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Space Weather and Social Instability: Verifying D.O. Svyatskii and A.L. Chizhevskii’s Research Findings as a Case Study of the 12th–17th Centuries

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Abstract—

This work investigates the relationship between episodes of social instability in Europe during the 12th–17th centuries and solar activity, i.e., space-weather variations. For data, it employs indices of social instability after P. Sorokin, recovered Wolf numbers, and statistics on aurora borealis and sunspots seen by the naked eye. It has been found that events analogous to revolutions are recorded upon 2 or 3 years on average after the occurrence of the 11-year solar-cycle maximum. The same effect has been revealed for large-scale faith-based conflicts and episodes of pathological ferocity. The findings agree with Svyatskii and Chizhevskii’s hypothesis about an existence of psychotropic factor controlled by the space weather. The physical nature of the latter is discussed using the interdisciplinary approach. Magnetosphere and ionosphere radio waves of extremely low frequency and infrasound appear to be the acting agents.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank many of our colleagues for valuable comments in the discussion of the material presented in the article. We would like to acknowledge A.M. Kulinichenko (Vernadskii Crimean Federal University) for helpful advice and assistance in computations and K.N. Shul’man (Vernadskii Crimean Federal University) for his contribution to compiling a list of revolutions. We are grateful to M.V. Meresidi (Franko Library, Simferopol) for the opportunity to obtain access to important bibliographical sources.

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  1. Vernadskii Crimean Federal University, 295007, Simferopol, Republic of Crimea, Russia

    B. M. Vladimirsky

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“If the brain of man picks up radiations which originate outside, then how are these external fluctuations reflected on human psyche?… It seems to us that we should not underestimate the significance of these influences.” M. Zoshchenko. Before Sunrise: A Novella. Ardis, 1974, trans. by Gary Kern, p. 314

Translated by E. Kuznetsova

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Vladimirsky, B.M. Space Weather and Social Instability: Verifying D.O. Svyatskii and A.L. Chizhevskii’s Research Findings as a Case Study of the 12th–17th Centuries. Izv. Atmos. Ocean. Phys. 56, 1359–1375 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001433820110109

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