The protests and the revindications of the Bessarabian people in the first decades after the annexation of the territories between the Prut and Dniester rivers to Russia (years 1812-1828)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
In spite of the relatively large number of works concerning the peasants issue in Bessarabia after its annexation to the Russian Empire, it has been noticed that some aspects connected to the peasants’ movement(rising) have been treated one-sidedly and tendentiously in the Soviet historiography from the Republic of Moldova. The period after the democratization of the Moldovan society did not draw the attention of historians to that subject and din not manifest their interest in it either.
For carrying out an objective study of this issue, there have been analyzed 1502 claims and letters of complaint addressed by representatives of different social categories to the civil governor of Bessarabia, which have been stocked in stock nr.2 - Chancellery of the civil governor of Bessarabia from the National Archive of the Republic of Moldova. The documents have been classified into claims which reflect the following forms of protest and revindications: abuse on behalf of landlords, district police officers, landholders and concessionaires; exaggerated duties, taxes and charges; abuse on behalf of the Russian soldiers; escapes, removals inside Bessarabia and over the river Dniester; escapes of the peasants into Moldova over the Prut river; abuse from the Regional Administration and the Russian officials; restrictions of the internal and external trade; the haiduk movement or robberies etc. People’s protests and revindications have been conventionally divided into two periods: 1812-1818 and 1819-1828, relying on the administrative-territorial division of Bessarabia during this time, which allows the analysis of these acts in its districts. The analyzed documents made it possible to elaborate a series of tables which reflect, quite exhaustively, the main forms of protest and revendications of the population in these two time periods.
The analysis of these documents allows us to conclude that 1025 (68,4%) claims have been made by the representatives of different social categories between 1812 and 1818, in spite of the privileges conferred by the Russian administration to the Bessarabian people, immediately after the annexation of the territory. 523 (51%) of the complaints have been addressed to the civil governor of Bessarabia by the people of the Orhei district. Among the most important complaints made by the Bessarabian people during the first period, can be highlighted the following: claims and complaints connected to abuse on behalf of landlords, district police officers, landholders and concessionaires – 372 (36,3%); claims and complaints caused by exaggerated duties, taxes and charges – 318 (31%); claims and complaints caused by the abuse on behalf of the Russian soldiers – 133 (13%); claims and complaints caused by escapes, removals inside Bessarabia and over the river Dniester – 93 (9,1%); claims and complaints connected to escapes of the peasants into Moldova over the Prut river – 62 (6%); claims and complaints caused by the abuse from the Regional Administration and the Russian officials – 31 (3%) etc. Consequently, the analysis of the above mentioned sources allows us to question a number of assertions made by the Soviet historiography on this matter.
The item is the lower part of a leg of a festive table made of white and gray marble. In the upper part, it has a protrusion, similar to a Doric capital, on the horizontal platform of which a square recess is engraved, designed to fix the second part of the leg (upper). The lower part of the leg is made in an anthropomorphic style, and, in our opinion, there are two variants of identifying the depicted character...
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
The item is the lower part of a leg of a festive table made of white and gray marble. In the upper part, it has a protrusion, similar to a Doric capital, on the horizontal platform of which a square recess is engraved, designed to fix the second part of the leg (upper). The lower part of the leg is made in an anthropomorphic style, and, in our opinion, there are two variants of identifying the depicted character. The first involves the image of the head of the young Heracles (Heracles - Ἡρακλῆς) (beardless), the most favorite hero of antiquity, wearing on his head the skin of the Nemean lion - Λέων της Νεμέας, a vicious monster from Greek mythology who lived in Nemea and was eventually killed by Heracles. The first labor of Heracles, of the twelve set by King Eurystheus (his cousin), was to kill the Nemean lion and bring his skin to the king. It is also known from Greek mythology that the lion of Nemea took the form of a beautiful woman in order to seduce the inhabitants of neighboring villages, who wanted to save the girl from danger. Upon entering the cave, a man saw the woman, who usually pretended to be wounded, and rushed to help her. When he approached her, the woman turned into a lion and killed him. Then the lion devoured the man, giving his bones to Hades - ᾍδης, the god of Hell, who lived in the kingdom of shadows. The second version of the anthropomorphic image interpretation suggests Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia in the second half of the 4th century BC, one of the most famous heroes of the Greek world, who sometimes is depicted as Hercules - wearing a lion's skin. Some researchers consider the custom of wearing the skin of a slain lion a sign of royal power. The word βασιλεύς itself, translated from ancient Greek, means "walking the path of the lion", that is, the king. This title was held by the Greek kings from the Homeric period, and later, starting from the 7th century AD - by the Byzantine emperors.
