SECTIONS
Chapter 7
Legal Recourse in a Time of Troubles
A peasant woman and her daughter, Pochinki village, Moscow Province, 1900s.
From the collection of Mikhail Zolotarev.
How did war and revolution affect the township courts and rural litigants? My surveys of court cases permit comparisons with pre-war times, and allow us both to look at the impact of war and revolution on rural communities and to consider the ways that a legal forum was used by people in undeniably difficult and disruptive times. The data presented on the site display variations in cases heard in pre-war, wartime, and, in some cases, 1917. Among the topics examined comparatively are appeals, the sex of parties and witnesses, subjects and outcomes of cases with relation to the sexes of the parties, the role of policemen, types of criminal cases, family relations of contesting parties, sentences, amounts of fines and payments, length of arrests, reconciliations, and family relationships of contesting parties. In addition, the site expands upon content, outcomes, family relationships of cases in particular areas in 1916 and 1917.
Documents
Appeals before and during World War I
Sex of plaintiffs before and during war
Plaintiff's sex and type of civil case by period
Plaintiff's sex in prewar and wartime cases by type
Chart of plaintiff's sex in wartime inheritance cases
Table of plaintiff's sex in inheritance cases during war
Sex of defendant before and during war
Defendant's sex in civil and criminal cases in wartime
Defendant's sex in prewar and wartime years by type of case
Subjects of cases against male defendants by period and type
Subjects of cases against male defendants before the war
Subjects of cases against male defendants during the war
Subject of criminal case when police plaintiff
Types of criminal cases, prewar and wartime
Subject of criminal cases brought by women against men by period
Types of criminal cases brought by women against men by period
Explanation of decisions in civil cases, Grebnevskii township 1917
Subject criminal cases Tsaritsynskii township 1916
Subject criminal cases Iaguninskii township 1916
Conviction rates for criminal cases by type
Chart of sentences in criminal cases by period
Table of sentences in criminal cases by period
Amount awarded in suits by period
Amount awarded in suits, prewar and wartime
Amount of fines by period
Arrest in days by period
Mir (reconciliation) as outcome by period
Chart of sex of parties who reconcile, before and during war
Table of sex of parties who reconcile, by period
Chart of sons and/or brothers in court before/after Revolution of 1917
Table of sons and/or brothers as parties before/after February 1917
Subjects of intra-family cases, Grebnevskii township 1917
Relationship of contesting parties, Grebnevskii township 1917
Relationship of contesting parties before and during war
Percent of intra-family cases, before and during war
Relationship of parties at court by period
Sex of plaintiffs before and during war
Plaintiff's sex and type of civil case by period
Plaintiff's sex in prewar and wartime cases by type
Chart of plaintiff's sex in wartime inheritance cases
Table of plaintiff's sex in inheritance cases during war
Sex of defendant before and during war
Defendant's sex in civil and criminal cases in wartime
Defendant's sex in prewar and wartime years by type of case
Subjects of cases against male defendants by period and type
Subjects of cases against male defendants before the war
Subjects of cases against male defendants during the war
Subject of criminal case when police plaintiff
Types of criminal cases, prewar and wartime
Subject of criminal cases brought by women against men by period
Types of criminal cases brought by women against men by period
Explanation of decisions in civil cases, Grebnevskii township 1917
Subject criminal cases Tsaritsynskii township 1916
Subject criminal cases Iaguninskii township 1916
Conviction rates for criminal cases by type
Chart of sentences in criminal cases by period
Table of sentences in criminal cases by period
Amount awarded in suits by period
Amount awarded in suits, prewar and wartime
Amount of fines by period
Arrest in days by period
Mir (reconciliation) as outcome by period
Chart of sex of parties who reconcile, before and during war
Table of sex of parties who reconcile, by period
Chart of sons and/or brothers in court before/after Revolution of 1917
Table of sons and/or brothers as parties before/after February 1917
Subjects of intra-family cases, Grebnevskii township 1917
Relationship of contesting parties, Grebnevskii township 1917
Relationship of contesting parties before and during war
Percent of intra-family cases, before and during war
Relationship of parties at court by period
© 2004 Jane Burbank, New York University
with permission from Indiana University Press