kaspyTHE CASPIAN REGION: politics, economics, culture1818-510XАстраханский государственный университет им. В. Н. Татищева254110.54398/1818-510X.2025.85.4.00394(470)“16/18”Subculture of sailors of the Russian and Soviet navy in the second half of the 19th – first third of the 20th centuries: historical aspectSubculture of sailors of the Russian and Soviet navy in the second half of the 19th – first third of the 20th centuries: historical aspecthttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7568-8581BocharovAleksey A.BocharovAleksey A.alek.bocharov2014@yandex.ruhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7411-3145KolomeitsevIvan V.KolomeitsevIvan V.kolomejtsev_iv@spbstu.ruPeter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic UniversityPeter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic UniversityPeter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic UniversityPeter the Great Saint Petersburg Polytechnic University27012026436470607202530092025https://kaspy.asu-edu.ru/en/archive/2025/issue/4/article/2541https://kaspy.asu-edu.ru/storage/kaspy/archive/4(85)/36-47.pdf

This study addresses the significance of analyzing subcultures within Russian society in the context of broader socio-political transformations. The aim of the research is to explore the sailor subculture and how its development correlates with societal transformations in Russia. The study draws upon unpublished archival materials, published documents, periodical press sources, and memoirs of contemporaries. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach, utilizing comparative-historical and historical-genetic research methods, along with tools from social and political philosophy. Key elements of the sailor subculture are analyzed, including clothing and overall appearance, behavioral patterns, and tattoos. The study also examines the measures taken by the command of the Imperial Russian Navy and the Soviet Navy to combat the negative aspects of sailor subculture. The research concludes that the sailor subculture, which took shape in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, underwent significant changes during the 1917 Revolution and the Civil War. These changes were influenced by shifts in the domestic political climate and the temporary loosening of societal regulations. A connection is established between the sailor subculture of the 1920s and the criminal subculture of the early Soviet Union. It is shown that the Soviet transition to strict norms of appearance and behavior in the late 1920s–1930s also affected the sailor subculture, forcing its more distinctive manifestations underground. Thus, the study demonstrates that the sailor subculture evolved under the influence of socio-political processes in the country. While the consolidation of Soviet power suppressed many aspects of sailor subculture, it could not completely eliminate them.

This study addresses the significance of analyzing subcultures within Russian society in the context of broader socio-political transformations. The aim of the research is to explore the sailor subculture and how its development correlates with societal transformations in Russia. The study draws upon unpublished archival materials, published documents, periodical press sources, and memoirs of contemporaries. It adopts an interdisciplinary approach, utilizing comparative-historical and historical-genetic research methods, along with tools from social and political philosophy. Key elements of the sailor subculture are analyzed, including clothing and overall appearance, behavioral patterns, and tattoos. The study also examines the measures taken by the command of the Imperial Russian Navy and the Soviet Navy to combat the negative aspects of sailor subculture. The research concludes that the sailor subculture, which took shape in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries, underwent significant changes during the 1917 Revolution and the Civil War. These changes were influenced by shifts in the domestic political climate and the temporary loosening of societal regulations. A connection is established between the sailor subculture of the 1920s and the criminal subculture of the early Soviet Union. It is shown that the Soviet transition to strict norms of appearance and behavior in the late 1920s–1930s also affected the sailor subculture, forcing its more distinctive manifestations underground. Thus, the study demonstrates that the sailor subculture evolved under the influence of socio-political processes in the country. While the consolidation of Soviet power suppressed many aspects of sailor subculture, it could not completely eliminate them.

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