Herald of an Archivist最新文献

{"title":"Operation “Bracelet”: British Colonel E. Jacob on W. Churchill’s Visit to Moscow in August 1942","authors":"Irina V. Bystrova","doi":"10.28995/2073-0101-2023-3-804-822","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2023-3-804-822","url":null,"abstract":"The article presents the first Russian publication of a part of the diary of Edward Jacob devoted to the visit of the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to Moscow and to his talks with the leader of the USSR Joseph Stalin in August 1942. This visit was of a great importance for establishing personal contact between the leaders of two countries, which was necessary for the Allies’ cooperation during World War II. The subject of the research is diary of Edward Jacob (1899-1993), who was Military Assistant Secretary to the War Cabinet in 1939-46. The document is stored in the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge in personal collection of Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Ian Claude Jacob. Publication of the documents in Russian is being made for the first time; it is justified by the necessity of advanced study of the Soviet-British relations and their influence on the course of World War II. This source contains an original version of events perception by their immediate participant, as reflected in diary records. The major method of research is content analysis of the diary, which makes it possible to detail events connected with Churchill’s visit, to reconstruct the image of Stalin, his environment, common Russian people, and day-to-day life in Russia and in Kremlin in perceptions of a foreigner, the British officer. Jacob’s diary contains original travel notes on his flight over the territory of the USSR, meetings and talks between Churchill and Stalin. Jacob also compiled brief summaries of information, in particular, on Churchill’s arrival to Moscow and the course of his talks with Stalin, which the author of the diary didn’t witness personally. Analysis of the diary text shows that he received his information directly from Churchill, and his interpretation of events is colored by emotional perceptions of the Prime Minister. W. Churchill considered personal contact with J. V. Stalin absolutely necessary for mutual actions during the war. Description of the banquet procedure in Kremlin, also reflected in other national and foreign sources (records of talks from both sides, memoirs of W. A. Harriman, A. Cadogan, etc.), makes it possible to reconstruct “Stalin’s court etiquette” and observations on Stalin’s personality in the perceptions of the diary’s author, distinct from the contents of other sources. Study of Jacob’s diary leads to the conclusion that, despite serious contradictions, which had appeared initially between the two leaders, the contact was re-established in the meetings on August, 14-16, and the change of interpreters helped. The work is of an interest for researchers studying the history of international relations and anti-Hitler coalition, as well as for all interested in the events of World War II.","PeriodicalId":41551,"journal":{"name":"Herald of an Archivist","volume":"18 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136207733","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"To Publication History of Nikolai I. Kareev’s Brochure “Southern Slavs and Italy on the Adriatic”","authors":"I. Bogomolov","doi":"10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-172-183","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-172-183","url":null,"abstract":"The article publishes correspondence concerning publication of a pamphlet by the famous Russian historian, Nikolai Ivanovich Kareev (1850–1931) “Southern Slavs and Italy on the Adriatic.” It was to be published in the series “World War and Slavic Questions.” The compilers intended the series to increase the knowledge in the Russian society about the “Slavic question” and its prospects after the war. In particular, they supported the idea of uniting the Czechs and Slovaks into a Czechoslovak state and expanding the borders of Serbia, both at the expense of Austro-Hungarian territories. Kareev held to a similar point of view in his brochure, based primarily on historical facts. Written in the summer of 1916, this work reflected his views on the course of the war and the future post-war world order. In the question of the fate of Austrian Istria and Dalmatia, Kareev actually supported the Serbian side, seeing no reason for Italy to acquire these lands after the victory over the Central Powers. At the stage of censoring, the essay encountered some obstacles. According to the existing procedure, the Petrograd Committee for Press Affairs (which also dealt with military censorship) sent essays on foreign policy topics to the Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for review. In August 1916, Kareev’s manuscript was received there. After reviewing it, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Anatoly Neratov advised to postpone the publication of the brochure, as it raised difficult questions and might have caused discontent of Italian allies of Russia. The manuscript was “stuck” in the censorship committee for two months, and Kareev tried to solve the problem by contacting the head of the Second Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, baron Boris Nolde, who, in his turn, advised him to write a personal letter to Neratov. In his letter, Kareev assured Neratov that there was nothing “offensive” in the brochure; it was written in “objectively scientific” language; the facts had been published and discussed not only in England and France, but also in Italy. Kareev also asked Neratov for a personal meeting to convey his arguments. It is possible that the meeting actually took place, because a week later the director of the Press and Information Department, Alexander Lysakovsky, informed the chairman of the Petrograd Press Committee, Nikolai Levitsky, that the Foreign Ministry no longer had any complaints against Kareev’s brochure and it could be published. The published documents show the mechanism of censoring essays on foreign policy topics in Russia during the First World War. In addition, N.I. Kareev’s letter is now introduced into scientific use, supplementing his extensive epistolary legacy.","PeriodicalId":41551,"journal":{"name":"Herald of an Archivist","volume":"9 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69386120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regional Organization of the RCP (B) of the Votyak Autonomous Oblast in 1921–23: Difficulties of Formation Process. Based on Archival Materials","authors":"Yuri N. Timkin","doi":"10.28995/2073-0101-2023-2-516-526","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2023-2-516-526","url":null,"abstract":"The author draws on archival materials of the State Archive of Social and Political History of the Udmurt Republic and Central State Archive of the Kirov Region to study formation and development of the Votyak (Udmurtian) regional organization of the RCP (B) in 1921–23. The article is to analyze the process of formation of the Votyak regional organization of the RCP (B) and to identify its specifics. The author reveals specific features of the process of organization formation and analyses the conflict between “Glazovites” and “Izhevskites,” “locals” and “appointees.” The novelty lies in the fact that it is the first attempt since 1991 to analyze objectively the process of formation of regional organization of the RCP (B). The article is written on archival material using principle of historicism and historical institutionalism. The Votyak regional organization of the RCP (B) was formed in January 1921, shortly after the autonomous region emergence. The specific features of social and national development of the region sprang from the fact that Izhevsk population was proletarian (mainly Russian), while Glazov population was non-proletarian and Udmurt. It was on this basis that the two opposing groups were formed. Lack of trained party workers in Soviet structures manifested itself in lack of trained Udmurt party workers. The Central Committee circulars demanded their participation in order to be mindful of local specifics. The situation worsened due to famine in many regions of the country and negative results of the New Economic Policy. Shortage of trained party workers resulted in greater responsibility of local party elite from the Udmurt intelligentsia. In 1921, a conflict between “Glazovites” and “Izhevskites” broke out, paralyzing the work of the party organization in 1922–23. The Central Committee repeatedly and vainly tried to resolve the conflict. The situation was defused by transfer of the party workers. Analysis of formation of the regional organization of the RCP (B) has shown that from the very beginning it faced great difficulties, as it consisted of two parts: one part was peasant in its social composition and ethnically Udmurtian, second part was workers and predominantly Russian. Having removed most active and irreconcilable supporters of both groups from leadership, the Central Committee replaced them by loyal party workers. The new party leadership, headed by Grigory Aronshtam, started the policy of korenizatsiya or rooting regional Soviet and party apparatus in 1924–26, in fact, implementing many of the proposals put forward by Trofim Borisov and his supporters.","PeriodicalId":41551,"journal":{"name":"Herald of an Archivist","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69388337","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Archival Documents of the All-Russian Guardianship of the Maternity and Infancy Protection as a Source for Studying the Social Policies in the 1910s-1918","authors":"N. Mitsyuk","doi":"10.28995/2073-0101-2023-2-616-627","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2023-2-616-627","url":null,"abstract":"The relevance of the study springs from searching for an optimal model of family policy in modern Russia. Research of history of family policy focuses on social transformations in the Soviet period. Contribution of social experiments of the early 20th century is underestimated. New archival documents are rarely involved. The article is to assess the archival potential of fonds and documents of the All-Russian Guardianship of the Maternity and Infancy Protection for studying social family policy and creation of a new system of social assistance in the field of maternity and childhood protection in the 1910s. The key methodological concepts are approaches of social history of medicine, which permit to consider the impact of development of the institute of medicine on social and everyday spheres of life. The main method is content analysis of archival documents and fond series, containing materials on the activities of the Guardianship. The authors have worked with fonds of the Russian State Historical Archive (fond 767), the State Archive of the Russian Federation (fond 1795), the Central State Historical Archive of St. Petersburg (fonds 19, 255, 469). The study of the Guardianship documents has shown that main directions of social policy in the field of maternity and childhood protection were laid down in 1914–18. In that short period, under the crisis conditions of wartime, all existing forms and practices of social policy in this area were used. The success of the Guardianship was determined by its clear organization and involvement of prominent representatives of the expert community. Archival documents have shown that the Guardianship had a fundamentally new organizational status. On the one hand, it performed functions of a ministry (coordination of activities of all organizations implementing social family policy, network of representative offices in the regions, substantial state funding, involvement of prominent statesmen). On the other hand, it had the features of a charitable institution (numerous grassroots initiatives, democratic management style, attracting private funding). The results of its work were forgotten, but the best practices proposed and tested in its active work were used by the Soviet authorities. Its legacy formed a basis for construction of the Soviet system of protection of motherhood and childhood; its results and practices were scaled nationwide and became a part of the state concept of Soviet family policy.","PeriodicalId":41551,"journal":{"name":"Herald of an Archivist","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69388876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sacralization of the Portrait of the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in the Orenburg Gubernia in the 1760s","authors":"Nikolai I. Petrov","doi":"10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-144-158","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-144-158","url":null,"abstract":"An interesting example of the Russian phenomenon of monarch sacralization is reflected in the “lowest report” (1767) sent to the Most Holy Governing Synod by the retired secretary of the Bugulma voivodeship chancellery Ivan Nikiforovich Kurcheev (see appendix). In 1762 I. N. Kurcheev was an eyewitness to a miraculous phenomenon connected with the portrait of the Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna: “... And from the aforesaid image of the Most Radiant Monarchess there emanated an effulgence which attained the image of the Savior stationed in my house ...” Later I. N. Kurcheev began to revere this portrait as an icon: “... I began to put candles before this image ...” This was known to the local clergy and I. N. Kurcheev himself was convinced of the permissibility of such veneration of the Empress Elizabeth’s portrait, to whose intercession he ascribed the healing of his mother, children, and ward. I. N. Kurcheev formed a local cult of the deceased Empress, convinced of her holiness and of imperishability of her “relics” (when writing of Elizabeth’s death he used the word “dormition”). This conviction was based on the connection between the icon of the Savior and the portrait of Empress Elizabeth, miraculously shown to I. N. Kurcheev. The mentioned service of supplication (moleben) to Empress Elizabeth, which was done “under the name” of her saint patroness-namesake, as she was not canonized by the Church, correlates with the image of St. Elisabeth bearing likeness of Empress Elizabeth in the original Russian worship service to Sts. Zachariah the Prophet and Elisabeth the Righteous (the 5th of September) in the late 19th century. The later archival caption of I. N. Kurcheev’s report was supplemented by a laconic note that some “stucco image” of the Empress Elizabeth was attached to the document. Apparently, this refers to the said portrait, from which, according to I. N. Kurcheev, “emanated an effulgence” in 1762. There is no any additional information on this “stucco image.” One can assume that it was a painted bas-relief plaster portrait of the Empress Elizabeth, probably similar to mid-18th century reproductions of the lead portrait of the Empress Elizabeth by B. C. Rastrelli (1743), which are now stored in the museum collections. The published document is a peculiar and striking source on the Russian tradition of monarch’s portrait sacralization. This phenomenon of Russian folk piety developed in the 19th – 20th centuries.","PeriodicalId":41551,"journal":{"name":"Herald of an Archivist","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69385676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Peasants Divorcing Adulteresses in 1863–1917: Specifics, Difficulties, Results","authors":"A. Spichak, Olesya V. Vanyushina, Julia A. Krivosheeva","doi":"10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-262-274","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-262-274","url":null,"abstract":"The article is devoted to the study of divorce cases initiated by men from the peasant class following adultery of their wives. The study is to identify specifics, common and distinctive features of peasant marriages dissolution caused by female adultery in the second half of the 19th – early 20th century in the Yaroslavl, Tver, and Tobolsk spiritual consistories. The source base is previously unknown archival materials from the State Archive of the Yaroslavl Region, State Archive of the Tver Region, and State Archive in Tobolsk. Documents stored in the state archives indicate the existence of a mandatory package of documents established by law, fees for opening a case, requirements for the evidence base, and established stages in office work. Comparative analysis of archival documents shows that women's infidelity was the most frequent reason of peasants requesting divorce in the spiritual consistories in the second half of the 19th – early 20th century. However, adultery was the most difficult to prove motive, making it almost impossible to get a divorce. Studying the papers of spiritual consistories permits to distinguish many degrees of the crime: one-time adultery, constant adultery, elopement, extramarital cohabitation, prostitution. Women’s actions were caused by resentment, beatings (on the part of husbands or mothers-in-law), or by forced marriages. The main difficulties in obtaining divorce among peasants were the same: difficulty of proving the birth of an illegitimate child and finding eyewitnesses, ignorance of the wife's place of residence. On the periphery in the Tobolsk gubernia with its large territories and lack of competent employees, the divorce action was hindered by priests’ incorrect paperwork and loss of documents in the mail. The relevance of the study is due to the current acute social problems (population decline, above all) caused by large number of family breakups. Turning to the history of divorce proceedings and methods of reconciling spouses (admonition by parish priests, mostly) can be useful for rethinking solving and preventing marital conflicts, as well as for revealing certain aspects of the history of institutions office work.","PeriodicalId":41551,"journal":{"name":"Herald of an Archivist","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69385948","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Speculation of Withdrawn White Guard Banknotes: The Omsk Incident (1920)","authors":"D. I. Petin","doi":"10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-221-232","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-221-232","url":null,"abstract":"This article analyzes an incident of speculation on withdrawn White Guard banknotes that took place in Omsk in the first months of the Soviet power restoration. It is of interest both from the standpoint of the history of finance and currency and from that of the history of law and urban everyday life. Illegal actions suppressed in 1920 by the Soviet police are spiced up by the fact that the main defendants were representatives of Eastern European peoples who, for various reasons, found themselves in Omsk: the Ukrainian, the Hungarian, the German, and the Chinese. Moreover, the “Chinese track,” notorious in the Siberian economy of the era, had actually created conditions for this rare type of speculation. The study draws on unpublished documents identified by the author in an archival criminal case considered in 1920 by the People's Court of the 1st section of the Omsk uezd of the Omsk uezd bureau of justice. They are stored in the Historical Archive of the Omsk Region in the fond of above mentioned judicial body. The methodological basis of the study is anthropological and systematic approaches, as well as problem-chronological method. This theoretical corpus enables to follow the logic of developments in the region’s socio-economic sphere as fully as possible and to explain the causes of the crime, bringing them into correlation with certain people who acted in specific historical situation of the military revolutionary period. The considered episode is unique and revealing in a number of ways. It characterizes the life of the West Siberian townspeople at the final stage of the Civil War in Russia and demonstrates what sophisticated measures the population (including former prisoners of the First World War, refugees, numerous representatives of underclass) was forced to take in order to survive. The case allows us to assess the peculiarities of the work of law enforcement and justice during Soviet power restoration in Western Siberia. This publication may be of interest to a wide range of readers: specialists in Russian finance and currency, Soviet law enforcement system, population’s adaptation to social cataclysms, and Siberian everyday life during the Civil War in Russia.","PeriodicalId":41551,"journal":{"name":"Herald of an Archivist","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69386289","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lyudmila Alekseevna Verbitskaya: The “Ukrainian Start” of the Russian Philologist","authors":"S. Poltorak, A. Zotova","doi":"10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-286-300","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-286-300","url":null,"abstract":"The activities of the prominent Russian organizer of science, scientist, and teacher of higher education, Lyudmila Alekseevna Verbitskaya (Bubnova), are extremely relevant. Studying of her experience allows us to form an effective work algorithm for our contemporary seeking to make a personal contribution to the development of national science and education. To conduct the study, the authors have used such methods as analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison, as well as a number of purely historical methods: historical-systemic, comparative, retrospective. The publication is to analyze the previously unpublished documents from the archive of the Ivan Franko Lviv State University on Lyudmila Bubnova’s stay in the Lviv Children’s Labour Colony, where criminals and children of repressed Soviet citizens were kept together. Lyudmila Alekseevna Verbitskaya is a famous Russian philologist and organizer of science, the only female rector in the history of the St. Petersburg State University. Lyudmila Alekseevna began her career in Ukraine, being admitted to the Ivan Franko Lviv State University from the Lviv Children's Labor Colony, where she was kept as the daughter of an “enemy of the people.” The article is based on unique archival documents that permit to analyze the initial formation of the future philologist; among them L. A. Bubnova’s handwritten autobiography (1953), petition of the head of the department of children's colonies of the Lviv region, Major Chumakov, to the rector of the Ivan Franko Lviv State University for her admission to the faculty of philology (department of Russian philology), L. Bubnova's texts in Russian and Ukrainian written for entrance examination in the university, documentary data on her grades at entrance examination in Russian language and literature, Ukrainian language, history of the USSR, geography, and foreign language. Of interest is her personal data sheet, her academic certificate for the first year at the university with results of 8 exams and tests in the first semester and 12 tests and exams in the second semester, as well as her coursework. The authors conclude that the “Lviv period” in her life and education gave L. A. Verbitskaya (Bubnova) a launching pad for her future scientific and administrative career.","PeriodicalId":41551,"journal":{"name":"Herald of an Archivist","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69386388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rethinking the Purposes of A. I. Guchkov's Trip to Emperor Nicholas II in Pskov in the Days of the February Revolution of 1917","authors":"M. A. Knyazev","doi":"10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-73-85","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-73-85","url":null,"abstract":"The question the role of Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov, the leader of the Octobrists, in the events of the eve of and during the monarchy overthrow in February 1917 remains relevant in the modern historiography of the Great Russian Revolution. Most researchers come to the conclusion that Guchkov was induced to participate in the revolutionary events by his desire to oust Nicholas II from power in order to deliver the throne to his heir, Alexei, under the regency of his brother Michael Aleksandrovich. A. I. Guchkov’s trip to Pskov on March 2, 1917, which he undertook intending to persuade the emperor to abdicate, is predominantly considered as practical realization of this plan of the “great master of the revolution.” However, the author has discovered a certain document drafted in the days of the February Revolution in the State Archive of the Russian Federation (specifically, in the fond 97 “Office of the Palace Commandant of the Ministry of the Imperial Court”, file captioned “Correspondence and telegrams of the last days of Nicholas II's reign”). This document, which has been introduced to the scholarly discourse for the first time, can significantly clarify the historiographic picture. The document is a typescript containing a list of presumptive members of the Cabinet of Ministers to be headed by the “Prime Minister” A. I. Guchkov. The source analysis permits to conclude that the document was created by A.I. Guchkov himself or by someone quite close to him in the period from February 28 to March 2, 1917. This text contains a request for Nicholas II to appoint the oppositionist to the high governmental post. By examining the second part of the document, we can deduce that this request was in fact an ultimatum, as it contains information about the arrest of prominent state dignitaries and ministers and about 18 regiments (up to 75,000 people) joining the revolution. Thus, Guchkov went to Pskov not only to ensure the emperor’s abdication, but also to become the head of the government. Although it is generally agreed that Guchkov had no political ambitions and simply provided a \"mechanism of the revolution,\" analysis of his political activities in 1915-17 allows the author to conclude that, contrary to the popular belief, he strove to take the helm of state. It is common knowledge that the attempt of the Octobrists' leader to head the Cabinet of Ministers was a fiasco; and yet the identified document expands our understanding of A. I. Guchkov’s personality and of the political struggle at the highest political and administrative level of the Russian Empire in the days of the February Revolution.","PeriodicalId":41551,"journal":{"name":"Herald of an Archivist","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69387549","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"“We Are All Flying into the Abyss”: Correspondence of F. D. Batyushkov, L. V. Sobinov, and A. I. Sumbatov-Yuzhin in November – December 1917","authors":"P. Gordeev","doi":"10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-86-99","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-0101-2023-1-86-99","url":null,"abstract":"In the fonds of the Russian State Archive of Literature and Art and in the Manuscript Department of the Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences there is stored correspondence of F. D. Batyushkov (who on the days of the revolution held the position of the chief commissioner for state theaters) with commissioners for the Moscow Bolshoi and Maly Theaters L. V. Sobinov and A. I. Sumbatov-Yuzhin over November and December 1917. These letters, most of which haven’t been published previously or introduced into scientific use, show the attitude of the leaders of the Department of Theatres to the Bolsheviks coming to power and to the prospect of cooperation with them. All three correspondents assessed the October Revolution negatively and spoke of their possible resignation (Batyushkov most definitely, Sobinov and Yuzhin with some reservations), but later serious discrepancies emerged in their personal strategies. Batyushkov was an implacable opponent of the Soviet government, rejecting all cooperation with the “terrorists” Bolsheviks and their representative, People's Commissar of Education A. V. Lunacharsky. On these grounds, he wanted to rally the Department of Theatres, at the head of which he stood. Positions of Yuzhin and Sobinov were more complicated. Yuzhin, who headed the Maly Theatre, shared Batyushkov's critical view of the “dominant party,” moreover, he was outraged and shocked by the pogrom of the Maly Theater by the Red Guards during street fighting in Moscow. However, his whole life was dedicated to the Maly Theater and he doubted whether he had the moral right to leave his position at such a crucial moment. Sobinov, on the other hand, was never able to overcome his personal dislike for Batyushkov (formed long before the October Revolution in disputes over the “autonomous” rights of Moscow theaters and their heads). In the emergency of November – December 1917, when the Bolsheviks established their control over banks and money transfers were extremely difficult, Sobinov did not want to put himself in the chief commissioner’s shoes and blamed him for the lack of money for the Bolshoi Theater. In December 1917, when A. V. Lunacharsky began a direct attack on Batyushkov's position in the Department of Theatres, the Petrograd state theaters expressed their support to Batyushkov. In Moscow, the situation was different: because of Sobinov's grievance with the chief commissioner and Yuzhin's attempts to coordinate his position with Sobinov, the Bolshoi and Maly Theaters did not unequivocally declare their confidence in Batyushkov, weakening the latter’s position in his conflict with Lunacharsky. The correspondence of Batyushkov, Sobinov, and Yuzhin over November – December 1917 is an important source on history of the Russian theater, as well as for studying the period of the so-called “sabotage” of civil servants after the October Revolution.","PeriodicalId":41551,"journal":{"name":"Herald of an Archivist","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.1,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"69387593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}