Historical and cultural vandalism and the turn of eras: Yekaterinburg on the eve of the revolution

The article discusses the phenomenon of historical and cultural vandalism in Yekaterinburg during the period leading up to the 1917 Revolution. The aim of this research is to analyze anti-commemorative vandal practices aimed at devaluing and belittling the symbols of power of the emperor and the ruling house, as an important marker of the breakdown of moral principles, transformation of historical memory, and significant ideological changes in society. The article analyzes statistical data on criminal offenses considered by the Yekaterinburg District Court from 1910 to 1916, as well as materials from criminal cases containing elements of vandalism and insults to the person of the emperor and his family. It also examines periodicals published in the Urals from 1910 to 1917. For the first time, new historical sources have been introduced into scientific circulation. These include statistical information from the Annual Reports of the Yekaterinburg District Court for 1910, 1914 and 1915, the Report on the number and types of crimes in the district of the Yekaterinburg District Court for 1912, and the Report on the activities of judicial bailiffs assigned to the district court in 1916. The study employed an interdisciplinary approach, and used methods of historical, legal and statistical analysis. The author concludes that the Urals on the eve of the 1917 Revolution was an indicative region in terms of desacralizing tsarist power and losing the special divine status of the ruling house. This occurred against a backdrop of information silencing and the absence of harsh public censure. One form of expression of this ideological breakdown in society was acts of historical and cultural vandalism.