Labour employment of exiled revolutionaries in the northern provinces of Russia at the early 20th century

The article is devoted to the study of the employment of political exiles placed by the authorities in the provinces of the European North of Russia in the early 20th century. In the course of the study, the author examined archival materials and the recollections of people familiar with the realities of northern exile. The strategies for finding employment of exiles, their earnings, and the factors that helped or, conversely, complicated their job search, were analysed. The author comes to the conclusion that the regulatory restrictions imposed on exiles had no significant impact on the range of their activities. The low size of unemployment benefits, as well as the tasks of political agitation and propaganda, pushed exiles to prohibited types of work (for example, tutoring). The search for work was easiest for those exiles who were placed in the provincial centres, had an education and (or) in-demand qualifications. Finding a decent income for the exiles of the northern provinces was a rather painstaking task, but it did not stand out from the general outline – the same difficulties and tendencies lay in wait for the Siberian exiles and the exiles of other governorates of the European part of Russia.