"Internal emigration": features of everyday behavior in the conditions of war

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"Internal emigration": features of everyday behavior in the conditions of war

Vyacheslav Popov

V.I. Vernadsky Taurida National University, Kyiv (Ukraine)

Abstract

The article reconstructs the everyday life of urban dwellers during the revolution and civi l war of 1917-1920 in Ukraine. Average people include representatives of different soc ial groups of the urban population, united by the desire to ensure their own survival by adapting to changing political and economic realities. The main models of daily practice s common at that time are considered, which include a change in appearance, the use of fake documents, maximum isolation, previously unusual activities, as well as masking genuine activities in case of their forbidden nature. Appearance changed mainly by abandoning the usual clothes which made it possible to determine the social status of its wearer. The registration of all kinds of certificates transferred their owners to the “socially close” groups of the new government, and was intended to save them from vari ous persecutions. Isolation was achieved either by a regular change of place of residence, or by the complete avoidance of any contact. The greatest ability to externally reformat their former employment was demonstrated by professional traders who tried to remain faithful to their usual business, despite all the new restrictions. The author revealed that a characteristic feature of the life of specialists who had professions in demand under any government was the long-term preservation of their usual way of life, home comfort and contentment. The specific features of the general socioant hropological crisis of this period have been established.

Separately, the article discusses the practice of mental relaxation of citizens to preserve their illusory "small world", creating a simulation of a forever lost way of life aro und themselves or in the immediate environment. The author showed the consequences of applying such practices. The study of historical experience associated with per iods of social uncertainty is relevant since real politics should consider the peculiarities of citizens' everyday behavior, which are mainly identical to the practices of the last century.

KEYWORDS war of 1917-1920, urban population, everyday life, material needs, spiritual needs, social mimicry, “internal emigration".

«Внутрішня еміграція»: особливості повсякденної поведінки в умовах війни

Вячеслав Попов

Таврійський національний університет імені В.І. Вернадського, Київ (Україна)

У статті реконструюється повсякденне життя міських обивателів у період революції та громадянської війни 1917-1920 років. в Україні. До обивательської маси віднесені представники різних соціальних груп міського насе-лення, об'єднувало яких прагнення забезпечити власне виживання шляхом пристосування до політичних та еко-номічних реалій, що змінювалися. Розглянуто основні моделі поширених у цей час повсякденних практик, до яких належали зміна зовнішнього вигляду, використання підроблених документів, максимальна ізоляція, невластиві у минулому заняття, а також маскування справжньої діяльності у випадку її забороненого характеру. Зовнішність змінювалася, переважно, шляхом відмови від звичного одягу, який дозволяв визначити соціальний статус його носія. Оформлення всіляких довідок переводило їх власників у «соціально близькі» до нової влади групи, і було покликане позбавити різних переслідувань. Ізоляція досягалася або регулярною зміною місця проживання, або повним уникненням контактів. Найбільшу здатність до зовнішнього переформатування колишньої зайнятості продемонстрували професійні торговці, які намагалися зберегти вірність звичній справі, незважаючи на нові об-меження.

Виявлено, що характерною особливістю життєдіяльності фахівців, професійні вміння яких були затребувані за будь-якої влади, було тривале збереження звичного способу життя, домашнього затишку та благополуччя. Встановлено специфічні риси загальної соціально-антропологічної кризи цього періоду. Окремо в статті розглянуто практики психічної релаксації городян з метою зберегти свій ілюзорний «маленький світ», створити навколо себе, або в найближчому оточенні якусь симуляцію назавжди втраченого способу життя. Показано наслідки за-стосування таких практик.

Ключові слова: війна 1917-1920 рр., міське населення, повсякденність, матеріальні потреби, духовні потреби, соціальна мімікрія, «внутрішня еміграція».

Introduction

In the conditions of significant social transformations, members of society should learn the basic laws and qualities of social transformation in order to form their own view of the essence of the modern stage of development of a certain society, understanding the role and place of various social groups in the transformation processes, mechanisms and values of these changes. The study of historical experience related to periods of social uncertainty that accompany transformational processes is relevant, since real policy should take into account the features of everyday behavior of citizens, which are in many respects identical to the practices of the last century.

The content of the event sphere of everyday life can be both small private events and epochal upheavals, but in any case, the subject of studying everyday life is the analysis of ways people adapt to the events of the outside world. The everyday struggle for survival happens both in standard life situations and in conditions of radical historical changes. One of the approaches to the study of everyday life is the consideration of emotional reactions, experiences of individuals to what surrounds them in every day life. The scientific interest is caused by the reconstruction of the social practice of people in extreme conditions, which include wars, revolutions, economic crises.

The relevance of addressing the historical retrospective also lies in the possibility of using the experience of the past in today's practical activities of management structures since the everyday behavior of ordinary citizens in times of social uncertainty meets specific standards that are reproduced according to the same standards as a hundred years ago.

History of Ukraine during the Ukrainian national- democratic revolution and Civil War of 1917-1920 provides rich factual material for such a reconstruction.

The daily behavior of urban dwellers in the conditions of social instability caused by these events was characterized by a choice of three possible behaviors. The first was associated with participation in the struggle for power at the side of one of the opposing forces, the second was emigration. The third variant of behavior was characteristic of the larger bulk of the townspeople, and was realized through adaptation to changing living conditions, to the requirements of any new government.

Many historians have studied the history of everyday life in extreme conditions. Among the most important, it is worth to recall the work by S. Fitzpatrick, devoted to the everyday life of citizens of the USSR in the period of the 1930s (Fitzpatrick, 2001). Separate episodes dating back to the time of the civil war are mentioned by M.V. Borisenko (2009). N.B. Lebina turned to the urban everyday life of the 20s (Lebina, 2003). Everyday life of Berdyansk in 1918-1921 became the subject of study by V.M. Chop and I.I. Lyman (2007). The historian I.V. Narsky, who paid the main attention in his monograph to the life of the population of the Ural region in 19171922 (Narsky, 2001). However, many aspects of everyday life under the conditions of revolution and civil war have so far remained out of the field of view of professional researchers.

The purpose of this article is to study the behavioral practices used by urban residents who have chosen the path of adaptation to the changing conditions of existence.

To achieve the stated purpose, the following tasks are supposed to be solved:

- to consider the models of behavior implemented by urban residents for physical survival;

- to study the psychological mechanisms that allowed to maintain peace of mind of ordinary contemporaries of the historical drama;

- to analyze the results and consequences of a passive attitude to the unfolding of a social catastrophe.

Research methods

Today, the most popular method of studying everyday life in the historic community is the method of reconstructing the past, that is, the method of historical description. It is implemented based on the nature of the topic, the tasks set and the characteristics of the sources. The main principle of the study is historicism; that is, the reconstruction is carried out against the backdrop of global historical processes. Among other special-historical methods, primary attention is paid to concrete historical, comparative- historical, and system-structural methods.

Results and Discussion

internal emigration war

One of the common reactions of ordinary citizens to increased social instability was the desire to blend with the crowd, to disguise themselves, in a word, to abandon class signs in appearance. As early as the spring of 1917, the inspector of the Chernihiv prison wrote in his diary that it had become dangerous to “walk in a bowler hat” around the city. Dressing up “an inconspicuous dress” was a mass phenomenon. "People from upper class society found out terrible coats and put caps on their heads. Dressing like a commoner was considered necessary for personal safety. Decently dressed men and ladies were insulted in the streets, tearing off their hats, boas and breaking the umbrellas snatched from their hands” (Central State Archive of Public Associations of Ukraine. Fund 5. File 1. Page 21: 28).

General Grebenshchikov, who rented housing in Chernigov in the spring of 1918, noted the “big plus” of the apartment: “The house was so inconspicuous and modest so it did not attract any attention - and this was a very important advantage in revolutionary times, the time of free manipulation with someone else's life and property” (State Archive of the Russian Federation. Fund 5881. File 2. Page 315: 27). The priest Vasily Zenkovsky, after the occupation of Kyiv by the Reds in early February 1919, “for the first time in his life lived under someone else's passport, and had to shave off his small beard” (Zenkovsky, 1995:183).

In March 1919, a Kyiv student noticed the fact that “the streets have changed a lot lately. Most walk wearing soldiers' overcoats or leather jackets and black caps. Many ladies don't wear hats. Everyone is trying to give themselves a “democratic look” (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 211).

At the end of 1920, the colonel of the Wrangel's army also performed a change of his appearance, and “altered some of the clothes” in the Crimea. He defined as his goal the adoption of a “proletarian coloring”. His relatives also aspired to the same. Unfortunately, despite the efforts made, the great-aunt “still retained an aristocratic look”. The colonel's niece taught her relatives: “Hands and faces should not be washed, this is a bourgeois vice, and if you wash it, then immediately stain it with soot, otherwise they will say that you are a bourgeois” (State Archive of the Russian Federation. Fund 5881. File 1. Page 158: 80).

Another response to the numerous external threats of wartime was the desire to hide from the real world, to isolate themselves in their own apartments, with friends, with casual acquaintances. The Chernihiv inspector remarked: “It was considered dangerous for intelligent people to walk around in the evening, and people locked themselves in, afraid to leave the house” (Central State Archive of Public Associations of Ukraine. Fund 5. File 1. Page 21: 43).

A Kyiv student in April 1919 wrote in her diary:"Every call terrifies you, you afraid to leave the house for a while, worrying that something may happen during your absence” (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 211).

At the beginning of summer, one of her acquaintances, a relative of the Hetman, who “hid in different places for four months”, caught a cold and died. “She was even buried under a false name. Several persons came to her funeral though” (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 217).

In August, the situation did not change: “Many do not sleep at home. Others don't come home at all". One of the neighbors, “while going back home, gets off the cab before the corner, then, looking around, approaches his own door: he is still afraid of an ambush” (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 225). There were also opposite patterns of behavior: “Some people, for example, old man B., do not leave the house for months” (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 226).

The already mentioned Vasily Zenkovsky “stayed for a whole month with friends, spending every night in different apartment of the same house, and not going out at all”. Fortunately, son of the woman who sheltered him was the chairman of the house committee. “Twice a total search in the house happened, but both times, out of courtesy, they did not enter the apartment of the chairman of the house committee” (Zenkovsky, 1995: 183).

In May 1920, before the Poles came, Kyiv "experienced an idyllic state". The streets were quiet and calm. "All governments disappeared, but the uncertainty of the situation held back the violators of the order". The citizens of Kyiv "were staying home, posting duty guards at each entrance on a routine basis". Only the most desperate braver dared to go to the city center, to Khreshchatyk. “During the day, groups of curious people crowded at the doors, at the entrances. At night there was absolute silence, the city seemed extinct. At each entrance there were all sorts of "devices, logs for props, iron rods, hooks that made the house an impregnable fortress for robbers". In addition, there were attendants inside at the door. However, “there were no night attacks” (Zaslavsky, 1922: 11).

During the initial period of any new government's function, confusion reigned in the institutions, which allowed people who were at odds with this government, to survive. A person Auerbakh, who was an official of the Hetman's administration, “lived illegally with various relatives and friends for two or three days each, moving in the evening from one shelter to another, and then settled on Fundukleevskaya street with good friends, sent his passport for registration at the office, where, due to still unsettling in order, without noticing anything, they went through all the formalities” (State Archive of the Russian Federation. Fund 5881. File 2. Page 232: 95).

Kyiv citizen L.L. recalled that on the first day of the occupation of the city by the Bolsheviks, in early February 1919, the streets "were empty and creepy". Her uncle, in order to preserve his property, settled a Chinese consul in his house, who not only invited the girl and her brother to live in the same house, but also registered her as a “correspondent” and her brother as a “legal adviser” of the consulate. What happened next was like a joke.

“The Kyiv citizens soon found out about the existence of our institution. The consul, in his good nature, did not refuse an-yone”, and as a result, the number of employees of the Chinese consulate increased significantly. “Doctors, corre-spondents, machinists, couriers, heads of the office appeared, many of them hold the same position”. Many employees settled right in the house. One evening, representatives of the Extraordinary Commission came to the consul to check if there were any strangers in the house. "Couriers, doctors and correspondents hid, a Chinese servant came out to open the door". The consul turned out to be a decent person, he did not betray anyone, and the next day he went to explain himself to the Commission. After the conversation, he was forced to reduce the number of employees, "but those who remained began to enjoy complete security" (Ocherki zhizni v Kieve, 1991: 211, 212).

The inhabitants made a lot of efforts to issue various certificates that helped them to survive in the conditions of a permanent change of political regimes, especially under the Bolsheviks, who for a long time believed paper evidence. Kyiv citizen L.L. recalled one of the orders of the Bolshevik authorities, which prescribed the eviction of the “bourgeois” from their apartments to shacks, and settlement of the underclass people in there instead:

“The poor reacted to this very distrustfully, and it seems to me personally that it was equally difficult to settle the poor and evict the bourgeoisie. There were no bourgeois at all. All the inhabitants of the city of Kyiv turned out to be honest workers in the planting and strengthening of Soviet power, everyone was provided with papers, and you can't find fault with anyone!” (Ocherki zhizni v Kieve, 1991: 212).

The memoirist described in detail the story of opening of the Brazilian consulate in Kyiv, when her acquaintances asked to approve their service in the future institution. Unfortunately, the "consul" turned out to be an employee of the Cheka, who gathered in the "Brazilian consulate" all the counter-revolutionaries, who were subsequently arrested and shot. Fortunately, L.L. was warned that the "Brazilian Consul" could not be trusted. In this episode, the following tragicomic fact is interesting: “One of my friends who especially pestered me (about a place in the Brazilian consulate), was hold in the Cheka recently for having a sugar factory, and did not want to appear there anymore. True, he had evidence that he was not a sugar factory owner at all, but a modest student of a drama studio, but he wanted something more accurate - the Bolsheviks ceased to trust the artists, something turned out to be a lot of them" (Ocherki zhizni v Kieve: 212).

Lawyer Goldenweiser described in his memoirs the search process in private apartments: “The whole family is assembled, everyone is armed with “pieces of paper” - certificates of belonging to one or another category of the privileged class - to Soviet employees, artists, members of trade unions, etc.” (Goldenveizer, 1991: 239).

The townspeople used every opportunity to maintain their former way of life, peaceful habits. They diversified their leisure in all ways, sometimes using completely inappropriate circumstances for relaxation.

At the New 1918 Year's Eve, the teachers of one of the Crimean schools brought electric bulbs from their houses, and after midnight they “drank tea and played lotto, for two kopecks per card” (Volnyy Yug, 1918: 38).

One of the gymnasium teacher, the organizer of student holidays, with the approach of the Christmas in 1917, noted melancholically that the country (and the school as well) “are shrouded in such a fog in which bright lights in the form of Christmas trees, performances, lectures would be beacons and hearths where the student could rest and get a good impression”. The teacher tried to convince the students that their opinion that “you shouldn't waste your health, tear yourself up when things are already up to your throat; these entertainments only interfere with the students” was wrong. He argued that the holidays, on the contrary, “contribute, develop, give a result what you will never achieve in one-hour lessons” (Narodnaya zhizn, 1917: 201).

A resident of Sevastopol, on the occasion, got out a pack of tobacco, which he called "vile", but cheap (ten rubles for a pound). In addition, he waited for the capital's newspapers, and shared his emotions: “It's a good way to relax with a cigarette reading the capital's newspaper. In present times it is a rare pleasure" (Volnyy Yug, 1918: 43).

A young Kharkiv resident, who was thinking about how to spend evening time, remembered the invitation of a neighbor. There was even modest lighting in her apartment - "two meager lights in a cream jar". The guest tried to maintain a secular conversation:

“I'm talking about the theater, about the film studio, about lectures, and she told me: “There is kerosene, 18 rubles for a spool”. I hint to her that I don't mind to eat something, and she tells me: “Do you know why there is no lights - the brushes at the station are changed!” Hell with them, with brushes! Give me light, and I will never come to you!” (Yuzhnoe slovo, 1918: 2).

A source of positive impressions was even participation in house guards, which often amounted to “selfconsolation or straight home entertainment - since it was forbidden to leave the house at night”. On the base of the stairs, where the attendants gathered, “a table, cards are taken out; young people flirt” (Yuzhnoe slovo, 1918: 4).

In December 1918, a reporter for a Kharkiv newspaper remarked that "people have an amazing ability to adapt to circumstances". The inhabitants hardly believed that "there was a time when there was such abundance and contentment around". The gradual deterioration of the situation ensured getting used to the new restrictions: “Last year, it would have seemed an incredible deprivation to sit without light every evening, and, even more, the lack of water to make tea and wash. Now “khagans” are flickering in the apartments, and strings of women with buckets are stretching to the few wells in search of precious water”. This was followed by a sad conclusion: “The layman would rather use the full force to his adaptation than say one word in defense of the claims of the Bolsheviks to power” (Yuzhnyy kray, 1918: 185).

Many specialists saw salvation in the simple and honest performance of their ordinary duties, despite the manifestations of discontent by those for whom they actually worked. At the beginning of 1918, various educational courses for working people tried to operate in the Crimea, but the citizens who signed up for them quickly lost interest in studying. Only 6 people out of 220 who signed up for lectures went to agricultural courses, “in the legal section of the public university, out of 200, only 20 students remained by the end of the six-month period”. From the beginning, only 2 students enrolled in the courses of agi- tators-propagandists. Of course, the author of the article admitted, “it is easier to go to the cinema, to clubs after a meeting” (Volnyy Yug, 1918: 36).

In the spring of 1918, both students and their parents were dissatisfied with the unworthy, from their point of view, behavior of teachers in the Odessa railway school, as a result of which “the old regime remained the same” at the school. In the complaint, its authors lamented that "students are forced to learn the Law of God, they are forced to write written answers without drafts". If you can still agree with this, then the following claim is surprising: "A French teacher makes you definitely learn French". The document also contained specific proposals. Since “in general, teachers treat students very badly”, the question was raised of retirement the arithmetic teacher and replacing him with “an old revolutionary teacher of the working class” (Central State Archive of the Supreme Authorities and Administration of Ukraine. Fund 4342. File 1. Page 57: 9, 9rev.).

People whose work was valued under any regime could afford to live the same life. The White Guard officer V. Korsak at one of the large stations looked into the house of a local road foreman. “They host me well, provided me tea with lemon, then fed me cold fish, scrambled eggs, various mazurkas, cakes, and again gave me tea. Everywhere was order and cleanliness. Engravings hung on the walls, bookcases were rich with books” (Krasnaya smuta, 2011: 410).

Zemsto activist V. Obolensky was struck by the way of life of the population of Bakhchisarai in 1920: “This amazing city made a strange and somehow magical impression on me. Due to the fact that it is located not on the highway itself, but about a verst and a half, in a crevice of rocks that completely cover it, it was completely not subjected to defeat and destruction during the revolution and civil war”. The city “has remained as quiet and peaceful as it was before the revolution. And life in it flowed in the same way as ten, fifteen and a hundred years ago. The same artisans doing their work in open shops in front of passers-by, butchers slaughtering rams, bakers rolling dough for bagels, which cost, however, not a few ko-pecks, but a thousand rubles” (Obolensky, 1927: 37).

The impression of this island of normal life in the conditions of chaos reigning in the country was extremely strong: “Each time I was fascinated by this fairy tale in reality, a fairy tale that could be told throughout vast Russia, perhaps only by small Bakhchisarai. And so I wanted to prolong this fairy tale, breaking away from the terrible reality of our existence" (Obolensky, 1927: 38).

White Guard leader V. Shulgin was surprised by the ability of people to maintain pre-war habits: “We stuck in a hut on the outskirts. By the end of the day, the hosts became affectionate, and treated us with an excellent dinner. They arranged everything for the night as best as they could" (Shulgin, 1989: 299). In addition to surprise, Shulgin shared other emotions: “We almost hated the people for whom we are dying. We hated the townspeople because they drink coffee, read newspapers, go to the cinema, dance, have fun" (Shulgin, 1989: 300).

The comical and the sad combined in the memoirs of the Kyiv lawyer Goldenweiser about the attempts of the townsfolk to circumvent the latest Bolshevik bans: “Private trade was persecuted, but cooperatives were allowed. And now all the trade enterprises, as if by magic, declared themselves to be cooperatives. When the cooperatives were also closed, only handicraft workshops remained allowed. Then, in a short time, all the shopkeepers on Vasylkivska street and Podil turned out to be handicraftsmen, and began to manufacture gasoline lighters and rubber soles from stolen car tires”. The next step of the new government was a ban on trading in anything other than food. “In all shops at the front windows appeared bread and boxes with tea surrogates; the rest of the goods were sold in the back rooms”. When food stalls were also banned, “all trade moved inside of the shopkeepers' apartments or were carried out from the back porch” (Goldenveizer, 1991: 286).

An acquaintance of the lawyer, the shopkeeper Gershman, transformed the store into a living room, “and anyone could see from the street through the window how, in the place where the debauchery of speculation used to reign, now a family of peaceful proletarians is having lunch and drinking tea. Trade at that time was carried out in the former living room siding with the courtyard” (Goldenveizer, 1991: 286).

Finally, the general conclusion of the author of the memoirs was disappointing for the Soviet authorities: “In fact, it turned out that there was never so much trade in any country as in those years in Russia, and never did speculative fever cover such wide circles of the population. The bazaars acquired the character of permanent fairs, where absolutely everything could be obtained - of course, second-hand" (Goldenveizer, 1991: 287).

Some contemporaries of the long war took every opportunity to live "in a grand style", because no one knew what will happen tomorrow. More precisely, they knew, but, weren't expecting anything good for themselves, they were in a hurry to enjoy life. The officers, who had a lot of money, spent them "on revelry and drinking parties". Everyone “hurried to use what he somehow managed to get. Life was upset, personal security disappeared” (Krasnaya smuta, 2011: 434).

Under the Hetman of Kyiv, there was a restaurant "Ancient Rus" not far from the St. Sophia Cathedral, which was always overcrowded at lunchtime and in the evening. “The owner - energetic, cheerful, agile - personally led a team of professional lackeys and persuaded his visitors not to save money on food and drink: “Eat, drink, bourgeois, before you and me are slaughtered! Would you like vodka with fresh mushrooms, pies or caviar? Would you like red, white or champagne, order - everything will be served instantly! Enjoy life, do not spare the despicable metal! My rooms are not “red” in the corners, but there are never red here! We are all our own here - old-fashioned!” The owner predicted, first of all, his own fate. He was shot in the first days of the occupation of Kyiv by the Bolsheviks (State Archive of the Russian Federation. Fund 5881. File 2. Page 315: 405).

A witness of the events Y. Rappoport spoke about the situation in Kyiv in 1919: “The noisy southern crowd is still in a hurry, only slightly worn out, all sorts of coffee houses and pate shops are full. A full-blooded, sanguine city, feeding on the juices of the black earth fields, does not succumb to the Bolshevik poison. How all this does not look like Petersburg! The strict, gloomy capital burst into a crazy red flame and died. Kyiv wants to live at all costs - even under the Bolsheviks” (Rappoport, 1930: 230). The author assessed the level of adaptability of the people of Kyiv: “In colorful brick houses, under all regimes, families lived the same way as before, or tried to live the same way, and only clung to old habits more tightly, while the waves rolled over their heads” (Rappoport, 1930: 236).

In January 1920, several women organized a cooperative in Kyiv. “They got along with the residents of neighboring houses, hired a cook, took over the management of the household, and in this way feed several dozen of families” (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 239).

Citizens made desperate attempts to save their property, converting it into money, then reinvested in other assets. It looked like a continuous lottery, in which the last participant turned out to be the loser: “There is an orgy of buying and selling houses in the city. Today a house is bought, tomorrow it is sold. Houses jump from hand to hand, rising in price like stocks. The fact is that the layman does not want to hold money in his hands, and wants to replace it with something more fundamental”. In addition to houses, dachas and land plots were sold and resold. “There is also buying and selling of diamonds. Every man seeks to turn money into diamonds. Such is the color of the time, created by the general economic ruin and the fall of the ruble. Our life takes the most bizarre forms. The outlines of life become fantastic” (Kievskaya mysl, 1917: 100).

Gradually, the indifference to the struggle for power that reigned around, spread among an ever-larger mass of citizens. In January 1918, the inhabitants of Kyiv “remained neutral, since they could not sympathize with either side. They were taken surprised by the events, but pretty soon, however, they got used to their new position” (Leuchtenbergsky, 1921: 17).

In May 1918, Odessans assessed all political events "only from the point of view of philistine calmness". They dreamed only of "a minimum of calm and rest after a difficult three-year war, half-starvation, excessive high prices and a whole year of nightmares of the revolution". People are "tired of being citizens" (Yuzhnaya zarya, 1918: 2).

In February 1918, a Nikopol journalist bitterly advised his readers: “Go to the “prospect”- it is dark of the walking public. This is where free time could be spent. Look into the illusion, if you can only push your way through it, and you will see that the spectacle of the drama at 2000 meters fully satisfies spiritual needs” (Golos truda, 1918: 1).

The desire to survive the hard times at any cost dominated in the philistine environment. In the summer of 1918, academician V.I. Vernadsky gave an assessment to one of his acquaintances: “Everything is the same - all the little things of family life - survival. Smart common man" (Vernadsky, 2011: 98). In the spring of 1919, Vernadsky was more frank about his two friends: “They have submissive confusion - but a feeling of hate and contempt was deep” (Vernadsky, 2011: 133).

The Kyiv student who also lost her will to live, wrote the following in June 1919: “Under the influence of this terrible life, all interests disappeared in me. I don't even want to read, not to mention work. The whole day is spent running around different committees, hiding, selling” (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 211).

Former tsarist officials who changed to the service of the Bolsheviks, but were very skeptical of the new government, which was reflected in the communication of two such employees on the pages of a newspaper feuilleton. It is indicative that both the new and the former authorities were called “they” for the officials. "Their" salary is not even enough for food. So we accustom to the old orders - bribes for services. - And if "they" come? - Our business is small, they served under duress! Well, I ran to dinner. - In the canteen? - I don't use their crap. Today my wife promised me to make a sweet pie” (State Archive of the Russian Federation. Fund 5881. File 1. Page 158: 66).

At all times, people dreamed of a better future, and for it they were ready to believe any, the most fantastic rumors. A note in the New Year's newspaper issue is indicative: “People draw optimistic conclusions. The 1917 was the year of blood and death, and the 1918 will be the year of the rebirth of better life for mankind. People are guessing. They try to see at least something in the surrounding darkness. They gaze intently into the dark veil of the future, and wait for instructions that are gratifying for their weary hearts... Poor people - how we all want happiness and joy...” (Poslednie novosti, 1918: 4853).

General V.I. Gurko in 1918 in Odessa noted that “in the London hotel, many people spent long hours eating and drinking; here, very contradictory, but mostly optimistic, various rumors were invented, transmitted and disseminated, among which panic notes were suddenly heard” (Gurko, 1930: 75).

Colonel Wrangel's army called the belief in ridiculous rumors a "psychosis of optimism", which he considered "a contagious and extremely dangerous disease". “Why to perform anything while Wrangel will reach tomorrow, we have already seen his ships on the horizon. Pyotr Ivanovich arrived yesterday from Yalta, and says that the city is occupied by the confederate. There was an uprising all over Russia, Makhno hold Dzhankoy, the Greens occupied Simferopol” (State Archive of the Russian Federation. Fund 5881. File 1. Page 158: 81).

The indifference that reigned in the mass consciousness and the desire to adapt to the constantly changing conditions of existence led to disastrous results. In March 1919, a Kyiv student wrote in her diary: “We are getting sadder and sadder, life is becoming more expensive, oppression is increasing, everyone is walking around looking scared” (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 220).

In the middle of the summer of that year, the girl shared in her diary much more detailed experiences about one of the families she knew: “How can you combine high education with such uncleanliness. They never clean the apartment, they dry clothes in the living room and on the front balcony, they roll dough and chop cutlets on oak sideboards, they never take out buckets of slop, they walk around in dirty hoods all day long. Why do they need separate washbasin? They can wash under the tap. Why do they need closets? They can hang dresses on the wall and cover it by sheets. Why table linen? They can eat on oilcloth" (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 220).

In the fall, the situation worsened: “In some apartments, the returned tenants fixed everything in order, in others people live indifferently among other people's dirt. In seven months, all disappeared forever. Either luxury, and comfort, and even hygiene (there is no home where the sewer would remain in order after the short stay of the Red Army)" (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 231).

The winter did not bring any changes, what the student was convinced of by visiting an old friend: “The apartment is dirty, neglected, the hostess wears the different kind of dresses, there are broken dishes on the table, a torn tablecloth” (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 239). And this is in her assessment the catastrophe of the public mind: “We have become completely indifferent to someone else's life; everyone wants only to save himself at any cost. Right and wrong are no more. That is, everyone might be blamed. You can't enter a store, get into a tramway, so as not to run into rudeness - everyone is so wild. Everyone sees an enemy in the other” (Dnevnik i vospominaniya, 1924: 231).

In the spring of 1920, academician V.I. Vernadsky added to the picture of general savagery: “Life is becoming more and more difficult. Crazy high cost, taking on a catastrophic character. Everyone around is tired. It's terrible to live without a shelter. Almost without things, everyone is living with strangers, or shifted in "compacted apartments". This consolidation is everywhere, requisitions are everywhere, and people finally begin to languish from such a kind of life” (Vernadsky, 2011: 74).

Under the conditions of the Polish occupation of Kyiv in the spring of 1920, “new people who arrived were shocked by the timidity, downtroddenness, and indecision of the people of Kyiv. In an atmosphere of uncertainty about the future, a normal economic life was impossible” (Leuchtenbergsky, 1921: 39).

Conclusions

Thus, the urban population of Ukraine in 1917-1920 experienced numerous difficulties caused not only by political leap and military hardships, but also by the social experiments by the Bolshevik regime. In the context of a constant struggle for physical survival, the inhabitants used such technology as changing their social status in their everyday life. To achieve the desired result, the townspeople changed their appearance, obtained various fake documents, hid their real place of residence, and imitated their occupation depending on the changing political conditions.

Such actions were accompanied by the use of existing or newly established social ties, primarily among the employees of the new state apparatus, the transition to previously unusual activities, primarily to trade, or continuing work in the previous specialty, in the presence of solvent demand.

No less important was the preservation of the psychological balance of the townsfolk. In an effort to maintain or restore peace of mind, a great variety of patterns of behavior have been observed. Most often there was an imitation of the former way of life, ranging from harmless leisure in a small bourgeois world, alone or surrounded by colleagues and relatives, and to a real “feast during the plague”, when people, perfectly aware of their sad end, instead of a completely logical flight for the sake of salvation, arranged themselves endless holidays. Another psychological mechanism that made it possible to survive difficult times was the belief in the most ridiculous rumors, the expectation of a miracle, the expectation of rescue by someone else.

The result of such psychological experiments was the primitivization of everyday life, the simplification of everyday existence, and, in the end, the exhaustion of all reserves of resistance.

In today's conditions of social uncertainty, management structures should foresee such consequences and plan specific actions in the economic, social, and information spheres to use the internal resources of society based on its ability to self-organize.

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