Religion in the Life of Peasant Migrants in Russian Cities around 1900 (on Materials of the Diaries and Memoirs)

Religiosity of workers is a little-studied topic, little attention was paid to sources of personal origin. Journalism, state and Church records management are undoubtedly valuable sources, but they can not help in achieving representativeness in the study of this issue. Therefore, this work is relevant. The object of research is information in the sources of personal origin created by peasants who moved to the city. The subject of the study was the religious beliefs of migrant peasants in Russian cities. The purpose of the work was to find an answer to the question of how the internal perception of the processes taking place in the sphere of religious life, their features and changes in the established chronological framework. I note that 1914 was chosen as the upper limit not by chance, as the impact of the First World war on society is too great, the usual course of events has changed, which is now not uniform. Objectives to achieve the research goal: 1) to Determine how migrant farmers perceive their own religious experience; 2) Consider their understanding of the social and political role of the Church; 3) to Study the experience of rejection of religious beliefs, its causes and consequences. Among the conclusions of the study is the fact that rethinking the role of religion in the life of the worker is inextricably linked to the transformation of political views. The first Russian revolution, bringing relative freedom of religion, at the same time pushed away some workers from the Church, which took an active part in the confrontation with the state. Also, the dichotomy "Church-pub", put forward by the history of leisure, in practice turns out to be a dichotomy only for those who consciously come to it, since the refusal of the Church, in many cases, as the material shows, leads to the refusal of excessive enthusiasm for alcoholic beverages.