Greeks’ Ethno-cultural impact to the development of the South of Russia region: historical Retrospective and modern diaspora state

УДК 314.8+316.34

DOI 10.23683/2658-5820.2018.2.3

Greeks& Ethno-Cultural Impact to the Development of the South of Russia Region: Historical Retrospective and Modern Diaspora State Anna A. Bespalova

Southern Federal University Rostov-on-Don, Russia Ivan V. Gubarev

Southern Federal University Rostov-on-Don, Russia

Abstract: Understanding cultural and social processes which are taking place in the region of the South of Russia is of great importance for its development. Interaction between ethnic group and its resource potential, risks and opportunities are of special significance. The authors focus on two issues: the analyses of the chronological stages of the Greek presence in the territory of modern South of Russia and designation of the main problems of the Greek diaspora at the present stage. As a result, six stages having rather significant differences are allocated. Questions of ethnic and confessional self-determination, adaptation mechanisms in the foreign culture environment and forms of interaction with local population at various stages are considered. Close political, cultural and religious connection of Russia and Greece, throughout the long period of history, generated one of the main problems in maintenance and reproduction of ethnic identity of Greeks in the South of Russia.

For citation: Bespalova A.A., Gubarev I.V. Greeks& Ethno-cultural Impact to the Development of the South of Russia Region: Historical Retrospective and Modern Diaspora State / / Caucasian Science Bridge. 2018.1 (2). P. 38-46.

Этнокультурное влияние греков на развитие региона Юга России: историческая ретроспектива и современное состояние диаспоры

А.А. Беспалова

Южный федеральный университет, г. Ростов-на-Дону, Россия И.В.Губарев

Южный федеральный университет, г. Ростов-на-Дону, Россия

Аннотация: Понимание культурных и социальных процессов, происходящих на Юге России в исторической перспективе, имеет большое значение для его развития на современном этапе. Характер взаимодействия различных этнических групп, их ресурсный потенциал, связанные с этим риски и возможности имеют особое значение. В статье предпринята попытка выделить хронологические этапы греческого присутствия на территории современного Юга России, а также обозначены основные проблемы греческой диаспоры на современном этапе. В результате, авторами были выделены шесть этапов, имеющих достаточно значительные различия. Рассматриваются вопросы этнического и конфессионального самоопределения, механизмах адаптации в инокультурной среде и формах взаимодействия с местным населением на различных этапах. Тесная политическая, культурная и религиозная связь России и Греции, на протяжении длительного периода истории, породила одну из основных проблем в поддержании и воспроизводстве этнической идентичности греков на Юге России.

Для цитирования: Беспалова А.А., Губарев И.В. Этнокультурное влияние греков на развитие региона Юга России: историческая ретроспектива и современное состояние диаспоры // Caucasian Science Bridge. 2018.1 (2). C. 38-46.

Introduction

Since the most ancient times the South of Russia was the center of extensive international contacts. In addition, throughout the course of history Greeks were the centrepiece in this territory. Besides, they made an enormous contribution to the formation of the Russian statehood. The locals adopted the Hellenic culture, religion and the imperial power. The region at the present stage is multinational and multicultural, that raises the importance of several issues. First, the understanding of cultural and social processes which are taking place in each ethnic group, second, the analysis of the opportunities and resource potential of interaction between them . For this purpose, the article is separated in several tasks: to reveal the stages of the Greek presence in the territory of the South of Russia; to analyse their specifics; to determine the Greek diaspora&s impact in the international and cross-cultural interaction in the South of Russia at the present stage.

There is a large number of the archaeological, historical and biographic works devoted to the Greek population living in the territory of the South of Russia. We&ll notice just a few the most meaningful works for our research. Concerning the diaspora merchants in the Black Sea, V. Kardases A. and V. Kardasis focus on the Greeks in Southern Russia as "the powerful Greek trading houses competed successfully with North America to feed the industrializing population" (Kardases, Kardasis, 2001) . The same issue, Greek entrepreneurship in Southern Russia, is analyzed in another article. It explores the competitive advantage of the Greek family business in the Azov sea region and points out some of its characteristics as spatial proximity, geographical mobility and adaptability through diversification (Sifneos, 2011).

Topography, architecture and the economic basis of the settlement are investigated by O. Dally, V. Kopylov, and P. Larenok. Taganrog is described from the point of its place in the historical development of the Don-Delta, the contacts between the inhabitants of the settlement and those of the bordering steppe lands (Dally, Kopylov and Larenok, 2005). Another authors underline Russia&s historical identity as a Christian empire between East and West (Meyer, 2011). However, the insufficient number of sociological research of this problem defines its relevance today. The majority of scientific works have only descriptive character, without affecting the deep reasons of so fast rates of demographic decrease of diaspora at a present stage. In the modern social humanities, there are several points of view for the beginning of formation of the Greek diaspora in the South of Russia; however there is no general opinion on the history of the formation and organization of the Greek diaspora in Russia. The purpose of this article is to identify the stages of Greeks immigrations in the South of Russia. We focus on the geographical concept "South of Russia" which includes 14 territorial subjects of modern Russian Federation, including the Crimean peninsula that have the specific history of the Greek presence.

Chronological stages of the

Greek presence in the territory of the South of Russia

The first stage is Hellenic period (the VII BC - the III AD). This stage is related to the Great Greek colonization of the VIII-VI centuries BC. The archeologists establish that the colonization of the North Black Sea region, part of which nowadays belongs to the Russian Federation was taking place in the VII-V centuries BC. The policies of Asia Minor were the main sources of human resources for the colonization. Taganrog settlement (Kremny) was the first Greek colony in this region (Kopylov, 2011). The city-states in the territory of the Crimea, Taman Peninsula and the Lower Don were founded further. The Greeks can be treated as the title ethnos because along with the foundation of separate policies, the Bosporus Empire, the Greek cities union on the Kerch and Taman Peninsula, was formed in 480 (Shelov-Kovedyaev, 1985). All Greek settlements of the period actively cooperated with locals - Scythians, Tauris, and later and Sarmatians. Constant ethnic mixture of Greeks and the barbaric population were taking place in the colonies. The researchers claim that not only the native population willingly adopted the traditions and culture of ancient Greeks, but also the classical Greek household did not remain invariable: new local culture and religion forms were shaped.

The second stage - ethnogenesis (the III century AD - 1778). This period is characterized by the proliferation of the ethnoses coming to the Crimean peninsula, special attention should be payed to the process of cross-cultural integration. Based on the long-term research the ar-cheologists deny the direct cultural continuity between antique Greeks and the Greek population of the Middle Ages called "Crimean Christians" or "mountain and Crimean Greeks" (Baranova, 2007). For this reason, the III century BC as the start date of the Greek ethnos formation is very conditional. It is important to note that the Southern coast of the Crimea remained under the power of the Eastern Roman Empire - Byzantium up to the end of the XIII century. The population carried the endonym "Romans" up to the split of Christian church in 1054 after which only Greek Christian population were called "Romans" (Markov, 1995). Most historians agree that at the end of the X century in Cherson (Chersonese) the Kiev prince Vladimir, who extended Orthodoxy to all territory of Russia, adopted Christianity. The researchers believe that the ethnoge-netic mixing based on Greek language, culture and religion took place during the period from the XII to the XVIII centuries in the territory of the Crimea. The Principality of Feodoro made serious impact to the unity of the Crimean Christians. The Principality was founded in the first half of the XIV century in the mountain Crimea which was under the power of the Byzantine Empire, and then under Trapezund.

The explosion of the principality was in the second period of its existence (1420 -1475), and connect with the government of Alexey. Whose son Ioann married the representative of the aristocratic families Paleologov and Asanov. As a result the two-headed eagle of Byzantium appeared on the coat of arms of the principality. The conquest of the Crimea by the Ottoman Empire changed not only political, but also cultural and confessional situation in the region. The Christian population was united in "the closed confessional community with own self-government, courts, the fiscal duty" - single millet (Kartashyan, 2013). After the conquest the communication of the Crimean Christians with Constantinople that promoted migration of the Greek population has become more available. Moreover, "the confessional identity presents an additional factor of maintaining the ethnic identities within the ethnic and cultural communities" (Lubsky, Bedrik, Stukalova, 2016)

The results of the population censuses, conducted in 1512-1520 and 15421543, demonstrate the demographic decrease for 5% among the Greeks and increase for 15% among Muslim population. It is connected, first of all, with the voluntary confessional assimilation with the Muslim population in the Crimean peninsula (Yefimov, 2013). The change of religion in the Middle Ages meant also the change of ethnic identification. The last Greek epigraphic monuments belong to 1594 and 1622 years that means withdrawal of Greek language from the use. The Greek population changed their native language to Turkic (Crimean Tatar) that is confirmed by the church books written in Turkic, but the Greek alphabet.

The Russian-Turkish war of 17681774 was important for Greeks due to their participation (Greek (Albanian) army) in the war on side of the Russian Empire. (Soklakov, 2015). After signing The Treaty of Kucuk Kaynarca according to which the city of Kerch and fortress of Eni-Calais bacame a part of Russia, the Greeks sent a delegation headed by the

captain Stefan Mavromikhali to Catherine II with a request for granting them the lands for settlement. On March 28, 1775 the Empress signed the Royal Rescript addressed to the count A.G. Orlov and fixed some territories in the Crimea as Greeks settlements; on various sources, from 3 to 5 thousand Greeks settled there (Lupanova, 2008).

The third stage - diffusion (settlement) (1778 - 1914). The forced diffusion of the Crimean population at the beginning of the last quarter of the XVIII century was determined be the policy of the Russian Empire and a variety of reasons, promoting the implementation of "The Greek project" of Catherine the Great. On June 16, 1778 the Crimean metropolitan Ignatius declared the voluntary movement of the Greek Christian population to the All-Russian citizenship. The great Russian commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov guided this process and noted that the number of the Greek population moved to the territory of Russia was 18407 people (Nersisyan, 1956). This process increased at the end of the XVIII century - the beginning of the XIX centuries when the large Greek settlements were formed in the territory of the South of Russia. By different estimates, for about 30,000 Greeks in total immigrated on the territory of the Russian Empire for this period. The majority of Greeks, having settled on the received lands, become merchants, petty bourgeoises and land owners. However quite often Greeks preferred military or public service, obtaining considerable progress. Greeks were engaged in trade activity especially actively that was prescribed by favorable conditions. E.g. in 1849 in the city of Rostov-on-Don 7 companies doing foreign business belonged to Greeks. They completely monopolized such spheres as tobacco and grain trade, large shipping. The representatives of the Greek nobility willingly supported the migration of ethnic representatives to the Russian Empire, allocating financial means for their resettlement.

The main migration waves of the Greek population in the XIX century are connected with the Russian-Turkish wars and the subsequent resettlement from the Ottoman Empire. Among the main directions were the territories of modern Stavropol and Krasnodar regions and also the Rostov region, Chechnya, moreover Georgia, Armenia, Odessa and Mariupol cities.

About 187 thousand people specified Greek language as native in the first All-Russian population census of the Russian Empire in 1897. Unfortunately, there are no data on the Greeks-urums speaking Turkic language (The first general population ..., 1897). "The commercial diasporas have played key roles in international trade and proved to be basic agents of change in the urban and civic development of Mediterranean cities. It was also accompanied by a wider civicoriented philanthropy for regional or local development, often outside national borders. These not only facilitated commerce, but also contributed to the development of urban infrastructures and the embellishment of towns through giving them a common "European" culture" (Sifneos, 2005).

The fourth stage - the period of repressions (1917 - 1956). The regional meeting of the Greek societies held in Eka-terinodar in 1914 served a prerequisite for the stage. The decision on the need of the All-Russian congress which took place from June 29 to July 10, 1917 in the city of Taganrog was made at the meeting. This congress accepted several important for Greeks decisions:

• Establishment of the "Society of Greeks of Russia";

• Establishment of the Central Office of Greeks in Rostov-on-Don (Zeynalova, 2013).

The central Office was engaged in the allocation and arrangement of the Pontic Greeks emigrating on the territory of Russia from Asia Minor because of the Turks genocide. Also Council provided financial aid to Trebizond. In 1922/23 years the last wave of immigration of the Greeks

arrived from Turkey. The majority of them sought to get through Batum to the historical homeland - Greece. However civil war stopped a part of the population and forced to settle on the territory of the North Caucasus, Abkhazia and Adzharia.

The socialist revolution considerably influenced the Greek diaspora of Russia, who treated the Soviet power ambiguously.

According to the All-Union population census conducted in 1926 over 213 thousand Greeks lived in the USSR (All-Union population census., 1926). But in 1931 their number was about 170 thousand people. The dispossession of kulaks was the reason for so sharp demographic decrease; collectivization of agricultural industry became the turning point of demographic changes. Since 1937 the number of Greeks, expelled from the USSR increased. The deportation authorized by the People&s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs was carried out under the pretext of "violation of the accommodation rules for foreigners", or "the undesirable foreigner". 10 thousand Greeks in total voluntarily left to Greece, apart from those who were sent from the country by the Government of the USSR. The research data indicate that 25 thousand Greeks were arrested during 1937-1938; 90% of them were shot. At the same time, the All-Union population census, conducted in 1939, shows that 286 thousand Greeks lived in the USSR; only 86 thousand settled in the territory of RSFSR. The representatives of Greek diaspora were also repressed during the Great Patriotic War. In 1942, 1944 and 1949 about 65 thousand Greeks were forcibly resettled from the Soviet Black Sea coast to Siberia, the Urals and Kazakhstan. 110-120 thousand Greeks on average became the victims of repressions from 1929 for 1949, according to the estimates of I.G. Dzhukhi, the researcher of the Greek people in the USSR (Dzhukh, 2008).

The fifth stage - institutionalization (1956 - 1991). Despite the Soviet official harassment, the Greek diaspora kept the

population growth in the USSR; by 1959 it contained 309 thousand people (All-Union population census of 1959). In 1956 the status of special settlers was dropped from Greeks and other repressed people; they were permitted to return to the former places of residence, except the Crimea. After the "thaw" in relations with the West and adjustment of the Greek-Soviet relations, the Greek population received an opportunity to return to their historical homeland. The repatriation process became large scale in 1965. During 70-80th the flow of the Greek emigrants increased annually. Despite this fact, in the course of 10 years (1979-1989) the Greek population of the USSR increased by 10 thousand people; the gain of Greeks in the RSFSR was 30 thousand. According to the last allUnion population census, about 360 thousand Greeks lived in the USSR; 91 thousand of them settled in the RSFSR; nearly 69 thousand lived in the South of Russia (All-Union population census., 1989).

The institutionalization of the Greek diaspora began in the USSR since 1988. On May 28 the first national and cultural organization of Greeks "Prometheus" in Vladikavkaz was founded and legally registered. The congress of Greeks that took place in 1989 in Moscow, gathered the delegates from all the USSR. The decision on establishing the "All-Union society of the Soviet Greeks" was made at the meeting and as well as the branching around the state. Besides, the congress resulted in the document demanding to create "the Hellenic Autonomous Socialist Republic" in the Crimea or on the Anapa-Gelendzhik-Tuapse line. A number of Greek public organizations were created in 1989-1990 in the cities in the South of the RSFSR: Gelendzhik, Krasnodar, Novorossiysk, Krymsk, Anapa, Sochi, Pyatigorsk and Yessentuki. The I All-Union Congress of the Soviet Greeks took place in Tuapse in the summer of 1991, where the union of Greeks of the USSR "Pontos" was created.

The sixth stage - establishment (1991 - present day). After the collapse of the

USSR the union of Greeks of the USSR "Pontos" was abolished. In July, 1992 in Mineralnye Vody there took place the congress of the Greek communities (FGOR) of the South of Russia, where the Federation of the Greek societies of Russia was founded. It is important to note that FGOR was not officially registered unlike the Association of the Greek Societies of Russia (AGSR). The organization was formed on October 31, 1992. in September 1993 FGOR and AGSR united into the "Association of the Greek Societies of Russia" and included 23 organizations from 12 regions of the Russian Federation (History modern ...).

In 1997 AGSR was renamed into the Association of the Greek Public Unions of Russia (AGPUR).

Despite the program of rehabilitation of Greek repatriates started by the government of the Hellenic Republic, the demographic gain of the Greek population in the Russian Federation was 6 thousand people during the 11 years between censuses. Most of them (72,3%) lived in the South of Russia: in the Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories (All-Union population census., 2002).

In 2011 the Federal national and cultural autonomy (FNCA) of Greeks of Russia, the successor to AGPUR in social movement of Greeks in Russia, was formed. In 2014 the Public organization of Regional national and cultural autonomy of Greeks of the Crimea "Taurida" counting about 7 thousand Greeks became its part. It should be noted that I.I. Savvidi was elected the President of FNCA and AGPUR since 2015 (History modern ...).

The analysis of results of the population census of the Russian Federation, conducted in 2010and censuses of the Crimean Federal District, conducted in 2015 found out that for today 88,517 Greeks live in the Russian Federation. 67,286 of them live in the South of Russia (the South and the North Caucasian Federal Districts) - 76% of all Greek population of Russia (The All-Russian census ..., 2010). It should be noted that the main

places of residence of Greeks in the South of Russia are the Krasnodar and the Stavropol Territories, the Rostov region and the Republic of Crimea.

Problems of social and cultural reproduction of the Greek diaspora in the South of Russia at the present stage

The development of many-sided and multilateral communications with the historical homeland is one of the most important functions of diaspora, along with the maintenance and development of the spiritual sphere, maintaining traditions and customs and the native language. The diaspora activity is main way of transfer of national culture that creates the basis for traditions, customs and consciousness. Due to small cultural and social distance between Greeks and the local ethnos in the South of Russia, the proximity of social and cultural practices and also the policy of the Soviet power directed to refusal of religious regulation of private life, the number of international marriages increased. In such marriages the children, often, identified themselves with the title ethnos. For this reason the number of the Greek surnames exceeds the diaspora number in the South of Russia,and in Russia in general nowadays (Bedrik, Serikov, 2016).

The international factor is becoming important in modern difficult geopolitical situation. This phenomenon has its roots in the Soviet period of history of the country. The European diasporas had no possibilities for national and cultural self-determination at that stage of Russian history, because of the fact that the designing of community of the Soviet people was the main direction of national public policy. "The solution for this contradiction can be found in the direct dialogue between the state and the national communities based on common public values" (Lubsky, Bedrik, Serikov, 2018). At the present stage, the diasporic issue is becoming a problem of geopolitical identity. In this regard, the diaspora has to become the base for the separation of geopolitical identity from

ethnocultural one. This trend is observed in the Greek diaspora in Russia and manifest in the signing of the order No. 336-rp "About the Year of the Russian Federation in the Hellenic Republic and the Year of the Hellenic Republic in the Russian Federation" by the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on October 25, 2014 (Order of the Russian President ...). Also the meeting of Vladimir Putin and the prime minister of the Hellenic Republic Alexis Tsipras took place in Moscow in April, 2015 (Meeting of the Russian President ...).

The revival of the Greek identity is followed by the strengthening of its confessional component. Due to the collapse of the USSR and "the religious renaissance" Greeks made an attempt to restore the church autonomy lost after the October Revolution of 1917. However, this initiative was not supported either by the Orthodox Church of Hellas, or by the Russian Orthodox Church. It should be noted that the compromise between the Greek diaspora and the Don Orthodox Archdiocese was brokered. The Greek Temple of Ascension was rebuilt up in the downtown of Rostov-on-Don; the liturgy in this temple is partially conducted in Greek, but it is subordinated to Russian Orthodox Church structurally.

Thus, Greeks in the South of Russia, having appeared in the antiquity, took the important part in the interethnic and in-terfaith communications in this territory. They act not only as the members of these communications, but also, in certain cases, as the intermediaries. Throughout all Russian history the Greek diaspora was involved in the socio-political events in the country. At the present time the Greek diaspora also takes the important part in public, economic and political spheres in the South of Russia and the whole country in the whole.

However the problem of sociocultural reproduction of the Greek diaspora is that the ethnic self-determination of some representatives is based on the instrumentalist motive, as a result the aspiration to receive a double nationality is especially is widespread. The reorientation to the state of citizenship is taking place that strengthens the assimilation processes and the split on civil and political bases.

Modern replenishment of the Greek community is generally provided by people focused on receiving the support of the diaspora in granting and receiving social privileges (Harlaftis, 2017). For example, the simplified procedure of visa receiving, the residence permit in Greece, etc.

In the 1990th the Hellenic Republic was overflowed by the wave of mass migration of Greeks from the former republics of the USSR. However the economic crisis in Greece at the end of the 2000th increased the number of the population emigrating to Russia, having restored positive migration balance. According to the Federal State Statistics Service of the Russian Federation, from 1997 for 2015 6642 people immigrated from the Hellenic Republic to the Russian Federation, and 5004 people left Russia the Hellenic Republic (Federal State Statistics Service ...). According to the last Greek population census of 2011, 2751 people immigrated from Russia to the Republic (Anoypaprf ..., 2011).

Conclusion

In general, at the present time the members of the Greek diaspora do not know the native language, get an education at high comprehensive schools and higher education institutions of Russia. The likeness of the Constantinople and Russian Orthodox Churches is also one of the main reasons for low level of cultural and social distance. The assimilation and natural aging are the main reasons for the part outflow of the Greek community.

Thus, social and cultural reproduction of the Greek diaspora in the South of Russia is complicated not only by the objective reasons of demographic decrease resulted from aging, assimilation, and migration, but also by the complexity of ethnic consciousness of latent Greeks in terms of modern geopolitical competition.

References

[St.Petersburg State University Bulletin. Series 13. Oriental studies. African Studies], 4.

at: http://demoscope.ru/weekly/ssp/ rus_lan_97.php

at: http://www.gks.ru/free_doc/new_ site/perepis2010/croc/perepis_itogi1612 .htm

ИНФОРМАЦИЯ ОБ АВТОРЕ / INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Беспалова Анна Александровна

Кандидат социологических наук, старший преподаватель Института социологии и регионоведения, Южный федеральный университет; E-mail: anna_isir@mail.ru Губарев Иван Викторович Аспирант Института социологии и регионоведения, Южный федеральный университет;

E-mail: ivan8.93@mail.ru

Bespalova Anna Aleksandrovna

Candidate of Sociological Sciences, Senior Lecturer ,

South Federal University; E-mail: anna_isir@mail.ru

Gubarev Ivan Viktorovich

Graduate student of Institute of sociology and regional studies, Southern Federal University;

E-mail: ivan8.93@mail.ru