Vol 18, No 1 (2019): THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VERSAILLES PEACE. THE GREAT WAR’S ECHO IN RUSSIA

ARTICLES

IN THIS ISSUE

Schimmelpenninck van der Oye D.
RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(1):8-10
pages 8-10 views

THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VERSAILLES PEACE. THE GREAT WAR’S ECHO IN RUSSIA

Russian Military Construction Against the Background of Militarization of her Allies and Opponents, and its Trial by War

Volkova I.V.

Abstract

The author analyses Russian military reforms of the late 19th and early 20thcenturies and their influence on the efficiency of the army and the behavior of the lower ranks in military action. Strategic failures of the national army in the early twentieth century are explained by the fact that even in the modernized armed forces military service was not the same for all groups of citizens. These aspects of the Russian experience are compared to military reforms among the Great War’s other belligerents. The notion of the military as ‘the armed nation’ came in two variants. In Great Britain, the 1916 law on universal conscription and the effective mobilization of the civilian population became possible due to the high levels of public support for the political system, the proclaimed values of their country, and a national-civil identity. The German model, by contrast, was built on the foundation not of political integration but of the nation’s identification with its army. Russia chose this model but was unable consistently to implement it, primarily because of the extremely low literacy rate among the lower social classes. The low quality of recruits made it necessary to maintain long periods of service for most of the lower ranks. This resulted in a lack of loyalty on the side of the conscripts, and in a negative attitude not only towards military service but also towards the state that established the heavy standards of military duty. The feeling of social injustice was reinforced by the spartan regime that lower class soldiers encountered, while well-educated conscripts - as a rule, from the upper strata of Russian society - were treated better. This discontent increased during the unsuccessful war, further alienating the mass of the conscripts from autocracy and its army.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(1):11-30
pages 11-30 views

Demobilizing the Romanian Front in Winter 1917-1918 and the Fate of Russian Military Property in Moldova and Bessarabia

Os’kin M.V.

Abstract

The article deals with the Bessarabian question after 1917, as well as the demobilization of the Russian armies on the Romanian front. The fate of Bessarabia, which Romanian troops occupied in January 1918, depended on agreements between various foreign governments. Thus, Bessarabia was under Romanian rule even before the Treaty of Versailles, and it was incorporated into the Romanian Kingdom after World War I. As the front collapsed and Russian troops there were demobilized, their commanders tried to keep their country’s military property in the border areas of Moldova. Indeed, Russian generals made every effort to stabilize the situation in the Southwestern region in 1917 and 1918. However, in the face of their weakness, the Russians were not permitted to keep such property, not to mention their erstwhile Bessarabian province. The author concludes that Russian occupation of Romanian territory was inevitably fated to end because of its military weakness and civil war.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(1):31-49
pages 31-49 views

The Russian-Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the Urals during the Russian Civil War (1918-1919)

Dmitriev N.I.

Abstract

This article examines the economic cooperation between representatives of the Czechoslovak Republic and the governments in the Urals during the Russian Civil War to restore production, supply industrial enterprises, and solve social problems. This relationship began in summer 1918 with to the establishment of the Technical Department of the Czech troops in the region. The Russian-Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Ural region operated in Yekaterinburg from January to July 1919. The article’s research is based on a wide range of previously unpublished holdings in the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (thereafter - AMZV ČR). These documents are particularly important given the paucity of relevant sources in Russia. The author demonstrates that this bilateral cooperation, resolved many issues, including the establishment of governing bodies. Geographically, the Chamber’s area of responsibility in the Urals included Perm, Vyatka, Ufa, and Orenburg provinces and the Turgay region. The Chamber had its own branches and appointed correspondents almost everywhere. At the same time, it gradually increased the number of participants and expanded its practical activities, thus actively helping to restore industry in the Urals. The author concludes that the Russian-Czechoslovak Chamber of Commerce and Industry laid the foundation for future cooperation between Czechoslovakia and liberated Russia. Even the Czechoslovaks’ subsequent rejection of military support to the government of Admiral A.V. Kolchak did not halt economic cooperation, which both Russian industrialists and the Czechoslovak representatives supported.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(1):50-66
pages 50-66 views

Bolshevik Engineering of the “New Man” in the Early Soviet Period: Theoretical Bases, Political and Ideological Priorities, Evolution of Approaches

Porshneva O.S.

Abstract

The article examines theoretical preconditions, as well as the political and ideological priorities of Bolshevik efforts to engineer of the “New Man” in the early Soviet period. The author shows the Marxist origins of the Bolshevik project and their transformation in the works of V.I. Lenin and other leaders of the Communist Party and the Soviet state. It describes the principal mechanisms and tools used to design the New Man, as well as practice of social mobilization and exposure to the political culture of Bolshevism. Emphasis is given to the role of the legacy of World War I in the Bolshevik institutionalization of social engineering, coercion and violence to create new human material . The article also shows disagreements among the Bolshevik leadership during the period from 1917 until the late 1920s regarding the ways of designing the New Man in the context of the proletarian culture, the role of the moral character concept for an ideal communist person as the builder of new society. Analysis is given to the gender aspect of the problem, the Bolshevik vision of the ways to design the New Woman and reshape the old way of life. The article traces the transformation of the Bolshevik leadership’s vision of the New Man and the New Woman throughout the 1920s and 1930s. The author singles out two stages in the Bolshevik engineering of the New Man in the early Soviet period (1917 - mid-1920s, late 1920s - mid-1930s), and describes the project’s evolution.
RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(1):67-84
pages 67-84 views

The French Journalist René Marchand: Some Facts about “Soviet Russia’s Friend”

Galkina Y.M.

Abstract

This article is devoted to the life, political views and activities of Le Figaro correspondent René Marchand (1888-1962). Marchand became widely known in Soviet Russia thanks to his open letter to French President Raymond Poincaré in 1918, which criticized the republic’s policy vis-à-vis Moscow as well as acts of sabotage by the Allies. The missive became an important episode in the confrontation between the Entente’s special services and the young Bolshevik regime. French and Russian historians tend to argue that the French journalist’s sympathies turned to socialism and Bolshevism in 1918. However, they generally pay little attention the French Left in Soviet Russia. Based on research in French diplomatic and military archives at Courneuve and Vincennes, respectively, the author concludes that René Marchand was a multi-faceted individual and the nature of his sympathies to the Bolsheviks remains questionable

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(1):85-100
pages 85-100 views

Russian Troops in France and the Balkans (1916-1918) in the Historical Memory of the 20th - early 21st Centuries

Chiniakov M.K.

Abstract

This article examines efforts to preserve the historical memory of Russian soldiers who fell in France, the Balkans and Africa during the Great War. Based on a wide range of sources, it discusses various aspects memory preservation, including research, the installation of monuments, the main military necropolises in France and the Balkans, relevant associations, as well as producing historical documentaries and museum exhibitions. The author discusses the monuments in Saint-Hilaire-Le-Grand, Laval and at the Holy Cross hospital near Toulon, as well as more recent memorials in Courcy, Brest, and Marseilles. He devotes special attention to the grave of the Russian Legion’s padre. The article Ralso addresses three documentary films about the Russian expeditionary corps: “20 Thousand Useless Men”, “They Fought in France”, and “The Stolen Victory”. At the same time, it considers efforts to preserve the memory of the Russian troops who fought in the Balkans, which already began in 1917, when the commander of the 2nd Special Infantry Brigade organised a team to preserve the graves of the soldiers who fell there in battle. Meanwhile, Russian diplomats helped to build monuments in Greece and Macedonia.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(1):101-124
pages 101-124 views

The Fate of World War I Combatants in the History of the Russian Diaspora

Bocharova Z.S.

Abstract

Abstact: This article studies the fate of World War I veterans in the Russian diaspora. The author discusses the settlement of former combatants, assistance by émigré organisations, and historical memory. Her research relies on a broad source base, including archival and published documents, as well as émigré periodicals. The article demonstrates that the former combatants were scattered in various countries and included prisoners of war, officials of the Russian Expeditionary Corps, as well as the members of the White movement. She concludes that, in contrast to Soviet Russia, the Russian diaspora sought to commemorate the “bearers of Russian honour” and perpetuate the memory of their exploits with memorials to those died in foreign lands.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(1):125-150
pages 125-150 views

World War I in Private and Corporate Collections of Russia and the Russian Expatriate Community

Katagoshchina M.V.

Abstract

This article looks at the formation and fate of the private and museum collections of the history of World War I that emerged in Russia during the conflict, as well as subsequently in the émigré community. Already shortly after the outbreak of hostilities, Russian individuals and museums began to organise collections of relevant memorabilia, which they saw as their duty to future generations. After the 1917 Revolution, the museums and the most significant private collections, particularly that of M.S. Vorobev, led to the establishment of museums in the RSFSR. However, private collection of artefacts related to the military history of old Russia were illegal. By contrast, between 1920 and 1980, Russian émigré organisations in France, Czechoslovakia, the USA, especially those of former officers, actively gathered medals, weapons, banners and other relics, as well as photos and documents from the Great War. At the turn of the 21st century, these collections became an important part of the common memorial space in both Russia and Russia Abroad.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(1):151-181
pages 151-181 views

BOOK REVIEW

pages 182-186 views

SCHOLARLY LIFE

Russia and Italy in the Dialogue of Cultures. Scientific and Public Round Table to the 110th Commemorative Date of the Tragedy in Messina. September 25, 2018, Messina, Italy

Talalay M.G., Chimanskaia K.

Abstract

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RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(1):187-193
pages 187-193 views

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