Less Childbearing? The Varied Paths of the Fertility Transition in the Don Army Territory (Southern Russia),1867–1916

Abstract

The Don Army Territory 1867–1916 brought together seven denominational groups, spread across cities and rural areas with contrasting economies. The trajectories of legitimate fertility proved diverse: While urban Orthodox and those in the Lower Don, rural Old Believers, and rural Armenian-Gregorians maintained a high fertility level until 1916, urban Jews, urban Catholics, and urban Armenian-Gregorians showed low fertility. Upper Don Orthodox slowly were reducing their fertility; Buddhists remained at an intermediate level; and Lutherans’ fertility declined in spite of wide fluctuations. These curves and the analysis of short-term fluctuations confirm the precedence of the mortality decline, but put into perspective the effects of urbanization, geography, literacy, and social stratum. They highlight the gradual divergence between the fertility trajectories of Orthodox Cossacks and those of Orthodox peasants. They show the scission that occurred among Armenian-Gregorians. These fertility trajectories do not reveal a single mechanism after the mortality decline, but, depending on the group, intertwine historical events, social conformity, women's latitude to decide, isolation or rallying, and the dilemma between tradition and the aspiration for modernity.