Vol 18, No 3 (2019): TRANSNATIONAL ЕXCHANGE

IN THIS ISSUE

In this issue

Hessler J.

Abstract

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RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):488-493
pages 488-493 views

TRANSNATIONAL ЕXCHANGE

Impact of the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739 on the construction of relations between the Russian Empire and nomadic peoples of the Southern Urals and Central Asia (based on materials from Orenburg Expedition)

Dzhundzhuzov S.V., Lyubichankovskiy S.V.

Abstract

The article considers the pattern of relationship between the Russian Empire and the nomadic peoples of the Southern Urals and Central Asia in the 1730s. The authors study the impact of the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739 on the geopolitical situation in the southeastern frontier zone, and review the signifi cance of the Orenburg Expedition (Commission) to the settlement of confl icts among the steppe subjects of the empire as well as for preventing threats to them coming from neighboring states. The study is based on materials of the Orenburg Commission and the Orenburg Expedition preserved in the State Archive of the Orenburg region. The authors do not share the opinion that the Orenburg Expedition was founded exclusively as a mechanism of imperial colonial policy, but neither do they deny its role in expanding Russia’s protectorate into the Kazakh steppe, and later into Central Asia. During the war, Russia aimed at preventing Kazakh raids against the Kalmyk nomads, for such raids prevented the Kalmyks from participating in the campaigns against the Crimean and Kuban Tatars who fought alongside Turkey. The article shows that the Orenburg Expedition, whose few troops were involved in suppressing the Bashkir uprising, were only able to provide the Kalmyks with diplomatic support. The aggressive policy of the Dzungar Khanate, aimed at the conquest of Kazakhstan, prevented the Kazakh Zhuzhes from establishing military hegemony in the Ural steppes. Only the fi rm stance of Russia, which declared its readiness to protect its Kazakh subjects, made the Dzungar ruler Goldan-Tseren renounce his claims to the Kazakh steppes. The authors conclude that the policy of Russia in this region was to prevent prolonged military confl icts among the steppe peoples while at the same time neutralizing any attempts at their military unifi cation. Russia assumed the role of a peacemaker, and, in the case of external threat, of a reliable ally; this raised the authority of the empire and forced the nomads to seek its patronage and submit to its will.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):494-524
pages 494-524 views

From Sloboda province to Kharkov governorate: the reform of administrative-territorial structure of Sloboda Ukraine in 1780

Khitrov D.A.

Abstract

The present article investigates the implementation of the 1775 provincial reform on the territory of the Kharkiv namestnichestvo (viceroyalty). The provincial reform entailed a restructuring of the entire system of local government. These issues are of particular interest in contact zones, territories with heterogeneous populations, where social structures and administrative units of diff erent historical origins coexisted. One of these is the territory of Sloboda Ukraine, where until the opening of the Kharkiv namestnichestvo in 1780, the uezd division, characteristic of territories occupied by Russian colonization, was combined with the Ukrainian regimental structure that dated back to the second half of the 17th century. On the basis of maps and lists of settlements dating from the 1770s-1780s, the author reconstructed the maps of the administrative division of the territory of Kharkiv namestnichestvo before and after the reform. Before the reform the lands were organized in four regiments ( polks ) and seven districts ( uezds ), all with clearly defi ned boundaries. At the opening of the namestnichestvo , 15 uezds were created; the boundaries changed greatly, but each of the uezd centers preserved a signifi cant part of the land that had been associated with it earlier. The article demonstrates that after the reform, 13 of the 15 uezd towns were former regimental towns and villages. This seems to refl ect the gradual increase in infl uence of the Sloboda Cossack elite, which by this time was seeking recognition of its noble status and becoming the dominant social force in the region.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):525-539
pages 525-539 views

Crimea in the Era of Napoleon: the ‘French trace’ in regional politics

Konkin D.V.

Abstract

When the Crimea acquired the status of Russian territory in 1783, it became an imperial ‘borderland’ a long way from Saint Petersburg. However, in the geopolitical aspirations of European powers, and, also, from the viewpoint of the Russian Empire, the Crimea was not a remote periphery. The Russian government consistently sought to attract colonists from abroad to the thinly-populated Black Sea region. Several attempts to do so ended in failure; one of these was the organization of farming colonies at the Sea of Azov for French royalist emigrants and military men from Condé’s army. In the era of Napoleon, France paid particular attention to the peninsula; in the complicated foreign policy conditions, France did not miss any opportunity to reconnoitre the internal situation of this potentially unstable province of Russia, with the goal to infl uence the position of the Ottomans towards this territory which at that time was largely populated by Muslims. The author emphasizes that an important aspect of Napoleon’s foreign policy was supporting anti-Russian sentiment in the Ottoman Empire. One of the obvious means to achieve this goal was focusing on the Crimea issue and promising assistance for returning the peninsula into the Ottoman sphere of infl uence. The Russian authorities did not neglect these attempts and countered them skilfully. The author argues that the success of Russia’s policy in the Crimea was mainly related to certain Frenchmen in Russian service. During the Russian-Ottoman confl ict of 1806-1812, the military and administrative measures conducted by Armand de Richelieu, the Governor of New Russia, and Jean de Traversay, the commander of the Black Sea Navy, became an important factor for providing a stable situation within the peninsula.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):540-559
pages 540-559 views

The Persian community in Vladikavkaz: preserving ethnic identity in an alien cultural environment

Kanukova Z.V., Tuaeva B.V.

Abstract

On the basis of archival sources and materials taken from periodical press, the authors investigate the history of the Persian diaspora in Ossetia. The article discusses the causes of Persian migration to Ossetia, which began in the second half of the 19th century; their settlement and adaptation processes; and mechanisms of intra-ethnic consolidation. The authors identify the means Persians used to adapt to the economy of the host society, in particular by fi nding economic niches in industry, craft, trade, and domestic services, and analyze their integration into new economic forms of urban lifestyle. Ethnic entrepreneurship emerges as the foundation of Persian community life. The article investigates the diaspora’s infrastructure, including the Persian Consulate, a Shiite mosque, the Persian school Navruz , the charitable society Himmat , and several other institutions. In general, for most minority communities the place of worship becomes the focus point of intraethnic consolidation and preservation of national identity, especially when the community is not simply ethnic but rather ethno-confessional. In the Persian community, however, the main regulatory and communicative functions were performed by the Consulate. The authors argue that the prominence of the Consulate resulted from the uncertain status of the mosque, from the fact that Shiite worshippers came from various nationalities, and from the confl icts among them. The authors examine the degree of preservation of traditional Persian culture in festive and ceremonial life, community behavior, and relations with the motherland. They identify how the Persian community integrated into the socio-cultural environment of poly-ethnic Vladikavkaz through trade relations, everyday contacts, and other means.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):560-588
pages 560-588 views

Transboundary nomadism in the USSR in the 1920s

Sinitsyn F.L.

Abstract

Abstarct: In the context of the history of migration processes among nomadic peoples, the present article studies transboundary nomadism between the USSR and neighboring countries in the 1920s as well as the Soviet policy on these processes. The author discusses the border areas of the east and south of the USSR and such neighboring states as China, Mongolia, Tuva, Afghanistan, and Persia. The article is written on a broad source base, which includes both published and unpublished documents identifi ed by the author in the Russian State Military Archives (RGVA), the Russian State Archives of Socio-Political History (RGASPI) and the Aginsky Branch of the State Archives of the Trans-Baikal Territory (AFGAZK). The article demonstrates the important strategic role of border nomadic regions, in particular, of Buryatia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan. After the 1917 revolutionary events in Russia, migrations from these territories were motivated not only by economic but also by political reasons, with the nomads escaping from state control and subsequently participating in anti-Soviet uprisings and in the Basmachi movement. The author argues that the Soviet leadership was eager to uphold the status quo on its borderlands. By the 1930s the USSR established full control over migration processes, minimizing or completely eliminating the transboundary nomadism. This was framed as a question of securing the state´s borders against a capitalist environment, but also of preventing the penetration of hostile ideology from abroad.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):589-604
pages 589-604 views

Russian émigré life in France as covered by Soviet literary magazines of the first half of the 1920s

Ryabova L.K., Kosorukova M.I.

Abstract

The authors consider the problem in which extent did the Bolshevik authorities allow a coverage of Russian émigré life and work in France, under conditions of ideological confrontation and censorship. The present study is based on materials of Soviet literary and socio-political magazines such as Book and Revolution and Krasnaya Nov’ of the fi rst half of the 1920s. These journals off ered chronicles of events, literary reviews, information in special sections (‘In the West,’ ‘Relations with Russia,’ ‘Russian literature and art abroad,’ and particularly in the section ‘France’) that off ered a fairly complete picture of cultural events in France and activities of Russian émigrés in the country. Characteristic was the reproduction of large fragments of works authored by emigrant authors, which acquainted readers with the development of emigrant thought of that time. The article concludes that with regard to the fi rst half of the 1920s, we can speak about a kind of dialogue between the Russian intelligentsia in France and that in Soviet Russia. This communication was not always politicized and often remained in the fi eld of literature and art theory. In those years the cultural life of France in general was subject of constant attention. It is argued that most publications on French literature and art were free from ideology, thereby continuing the tradition of pre-revolutionary cultural relations between the two countries.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):605-618
pages 605-618 views

The First Russian Ethnographic Expedition to Ceylon and India (1914-1918)

Kotina I.Y., Krasnodembskaya N.G., Soboleva E.S.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the history, itinerary and achievements of the First Russian Ethnographic Expedition to Ceylon and India (1914-1918). Based on archival material and rare publications the article gives insight into the history of this, little known, expedition and provides new biographical information about its participants, Gustav Hermann Christian Meerwarth (also known as Alexander Mikhailovich Meerwarth) and Lyudmila Alexandrovna Meerwarth. Their achievements are placed in the context of transnational contacts of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography. The authors of the article show the importance of transnational contacts of the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography for the success of the First Russian Ethnographic Expedition and the development of Russian Indology and ethnography in 1920-1930s.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):619-641
pages 619-641 views

The geography of Nicholas Roerich’s travels in Ceylon (on the basis of the artist’s writings and paintings)

Senasinghe R.D.

Abstract

This article discusses Nicholas Roerich´s travel to Ceylon as part of his Central Asian expedition of 1923 -1928, which is a less-known episode in the biography of the artist and thinker. Roerich’s stays in India, Bhutan, Manchuria, China and other countries are already well known, but his visit to Ceylon has not yet been subject to research. One important question pertains to chronology: while Roerich´s diaries establish that he was on the island in 1923, his letters from December 1923 indicate that at the time of writing he was in India. Solving this issue is one purpose of this article. On Roerich’s map of his Central Asian Expedition, Ceylon is marked as a point of stay, yet without specifying the particular places of his visit. This article reconstructs the route of Nicholas Roerich’s trip to Ceylon during which he established contacts and spiritual ties with representatives of religious and secular circles of this island. The present study is based on Roerich´s documents of personal origin, as well as on visual materials from the cycle ‘Ashram’ that the artist created during his visit to Ceylon.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):642-660
pages 642-660 views

ARTICLES

The role of the Russian government in the development of Caspian Sea trade with Persia in the second half of the 19th - early 20th century

Kornoukhova G.G.

Abstract

This article based on a large body of published and unpublished documents from the Foreign Policy Archive of the Russian Empire (AVPRI). The author analyzes the policy of the tsarist government regarding the development of merchant shipping on the Caspian Sea, and determines its eff ectiveness in the framework of Russian-Persian economic ties in the second half of the 19th and the early 20th centuries. Special attention is paid to the public discourse on the need for borrowing the Western European model for the development of maritime navigation, as well as to the conditions of navigation in the Caspian area in accordance with the natural characteristics and the available port facilities. Also examined are the volume of trade between Russia and Persia, the activities of Russian shipping enterprises, their interaction among themselves, and the state’s intervention in these aff airs. The author concludes that the government´s policy yielded ambiguous results. After pushing for the introduction of steamboats and Liner Service on the Caspian Sea, the tsarist government decided to support only one transport company, the ‘Kavkaz i Merkuriy’, which then swallowed its competitors. Ultimately, the authorities’ investment strategy led to the monopoly and domination of one company, which played a negative role in the development of merchant shipping on the Caspian Sea.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):661-682
pages 661-682 views

The training of production personnel at industrial enterprises of Ulyanovsk region during the Great Patriotic War

Khapaev E.A., Chukanov I.A.

Abstract

On the basis of previously unstudied archival documents this article reveals the multifaceted and multidimensional activities which the country’s top leadership as well as the leaders of the Middle Volga (Samara) region and Ulyanovsk district (from 1943 renamed Ulyanovsk region) unfolded for mobilizing work force for the military industry of Ulyanovsk region. In the shortest possible time, just within one year, under conditions of shortage in housing, production areas, raw materials, and skilled personnel, they managed not only to redirect practically all industrial enterprises in the city of Ulyanovsk and the Ulyanovsk district towards the war eff ort, but also to integrate several dozens of evacuated enterprises, to provide them with production areas, and to accommodate thousands of employees as well as their family members. By the summer of 1942, all these enterprises had started to work at full capacity; they considerably increased deliveries of all things needed at the front, thus making a considerable contribution to ensuring a radical change in the course of the war in 1943. The authors conclude that this success resulted from the eff ective work of central and local authorities, as well as of the directorates of the defense enterprises, in the fi eld of training of highly skilled specialists. New vocational schools were set up, in addition to technical schools and production classes at general schools. Moreover, successful measures were taken to motivate the youth for highly productive work. The authors emphasize that the heads of the enterprises organized eff ective training directly at the workplaces. The work with production staff was accompanied by well-organized ideological and educational work at the enterprises which in due time allowed to prevent provocations aimed at disrupting the military production in this critical period of the war. In particular, the article points to the successful management of the textile industry and cloth factories for increasing labor productivity and establishing labor discipline in teams.

RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):683-698
pages 683-698 views

BOOK REVIEW

Brandenberger, David L. Krizis stalinskogo agitpropa: propaganda, politprosveshcheniye i terror v SSSR, 1927-1941 [Crisis of Stalin’s agitprop: propaganda, political education and terror in the USSR, 1927-1941]. Moscow: Politicheskaya encyclopedia Publ., 2017., 367 p

Georgieva N.G.

Abstract

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RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):699-709
pages 699-709 views

Gentshke, Valeria L., Sabennikova, Irina V., and Lovtsov, Alexander S. The researchers of Russian Diaspora: biobibliographical reference book. Moscow; Berlin: Direct-Media Publ., 2018, 396 p

Vaisman D.G.

Abstract

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RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):710-713
pages 710-713 views

Bekkin, Renat I. A.E. Shmidt: biografiya, nauchnaya perepiska, izbrannyye trudy, bibliografiya [A.E. Schmidt: biography, scientific correspondence, selected works, bibliography]. Moscow: Sadra Publ., 2018. 504 p

Brezhneva S.N.

Abstract

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RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):714-719
pages 714-719 views

Korzun, V.P., Bychkov, S.P., and Alevras, N.N., eds., Mir istorika:istoriograficheskiy sbornik [The world of the historian: a historiographic collection]. Issue 12. Omsk: Omsk State University Publishing House, 2019. 512 p

Sidorov A.V.

Abstract

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RUDN Journal of Russian History. 2019;18(3):720-725
pages 720-725 views

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