Петербургская научная школа. Новые книги по новейшей истории России
St. Petersburg Scientific School. New Books on Modern History of Russia
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St. Petersburg Scientific School. New Books on Modern History of Russia
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This article is devoted to the film “The Tsar” created by P. S. Lungin. The author of the article gives an analysis of the meanings of the director and actors about the film and images of characters, such as Ivan the Terrible, Metropolitan Philip, Maria Temryukovna. “The Tsar” is a religio-philosophical historical drama. It`s protagonists, Ivan the Terrible and Metropolitan Philip were greats and controversial persons related to the Renaissance. According to the meanings of P. S. Lungin and P. N. Mamonov, Ivan the Terrible, from the one side, was a cruel and ambitious of power ruler, but, from the other, was an idealistic scribe, who was waiting the Last Judgment with a trembling. He imagined himself as a God and judged and beheaded “traitors” and “heretics” as Jesus, to enter paradise only with the Russian righteous people. Metropolitan Philip was a naive and kind abbot of the Solovetsky monastery. In the period of Oprichnina, he appeared in Moscow and became a fighter against evil and despotism. The eschatological fight between good and evil ended in defeat of Ivan the Terrible and with victory of moral purity, spirituality, which were identified with Metropolitan Philip. This meaning of the film was misrepresented by adherents of the cult of Ivan the Terrible.
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Publication of the historical sources.
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The person at the center of this article (Lieutenant-General of the General Staff of the Russian Imperial Army — Nikolay Nikolaevich Stogov) was directly involved in the “White movement” from the end of 1919 through the evacuation of “White” Crimea in November 1920, during which time he served under the White generals A.I. Denikin and P.N. Wrangel. The “paradox” of the situation was in the fact that before he found himself in the camp of “Whites” (in Denikin Armed Forces of South Russia — AFSR), Stogov had served the Bolshevik regime quite earnestly between the Spring of 1918 and late Autumn 1919. Stogov held the executive post of Chief of the Workers and Peasants Red Army (WPRA) General Staff. The author of this article does not find any serious evidence that N. N. Stogov was an anti-Soviet “white agent”, who was conducting “subversive” activities in the WPRA ranks. What’s more, it appears to make sense that Stogov considered it reasonable to “try his luck” and defect to the “White” movement in the south of Russia after having been arrested twice during less than 2 years in the Red Army and after having seen his career ossify there. N. N. Stogov’s decision was not an exceptional one—more than a dozen Russian General Staff had experienced a similar fate, choosing to serve within the enemy camp during the Civil War (especially after 1919), some even managing to change “masters” more than once.
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Review on: Morozan V. V. “Delovaja zhizn' na juge Rossii v XIX–nachale XX veka”
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The article is devoted to the Academy of Sciences’ scientific communication with American institutions. By the 1880-s book exchanges had become constant and varied, had been governed by state authorities. The World War I and Revolution in Russia destroyed traditional book exchange channels. Scientific centers retained in the Limitrophe countries began playing an important role in academic publications dissemination. In June 1921 about 4 000 volumes of them (1913–1921) were delivered by A.V. Igelstremom from St. Petersburg to Helsinki. In the early years of the Soviet state he became one of the main agents of American research centers (Library of Congress, Hoover Institute, Columbia University) in the region. New York Public Library also had difficulties purchasing new Academy of Sciences publications. However due to their public status it had more freedom in selecting foreign partners. In the early 1920-s it established long-term book exchange programs with having survived Russian scientific institutions. In 1923–1924 its Slavic Department director A. Yarmolinsky visited Riga, Soviet Russia and Eastern Ukraine bringing back 9 000 volumes. Academicians’ trips to the United States, Soviet scientists’ participation in scientific congresses conducted in America contributed to the development of bilateral cooperation. Official projects increased after diplomatic recognition of the USSR in 1933. Since then American scientific institutions regularly received Academy of Sciences’ publications. Sovietization of the Academy of Sciences, arrests, expulsion and dismissal of its many staff members, strengthening of censorship and ideological control in the USSR negatively affected the development of Russian-American book exchange programs during that period.
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This article is dedicated to the problem of the counterfeiting of foodstuffs in Russia during World War I. It shows that during these years, many counterfeit products appeared on the consumer market. This problem was exacerbated by an undeveloped system of commercial and sanitary inspection, the absence of relevant laws and regulations, and the absence of developed standards for production, combined with widespread scarcity and high consumer prices. The counterfeiting of food products, which did not require any special investment, thus grew on a number of fronts, involving: substitution of lower grade products, the underweighting of the desired product, or the addition of admixtures to said product. Quality suffered as a result. Over time, counterfeiting changed as well, becoming more crude. Attempts at quality control on the communal level proved to be unsuccessful. The only alternative—state supervision of goods on the consumer food market and the publication of regulations concerning food standards and its composition — was only realized in Soviet Russia during the 1920-e years.
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The article provides an overview of research methods concerning the imaginary space of the city, which is connected to issues such as the mentality of urban inhabitants and the sites’s territorial and cultural identity. The interdisciplinary nature of such research is obvious, involving issues drawn from not only sociology and cultural anthropology, but also geography, urban anthropology, geohistory and other humanitarian fields. Each of these fields brings with it its own methods, making the research process more complex and creating a situation of methodological pluralism. Due to the diversity of research methods, first of all it proved important to determine the “dominant features” of the research object and then identify the usefulness of different research methods. In the case of the city of Vyborg, the most “dominant features” concerned its frontier location, its mixture of Swedish, Finnish and Russian histories, and its long isolation from important cultural and political systems due to the Russian-Finnish border. Border changes, made several times in the city’s history, precipitated major shifts in mentality and the formation of complex identities. This unusual dimension of the mentaity of Vyborg residents is described herein as an “identity dichotomy”.
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To the 60th anniversary of S. N. Poltorak.
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Review on: Ivanov A. A. “Pravye v russkom parlamente: ot krizisa k krahu (1914–1917)”
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After the expulsion from the Soviet Union in 1922 Russian intellectuals made significant efforts to establish a dialogue with French intellectuals. The symbol of this dialogue was the creation of “Franco-Russian studio”: 14 meetings in the period from 1929 to 1931 were attended. Stanislas Fumé and Jacques Maritain on the French side and B. Zaitsev, B. Poplawski, N. Berberova, N. Berdyaev, G. Fedotov from the Russian side took part in studio. Although the “studio” existed only several years, it had serious influence on Russian-French cultural dialogue development, especially by opening Russian religious philosophy to French. Though it is necessary to mention that not all French intellectuals were friendly to this dialogue – for example, Nikolay Berdiev’s view on East and West were not perceived by all. Journal “Chisla” (“Numbers”), based by poet N. Otsup, from 1932 to 1934 seeked to strengthening the positions of Russian literature in the context of French culture (“Paris Note”). Much later these two attempts at dialogue have borne results: the emergence of personalism in philosophy and the Christian Democratic Movement in politics. After the closing of “Chisla” the dialog between French and Russian emigrant cultures failed, though the “Noviy Put” (“New path”) journal made efforts on its development.
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This article is dedicated to the reinstatement of the death penalty at the front in July of 1917. The article reviews possible causes for the abolition of the death penalty in March of 1917. The article identifies the role of the June military advance and Tarnopolsky disaster in the reinstatement of the death penalty. The roles of L. G. Kornilov, A. F. Kerensky and M. M. Filonenko are also highlighted. Many of the main documents, orders and instructions related to this process are published in the article. Use of the death penalty at the front in the summer of 1917 is described on the basis of numerous memoirs and newspaper publications. The activity of military revolutionary courts and punitive detachments at the front is likewise treated. The author emphasizes cases of repression against soldiers and at the military units. Examples of court cases are given. On the basis of the examined death penalty cases, it is argued that the punishment was imposed inconsistently in 1917. Despite its high profile, application of the death penalty was minimal. At the same time this measure increased the likelihood of a new revolution explosion and became one of convincing reasons for the 1918 outbreak of violence.
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The Industrial Revolution brought the liberalization of the regime. It introduced new elements into the culture, which proved to be the source of a great cultural crisis. This crisis affected all spheres of human life, such as arts, economics, politics, and therefore impacted social consciousness. New social classes wanted power and they wanted to use it to determine the character of a new civilization. Interests of the old and new classes clashed with each other. Their cultures were not compatible, and neither were conceptions on administering the society. Thus, only an open battle could resolve that difficult situation. Although all claimed that they wanted peace, they began World War I. But it resulted not in peace but in preparation for another war. It turned out that the crisis in culture is the worst situation of the society.
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After the expulsion from the Soviet Union in 1922 Russian intellectuals making significant efforts to establish a dialogue with French intellectuals. The symbol of this dialogue was the creation of “Franco-Russian studio”: 14 meetings in the period from 1929 to 1931 were attended. In it took part including Stanislas Fumé and Jacques Maritain on the French side and B. Zaitsev, B. Poplawski, N. Berberova, N. Berdyaev, G. Fedotov from the Russian side. Although the “studia” existed only several years, it had serious influence on Russian-French cultural dialogue development, especially by opening Russian religious philosophy to French. Though it is necessary to mention that not all French intellectuals were friendly to this dialogue – for example, Nikolay Berdiev’s view on East and West were not perceived by all. Journal “Chisla” (“Numbers”), based by poet N. Otsup, from 1932 to 1934 seeks to strengthening of positions of Russian literature in the context of French culture (“Paris Note”). Much later these two attempts at dialogue have borne results: the emergence of personalism in philosophy and the Christian Democratic Movement in politics. After the closing of “Chisla” the dialog between French and Russian emigrant cultures weakens, though the “Noviy Put” (“New path”) journal made efforts on its development.
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The article is devoted to one of the most striking phenomena of World War I — the patriotic movement among students of Minsk province. The scale and significance of the war, the proximity of the front, the intensification of social life in the rear, the movement of refugees and wounded, and the example set by the departure of older students to the front — all contributed to a surge in patriotism and model behavior among Russian secondary school students. Grammar schools, colleges and seminaries demonstrated this unity of school and state, especially in the first period of the war, and were accompanied by popular patriotic enthusiasm and major waves of philanthropy.
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The article analyzes the memoirs and diaries of members of the French military mission — Jules Legras and Pierre Pascal — and provides information about the Russian Empire’s Western front and about military action on the territory of modern Belarus during the first years of the World War I. This front was not only one of the most important theaters of the war, but it also defended the strategic Smolensk-Moscow line. The front continued to exist even in the period of revolutionary upheaval, and the affairs that took place there were of the highest importance and exerted the greatest influence over the historical destinies of the countries involved in this conflict. One of the most important sources on this subject are the diaries and memoirs of the French officers who served with their country’s military mission in Russia during World War I. It was not for the first time and not just by chance that these writers appeared in Russia. J. Legras was a specialist in German studies and taught Russian on the university level; he had traveling all over Russia already in the 19th century. Legras was the author of popular books about the situation in Russia and this explains why he was sent as a propagandist to the front lines of the empire. His aim was to testify to France’s military potential among the Russians and assure them about the depth of French support. His memoirs describe the war and military action in detail. They are full of his thoughts about the structure of Russian Army and the positive and negative characteristics of the Russian soldier. Legras compared these subjects to their German analogs, as he was the author of work on the structure and peculiarities of the German Army and its intelligence operations. P. Pascal was much younger than Legras and a university graduate. After being wounded twice, he found himself deep in the Russian rear, occupied with propaganda, despite the fact that he would have preferred to return to combat. As Pascal had already visited Russia several times at the beginning of 20th century and spoke Russian fluently, he was sent to Russia as a member of French military mission. Unlike Legras, Pascal spent time in his memoirs not only analyzing current events, but also pondering the intricacies of the Russian soul, attempting to understand a country he loved and the Russian people who were suffering in this war. His “Russian Memoirs” are a kind of literary monument to Russia, a country that was deeply convulsed by war and revolution; they are an invaluable source for the intellectual history of that epoch. The personal documents of both writers reveal new facets of seemingly well-known events and personalities. The memoirs of Legras and Pascal are an invaluable source because they reflect the attitude of French officers from inside the Russian Empire’s military affairs. These memoirs contain not only detailed and unique descriptions of the Russian Empire
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In this article one of the most difficult periods in the history of the autocratic state is considered. Remembering the lessons of Russo-Japanese war, the state resorted to reforms of unprecedented scale — modernization of the navy and reorganization of the army. Between 1907 and the beginning of World War I, the leaders of the state and Duma discussed at the private meetings numerous expensive and long-term projects concerning the Baltic and Black Sea fleet, and also the rearmament of military units with modern weapons (heavy artillery, airplanes and airships, machine guns, etc.). Implementation of many of these plans was assigned to the military-industrial complex of St.Petersburg and the Petersburg military district. Having joined the international arms race in preparation for global war and the next redivision of world markets and spheres of influence, Russia became an important site of international espionage (involving, chiefly, Germany). In the wake of the Franco-Prussian war of 1870–1871 and the military conflict between Russia and Japan, German intelligence was one of the most skilled and powerful in Europe. The author of this article analyzes three types of German military espionage in St. Petersburg — the collection of military data under the cover of banking, publishing and journalism. Thanks to little-known contemporary records and information, which were found in journalistic publications at the beginning of the 20th century, it becomes possible to assess the opportunities and results that the enemy enjoyed. This article reveals evidence of large-scale, highly professional prewar German intelligence operations in the Russian capital.
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Publication of the historical sources.
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Publication of the historical sources.
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