Settlement of former military personnel in rural communities of the right bank of Ukraine after the reform of 1861

In the second half of the XIX century. the Russian army, which by that time had already become a social institution, formed a separate social status of the military throughout the empire, in particular on the territory of Ukraine. Its representatives were endowed with certain rights and privileges compared to other categories of citizens of the country. After the reform of 1861, significant social transformations took place in the Russian Empire. Previously settled peasants acquired civil rights and now independently solved problems related to the life of their own communities, in which they all had equal rights. That’s why settlement in their communities of representatives of the military state, who enjoyed the privileges granted to them, needed state regulation, which became the subject of this study. The purpose of the article is to highlight, on the basis of available scientific works, as well as archival materials, the conditions under which servicemen of the lower ranks of the imperial army, who were demobilized or received a long indefinite leave, had the right to settle and live in rural communities that had come out of serfdom. The methodological basis of the research was the principles of historicism, objectivity and scientificity. The implementation of these principles is complemented by concrete search, cognitive, historical and analytical methods. Scientific novelty is determined, first of all, by the formulation of a problem that has not yet been comprehensively investigated. Conclusions. The representatives of the military state, which was finally formed in the Russian Empire during the first half of the 19th century and had a significant influence on the Ukrainian lands, were mainly of peasant origin. Therefore, at the end of a long term of service, or during indefinite leave, they tried to return to the way of life they were familiar with before the start of military service. However, such categories of servicemen still differed in their legal status from the peasantry, which after the reform of 1861 acquired civil rights. Most peasant communities on the Right Bank of Ukraine were still in the status of temporarily obliged and still performed certain duties in favour of the landlord. Retired servicemen and soldiers on indefinite leave had the right not to perform these and a number of other duties. This circumstance distinguished servicemen who settled in peasant communities from the general mass of their inhabitants.