases when militiamen, assistants to sub-district commissars, and even commissars of the Vyborgsky and Spassky districts of Petrograd became victims to the violence of both soldier and residents. The militiamen were insulted, beaten, and blatantly humiliated. The militiamen on duty were often attacked by two or three persons, and sometimes a whole crowd acted against them. The perpetrators of such law violations were detained and sent to the commissariat for making the records of what had happened. Then, the soldiers were usually sent to the commandant’s office or to provisional courts, and the residents were sent to provisional courts. After the abolition of provisional courts in July, the offenders and the records of the incidents were sent to the magistrates’ courts. Despite the militiamen’ efforts to fight crime in the city, the number of law breakers increased every month and the militiamen were often defenseless against hooligans. It was possible to study the examples of such law violations by surveying the records of the city militia of Spassky District and the workers’ militia of the Vyborgsky district of the city of Petrograd. As a result of the study, it was found that militiamen of the Spassky district suffered from soldiers’ and residents’ violence more often. In this regard, it can be argued that the militiamen of the workers’ militia had more influence and were more respected by soldiers and residents at the place of their service than the militiamen of the city militia.

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