On the Experience of Countering Riots in Russian Penitentiary Institutions at the Turn of the XIX–XX Centuries
Epifanov A.E. On the experience of countering riots in Russian penitentiary institutions at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries. Penitentiary Science, 2024, vol. 18, no. 1 (65), pp. 4–12. doi 10.46741/2686-9764.2024.65.1.001.
Introduction: the article reveals measures taken by the administration and supervision of places
of detention of the Russian Empire to combat riots among prisoners at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries. As for a chronological framework of the study, it includes a period of growth of the revolutionary
situation in the Russian Empire at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries and the 1905–1907 revolution, as
well as the intensification of riots and mass riots among prisoners caused by these events. Purpose:
based on generalization of the experience of the administration and supervision of Russian places of
detention in the period under study, to supplement and correct the ideas that have developed in the
history of the penitentiary system. Methods: statistical and statistical-comparative methods, dialectical, logical methods, methods of synthesis and system-functional analysis. Results: the analysis of
legal regulation and practical activities of the administration and supervision of places of detention
of the Russian Empire shows that during the period under study, the regime of serving sentences
in them was significantly violated, which resulted in riots and mass riots, accompanied by escapes
and other serious crimes. In this regard, activities of penitentiary institution authorities aimed at
strengthening discipline and professional training of personnel were important. Conclusion: functioning of Russian places of detention at the turn of the XIX–XX centuries was accompanied by riots among the continent, especially in 1905–1907, which greatly contributed to their reorganization.
Countering riots in places of detention necessitated effective measures aimed at strengthening the
regime of serving sentences and discipline not only among prisoners, but also among employees.
Keywords: the Russian Empire; penitentiary institutions; counteraction to riots; prisoners; terror.
2. Kolosov V. Rasskazy o Kariiskoi katorge (iz vospominanii vracha) [Stories about the Kariya penal servitude (from the
memoirs of a doctor)]. Saint Petersburg, 1907. 319 p.
3. Konopnitskaya M. Kartinki iz tyuremnoi zhizni i drugie rasskazy [Pictures from prison life and other stories]. Saint
Petersburg, 1911. 178 s.
4. Leiss G. V ispravitel’noi tyur’me [In a correctional prison]. Saint Petersburg, 1906. 256 p.
5. Yakubovich P. V mire otverzhennykh. Zapiski byvshego katorzhnika [In the world of the outcasts. Notes of a former
convict]. Saint Petersburg, 1907. 544 p.
6. Bik V. On the materials about the Yakut tragedy. Katorga i ssylka = Hard Labor and Exile, 1926, no. 3, pp. 29–38. (In Russ.).
7. Vikker O. Escapes of the Romanovs. Katorga i ssylka = Hard Labor and Exile, 1929, no. 3, pp. 74–85. (In Russ.).
8. Dantsskes F. Tortures in the Orel central prison. Katorga i ssylka = Hard Labor and Exile, 1923, no. 3, pp. 153–163.
(In Russ.).
9. Petrov-Pavlov N. On the escape of suicide bombers and convicts from the Bobruisk fortress. Katorga i ssylka = Hard
Labor and Exile, 1924, no. 6, pp. 92–124. (In Russ.).
10. Gernet M.N. Istoriya tsarskoi tyur’my: v 5 t. T. 3 [History of the tsar’s prison: in 5 volumes. Volume 3]. Moscow, 1960–
1963. 430 p.
11. Andriyanov R.V. Criminal liability for escape in pre-revolutionary Russia. Vestnik Kuzbasskogo instituta = Bulletin of the
Kuzbass Institute, 2015, no. 4 (25), pp. 15–18. (In Russ.).
12. Kryukova O. YU. Criminal liability for escape from places of deprivation of liberty, evasion from serving a punishment in
correctional facilities: historical aspect. Vestnik instituta: prestuplenie, nakazanie, ispravlenie = Institute Bulletin: Crime,
Punishment, Correction, 2018, no. 1 (41), pp. 30–36. (In Russ.).
13. Strygina I.V. Outline history of crimes against justice criminal law of pre-Soviet period. Sotsial’no-ekonomicheskie
yavleniya i protsessy = Socio-Economic Phenomena and Processes, 2012, no. 10 (44), pp. 218–223. (In Russ.).
14. Naryshkina N.I. Organizational and legal measures to prevent prison escapes in Russia: historical aspect. In: Dolgova
A.I. (Ed.). Prestupnost’, kriminologiya, kriminologicheskaya zashchita [Crime, criminology, criminological protection].
Moscow, 2007. Pp. 281–286. (In Russ.).
15. Berezina O.B. Penal servitude of Nerchinsk in the system of penitentiary institutions of Russia at the end of XVIII –
beginning of XX centuries. Vestnik Tambovskogo universiteta. Ser.: Gumanitarnye nauki = Tambov University Review.
Series: Humanities, 2006, no. 4 (44), pp. 14–18. (In Russ.).
16. Epifanov A.E. From the history of counteraction to riots in Russian penitentiary institutions at the turn of the XIX – XX
centuries (based on the materials of the Saratov Province). Bylye gody = The Years Past, 2023. No. 18 (2). S. 812–820. (In
Russ.).
17. Epifanov A.E., Pavlenko E.M. From the history of ensuring the rights of prisoners in prisons of the Russian Empire at the
turn of the 19th - 20th centuries (based on materials from the Saratov Province). Bylye gody = The Years Past, 2021, no. 16
(4), pp. 1910–1921. (In Russ.).
18. Epifanov A.E., Krasnozhenova E.E., Kulik S.N. Escapes of prisoners in the history of Russian penitentiary institutions of
the late XIX – early XX centuries. Bylye gody = The Years Past, 2022, no. 17 (2), pp. 876–889. (In Russ.).
19. Tyuremnyi vestnik [Prison Bulletin]. 1910. No. 5. 810 p.
20. Tyuremnyi vestnik [Prison Bulletin]. 1909. No. 10. 1,024 p.
21. Epifanov A.E., Dzhambalaev Ya.R. Special state-legal regimes in domestic theory of law. Pravo i praktika = Law and
Practice, 2012, no. 1, pp. 30–36. (In Russ.).
22. Tyuremnyi vestnik [Prison Bulletin]. 1907. No. 10. 800 p.
23. Tyuremnyi vestnik [Prison Bulletin]. 1906. No. 10. 855 p.
24. Svod zakonov Rossiiskoi imperii. Tom chetyrnadtsatyi. Ustavy o pasportakh, o preduprezhdenii prestuplenii, o
tsenzure, o soderzhashchikhsya pod strazhei i o ssyl’nykh [The Code of Laws of the Russian Empire. Volume fourteen.
Statutes on passports, on the prevention of crimes, on censorship, on detainees and on exiles]. Saint Petersburg,
1890. 909 p.
25. Tyuremnyi vestnik [Prison Bulletin]. 1909. No. 12. 1,206 p.
26. Tyuremnyi vestnik [Prison Bulletin]. 1907. No. 4. 335 p.
27. Tyuremnyi vestnik [Prison Bulletin]. 1907. No. 6. 524 p.
28. Tyuremnyi vestnik [Prison Bulletin]. 1908. No. 5. 436 p.
29. Ashikhmina A.V., Epifanov A.E., Abdrashitov V.M. Mekhanizm ogranicheniya prav i svobod cheloveka i grazhdanina
v Rossiiskoi Federatsii [Mechanism of restriction of human and civil rights and freedoms in the Russian Federation].
Volgograd, 2008. 222 p.
