Dynamics of the monarchical moods of the Russian peasantry during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 (based on the materials of the Tambov province)

The purpose of the study is to identify the role of the unsuccessful Russian–Japanese war in the process of disintegration of patriarchal political consciousness and the crisis of monarchical sentiments among the Tambov peasantry at the beginning of the 20th century. The article analyzes the transformation of the principle of monarchism in the system of mental moods of the Tambov peasantry during the Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905. The scientific novelty of the study consists in creating a chronological picture of the dynamics of socio-political sentiments of the rural population of Tambov province, identifying specific factors that influenced the acceleration of erosion of the conservative-monarchical segment of the mass consciousness of peasants, as well as introducing new information from archival materials into scientific circulation. As a result of the conducted research, it was found that, to a large extent, the inability of government representatives to stop an unfavorable information background against the background of inflated expectations about the course and results of military operations contributed to a noticeable radicalization of the socio-political sentiments of the peasantry, the loss of the former prestige of the institution of autocratic power.