Open Access
Access granted
Subscription Access
No 3 (2023)
Theory and methodology of history
Wilhelm II and the Power System of Germany at the End of 19th and to Begin of 20th Centuries
Abstract
On the basis of a historiographical analysis, the authors of this article attempt to reflect on the thirty-year reign of German Emperor Wilhelm II, taking into account the historically shaped tendencies of power, ideology, social and political organisation, as well as the Emperor's own ideas of monarchy and state. The authors systematise historians' assessments of the concepts of “dual modernization”, the “regime of personal rule by the emperor” and “Wilhelminianism” as well as interpretations of the phenomenon of radicalisation of public opinion and the activities of political parties and popular associations. It is their shared opinion that the far-reaching constitutional guarantees and powers proclaimed and granted to the German public by the 1871 Constitution were in fact substantially circumscribed. The Reichstag, as a social and political institution of power, never really became the main actor in the legislative process with controlling powers over the executive. The German middle class failed to secure the “classical prerogatives of parliamentarianism” (Georg Iggers). The constitutionally enshrined preponderance of monarchical power was reinforced by the alliance of the princes with the agrarian elite, which continued to dominate both economically and politically, occupying key positions in both the bureaucracy and the army. Therefore, due to the comparatively late unification of the country, the preservation of medieval monarchical culture and structures of domination, social groups, associations, unions, political movements and parties became the subjects of modernisation changes during this period of time. The war unleashed by the German monarchy and its subsequent tragedy clearly showed the other side of national unity. All these developments are considered in the context of the transformation of the monarchy, but not in the direction of limiting the personal power of the ruler, but in the direction of the traditional view of it ("the alliance between throne and altar"), which predetermined the final disaster of the reign of Emperor Wilhelm II.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):7-27
7-27
Formation and Creation of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijani SSR (1920–1945) in the Works of Azerbaijanian and Foreign Scientists
Abstract
In this article the author examines the historiography on the problem of formation and creation of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR in 1920-1945. The aim is to summarise the available literature on the subject, to analyse the works on the history of the foundation and the first years of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan and to show the development of the research interest in this field. This article examines the works of Russian, Soviet, and international historians of science. Soviet historiography was based on communist methodology. Soviet publications were characterised by the use of a large number of published documents and statistical materials. The issues of the development of science, the scientific intelligentsia, scientific personnel, research work; the activities of public organizations of the intelligentsia; the organization of science in various branches and periods of the development of Soviet society were actively studied. Particular attention was paid to the system of Party and state management of science, policy in the field of its organisation, the attitude to the old scientific intelligentsia, the composition of scientific employees and the conditions of their work were analysed, and changes in their socio-political position were noted. During the Perestroika and post-Soviet periods, the tasks of studying the history of the organisation of science in the USSR expanded, new documents were introduced into academic circuit, many facts, events and names were restored, and the methodology and methods of research were improved. The author shows that post-Soviet Azerbaijani historiography of the formation and establishment of the Academy of Sciences, although it inherits the Soviet one, in many ways offers not only new approaches to understanding the history of its foundation, but also a new research topic. By the quantity and quality, time range, geography of publications by Azerbaijani, Russian and international historians, it can be argued that the problem of the formation of the Academy of Sciences is one of the areas of Azerbaijani historical scholarship.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):28-42
28-42
Heroes and Anti-Heroes of the 1940s: Pendulous Swings in Greek Historiography
Abstract
In this article, the author examines the evolution of Greek historiography's approaches to the study of one of the most controversial periods of national history, namely the 1940s, covering World War II and the following Greek Civil War, 1946–1949. Firstly, she demonstrates how the development of historiography after the end of the Civil War was influenced by the social and political situation in the country and how subsequent political development of Greece influenced historical research. The Communists who were defeated in the Civil War were repressed and their contribution to the national resistance movement during the years of occupation was glossed over or negatively assessed. A softening of the official perspective on the issue came in the 1960s, and a comprehensive examination of the events of World War II took place in the 1980s, when the socialists came to power in Greece. However, a consensus perception of the controversial issues in Greek society did not emerge even after the rehabilitation of the Left in the 1980s. These factors set the stage for its revision, which was carried out by a historiographical movement calling itself “New Wave” or post-revisionism, which emerged at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The article analyses the methodological positions of this movement and the most important works of its founders, the political scientist Stathis Kalyvas and the sociologist Nikos Marandzidis. But the debate on controversial issues is far from being over, as the views of the neo-conservatives are gradually making their way into Greek society.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):43-53
43-53
Modern history
Russia in War for Foreign Interests: Negotiations Between British and Rus-sian Diplomats on the Subsidy Conventions of 1747
Abstract
In 1740–1748, the War of the Austrian Succession took place in Europe, which involved France, Britain, Prussia, Austria and a number of other countries seeking to conquer territories both within and outside Europe. In 1748 Russia, which had no such objectives, also entered the war. In fact, Russia had been drawn into the war by Great Britain through the signing of the three Subsidy Conventions of 1747. This involved the use of a Russian military corps by the British in return for the payment of monetary subsidies. The British Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, John Carmichael, 3rd Earl of Hyndford, was a witness to these events and also one of the principal negotiators of the conventions. Drawing on reports from the Ambassador to the Russian court to the British Secretary of State, the author provides the first detailed analysis of the negotiation process, showing its inner workings through the diplomat's reports, which allows one to determine which position each side took and what goals they were pursuing. Attention is drawn to the complex nature of the negotiations and the difficulties that diplomats on both sides had to face in negotiating a number of issues, including the manner and amount of subsidies, the choice of commanders, the cost of food and medical treatment for troops from the Russian corps, etc. This issue is addressed for the first time in historical scholarship. As analysis of both Hyndford's reports and the Secretary of State's dispatches demonstrates, persistence in pursuing objectives, the pursuit of one's own interests alone, firmness of position, as well as blackmail and bribery, were all used by British diplomacy in the negotiation process. In turn, the Russian govern-ment, represented by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and Chancellor Alexey Bestuzhev-Rumin, persistently and consistently defended the interests of the Russian Empire. Through the subsidy conventions, which provided support for Britain and the Netherlands, the War of the Austrian Succession soon came to an end, but as a result Russia was not among the beneficiaries.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):54-66
54-66
The Struggle for Oregon in the Last Third of the Eighteenth – First Quarter of the Nineteenth Century
Abstract
In the article, the authors examine the circumstances of the rivalry for Oregon in the 1770s and the first quarter of the nineteenth century. Historians of Russian America and those who study early US history have paid little attention to this issue, at a time when it was in Oregon that the rivalry between Britain, Russia, France and the United States for possession of the new colonies was ignited. The Spanish, who established their colonies in America in the six-teenth century, laid claim to the entire west coast. The English paid very close attention to the Oregon coast between 30° and 60° N, starting with the expeditions of James Cook and George Vancouver. The French became interested in the region in 1785–1788 during the ex-pedition of the Comte de Lapérouse. Russia, with its colonies in Alaska and the Aleutian Is-lands, pursued a measured and cautious policy. Spain, confident that the territories belonged to her by the right of discovery, had very limited forces for their development. The principal rivals for Oregon territory in the 1820-s were Great Britain and the United States. The article is draws on the latest archival finds. The authors draw on an extensive, inter alia, recent do-mestic and foreign historiography. The methodology used in writing the article is based on the achievements of modern historical scholarship. The article is the first in a series of intended further publications by the authors on the study of the struggle for Oregon and the US West Coast.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):67-83
67-83
20th century
“Saratov Key” to the 1918 Campaign
Abstract
In the article, the authors examine the role of Saratov in the 1918 campaign of the Great War. The significance of this Russian rear city in the events of the war only became apparent after the conclusion of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk between the German Empire and Soviet Russia. The Treaty of 3 March 1918 created a vast field of new opportunities for the Central Powers, which had supposedly triumphed on the Eastern Front. The fragmentation of the Russian Empire, lack of resources and aspirations for a future radical colonial redistribution forced the German Empire to think on a Eurasian scale. The numerous descendants of German colonists in the Russian governorates of Saratov and Samara became an important point of diplomatic and military effort for both Germany and the parties of the Russian Civil War. From spring to autumn 1918, German military and political projects in the East would invariably include Saratov as a crucial location on the road to Turkestan and India.For the various anti-Bolshevik forces in the East and South, which managed to form independently by the summer of 1918, there was the possibility of uniting in the obvious Volga operational direction. In their hypothetical unification, wealthy Volga Germans could constitute a substantial reinforcement, although any interaction with them required an unambiguous pro-German orientation. In the article, the authors examine and assess the capabilities and actions of the main military and political actors – the German Empire, the RSFSR, the anti-Bolshevik governments – in the Brest system of international relations and in the context of the Russian Civil War in March – November 1918. They substantiate the hypothesis of the role, including the potential role, of the Saratov direction, in which both Germany and the White Movement missed the opportunity to achieve decisive results.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):84-100
84-100
Soviet Historical Science and Foreign Policy Dynamics in the Late 1930s and 1940s: The Mishulin Line
Abstract
Historical scholarship in the USSR in the 1930s and 1940s developed along with the dynamics of foreign policy. The main issue that shaped the development of historical scholarship was Soviet-German relations. The Soviet alignment with Great Britain and France determined the dominance of the “anti-German” line even in those areas of historical research which, at first glance, were unrelated to modern history in general and German history in particular. Thus, this line is clearly evident in the discussion of the causes of the decline of the Harappan civilisation, which allegedly came about under pressure from the Indo-Aryan tribes, with whom Germany was implicitly identified in relevant studies in the second half of the 1930s. The initiator of the “anti-German” line in ancient history was Alexander Mishulin. After the conclusion of the Soviet-German Non-Aggression Treaty on 23 August 1939, the tone of the works on ancient history changed abruptly to “Germanophile” at the initiative of the same scholar. At the same time, the first – “anti-German” – line still persisted and developed in parallel with the second. Soviet-German academic cooperation was also progressing, as can be observed in the documents of the archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The “pro-German line” disappeared with the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, while the “anti-German” (“anti-Indo-Aryan”) one disappeared with the independence of India in 1947 and the gradual forging of friendly relations between the USSR and India.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):101-116
101-116
Moscow Museums on the Eve and in the Initial Period of the Great Patriotic War: Organization, Structure, Evacuation
Abstract
In the article, the author examines the condition of the museum industry in Moscow on the eve of the Great Patriotic War and in the first months thereof, when urgent measures were required to move a large number of museum collections far inland. In the research literature, the topic has been considered mainly on the example of individual Moscow museums. The source base of the work comprises archival documents of the People's Commissariat of Education of the RSFSR, the Committee for Arts of the USSR, and the Moscow City Council. The author shows that since the beginning of the war, the main efforts of the significantly reduced staff of Moscow museums were aimed at saving museum collections. The exposition activity was practically curtailed. The experience of mass conservation and relocation of museum collections seems relevant from a scholarly and practical point of view, especially since today the management of museums is as decentralised as during the war. This circumstance made it much more difficult to organize the evacuation of museum valuables. An urgent categorisation of museum objects had to be carried out, selecting a relatively small number of the most important historical exhibits, jewels and masterpieces of art that had to be evacuated without delay. The rest of the museum collections were sheltered on the premises of the museums themselves, or were amassed in a special joint storage facility. The transportation of museum valuables in November 1941 was effectively disrupted by the inability to organise rail transport. The immediate danger to museum collections was only removed after the successful counter-offensive of the Red Army in December 1941.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):117-130
117-130
“It Is Favorable To the Forces of Socialism to Keep the Americans in Southeast Asia Longer”: The Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee in the Determination of the Strategic Line of the USSR in the Second Indochina War of 1965
Abstract
Based on a scrupulous review of a large body of documents from Russian and a number of foreign archives, and for the first time introduced into scholarly discourse, this article contemplates a period in the Soviet Union’s history when the influence of the USSR in world affairs reached its zenith. It was a short by historical standards span, when the so-called “collective leadership” headed by Leonid Brezhnev, Alexey Kosygin, and Nikolay Podgorny was at the helm of the Soviet state. The authors of the article show that it is unlikely that the USSR’s transformation into one of the world’s superpowers would have been possible were it not for the US’s defeat in Indochina. With the aim of proving this premise, the authors have focused on developments related to one of the turning points of the Cold War – the first half of 1965. In this context, the article closely analyzes the course and results of the negotiations between Kosygin and the leaders of the DRV, PRC, and DPRK. In fact, it was then, as evidenced by researched documents, that the Soviet Union turned de facto from an observer into an actual participant in the Vietnam War (and, more broadly, in the confrontation with the United States in the Far East) as part of the anti-American coalition of the USSR–PRC–DRV–DPRK. And although the authors in this case are talking about a strategic idea – as it happens in real politics – its birth was almost accidental, while the genuine masterminds of this geopolitical combination under consideration have remained in the shadow of history for many years.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):131-153
131-153
The USSR – Czechoslovakia Commission of Historians: Particularities of Creation and Activities in the 1960s
Abstract
In the article, the authors examine the history of the establishment and early years of the USSR – Czechoslovakia Commission of Historians. The relevance of the subject in question is conditioned, on the one hand, by the growing interest in the problem of the formation and functioning of “socialist science” in Russian and international historiography and, on the other hand, by the study of the methods and instruments by which the Soviet leadership reacted to the liberalisation of the political regime in Czechoslovakia and the search for ways to influence its intellectual elite. The authors draw on the archive collections of the Russian State Archive of Contemporary History, the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Archive of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. In addition, they draw on sources of personal origin, contrasting official party documents with curious evaluative sketches. On the basis of these sources, the authors construct a study in two dimensions. The authors conclude that the creation of the commission was a political and ideological project, a circumstance which determined both the composition of the Soviet section of the institution and the topics chosen for joint studies. The Commission was established far too late to become an effective instrument for maintaining the prestige and authority of the Soviet Union even among Czechoslovak intellectuals, let alone the population at large.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):154-168
154-168
Modern history
Political Islam: from History to Modernity
Abstract
In this article, the author takes a conceptual approach to the study of the phenomenon of political Islam to identify the reasons for its transformation from a domestic political project to an international issue. An important part of this approach is the study of political Islam in the broader context of the Islamic world as a whole. Since there is a notable diversity of opinion among scholars regarding the essence of the concepts of “political Islam” and “Islamism”, the author offers his own vision of their correlation: political Islam is a strategic programme for the modernisation of Muslim societies, while Islamism is an ideological, mobilising and organisational resource for its implementation. As a result of the study, the author concluded that political Islam has its roots in the history of the Islamic world's struggle with the West, which determines its anti-Western orientation today. Continued Western interference in the internal affairs of Muslim countries turns supporters of political Islam into potential partners of non-Western powers in opposing the rules of the unjust Western world order. IIf their cooperation is successful, significant opportunities for achieving internal and external Islamist goals will open up. It is important for Russia to reach out to moderate, reasonable supporters of political Islam, seeing them as partners in countering aggressive Western policies.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):169-181
169-181
Messages
Nikolay Charykov and Friedrich Martens: The Careers of Two Diplomats
Abstract
Nikolay Charykov and Friedrich Martens played a significant role in shaping the international security system. However, their activities at the Second Hague Conference went beyond cooperation and solidarity. The purpose of the article is to identify the reasons for the disagreement between the two diplomats. The author believes that the reasons for the discord between Charykov and Martens went beyond the proceedings of the Second Hague Peace Conference.One should pay attention to the formation periods for the diplomats, the elements of their views and value systems. The author demonstrates that the life paths of both Charykov and Martens were in many ways similar, yet had significant differences as well. The author points out that there were no significant differences between Charykov and Martens on the fundamental issues of the formation of the international security system. Both believed that international relations should be shaped through the development of international security institutions and the creation of international law.The reasons for the enmity between the two diplomats were subjective. Martens disliked Charykov because, due to his background, the latter was higher in the hierarchy, which guaranteed him, according to tradition established in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire, an advantage in obtaining appointments.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):182-194
182-194
Arthur Jacob Marder: A Glorifier of the British Sea Power
Abstract
In this article the author analyses the academic career of Arthur Jacob Marder, a prominent student of British naval policy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Even though he graduated from Harvard, Marder faced serious difficulties in obtaining a position at American universities because of the ethnic and religious prejudices prevalent in the 1930s. Marder chose British naval policy of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as his field of research. A key issue in this vast area of study were the reforms put in place by Admiral John Fisher to prepare the British Navy for the Great War. His first monograph, “The Anatomy of British Sea Power”, was published in 1940. After encountering restrictions on access to British Admiralty documents in the 1940s and 1950s, Marder turned to private archives to locate sources for his study. He managed to publish both Sir Herbert Richmond's diaries and the three-volume correspondence of Sir John Fisher. The five-volume treatise “From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow” was the crowning achievement of Marder's research. Marder is considered the founder of the classic concept of the so-called naval revolution of Sir John Fisher. Marder had the unique opportunity to study British naval documents, most of which no longer exist today and are forever lost to future generations of historians. This is the primary reason why Marder's work retains its significance to this day.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):195-206
195-206
Analysing original documents
American Representatives to the USSR and the Fate of Soviet Religious Policy at the Beginning of the Great Patriotic War. From Father Leopold Braun's Correspondence of 1941
Abstract
In this article, the authors analyse and comment upon four documents from the archives of the Vatican Secretariat of State which reflect the earliest phase of US-Soviet contacts during the Great Patriotic War relating to the question of religious freedom in the USSR. The international reputation of the Soviet Union as a country of deliberate persecution of religion became a domestic political problem for the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the autumn of 1941, as its attempts to include the USSR in the Lend-Lease programme met with resistance from influential religious circles, particularly American Catholics. These circumstances led the US administration to seek the support of the Vatican, on the one hand, and, on the other, to seek statements from the Soviet leadership that would confirm the latter's commitment to the principle of religious freedom declared in Soviet law. At the same time, Roosevelt himself was convinced that a military crisis would force the Soviet Union to abandon its previous anti-religious policy. This view was also shared by the representative of the Roman Catholic Church in Moscow, the American Assumptionist Fr Leopold Braun. As can be seen from the letters published here, Fr Braun was convinced that the US administration should take immediate and vigorous steps to secure guarantees of religious freedom from the Soviet leaders. His letters were sent both to Washington and to the Vatican, where they were read as confirming the position of the American side in urging the Holy See to show flexibility towards Soviet Russia.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(3):207-227
207-227
Reviews
228-231
231-234
234-236
236-239
240-247
Academic life
248-250
250-254