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Oryol region. History of the Oryol region. Oryol province - history of origin

When reading in the State Archives Oryol region files of the provincial newspaper "Orlovsky Vestnik" I came across great material called "Benefactors". It was published several issues in a row, from January 27 to February 17, 1882, and was signed with the pseudonym “Old-Timer.” I have not yet been able to find out who was hiding under this mask. But the writer was clearly not indifferent to the history of Orel and its wonderful people. He dedicated several pages of his pictorial narrative to the Oryol Masons.

Freemasons of Orel and their secret meetings
Before we talk about them, here is some brief background information:
“Masonry is a movement that arose in the 18th century in the form of a closed organization, originating from little-known origins in the late 16th - early 17th centuries, presumably corporate guilds of masons. The name "Mason" or "Freemason" comes from the French. franc-ma;on (in Old French masson, English freemason), the literal translation of this name is also used - free mason. Freemasonry is administratively organized into independent Grand Lodges.
The main version of the origin of Freemasonry is considered to be the origin of mason builders from medieval corporations, but there are theories about more ancient origin Freemasonry, the origin of which is derived from the Knights Templar, or - in other versions - from the Rosicrucian Order...”
The beginning of the active spread of Freemasonry in Russia dates back to the 80s of the 18th century. And this is what the Old-Timer wrote about this in the Oryol Bulletin:
“At that time, a Masonic lodge in the spirit of Moscow Martinists already existed in Orel, under the chairmanship of Vice-Governor Zakhar Yakovlevich Karneev (he held this position from 1785 to 1796 - A.P.). Its members were: Governor Neplyuev, State Councilor Sverbeev, members of the provincial chambers Neledinsky and Rzhevsky, assessors Milonov and Karneev Jr. In addition, there are many other notable persons. Where the lodge met, no reliable information has been preserved; however, there is a legend that meetings took place near the Nikitsky Church, in the so-called Matsnevsky estate, where the religious school is now.
There, allegedly, during the reconstruction of a house for an educational institution, they found underground pavilions and passages to another house, which was two blocks to the left, also with a huge garden.
There is hardly any reason to allow a lodge to meet there. Firstly, underground passages and pavilions are not a necessary property of Masonic lodges: it rather resembles Khlystyism. ...The Masons had no need to hide.
Another legend is no more trustworthy - about a meeting of lodges near the present military gymnasium, where the house of a member of the lodge, Sverbeev, was supposedly located. True, the street leading from the theater to the Trinity Cemetery is called Sverbeevsky Lane (it is unknown in relation to which street this lane is!), but, in all likelihood, this name was adopted much later, when lodges no longer existed in Orel, or maybe , there was Sverbeev’s estate, more prominent and famous than the others...”

"Making people happy..."
The old-timer, listing the names of the Oryol masons, did not name another name, much more well-known on a nationwide scale - Ivan Vladimirovich Lopukhin, philosopher, publicist, memoirist, publisher, actual privy councilor and senator.
In “Notes from some circumstances of life and service...” by Ivan Lopukhin, published in 1860 in London, he wrote that he was born on February 24, 1756. This significant event happened in the village of Retyazhi (Voskresenskoye) in Kromsky district, on the estate of his father, Lieutenant General, Vladimir Ivanovich Lopukhin.
Vladimir Ivanovich, who lived a long life (94 years), acquired the village of Retyazhi during the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna with money raised from the sale of emeralds that went to his wife, Evdokia Ilyinichna Isaeva, as a dowry. Ivan Lopukhin spent his childhood partly in Retyazhi, partly in Kyiv, where Vladimir Ivanovich was governor.
And although the general’s son was not taught by the best teachers, and his health was not strong all his life, thanks to self-education and the moral instructions of his parents, Ivan Lopukhin turned out to be a rare person among the nobility. “Making people happy has always been his passion”; “When I was still a child,” he wrote in his memoirs, “I deliberately lost the money that happened to me to the boy who served with me, and admired his joy about it.” He considered his “disposition to alms” not a virtue, but “a natural inclination, as in others it happens to various hunts.” His “natural inclination” was also a love of justice.
Having begun his career with military service, he retired in 1782 with the rank of colonel. The transition to civil service was connected, to a large extent, with his beginning to move away from “Voltairianism” and his passion for Masonic ideas.

Ivan Vladimirovich Lopukhin

"Shining Star" by Ivan Lopukhin
From the end of 1782, Lopukhin became a senior adviser and then chairman of the Moscow Criminal Chamber, where he tried in every possible way to alleviate the fate of the accused. Having entered into conflict in this regard with the Moscow commander-in-chief J. A. Bruce, in May 1785 he retired with the rank of state councilor. From the beginning of the 1780s. Lopukhin became close to N.I. Novikov, and in 1782 he joined the Masonic Order of the Rosicrucians. He became the “master of the chair” of the Latona lodge and received the Masonic name Philus. In 1783, Ivan Vladimirovich founded his own printing house, which published the Masonic magazine “Freemason Shop”. On May 31, 1784, under the leadership of Lopukhin, the Shining Star Masonic Lodge opened. Ivan Vladimirovich often gave speeches at Masonic meetings, and was in charge of several lodges in St. Petersburg, Orel, Vologda, and Kremenchug. Contributed to the distribution of books in Kursk and Orel. Together with the Masons N.I. Novikov, I.P. Turgenev and others were heavily involved in philanthropic activities.
The active activities of the Freemasons caused the displeasure of Empress Catherine II. Restrictions followed in the publication of Masonic literature, then it came to the destruction of their printing houses and, finally, ended with the arrest of N.I. Novikov and his imprisonment in a fortress. Other Masons, including Ivan Lopukhin, were almost unharmed, but were forced to explain themselves and ask for forgiveness from the Empress.
Under Paul I, Lopukhin became a Privy Councilor and Senator of the Moscow Department, resolutely opposing excessively harsh sentences in criminal cases, for example, against schismatics and Doukhobors.
Ivan Vladimirovich spent the last years of his life, from December 1812 to the summer of 1816, on the family estate of Retyazhi in Kromsky district, which had a two-story wooden manor house with an estate around it. Almost a hundred courtyard people and about 900 serfs belonged to Lopukhin here.
“Privy Councilor and holder of many orders”, having spent three and a half years in Retyazhi, was constantly ill, was actively treated (including the original Russian remedy - a hot bath with diving into the snow), took care of his nephew, wrote letters, received guests, and often visited Church of the Resurrection and closely watched how the Russian army in Europe finished off Napoleon, responding to these events in a very exotic way.
Here is what Lopukhin wrote in one of his letters: “Here on the shore of the pond, two large wild stones are placed on the sides of a tree. One is at a resting place, in the form of armchairs, with the inscription: “Paris was taken on March 19, 1814”; and the other is completely unfinished and, as if laid on a grave, with the inscription: “and the memory of the enemy perishes with noise.” The path from them leads to a rather huge monument for the village, made up of several large granite stones, with the inscription: “To the Piety of Alexander I and the Glory of the Russian Valor in 1812.” This was actually the first monument to Russia's victory over Napoleon.
Ivan Vladimirovich Lopukhin died on June 22, 1816, having barely crossed the 60-year mark. The senator was buried next to the Resurrection Church in the village of Retyazhi, built by his father, the general.

Criminal community. - The liberal-Masonic underground is active. - Growth of Masonic lodges. - Secret coordination of all anti-Russian forces. - Creation of the Supreme Council of Russian Freemasons. - Subversive, inflammatory role of international Freemasonry. - Masons strive for power.

The bloc of anti-Russian forces, created at the Paris meeting of opposition and revolutionary parties, by the end of 1905 turned into a huge criminal community. The core and coordinating Center of this community was the liberal-Masonic underground, which by that time was concentrated mainly in the Cadet party, whose leadership was purely Masonic. This, of course, did not mean that there were no members of Masonic lodges in other parties. The leadership of the Socialist Revolutionary Party was predominantly Masonic. Some of Lenin's associates also belonged to Freemasonry (Skvortsov-Stepanov, Lunacharsky, etc.). The coordination of anti-Russian forces was carried out at a non-partisan level of purely Masonic conspiracy. As the wife of one of the founders of the Liberation Union, freemason E.D. Prokopovich, later admitted. Kuskova:

“The goal of Freemasonry is political, to work underground for the liberation of Russia (more precisely, for its destruction - O.P.) ... Why was this chosen? To capture the highest and even court circles... There were many princes and counts... This movement was huge. There were “our own people” everywhere. Such societies as free-economic and technical societies were captured entirely. It’s the same in zemstvos..."

The work of Masonic organizations was carried out in strict secrecy. Those lower in the Masonic hierarchy did not know the secrets of their superiors. Ordinary Masons, carrying out orders, did not know from whom they came. There were no written records or minutes of meetings. For violation of discipline, many members of Masonic lodges were subjected to the procedure of radiation (expulsion) with the obligation to maintain secrecy under penalty of death.

The conduct of the Masonic intrigue was developed at meetings in every detail, with all possible precautions taken so that the political forces among which the Masons carried out their work did not realize that they were a means of secret political manipulation.

The admission of new members was carried out very selectively; they were looked for exclusively among similar haters of historical Russia, deprived of Russian national identity. A certain member of the lodge was instructed to collect all the necessary information about the candidate, they were thoroughly discussed at a meeting of the Masonic lodge, and after a detailed check, the candidate was made an offer to join a certain society pursuing “noble” political goals. If the candidate agreed, then he was invited to preliminary negotiations, interrogated according to a certain pattern, and only after all this was a ritual initiation ceremony into the Masons. The newcomer was sworn to secrecy and to submit to Masonic discipline. In 1905...1906, special emissaries of the French lodge Grand Orient of France were initiated into Freemasons. The emissaries, acting under the pseudonyms of Senshol and Boulet, in fact, in those days led Russian Freemasonry, attracting there the elements of dubious integrity and unscrupulousness they needed. One of the future leaders of Russian Freemasonry M.S. French emissaries immediately initiated Margulies into the high Masonic degree of 18 degrees in the St. Petersburg Kresty prison, where he was imprisoned for political crimes and connections with terrorist groups. However, sometimes decent people were caught in the Masonic network, most often not for long. According to the stories of the writer V.V. Veresaev (Smidovich), the author of good books, was accepted into the Freemasons in Moscow in 1905 (or 1906?) (Nikitskaya, corner of Merzlyakovsky, 15). He was received by the prominent Masonic conspirator Prince S.D. Urusov (“Notes of the Governor”). He also brought there the future editor of Izvestia, the famous Bolshevik functionary Skvortsov-Stepanov. Another writer, I.I., was also received there. Popov. The Grand Orient of France granted special rights to the lodges established in Russia - they could, without asking the sanction of Paris, open new lodges. By virtue of this right, in 1908...1909 lodges were opened in Nizhny Novgorod(“Iron Ring”, venerable master Kilvane), Kyiv (venerable master Baron Steingel) and in four other places. All these lodges were financed by Count Orlov-Davydov, who became “famous” for his immoral lifestyle. As “brother” Kandaurov writes, the “scandal” that happened to Orlov-Davydov (actress Poiret’s lawsuit against him for recognition of an illegitimate child), which in one way or another was involved and many members of the North Star lodge were called as witnesses, greatly damaged peace of mind of the organization.

“Organizationally, each lodge had a chairman, Venerable, an orator, and two wardens, a senior and a junior, of whom the younger served as secretary. (...)

All meetings were opened by Venerable, who presided over them. After the opening of the meeting, everyone sat down in a semicircle; Venerable asked traditional questions: “Is the door closed?” etc.

The functions of the speaker were limited to monitoring compliance with the charter; He also kept the charter, made welcoming speeches to new members...

All members of the lodge paid membership fees, which were received by Venerable and handed over to the secretary of the Supreme Council.

Conspiracy and organization were maintained consistently and strictly. The members of one lodge did not know anyone from the other lodges. The Masonic sign, by which Freemasons in other countries identify each other, did not exist in Russia. All relations between lodges and other cells of the organization took place through one chairman of the lodge - Venerable. Members of the lodge, who had previously been members of various revolutionary organizations, were amazed by the consistency and consistency of the conspiracy. Later, when I was the secretary of the Supreme Council and knew by my position almost all the members of the lodges, it was almost funny for me to see how sometimes members of different lodges agitated me in the spirit of the latest decision of the Supreme Council, without realizing who they were dealing with.

Upon admission, a new member of the lodge received the title of student. After some time, usually a year, he was elevated to the degree of master. The right to decide when exactly such a promotion should be made belonged to the lodge. But sometimes promotions were made on the initiative of the Supreme Council. In these latter cases, they usually acted on considerations of a political and organizational nature, i.e. The Supreme Council considered it useful for one or another person whom he valued to move forward up the ladder of the Masonic hierarchy."

The governing body of Russian Freemasonry, the Supreme Council, controlled all the work of Masonic lodges. Elections to the Supreme Council were secret. The names of the persons included in the Supreme Council were not known to anyone. Instructions and orders from the Supreme Council to the Masonic lodges came through a certain person, and only through this same person did the Masonic lodges contact the Supreme Council.

Initially, this Supreme Council existed not as an independent organization, but as a meeting of representatives of Russian lodges affiliated with the Grand Orient of France. In 1907...1909, the Supreme Council consisted of five people. Chairman Prince S.D. Urusov, two deputies - F.A. Golovin (Chairman of the Second State Duma) and M.S. Margulies (cadet). Treasurer - Count Orlov-Davydov. Secretary - Prince D.O. Bebutov, a swindler who at one time served as an informant for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and a future German spy.

Russian Freemasons were in constant contact with political formations of revolutionary parties and even invited their representatives to provide “moral” support for their terrorist activities. So, at the beginning of 1905, a representative of the left wing of liberals from the Liberation Union, associated, in particular, with the Freemason Margulies, came to Nice to visit the leader of the militant bandit organization of the Socialist Revolutionaries Gotsu. According to police agent Azef, “this representative, hiding under the name Afanasyev, arrived with a proposal that the Socialist Revolutionary Party provide moral assistance to the circle (15...18 people) of large intelligentsia formed in St. Petersburg in terrorist enterprises directed against His Majesty and certain individuals... Circle consists of writers, lawyers and other persons of intelligent professions (this is the so-called left wing Liberals from Liberation). The circle has money, Afanasyev said - 20,000 rubles, and people to perform. Afanasyev only asked that S.R. provided moral assistance, i.e. preached these acts."

Masonic organizations provided all possible support to representatives of revolutionary gangs who fell into the hands of justice. Freemasons provide free legal assistance to Socialist Revolutionary and Bolshevik terrorists. Mason P.N. Malyantovich, for example, defended the Bolsheviks V. Vorovsky and P. Zalomov, the freemason M.L. Mandelstam - political bandit Socialist-Revolutionary I. Kalyaev and Bolshevik N. Bauman, freemason N.K. Muravyov - (later) a whole series of Bolsheviks guilty of state crimes and conspiracy against the Tsar.

Around the secret Masonic lodges there were a number of illegal organizations operating under the control of the Masons. Often these were spiritualist and theosophical organizations.

In 1906, there was a circle of “Spiritualists-Dogmatists”. The magazines “Spiritualist” and “Voice of Universal Love” were published, as well as the daily newspaper “From There”. The publisher of these magazines was honorary citizen Vladimir Bykov, who, according to the police, held the degree of master of the chair of one of the Masonic lodges, maintaining relations with the “correct” Masonic organizations of St. Petersburg and Chernigov. He also headed the circle of “Dogmatic Spiritualists” in Moscow, choosing from among its members the “most worthy” for initiation into Freemasonry. As the police established, this Bykov was a big swindler, selling various magical devices for various ailments among some mystically minded Moscow merchants, and also, for a fee of 300 rubles, initiating everyone into the rituals of the “Rosicrucian Order.”

Pyotr Aleksandrovich Chistyakov, publisher of the magazine “Russian Frank-Mason”, was a match for him. According to the police (November 1908), he held the rank of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge “Astrea” (existing in Moscow almost since 1827), the secretary of the lodge was Tira Sokolovskaya. The lodge was located in Moscow.

In January 1906, the Masons studied public opinion towards their organization. Otherwise, it is difficult to evaluate the open advertisement published in some Moscow newspapers, which offered to join the resurgent society of Freemasons. The invitation stated that society arises by virtue of the rights granted to the Russian population The Manifesto of October 17 to the extent that it existed in the 18th century. “All honest and moral” people, regardless of religion, were invited to join the society. Responses about consent to become members of the society were to be sent to the 17th post office to the bearer of the stamp “V.M.” When such announcements are received from 500 people wishing to join the society, a general meeting will be announced. This announcement was immediately taken under control by the police. Despite the wide publication, there were very few Russian people willing to join the Freemasons.

However, speaking about the Freemasons, one cannot fail to mention a group of people from among the intelligentsia who were not formally members of lodges, but who supported Masonic ideology in everything and took part in the political events of the “free masons.”

As N. Berberova, who was initiated into many Masonic secrets, admits, in addition to the Masons themselves, in the political world of Russia there was a significant layer of people “who were not initiated into the secrets, but knew about the secrets, were silent about them, creating a kind of invisible, but tangible protection of trust and friendship. A kind of sympathetic “rearguard”.

Berberova gives a list of sympathizers:

Heyden P.A., 1840 - 1907, count, leader of the nobility, chairman of the Free Economic Society. Together with Shipov and Guchkov, the founder of the Octobrist party;

Dmitryukov I.I., 1872-?, member of the State Duma, Octobrist, comrade of the Minister of Agriculture;

Ignatiev P.N., 1870 - 1926, count, minister of public education;

Krivoshein A.V., 1857 - 1920, Minister of Agriculture, initiator of the “progressive bloc”;

Krupensky P.N., 1863 - 192?, Octobrist, member of the State Duma, chairman of the center of the IV Duma;

Pokrovsky N.N., Minister of Foreign Affairs, Comrade Chairman of the Military-Industrial Committee;

Sablin E.V., adviser to the Russian embassy in England, personal friend of one of the most senior masons, Margulies;

Savich N.N., Octobrist, member of the State Duma, active worker in military-industrial committees;

Shipov D.N., member of the State Council, at one time chairman of the Octobrist party. At his apartment in St. Petersburg on October 29-30, 1905, the provisions on elections to the State Duma were discussed (of the 14 invitees, at least half were Freemasons). A close friend of the famous masons Muromtsev, G.E. Lvova, Golovin, Guchkova;

Shcherbatov N., Prince, Minister of Foreign Affairs, at private meetings with Polivanov and Krivoshein, discussed measures to combat the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Goremykin, i.e. intrigued against the Tsar.

Studying the international connections of the Russian liberal Masonic underground, one can speak with complete confidence about the initiation and support of many Russian anti-government forces from international, and above all French, Freemasonry.

International Freemasonry unconditionally recognized the bloody revolutionary devilry and the personal participation of Freemasons in the war against the Russian government. Appeals from foreign Masonic lodges to their brethren in Russia expressed protests against the right of the Russian state to defend itself from the actions of subversive anti-Russian forces. So, for example, at a meeting of the Milan lodge “Reason” regarding the events in Russia in 1905, the following resolution was made:

“The Lodge “Reason,” sending fraternal greetings to the new Russian Masonic family, which is courageously beginning its existence at a sad moment for the country and in the midst of an increasingly fierce reaction, expresses the wish that a new Masonic force, emerging from the people and standing for the people, will soon received the opportunity to hoist her green banner over the liberated fatherland and nobly repay the countless victims of the theocratic reaction.”

Other Masonic lodges also send similar appeals, expressing their readiness to help Russian Masons in the fight against the legitimate government, for the overthrow of the existing political system.

French Freemasons called the Russian government “the shame of the civilized world” and incited Russian citizens to rebel against it. The revolutionary devilry of 1905 was for the Freemasons a struggle for “progress and enlightenment.” When in 1906 the Tsar dissolved the State Duma, whose members flagrantly violated the laws of Russia, the French Freemason Barot-Formier (Lodge “Work and Improvement”) supported the enemies of the Tsar, calling them martyrs and heroes of Russian independent thought.

At the reception of the deputy of the First State Duma Kedrin by the Grand Orient of France on September 7, 1906, the Great Orator of this lodge stated: “We are charged with the duty not only to encourage the Russians who suffer from oppressive tyranny, but also to provide them with the means to defeat despotism...”. And they delivered! On May 7, 1907, Freemason Leitner gave a report in the Justice Lodge about his visit to the Committee for Assistance to Russian Revolutionaries. The Russian intelligence report rightly notes that “The Great East is helping the Russian revolutionary movement in one way or another.”

“The radical majority of the Grand Orient,” the report says, “is now being replaced by a socialist majority, and that at some socialist congresses (for example, 1906) the demand was made that all socialist Masons, in all matters discussed in the lodges, have, first of all, In view of the highest interests of international socialism, then in the near future we can expect from the Grand Orient of France the broadest assistance in the anti-government plans of Russian revolutionary elements. As for the present time, there are many signs that the Great East has already taken this path, keeping all its decisions and actions in the strictest confidence.”

How much great value French Freemasons attached great importance to maintaining the secrecy of their anti-Russian activities, as evidenced by the fact that all correspondence relating to Russia and Russian Freemasons was personally kept by the Chief Secretary of the Grand Orient, Narcissus Amédée Wadekar.

I try to use the initiatives of general disarmament and peaceful coexistence of states put forward by Nicholas II and world Freemasonry for my own purposes.

Russian Foreign Minister Lamzdorf in a letter to Internal Affairs Minister P.N. Durnovo dated December 14, 1905 notes:

“I could not help but draw attention to the growing influence of Freemasonry in the West, which, by the way, clearly seeks to distort the main idea underlying the first Peace Conference and give the peace movement the character of propaganda of internationalism.

The research undertaken in these types, although not yet completed and very difficult due to the deep mystery covering the actions of the central Masonic organization, allows us, however, to now come to the conclusion that Freemasonry is actively striving to overthrow the existing political and social system of European states, to eradicate the principles in them nationality and the Christian religion, as well as the destruction of national armies."

Lamzdorf asks Durnovo to collect detailed information about the Masonic movement in Russia using the Ministry of Internal Affairs. However, in response he receives an evasive reply, indirectly confirming persistent rumors about Durnovo’s patronage of the Masonic organization. Instead of exploring the issue, Durnovo replies that “the study of the actions of the Masonic organization and the alleged spread of Masonic teaching in the Empire is associated under the present circumstances with significant difficulties that do not allow us to expect successful results from the measures that can be taken in this direction.” Durnovo, of course, was disingenuous, because by that time the Russian police already had certain material about the subversive activities of Masonic lodges.

If Durnovo himself was not associated with the Freemasons, then, by giving such an evasive answer, he may have been following the instructions of Witte, who did not want to speak out against Freemasonry. An experienced politician, who was also friends with many people whose affiliation with Freemasonry is beyond doubt, Witte understood perfectly well where the forces of the anti-government opposition were coordinated and regulated.

The myth continues to be maintained to this day that liberal-Masonic circles, and above all the Cadets who grew out of the underground Masonic “Union of Liberation,” after the Manifesto of October 17, stopped opposing the Tsar and began to cooperate with him. This myth was created by the Bolsheviks, who sought to downplay the role of the Cadets in the destruction of Tsarist power and exaggerate their own. Historical facts irrefutably indicate something completely different.

The Tsar at that time did not have a more consistent and organized enemy than the Cadet, or rather the liberal-Masonic opposition. It was in liberal circles that the idea of ​​the physical destruction of the Tsar was then hatched. Personal friend of one of the founders of Russian Freemasonry and the Liberation Union M.M. Kovalevsky Prince D.O. Bebutov, in whose mansion the Cadet Club met, in his memoirs tells how he transferred 12 thousand rubles to the leaders of the Socialist Revolutionary Party for the murder of Nicholas II.

Another attempt on the life of the Tsar with the participation of the Freemasons was prepared by the Social Revolutionaries in 1906. Plans were being developed that included the acquisition of a submarine to attack Nicholas II during his summer vacation. At the same time, Mason N.V. To organize this assassination attempt, Tchaikovsky handed over a drawing of a special plane from which they were going to carry out the murder. In 1907, the Socialist Revolutionary Party conducted experiments in the field of aircraft construction in Munich. However, the subsequent exposure of E. Azef, who was responsible for this case, destroyed the plans of the Socialist Revolutionary and Masonic conspirators.

The liberal-Masonic underground approved and secretly supported revolutionary terror. When preparing an armed uprising in Moscow, the authorities seized documents from which it was irrefutably concluded that there was a criminal connection between revolutionaries and liberals and that the latter provided financial support for the unrest in Russia.

After the appearance of the Manifesto on October 17, the liberal-Masonic underground, the legal representatives of which were the Cadet Party, the Bureau of Zemstvo Congresses and some others public organizations, felt like the master of the situation and raised the question of seizing power. Moreover, they were no longer satisfied with Witte’s proposal to occupy a number of important ministerial posts in the new government (except for finance, foreign affairs, military and naval). Such representatives of the “progressive public” as A.I. were invited to the new cabinet. Guchkov, M.A. Stakhovich, E.N. Trubetskoy, S.D. Urusov and D.N. Shipov.

The Bureau of Zemstvo Congresses, to which Witte addressed his proposal, responded to him through its delegation, which required the convening of a Constituent Assembly to develop a new constitution.

At the congress of “Russian zemstvo people”, held on November 6…13, 1905 in the house of the freemason Count Orlov-Davydov, the “zemstvo people” declared themselves a representative body and demanded that they be granted almost the rights of the Constituent Assembly.

The core and leadership of the congress consisted primarily of Masons. The chairman of the congress was the freemason I.I. Petrunkevich, his deputies - A.A. Savelyev, Freemason F.A. Golovin, N.N. Shchepkin, secretaries Mason N.I. Astrov, T.I. Polner and Mason V.A. Rosenberg.

All the leaders of the liberal-Masonic opposition were represented here - Prince Dolgorukov, Prince Golitsyn, Princes Trubetskoy, D.N. Shipov, F.A. Golovin, Count Heyden, S.A. Muromtsev, Stakhovichi, R.I. Rodichev, V.D. Kuzmin-Karavaev, Prince G.E. Lvov, P. Milyukov. As one of the participants in the liberal Masonic underground later admitted, these people did not want to humiliate themselves by working together with the tsarist government, but agreed to only be the masters of Russia.

“If constitutional democrats and liberals had come to my aid then,” Witte told Bernstein, a correspondent for the New York Jewish newspaper Den, “we would now have a real constitutional system in Russia. If only the leaders of the Cadet Party - Professor Pavel Milyukov, Gessen and others - had supported me, we would now have a completely different Russia. Unfortunately, they were so carried away by their enthusiasm that they reasoned childishly. They then did not want the kind of government that now exists in France, but wanted in one leap to establish in Russia a French republic of the distant future.”

Of course, it was not a matter of the “childish” reasoning of the cadets, they simply did not believe in the Russian people, they considered them a faceless extra who obediently goes in the direction where the behind-the-scenes director tells him to go.

The liberal-Masonic underground believed in the effectiveness of the armed uprising and anti-Russian terror that was being launched throughout Russia. And finally, the underground believed in the support of international Freemasonry, which, as we have seen, was quite real.

From the standpoint of today's historical knowledge, an irrefutable conclusion can be made that if the liberal-Masonic underground wanted to stop the bloodshed at the end of 1905, it could have done so. But it did not want this and, moreover, deliberately provoked a protracted state crisis, hoping to overthrow the Tsar and seize power.

The secret history of Freemasonry...

Early ethnic history of the Oryol region.

Report: Kaluga Archaeological
conference "Upper Poochie".
Krasnitsky L.N.

The initial stages of the ethnic history of any region are always hidden by the “dust of centuries” and depend on many factors - geographical and historical.

This is also typical for the Oryol region in modern borders, which currently looks like practically a single ethnic monolith in the center of European Russia. The early past of the Oryol region, being in general a page of the ancient history of the Verkhneoksky region, is directly connected with the past of the “Oryol square” (the author’s term) of four rivers surrounding the region from all directions of the world: the Desna, the Ugra, the Upper Don and the Seim.

The Oryol region, like the surrounding regions, was developed by man modern look in the Late Paleolithic era 40-35 thousand. years ago. Traces of his predecessors, the Neanderthals of the Mousterian era, were identified on the Desna near Bryansk and dated 70-60 thousand years ago[ Paleolithic SSSS 1984, p.108, Bryansk region 1993, p.36, Oryol region 1992, p.27, NPC Archive] .

In the Middle Stone Age (8-5 thousand years ago), the Oryol region was part of the distribution area of ​​the Mesolithic Volga-Oka interfluve, and in 4-3 thousand BC. the region was inhabited by Neolithic tribes of hunters and fishermen, close to the population of the Desna, Middle Oka and Upper Don[ Mesolithic USSR 1989, p.68, Smirnov 1991, p.70, Oryol region 1992, p.54, NPC Archive] .

The first written sources reporting on the population of the Oryol region do not fall below the border of the 9th-10th centuries. and extremely fragmented. The main information about the early stages of the history of the region is provided by archaeological monuments, which are not accidentally called the genetic code of the nation. The card index of the Oryol Research and Production Center for the Protection and Use of Historical and Cultural Monuments (hereinafter referred to as SPC) contains information about 400 more or less studied and dated archaeological sites in the region, which allows us to some extent reconstruct the historical picture of the past of our region in the period from 2 thousand BC to the XIII century.

The natural and climatic conditions of the Oryol region, close to modern ones, developed about 4 thousand years ago. The Oryol region is located along the Central Russian Upland of the Russian Plain on the border of the forest belt and forest-steppe, separating the forest from the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region. The conventional boundary of the forest-steppe in the region is considered to be the flow of the Oka and Zushi[ Nature of the Oryol region 1983, p.40,94]

The southeast of the region is the Bystraya Sosna river, as well as the Upper Don and Seim rivers are included in the forest-steppe zone. The left bank of the Oka together with the rivers of the Upper Desna and Ugra belong to the forest belt

The boundary between forest and forest-steppe often shifted depending on periods of drying and wetting of the climate. So 3 thousand years ago the forest-steppe moved north beyond the Oka, and the southeast of the region was completely covered with steppe. About a thousand years ago, during a period of moisture, broad-leaved forests (now almost cut down) reached the Pine River, leaving “tongues of steppes” in the central part of the region. Natural monuments of the movement of the border between forest and forest-steppe remain the relict steppe ravine "Neprets" near Orel and "Oryol Polesie" in the north-west of the region along the Vytebet River - the outskirts of the famous "Debryansky forests" of Russian chronicles[ Nature of the Oryol region 1983, p.8, Physical map of the Oryol region 1988] .

Its dense hydraulic system played a major role in the past of the region. The Oka, Sosna and Desna tributaries, which take their sources in the Oryol region, connect the region both with the central regions and with the most important river arteries of the Russa Plain - the Volga, Don and Dnieper.In ancient times, rivers were roads for the settlement of tribes and peoples, in historical times they were trade and military routes, and they were always places of residence for the bulk of the population of the region. Watersheds, sparsely populated before the 13th-14th centuries, were usually contact zones for the spread of archaeological cultures, tribes, fiefs, volosts and principalities.

From the middle of the 3rd millennium BC, when natural conditions became close to modern ones, the forest belt was being developed by alien tribes of a large historical community: “cultures of battle axes and corded ceramics”, which brought pastoral cattle breeding, the beginnings of agriculture and bronze foundry to the environment of Neolithic hunters and fishermen. Moving along river valleys, the Corded Ware tribes spread along the forest belt from the Baltic Sea to the Middle Volga, often descending south into the forest-steppe. Most researchers consider them to be the first Indo-Europeans of the forest belt of Europe, who had not yet divided into Germans and Baltoslavs[ Tretyakov 1966, p.63, Bronze Age of the forest belt of the USSR 1987, p.35] .

The Desna basin with the Seim and Ugra is occupied by related tribes of the Middle Dnieper and Fatyanovo cultures. In the 2nd half. 2 thousand BC These cultures in the Desna basin are replaced by the Sosnitsa culture that developed on the basis of the Middle Dnieper, the tribes of which assimilated the remains of the tribes of the “survival Neolithic” of the region[ Bronze Age of the forest belt of the USSR 1987, p. 106] . Along the tributaries of the Desna, the Middle Dnieper-Sosnitsa tribes penetrated into the forested left bank of the Oka. Their individual monuments were opened in the Kromsky and Shablykinsky districts[ Oryol region 1992, pp. 46, 47, 75, 76] .

The main part of the famous Bronze Age monuments was discovered along the Sosna River in the forest-steppe southeast of the region. In the 2nd half. 2 thousand BC in the steppes of the Northern Black Sea region, successive catacomb and timber-frame cultures of steppe cattle breeders and farmers took shape, and the forest-steppe from the sources of the Seim to the Urals in the 2nd half. 2 thousand BC occupied by tribes of the Abashevo culture, who later advanced into the forested Middle Volga region[ Bronze Age of the forest belt of the USSR 1987, p. 124] . Settlements and burial mounds of these cultures were examined on the Kshen River (the right tributary of the Sosna) near the village of Rogatik, Dolzhansky district, on the Livenka River north of the city of Livny in the Klyuchevka tract and along the entire length of the Oryol current of the Sosna[ Krasnoshchekova 1995, p.10, Oryol region 1992 p.43,49,52] .

The issue of the ethnicity of the above-mentioned cultures of steppe pastoralists and farmers is controversial. If the timber-frame culture is considered the main substance of the historically known Scythians of the 1st millennium BC, then in relation to the Abashevites, previously attributed to the ancestors of the Finno-Ugric peoples of the Volga region, they are currently speaking cautiously; the definition of their ethnic group as Indo-Iranian is more often heard[ Bronze Age of the forest belt of the USSR 1987, p. 131] . Thus, based on archaeological data, it can be assumed that within the Orovskaya region along the forest-steppe southeast and the forested left bank of the Oka in the 2nd half of 2 thousand BC. e. There lived two population groups that had significant differences both in the forms of making tools and ceramics, and in the basics of the economy. It is probably possible to talk about the ethnic difference between these groups, since their descendants, the Scythians and Balts, spoke in the 1st millennium BC. e. in different languages.

The vast majority of the known archaeological sites of the Oryol region belong to the Iron Age, the total temporal extent of which can be divided into the following archaeological periods:

Already in RZHV, in addition to unfortified settlements - settlements, fortified settlements - fortifications are being built, some of which later became historical cities(Mtsensk, Kromy, Novosil, etc.). From the turn of the century e. Until the final victory of Christianity, the burial rite with cremation and later inhumation of the deceased prevailed.

In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. In the region of the “Oryol square” the following archaeological picture emerges.In the forest belt from the Baltic Sea to the Upper Oka, on the basis of the descendants of the Corded Ware tribes, a number of related cultures of the ancient Balts were formed, from which the Germans had already separated, but the Slavs had not yet separated. The Desna was occupied by the Balts of the Yukhnovsky culture, the main current of the Ugra was the tribes of the Smolensk group of Balts of the Dnieper-Dvina culture [Sedov 1970, p.25, Schmidt 1992, p.10].

The lower reaches of the Ugra, Middle Oka and Upper Don were part of the region inhabited by the tribes of the ancient Finno-Ugrians of the Dyakovo and Gorodets cultures. Monuments of Gorodets culture are known in the Tula right bank of the Oka along the Upa river and along the Lipetsk current of the Sosna to the mouth of the river. Vorgol [Tretyakov 1966, p.145, Elets and its environs 1991, p.9, 95].

According to the Sejm from the middle. 1 thousand BC e. tribes of the forest-steppe Seima culture of the RZhV era lived (the old name of the culture was “Late Scythian ash pit”). Their settlements are known from wooden structures shafts Finds from the cultural layer of the settlements characterize the agricultural and pastoral life of the population and developed crafts[Steppes of the European part of the USSR in the Scythian-Sarmatian time, 1989, pp. 74, 75].

The question of the ethnicity of the forest-steppe population of European Russia between the Dnieper and Volga rivers is the most difficult problem of the RZhV era, although from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. written sources appear. One of them is the work of the ancient Greek “father of history” Herodotus (mid-5th century BC), whose fourth book is devoted to a description of Scythia and its neighbors [Heradotus 1972, book. IY]. Having given a description of the nomadic and sedentary Scythians, incl. steppe “royal”, Herodotus lists the non-Scythian peoples who lived north of the “royal” in the forest-steppe and along the southern edge of the forest belt. The historian notes that among the inhabitants of the forest-steppe there were Scythian renegades who went north from the main Scythian steppe core, and Iranian-speaking Sauromatians (Sarmatians) related to the Scythians, who spoke “a spoiled Scythian language,” and Gelons - immigrants from the Greek cities of the Northern Black Sea region, who spoke in Greek and Scythian languages. Among the non-Scythian peoples mentioned by Herodotus, there is no debate about the Androphagi and the Neuroi, the Tissagetians and the Irks - they are associated with the Balts of the forest belt and the Finno-Ugrians of the Dyakovo and Gorodets cultures, based on their clearly non-Scythian way of life. Regarding others, Herodotus emphasizes that many of them had Scythian clothing, customs and lifestyle. Most of all there is disagreement on the archaeological connection of the Herodotus Melanchlens ("black-cloaked") and Budins, whose name includes the forest-steppe population of the Seim among the contenders [Steppes of the European part of the USSR in the Scythian-Sarmatian time 1989, p. 42,43,75,76, Medvedev 1990, p. 183, Yelets and its surroundings 1991, p. 95, 96].

The question of the language of the forest-steppe population of the Seimas remains debatable and, speaking about the “veil of Scythian culture,” some researchers classify the culture of the Seimas as Scythian. However, one of the largest Scythologists of the USSR B.N. Grakov believed that the Iranian-speaking, Scythian environment itself, which was based on the timber-frame culture of the Bronze Age, defeated local languages ​​in the vast expanse of the steppe Northern Black Sea region and the adjacent forest-steppe [Grakov 1977, pp. 152,217]

Since the RZhV era in the Oryol region, the ancient past of the southeast of the region and the interfluve of the Oka, Zushi and Sosna is quite unclear. If the interfluve, crossed from the southwest to the northeast by the flow of the Neruchi River, is the most poorly archaeologically explored part of the region, then along the Sosna river there have been neither studies of past years, nor continuous exploration of the 90s by S.D. Krasnoshchekova. practically no monuments of the mid-1st millennium BC have been identified. e. except for a few single ones [Krasnoshchekova 1989/96, NPC Archive].

For the XII - XYI centuries. This is historically understandable:Behind Sosna began the Polovtsian field, which received the name “Wild” after the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars. In the XIY - XYI centuries. south of the modern city of Livny, four famous land “roads” converged - Bakaev, Muravsky, Izyumsky and Kalmiusky, which, together with the “Nogai Mountain”, were not only trade roads, but also favorite routes for campaigns and raids of the nomadic population of the southern Russian steppes [Soviet historical encyclopedia 1964, v.5, p.627, Kargalov 1998, p.323].

Near the mouth of the Livenka River into Sosna, the roads split into two again. One way to the north - the Muravskaya Road - went to Tula - Moscow. The second route to the northwest along the “language” of the steppes reached the Oka in the interfluve of Rybnitsa and Optukha and beyond the Oka diverged in different directions to Kromy, Karachev-Bryansk and Bolkhov-Belev-Kaluga. It is no coincidence that in the XYI century. On the northwestern road, fortified cities were founded: Bolkhov (1556), Orel (1566), Livny (1586) and the fortifications of the chronicle Krom were restored.

It seems that the archaeological " white spot"in the southeast of the Oryol region is due to the fact that the region of connection of the shlyakhs even BC was both a trade and military "gateway" of roads from the Northern Black Sea region to the forest areas of the future Central Russia, which caused its low population during the turbulent times of the 2nd half. 1 thousand BC e. in the XY - XYI centuries, which swept across the steppe and forest-steppe in a wave of countless wars. Scythians in the last centuries 1 thousand BC. supplanted by the Sarmatians, who were already under the name Alans at the beginning of our era. the Goths of the Chernyakhov culture are pushing out from the west, and from the 4th century - the Huns who came from the east. After the Huns, Turks appeared in the southern Russian steppes - Avars, Bulgarians, Khazars, who founded at the end of the 2nd century. Khazar Kaganate [Pletneva 1986, p.13].

From the end of the 1st millennium BC. e. Before the establishment of the power of the Golden Horde Tatars, there was a constant change of owners of the steppe - Khazars, Ugrians (Magyars), Pechenegs, Torks, Polovtsians. During the wars, part of the steppe population went into the forest-steppe and settled at the borders of the forest belt, entering the ancient Russian chronicles under the names of Black Klobuks, Berendeys, Kovuys and other “their filthy ones” [Steppes of Eurasia in the Middle Ages 1981, p. 213, Pletneva 1990, p.70].

The left bank of the Oka and the right bank of the Zushi have been archaeologically studied much better in the Oryol region. Until 1950, the settlements of the RZhV era along the Upper Oka were classified as monuments of the ancient Finno-Ugrians, who occupied the 2nd half. 1 thousand up to. n. e. Middle Oka and Upper Don. However, research in the 50s by Nikolskaya T.N. It has been established that the population of the Upper Oka from the mouth of the Orlik river to the mouth of the Ugra from the 2nd half. 1 thousand BC e. to the 12th century AD e. belonged to the easternmost group of Balts of the forest belt, whose culture was called Verkhneokskaya. Along the watershed of the Oka and Desna, the Upper Oka Balts bordered on the Yukhnovsky, and on the watershed of the Oka and Ugra - on the Dnieper-Dvina Balts. The watershed of the Oka and Upper Don separated the Upper Oka tribes from the tribes of the Gorodets culture. All researchers emphasize the closeness of the Upper Oka Balts with the Yukhnovsky and the close connections of the population of the Desna - Upper Oka with the Scythian world of the forest-steppe [Nikolskaya 1959, p. 80, Tretyakov 1966, p. 173-174, Sedov 1970, p.32, Steppes of the European part of the USSR in the Scythian-Sarmatian time 1989, p.75].

If the Yukhnovsky Balts bordered on the forest-steppe Scythians in the 4th century. BC e. along the right bank of the Seim, then the contact zone of the Upper Oka tribes with the forest-steppe tribes was assumed to be along the course of the Sosna.

But while examining the monuments of the Balts of the Oryol current of the Oka, Nikolskaya discovers two settlements of the mid-1st millennium BC. e. near the village of Luzhki, Kromsky district, and near the village of Vorotyntsevo, Novosilsky district, which, based on characteristic finds and ceramics, she attributed to the Seima culture. Later, settlements with similar ceramics were identified along the Oka River from the upper reaches near the village. Tagino Glazunovsky district to the mouths of Zushi and Nugri [Nikolskaya 1969, p.17, Frolov 1982, Archive of the Institute of Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences No. 10655, Krasnitsky 1987, Archive of the Institute of Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences No. 12020].

Thus, it can be argued that in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. tribes of forest-steppe Scythians occupied the entire Oryol right bank of the Oka. With Yv. BC e. The Balts begin moving south. However, if the Yukhnovsky tribes displace the forest-steppe Scythians from the right bank of the Seim, then the Upper Oka tribes, having occupied the course of the Zushi, did not advance along the Oka above the mouth of Orlik - forest-steppe settlements near the village of Luzhki and the village. Tagino functioned until the 1st century. BC e. [Frolov 1985, p.29, Steppes of the European part of the USSR in the Scythian-Sarmatian time 1989, p. 75, NPC Archive: passports of the settlements of Luzhki, Vorotyntsevo, Tagino].

At the turn of our century in the forest belt there are noticeable changes associated with the advance of tribes of the late Zarubinets (Pochep) culture from the Middle Dnieper. Displacing and assimilating the Yukhnov population of the Desna, the aliens, following the departing Yukhnovites, penetrate the Upper Oka. Some researchers consider them Proto-Slavs, others - Balts [Tretyakov 1966, p.234, Sedov 1970, p.44].

But if on the Desna the newcomers replaced the Yukhnovsky population, then along the Oka they dissolved in the Upper Oka environment, entering the Moshchin culture of the late eastern Balts of the Upper Oka in the 19th - 20th centuries, which preceded the chronicle Vyatichi [Sedov 1982, p.43].

The Moshchinsky tribes occupied the upper reaches of the Oka in the Oryol region, but did not advance to the southeast beyond the line of the Neruch River - Upper Zusha. Down the Oka River the Moshchintsy advanced to its middle reaches, where the descendants of the Gorodets tribes, driven out from the Upper Don by the Alan-Bulgarians, went [Medvedev 1990, p. 181].

In the second half of 1 thousand BC. e. The Eastern Slavs are moving from the Dnieper to the north and northeast, developing the forest belt and forest-steppe.

By YIII century. The Seym and Desna are occupied by northerners who advanced to the south and left their tribal name in the hydronym "Seversky Donets". To the east of the Desna, the northerners advanced to the watershed of the Desna and Oka (the western border of the Oryol region). The remnants of the Alan-Bulgarian population of Poseymya joined the environment of the northerners, which is confirmed both archaeologically by the monuments of the Volyntsev culture in the region of the Severyanskaya proper - Romenskaya, and by the tribal, clearly not Slavic name (in chronicles often “north”), in which they see the Iranian ethnonym “black” ", which makes us remember the Herodotus melanchlens [Sedov 1982, p. 138].

Upper Oka in the 9th century. occupied by the Vyatichi who came with their Rodimichs via PVL “from the Poles” - i.e. from the lands west of Kyiv [PSVL 1997, vol. 1, stb. 12].

The Desna northerners divided the Vyatichi and Radimichi, but the upper reaches of the Desna and Ugra are occupied by a mixed Slavic population of Radimichi, northerners, Vyatichi and Smolensk Krivyachi [Sedov 1982, p. 161].

Mapping the monuments of the Vyatichi YIII - X centuries. shows that their tribes in the southeast of the Oryol region did not cross the Moschinsky border of Neruch - Upper Zusha[Sedov 1982, p.161].

The Balts of the Upper Oka were very quickly assimilated by the Slavs, although individual “islands” of the Moshchinsky population are mentioned in chronicles under the name “Golyad” in the middle of the 12th century. on the Protva (tributary of the Oka) [Sedov 1982, p.161].

Upper Don in the 9th - 10th centuries. occupied by the Slavic population of the Borshchev culture. The Don Slavs were previously considered either northerners or Vyatichi, based on the proximity of cultures: Romeno-Borshchevskaya Vyatichi and Borshchevskaya Don Slavs. Recently, the opinion has become established that the Don Slavs are a separate territorial grouping of Slavs, close to both the northerners and the Vyatichi. By the end of the 10th century. under the pressure of the Pechenegs, the bulk of the Don Slavs retreated to the Upper and Middle Oka (the future Ryazan land). When the PVL was compiled (late 11th - early 12th centuries), there was no longer a large group, so their tribal name did not appear on the pages of the chronicles.

Along Sosna, the settlements of the Don Slavs reached the mouth of the Vorgol River near Yelets [Sedov 1982, p.161].

In the middle of the 9th century. the northerners, Vyatichi and undoubtedly the Don Slavs became dependent on the Khazar Kaganate. PVL under 859 reports that the Khazars “...from the northerners and Vyatichi they took a shelyag (silver coin) and a squirrel from the smoke” [PSVL 1997, vol. 1, stb. 19].

If the northerners, a year after Oleg’s capture of Kyiv (882), became part of Kievan Rus, then the Vyatichi tribes paid tribute to the Khazars “... per shell from the rala” (from the plow) until the mid-60s. X century, which did not prevent them from participating in the campaigns of the same Oleg and Igor against Constantinople. Such a long preservation of political dependence was most likely caused by the benefits of trade with the East along the Volga and Byzantium along the Don, controlled by the Khazar Kaganate. Since trade Eastern Europe in YIII - X centuries. was carried out mainly along rivers, then it was beneficial for the Vyatichi of the Upper Oka to maintain independence while being relatively dependent on the weakened Khazar Kaganate. Moreover, at the turn of the 9th - 10th centuries. On the Volga, another state was formed - Volga Bulgaria, with which the Vyatichi had a direct connection along the Oka, and along the outskirts of their lands (along the Upper Don) there was a land route from Kyiv to Volga Bulgaria.

Probably in the very advantageous position The Vyatichi turned out to be along the Oryol current of the Oka, connected by river routes with the Volga, Don and Dnieper, and by land routes with the Northern Black Sea region. Another feature of the Oryol region's hydraulic network probably played a big role in this period. Currently, the Oka begins near the village of Aleksandrovka, Glazunovsky district, near the border Kursk region. But according to Kursk local historians, in ancient times the Oka began to the south - from the Samodurovsky lake-swamp. Here is its description for 1929: “... a depression up to 530 m wide, which is a continuous peat bog that does not dry out in the summer.... This depression not so long ago (39-40 years ago) was an impassable swamp (more like a lake), the width of which in some places reached 2 km and the depth from 10 to 21 meters. From this huge swamp, almost drained at present, originate: Svapa, Snova (tributaries of the Seim), the Ochka River (upper Oka) [Chrestomathy 1994, p. 114-115].

Those. there was a direct route, without heavy portages, from the Dnieper to the Volga and along the system: Desna-Seim-Svapa/Snova-Oka. It should be added that 2-4 km from Samodurovka, the tributaries Sosny and Neruch, which flow into Zusha, originate. Thus, in the south of the Oryol region there was an important, at least during the spring flood, river junction connecting the Dnieper, Volga and Don. The use of this river system in trade is confirmed by the finds of treasures of silver Arab dirhams (the most common monetary unit of the 9th - 10th centuries) along the banks of the rivers of the Seima and Oka basin, and the finds of Roman coins of the 1st - 3rd centuries. in the Kursk region they talk about its use back in the 1st half. 1 thousand n. e. [Chrestomathy 1994, pp. 111-113].

Perhaps along the Samodurovsky path in 964-966. famous Kyiv prince Svyatoslav Igorevich broke into the Volga region and dealt a mortal blow to the Khazar Kaganate, conquering the Vyatichi at the same time, and 15 years later his son Vladimir the Baptist twice went to pacify the “infested” inhabitants of the dense forests [PSVL 1997, vol. 1, stb.64,65,81, 82].

Almost uninhabited southeast of the Oryol region until the end of the 10th century. remained, probably, a contact zone of both the Slavs: Don, Vyatichi and Northerners, and the forest-steppe Alan-Bulgarian population of the 10th century.

After the collapse of the Kyiv state, the lands of the Vyatichi along the Oryol current of the Oka became part of the Chernigov principality, its Novgorod-Seversky inheritance, the volost "Forest Land" [Zaitsev 1973, p. 98, Nikolskaya 1981, p. 10]. The Chernigov princes are advancing outposts to Sosny, as evidenced by the construction in the 11th - 12th centuries. settlements Klyuchevka on the Livenka River and Gorodetskoye on the Foshna River, however, researchers include the Sosna basin to Yelets in the Chernigov lands very tentatively [Zaitsev 1973, p. 8, Fig. 2].

The entry of the Upper Oka into Kievan Rus caused an increase in the number of settlements: centers of the princely administrative nobility who moved from the Kiev region with their “courts”. In addition, due to the pressure of nomads not only from the Upper Don, but also from the territory of the southern Russian principalities, part of the population goes to the “Forest Land” along the Oka. Thus, according to the research of Lipetsk local historians, the region of Yelets was populated along Sosna by people from Chernigov lands [Elets and its surroundings 1991, p. 30].

In connection with the events of the feudal wars of the 12th century. The first mentions of cities in the land of the future Oryol region appear in chronicles: Mtsensk (1146), Kromy, Spashchi, Domagosche (all - 1147), Novosil (1155). There were significantly more cities in the region, but some of them, after stubborn resistance, were so wiped off the face of the earth by Batu’s invasion that they did not even leave their names in written sources (urban settlements Vorotyntsevo, Slobodka, Ganyuchevo, etc.).

Chroniclers emphasize the desire of the Vyatichi for internal autonomy. Even Vladimir Monomakh in his “Teaching” proudly wrote that he was the first to pass “through the Vyatichi” in the 80s. XI century directly from Kyiv to Rostov and Murom - before that, in the interfluve of the Oka and Volga, the princely administration traveled through Smolensk [PSVL 1997, vol. 1, stb. 247].

Perhaps these events formed the basis of the epic “Ilya Muromets and Nightingale the Robber,” whose camp the Oryol legend connects with the village of Nine Oaks on the border of the Khotynetsky and Karachevsky districts. And in the feudal wars of the 12th century. The Vyatichi did not want to take part on anyone’s side.

The Oryol Vyatichi, probably due to the mentioned tendency to isolation, for a long time retained the old boundaries of their compact settlement to the southeast to the Neruch - Upper Zusha line. This can be traced by I.I. Borisova when mapping the ethnographic elements of the famous Oryol "list", the distribution of which coincides with the archaeological map of the Vyatichi of the 13th - 13th centuries. and does not affect the southeast of the region [Borisova 1999, p. 109].

We have not received information about the raids on the Oryol course of the Oka by either the Pechenegs, who depopulated the Upper Don, or the Polovtsians, although the latter, as allies, participated in feudal wars. XII century. and went to Karachev, Bryansk, Belev and Kozelsk. Perhaps no written sources have survived, but it is quite likely that this is connected with the population of the south-eastern outskirts of the Russian lands, known from the chronicles as “wild Polovtsians”: the remnants of Alano-Bulgarians, Pechenegs, Torks and small hordes of Polovtsians who were not included in the large Polovtsian steppe associations XI - XII centuries, who lived in the forest-steppe and did not settle, like the aforementioned “their filthy ones” on the Russian border.. It was they who were most often attracted by the princes as allies in civil strife. Enemying with the steppe people, the “wild Cumans” partly protected the southeast of Rus' from the raids of their steppe relatives. Chroniclers together with the “wild Polovtsians” from the 12th century. they mention along the right tributaries of the Don “brodniks” (proto-Cossacks) - a free Russian population who led an active lifestyle like their forest-steppe neighbors [Pletneva 1981, pp. 221, 257, Pletneva 1990, pp. 92,93]. Probably the wanderers also blocked the routes of raids of the steppe Polovtsians on the upper reaches of the Oka.

From the middle of the 13th century. beyond Pine began the lands of the Golden Horde nomads. The Tatars probably settled in the territory of the modern Oryol region. So the village of Borilovo, Bolkhov district, local historians at the end of the 19th century. called Tatar, which is confirmed by finds of Golden Horde coins at the Borilov settlement [Oryol region 1992, p. 25].

In the XIY - XY centuries. From the west to the Upper Oka, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania advanced - a Russian-Lithuanian state, which more than once conquered or controlled the fragmented "Verkhovsky principalities" of the appanage descendants of the Chernigov-Bryansk princes. After the Upper Oka joined Muscovite Rus' in the XYI - first half of the XYII centuries. there is a large influx of population from both central regions, and from Russian lands that remained part of the Polish-Lithuanian Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Russian settlements in the Oryol region reached and crossed Sosna. The advance of the state to the south turned the Oryol region into one of the central regions of Russia.

As a memory of the former Baltic-Iranian contact, the difference between the hydronyms of the left bank of the Oka River and the Sosna River remained. If hydronyms ending in - MA, CHA, SA, SHA (Kroma, Vodocha, Ressa, Zusha) are considered by linguists to be Baltic, but in the names of the right tributaries of the Sosna: Tim, Kshen, Olym - they see Iranian roots [Sedov 1979, p.41, Sedov 1970, p.9,11].

The 800-year-old borderland of Russian lands in the region played a big role in the formation of the “compatriot” self-awareness of the population of the upper Oka. Due to the intensive exchange of socially significant information among the formerly multi-ethnic population of the Oryol region, a synthesis of diverse traditions arises, a special structure of both material and spiritual values ​​is formed, incl. and language.

It is no coincidence, according to N.S. Leskov, "... Orel has raised as many Russian writers on its shallow waters as no other Russian city has brought them to the benefit of the Motherland."

Oryol region during Kievan Rus

The most ancient inhabitants of the Oplovsky region were the Vyatichi; The first cities, a stronghold against attacks by the Pechenegs and Polovtsians, appeared from the beginning of the 11th century. At the same time, Christianity began to penetrate here, which, however, spread no earlier than the 12th century, during the preaching of Saint Kuksha, one of the first enlighteners of the region. WITH beginning of XII until half of the 13th century. in the region there were the principalities of Vshchizhskoye, Yeletskoye, Trubchevskoye and Karachevskoye. Later, Oryol, located on the Oka River, became the center of an extensive grain market, supplying Moscow with grain and flour. Then the territory of the region became part of Chernigov Rus, and after its collapse it became part of the Verkhovsky principalities, then the Lithuanian state, and only in the 15th century. The territory of the region comes under the authority of Moscow.

Oryol region in the XIII-XVII centuries.

The Oryol region more than once became the site of battles with Tatar nomads; the dramatic events of the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century unfolded here. Oryol residents were service people on the turbulent borderland, which resisted Tatar raids and protected Moscow from a fierce enemy.
The city of Orel begins its history on September 8, 1566, when, by order of Ivan the Terrible, the construction of the Oryol fortress began on the southern border of the Moscow state, it immediately became the center of the large Oryol district. According to historians, the city received its name from the Orel River, on the banks of which it was built.
In 1611, Orel was devastated by the Poles, and four years later it was completely destroyed. And only in 1636 the Orel fortress was restored and repopulated. Throughout its existence, the city has been ruined more than once, burned to the ground and reborn again.
As a fortress city, Oryol existed until 1702; it gradually lost its military significance and, thanks to the fertile lands and the labor of the peasants who grew wheat and rye on it, the city earned the fame of a grain city. Soon Orel became the center of the grain market, which provided Moscow with grain and flour.
Since 1708, Orel was part of the Kyiv province; in 1719, the Oryol province was formed, in 1727 it was included in the Belgorod province.
The decree of Catherine II on the formation of the Oryol province followed in 1774. On September 5, 1778, a decree was issued on the formation of the Oryol vicegerency of 13 districts; in January 1779, the vicegerency was inaugurated.
Since 1781, the Oryol and Kursk governorships were ruled by one governor-general.
In 1796, the name Oryol province was restored. The district cities of the Oryol province were: Bolkhov, Bryansk, Deshkin, Yelets, Kromy, Karachev, Livny, Lugan, Maloarkhangelsk, Mtsensk, Orel, Sevsk, Trubchevsk. In 1782, Dmitrovsk became a district town.

Oryol region during the Civil War

In the fall of 1919, bloody battles between the troops of Denikin and the Red Army took place near Orel and Kromy.
After the revolution, the Oryol province underwent significant administrative and territorial changes: in 1920, in connection with the formation of the Bryansk province, Bryansk, Karachevsky, Sevsky and Trubchevsky districts were separated from the Oryol province, then in 1928 the territory of the Oryol province became part of the Oryol and Yeletsky districts the newly formed Central Black Earth Region. In 1934, Oryol and surrounding areas became part of the Kursk region. The Oryol region was formed by the Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR on September 27, 1937.

Oryol region during the years of the Great Patriotic War

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, years of severe trials began for the region, defensive battles continued on the northern and southern fronts of the Kursk ledge, and the Soviet command was already preparing an offensive codenamed “Kutuzov”. Troops of three fronts - Western, Bryansk and Central were supposed to strike from the north, east and south to Oryol.
The offensive began on July 12, 1943. Having broken through the Nazis' defenses and forced them to retreat, Soviet Army On August 5, she expelled them from Orel. The memory of this event is in the Pervomaisky Orel Square (now the Tankmen's Square) at the mass grave on August 7, 1943. T-70 tank installed.
In honor of the liberation of Orel, on August 5, 1943, the first fireworks display during the Great Patriotic War was given in Moscow.
Oryol region is the birthplace of 179 Heroes of the Soviet Union.

Oryol region in the post-war years

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, industrial enterprises and public utilities were restored in a short time, and in a short period the industrial potential of the city was increased many times over. Enterprises of new industries appeared in the city: steel rolling and watch factories, as well as instrument-making and electronics enterprises. A diversified industry has also developed in the cities of the region: mechanical engineering, electronics, and metallurgy. In 1966, the city of Orel celebrated its 400th anniversary; in honor of this holiday, a twenty-meter monument was erected, at the base of which a letter for the generation of 2066 was walled up. And in 1996, the city of Orel celebrated its 430th anniversary.
The wonderful Central Russian nature, wise peasant traditions and primordial folk culture became the fertile soil on which a whole galaxy of talents known not only in Russia, but throughout the world grew up. Oryol region is the birthplace of writers I.S. Turgenev, N.S. Leskov, L.N. Andreev, poets A.N. Apukhtin, A.A. Fet, philosophers S.N. Bulgakov, M.M. Bakhtin, historian T. N.Granovsky. The life and work of F.I. Tyutchev, I.A. Bunin, and M.M. Prishvin are connected with the Oryol region.
The main feature of the cultural environment of the Oryol region is the inextricable connection with its historical past, the glorious traditions of Russian culture and art, development, self-realization of the individual, and preservation of national identity.
In the Oryol region, in recent years, there has been a process of reviving the long-standing traditions of the zemstvo, the Cossacks (the Oryol Cossack Union was created in the region, and a Cossack district was created in the Novoderevenkovsky district).

Administrative division and population of the region. By decree of Catherine II of February 28, 1778, the Oryol province included 13 counties: Oryol, Karachevsky, Bryansky, Eletsky, Volkhovsky, Trubchevsky, Sevsky, Kromskoy, Mtsensky, L. Ivensky, Maloarkhangelsk, Lugansk and Deshkinsky. (Application AND)

A few months after the formation of the Oryol province, on September 5, 1778, a decree of Catherine II on the creation of the Oryol governorship was published. In addition to the Oryol province, it included Smolensk and Belgorod.

Thus, Orel became the center of both the province and the governorship and existed in this capacity until 1796 (Appendix Z.)

Population of the Oryol region in the 18th century. The bulk of the population of the Oryol region consisted of peasants. Its growth was slow and was carried out mainly due to the development of new lands, where peasants moved from the old estates of landowners located in more northern territories. Population growth due to the birth rate due to significant infant mortality and low life expectancy was small. According to the 4th revision in 1782, the taxable population of the Oryol province amounted to 482.5 thousand people, and according to the fifth revision in 1795 it slightly exceeded 500 thousand. In general, according to individual historians, on the territory of the province at the end of the 18th century . There were over 900 thousand inhabitants.

Oryol province from the second half of the 18th century. was distinguished by a high percentage of serfs. According to the 4th revision, there were 302,444 serfs, and according to the 5th - 313,090. Serfs made up 63% of the total mass of peasants in the province. Such a large number of serfs can be explained by the distribution of land to the noble aristocracy during the reign of Catherine II.

The percentage of the urban population of the Oryol province was not large, since the overwhelming majority of the population lived in rural areas, and 2/3 of it were serfs.

Thus, in the 18th century. The overwhelming majority of the population of the Oryol Territory, like other regions of Russia, was associated with agriculture.

Education V Oryol province. Education in the provinces was at a low level for a long time, although in the second half of the 18th century. In Russia, a public school system began to take shape. In the Oryol region, the main pedagogical centers continued to be monasteries. In August 1778, a theological seminary was established in the Oryol province (until 1817, it was located in county town Sevsk). Its opening took place on October 16, 1778

The Theological Seminary (bishop's school) was one of the few educational institutions in the province. It trained priests for the parishes of the Oryol diocese. She played a positive role in the development of education. Not all of its graduates became priests; some of them continued their studies in other secular educational institutions. Teachers for the public schools of the province were recruited from the students of the theological seminary.

Soon after the opening of the seminary, several theological schools were established. In particular, on September 15, 1779, the Oryol Theological School began its activities, which was located in the Assumption Monastery.

IN In 1780, there were 285 students at the Orel School from Orel, Mtsensk, Karachev and Krom. Here they taught Latin, Greek and French, sacred history, arithmetic, grammar, and catechism. Later a poetry class was opened, teaching

German language and philosophy.

By 1790 the number of students was already 382 people.

Music. In the second half of the 18th century. Professional music also began to develop - at this time the Oryol Music Chapel was created in Oryol. The nobles often organized concerts, musical performances and evenings, and were enthusiastically involved in playing music at home.

Architecture. Mid-18th century in the architecture of the Oryol region is characterized by the development of the Baroque style. Intensive construction of civil and religious buildings continued. However, there are few monuments of industrial and civil architecture of that time left.

The appearance of the serf theater. Performances by artists in booths, at holidays, and at fairs were a common occurrence in Russia. But professional theater appeared only under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, and gained real popularity after Peter’s reforms in the second half of the 18th century. Serf theaters became widespread. Troupes of serf actors were maintained by large landowners. Actors performed tragedies and comedies on specially arranged stages and took part in opera and ballet performances. The quantitative composition of the troupe depended on the wealth of the owner.

On July 17, 1787, on the occasion of Catherine II’s passage through Orel, the “noble troupe” gave a big performance at the residence of the Governor-General. In the presence of the Peratrice, the actors played the comedy of the French dramatist Charles Favard “Soliman II, or “The Three Sultanas”. This was the first theatrical performance recorded in the history of Orel.

Thus, the city of Orel in the second half of the 18th century developed rapidly in a cultural direction. Education, music, architecture - everything moved forward. Leaving behind indelible marks in the history of the Oryol region.

In the 9th century. the Vyatichi were dependent on the Khazar Khaganate, and later, as they strengthened Old Russian state in the X-XI centuries. are part of it (Chernigov Principality).
During the period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, the Oryol region was actively involved in the fight against enemies. Thus, in the battle of Kalka in 1223, detachments of the Chernigov and Trubchesky princes took part. In 1380, the battle on the Kulikovo field began in single combat with the Tatar Murza by the boyar Peresvet Bryansky from the detachment of the governor Prince Dmitry Bryansky. In 1422-1423 detachments of the Mtsensk and Novosilsk lands under the leadership of the Mtsensk governor Protasyev and Prince Novosilsky defeated the Tatar Khan Barak near Odoev. In 1423, the inhabitants of the Mtsensk land defeated Khan Kuidadat. In 1430-1431 Mtsensk withstood a three-week siege by the Tatars. No traces of a massive and long-term presence of Mongol-Tatar troops in the region were revealed. However, serious historians have long abandoned the theory about a three-hundred-year period of yoke, which has become familiar to the mass historical consciousness, perceived as similar to the occupation of the period of total wars of the 20th century.
Simultaneously with the Mongol-Tatar raids, there was an active onslaught from the west by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which from the mid-14th century until 1503 included the Oryol lands, including Mtsensk, Novosil and Bolkhov.
From the beginning of the 16th century. Oryol lands became part of the Moscow state. To the south of the Oka lies the steppe. Where did the raids of the Crimean and Nogai Tatars continue from? In 1562, Divlet-Girey reached Mtsensk, burned the settlement and ravaged the district, as well as Novosil and Bolkhov; in 1565, the Bolkhovites stubbornly resisted the Tatars, withstood a 12-day siege, and forced Divlet-Girey to retreat. From this time on, the strengthening of border lines began, through the construction of fortresses, outposts, and fences. So, on the orders of Ivan the Terrible, the Orel fortress was built.
Officially, the founding date of Orel is considered to be 1566, when, on the orders of Ivan the Terrible, the Orel fortress was founded at the confluence of the Oka and Orlik rivers to protect the southern borders of the Moscow state.
The speed of construction of the main temple and the fortress itself (from the summer of 1566 to the spring of 1567) and the unsuccessful choice of construction site from a fortification point of view (on a river cape flooded by floods, well shot from the neighboring high bank) is explained by the fact that the fortress was erected on the earthen ramparts of the old Oryol settlement. The earthen ramparts of the Oryol Kremlin have survived to this day in the city’s children’s park.
In 1567, Vasily Rostovsky and Vladimir Bezobrazov were appointed governors of Oryol. Strengthening the border contributed to the rapid settlement of the region, its economic development; people were attracted by fertile lands and guard service.
In 1595, in the Oryol district there were 598 settlements, 3110 households, of which 1326 were landowners. 282 - hereditary small landowners, 1429 - peasant and bobyl households. By the beginning of the 17th century, a mass of fugitive peasants and slaves, exiled participants in the defeated Khlopok uprising in 1603, had accumulated in the Oryol border lands, and this factor, against the backdrop of increasing feudal oppression and rumors about the rescue of Tsarevich Dmitry, contributed to the creation of a very turbulent situation in the region. Peasant unrest, which began in the Komaritsa volost, spread to Liven and Yelets, reinforced by the detachments of Ivan Bolotnikov, who defeated the tsar’s troops near Kromy and Yelets in August 1606. One after another, the Oryol fortresses opened their gates, first to False Dmitry I, then to False Dmitry II. In the winter of 1607-1608. Orel was the residence of False Dmitry II.
The result of all the vicissitudes of the “Time of Troubles” for the Oryol lands was their devastation, the almost complete extermination of the population throughout the entire space from the Don to the Desna, the transformation of Oryol into ruins until 1625. In 1636, the city was restored to its original location.
Gradually, the Oryol fortress acquired new buildings and by 1652 it had three rows of fortifications. Until the 70s of the 17th century. The issue of moving the fortress to the neighboring high bank was repeatedly considered, but the transfer was never carried out. By the end of the century, the Oryol fortress had fallen into disrepair. But due to the fact that the border of the Russian state moved far to the south, raids from Crimea became less and less frequent, the fortress was not restored and already in early XVIII V. was abolished and dismantled.
Oryol region from the middle of the 15th century. from the border region began to turn into one of the centers of grain and hemp trade, export was carried out mainly along the Oka (by rafting, during floods and during the lowering of special dams on tributaries).
After Peter I carried out the provincial reform, Orel, together with other cities and lands, as part of counties and provinces, in 1708 first entered the Kyiv province, then in 1727 into the Belgorod province.
Only in 1778, by Decree of Catherine II, the Oryol Governorate was created from 13 counties: Oryol, Karachevsky, Bryansky, Eletsky, Bolkhovsky, Trubchevsky, Sevsky, Kromskoy, Mtsensky, Livensky, Maloarkhangelsk, Lugansk, Deshkinsky. In 1779, Orel was almost completely redesigned, active development of the city began according to a regular plan, beautiful architectural ensembles were created, stone houses, the administrative center of the city is formed, and at the same time the Orel River is renamed Orlik. Until 1796, Orel was the administrative center not only of the province, but also of the Oryol governorship. The population of the province at the end of the 18th century was about 968 thousand people, among them more than five thousand noble estates, including: the Apraksins, Golitsyns, Dashkovs, Kamenskys, Kurakins, Lopukhins, Romanovs, Chernyshevs.
There is not a single significant event in the history of Russia in which natives of the Oryol region would not take part. The Orlovites fought in the ranks of the troops of Peter I, fought in all the Russian-Turkish wars of the 18th-19th centuries, the Patriotic War of 1812. In golden letters in military history Oryol residents M.F. have incorporated themselves into Russia. Kamensky, A.P. Ermolov, D.V. Davydov.
During the Patriotic War of 1812, troops en route to the active Russian army passed through Orel. Reserve units were formed here and reserve artillery was stationed. By order of M.I. Kutuzov, in the building of the gymnasium, the house of the vice-governor, and some private houses, the “Main Temporary Hospital” was deployed. During the war, three recruitments (11,300 soldiers) were carried out in the province. The heroes of 1812 were the Oryol landowners: General A.P. Ermolov, D.V. Davydov, book. P.I. Bagration.
Formation of Russian estate culture of the 18th-19th centuries. created fertile ground for the formation in the Oryol region of a unique layer of great Russian writers, about whom the words of N.S. are usually quoted. Leskov that “Eagle has raised as many great writers on its shallow waters as no other city has brought to the service of Russia.”
For a long time, the centers of the spiritual life of the province were noble estates. An event in Orel's life was the opening of a theater in 1815, owned by Count S.M. Kamensky. The theater operated until 1835. The “Great Reforms” of Alexander II, in particular, the abolition of serfdom, undermined the noble estates, the owners left them, moving to the cities.
But the Oryol land became the second homeland for famous Russian politicians. Here, the formation years of personalities of such significant figures for the history of Russia as S.A. passed. Muromtsev and P.A. Stolypin.
By this time Orel was fully performing the functions of administrative, trade, cultural center agricultural province. In 1859, a telegraph line with Orel St. Petersburg and Moscow passed through the territory of the province. In the 1860s, construction began across the territory of the province. railway. Two railway lines run through Orel: Moskovsko-Kurskaya and Rigo-Orlovskaya. They went into operation in 1868. At the same time, the first station with locomotive depot buildings was built. A network appears educational institutions, public libraries are opening. In 1898, an intracity tram service was opened in Orel. In 1901, about 50 electric arc lamps were lit in the city.
In the events of 1905, the Oryol region, along with other provinces, showed the greatest revolutionary activity: two-thirds of the workers participated in the strike movement, 136 landowner estates were destroyed by peasants. The land issue remained the main one in all subsequent years.
Oryol residents also actively participated in the political life of the Russian Empire. Among the deputies from the Oryol province were representatives of polar opposite political forces. Sincerely devoted to the ideals of reorganizing society, cadet F.F. Tatarinov, future minister of the tsarist government, shot as a hostage by A.N. Khvostov, one of the authors of the idea of ​​turning the Siberian rivers to the south, Russian philosopher and economist S.N., disillusioned with liberalism. Bulgakov, organizer of the “Union of Archangel Michael” S.A. Volodimerov.
On August 3 (new style), 1914, in the Peter and Paul Cathedral (now the place where the Central Regional Library is located), the “Highest Manifesto” to the peoples of the Russian Empire on the beginning of the war with Germany and Austria-Hungary was read. From Orel, the 17th Chernigov Hussars, stationed in the city, went west (for some time they were commanded by Grand Duke Mikhail Romanov), 141st Mozhaisky, 142nd Zvenigorod regiments.
On March 2 (new style), 1917, the news of the revolution that had taken place in Petrograd reached the population of the province. In the period from March to October 1917, multi-power reigned in Orel and the province. On October 26, 1917, a telegram arrived in the city about the uprising in Petrograd, the overthrow of the Provisional Government and the victory of the Bolsheviks. From this time on, the province began to live a different, new life, opening a new page in its history.
During the Civil War, Orel became the final point of the White Army's advance to the north during the attack on Moscow in the fall of 1919. The city was under the control of the troops of A.I. Denikin from October 13 to October 20, 1919. Having suffered defeat in the Oryol region, his troops began a retreat that ended a year later with final defeat white movement. On November 4, 2009, a diorama “ Civil war", dedicated to the events of 1919.
Since 1928, the Oryol region was part of the Central Black Earth Region with its capital in Voronezh (until 1930 - the city of Orel - the center of the Oryol District), and since 1934 - part of the Kursk Region. On September 27, 1937, the region was restored as the largest in the USSR (3.5 million people - 59 districts - 67 sq. km - this is larger than Switzerland, Holland, Spain). In 1976, the region included 19 rural districts. Currently, the Oryol region (administrative center - Oryol) is one of the smallest in the Central Federal District.
During the Great Patriotic War, on October 3, 1941, Orel was captured by the 4th Panzer Division of the 24th Motorized Corps of Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group. The high pace of the German offensive did not allow organizing the defense of the city, which was limited to the heroic resistance of individual units of the Soviet troops.
On August 5, 1943, during the offensive phase of the Kursk operation, Oryol was liberated by Soviet troops. The banner over the city was installed in a house on Ilyinskaya Square (modern Peace Square) by scouts Sanko and Obraztsov. On September 19, 1943, the first parade in the history of the Great Patriotic War of partisan formations stationed in the Oryol region took place in Oryol. The diorama “Defense Breakthrough” is dedicated to the liberation of the city and region Nazi troops at the Oryol bridgehead in July 1943."
After the war, the city was restored as an industrial center, focusing on traditional sectors of the economy related to product processing agriculture, and for new ones - instrument making and mechanical engineering.
Having experienced, like many regions of Central Russia, a period of development as a typical Soviet industrial center, the Oryol region fully experienced the difficulties of the transition period and adaptation to a market economy at the turn of the 20th-21st centuries, having lost a significant part of its industrial potential as a result of the breakdown of economic ties Soviet planned economy. Today, the region is gaining a new face in the context of focusing on the formation of a highly productive agro-industrial complex based on new innovative technologies as the basis of the region’s economy.

In 1967, the region was awarded the Order of Lenin.
Aronov. D.V., Doctor of Historical Sciences, Head of the Department of Philosophy and History, Oryol State Technical University.

Pavlova O.I., Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Philosophy and History, Oryol State Technical University.