The Baltic nations and Europe: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the twentieth century and Baltic independence and Russian empire

1992 ◽  
Vol 68 (3) ◽  
pp. 552-553
Author(s):  
Charles King
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
The Baltic

The Revolution of 1905 in the Baltic Provinces and Finland

Slavic Review ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 453-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toivo U. Raun
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Comparative Case Study ◽  
Land Area ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Revolution

Historical studies of the Russian empire in upheaval in the first two decades of the twentieth century have tended to be animated by a narrow centralist bias or an equally narrow regional one. Although it is clear that the primary impulse for revolutionary situations in 1905 and 1917 resulted from events in St. Petersburg/Petrograd, a Russocentric approach to a society that was less than 50 percent Russian is surely inadequate. At the same time, studies of individual minority nationalities, however thorough, tend to view these groups in isolation. A comparative perspective, which could identify broader uniformities as well as local peculiarities, is usually lacking. In this article I shall present a synthesizing and comparative overview of the Revolution of 1905 in the Baltic Provinces and Finland. Although these areas constituted only 2 percent of the land area of the Russian empire and had less than 4 percent of its population in 1905,2 they were among the most modernized in the country, and their ethnic diversity and differing histories provide abundant material for a comparative case study.

The Samarin Family and the Parish Question in the Russian Empire. 1860s–1910s

2019 ◽  
Vol 54 ◽  
pp. 235-246
Author(s):  
Alexey L. Beglov
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
Public Discussion ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Social ◽  
Church Life ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
The Church ◽  
Do So

The article examines the contribution of the representatives of the Samarin family to the development of the Parish issue in the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The issue of expanding the rights of the laity in the sphere of parish self-government was one of the most debated problems of Church life in that period. The public discussion was initiated by D.F. Samarin (1827-1901). He formulated the “social concept” of the parish and parish reform, based on Slavophile views on society and the Church. In the beginning of the twentieth century his eldest son F.D. Samarin who was a member of the Special Council on the development the Orthodox parish project in 1907, and as such developed the Slavophile concept of the parish. In 1915, A.D. Samarin, who took up the position of the Chief Procurator of the Most Holy Synod, tried to make his contribution to the cause of the parish reforms, but he failed to do so due to his resignation.

Haunted Empire

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Sobol
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Russian Literature ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Cultural Tensions ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The Baltic

This book shows that Gothic elements in Russian literature frequently expressed deep-set anxieties about the Russian imperial and national identity. The book argues that the persistent Gothic tropes in the literature of the Russian Empire enact deep historical and cultural tensions arising from Russia's idiosyncratic imperial experience. It brings together theories of empire and colonialism with close readings of canonical and less-studied literary texts as the book explores how Gothic horror arises from the threatening ambiguity of Russia's own past and present, producing the effect Sobol terms “the imperial uncanny.” Focusing on two spaces of “the imperial uncanny” — the Baltic “North”/Finland and the Ukrainian “South” — the book reconstructs a powerful discursive tradition that reveals the mechanisms of the Russian imperial imagination that are still at work today.

scholarly journals Impeeriumi ideoloogia etnograafia keelde tõlkimise probleemist / The problem of translating imperial ideology into the language of ethnography

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (25) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ljubov Kisseljova
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
Baltic Region ◽  
13Th Century ◽  
Geographical Society ◽  
Russian Territory ◽  
History Of ◽  
Imperial Ideology ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The Baltic

Artiklis käsitletakse probleemi, kuidas Vene Geograafiaseltsi vaated, mis põhinesid Karl Ernst von Baeri etnograafilisel programmil, realiseerusid populaarses ja teaduslikus diskursuses, ning millist osa etendab etnograafilistes kirjeldustes poliitiline faktor. Mitmeköitelise teose „Maaliline Venemaa“ Baltikumi käsitleva teise köite teise osa näitel analüüsitakse impeeriumi ideoloogia peamiste postulaatide mõju piirkonna ajaloo ning põlisrahvaste kuvandi konstrueerimisele. Näidatakse, et autorid püüavad tõestada, nagu oleks piirkonna põhiprobleem Balti erikord, et kohalik elanikkond vihkab sakslasi ja vaatab lootusega Vene võimu poole. Selline tendents sobis täiesti vene 1860.−1870. aastate hoiakutega Balti küsimuses. Põhijäreldus on, et populaarne diskursus tingib etnograafilise käsitluse lihtsustamise ning ideologiseerimise.   The article views, in as great detail as possible, the history of creating the popular scientific ethnographic publication North-Eastern Borderlands of Russia. The Baltic Region (Северо-Западные Окраины России. Прибалтийский край, 1883) from the ethnographic series Picturesque Russia (Живописная Россия). Differently from Karsten Brüggemann (2018) who placed it in the broad context of 19th-century ethnographic publications, this article is less interested in the context and the general paradigm it blends with than in immanent text analysis, its pragmatics and sources. The author has set herself the task to examine how the book’s anonymous authors cope with the dilemma of academic and popular discourses; to which extent they manage to overcome the ideological and political setting of the era straddling the boundary between the epochs of Alexander II and Alexander III; how they implement the conditions of official imperial ideology – the loyalty of the subjects, the need for the acculturation of borderlands, the consolidation of a unified imperial nation. Therefore, a brief digression is made into the general features of imperial ideology. The beginning of the article describes how the publication reflected the general views of the Russian Geographical Society that should have become the patron of the publication. It is shown that Karl Ernst v. Baer’s article “On ethnographical studies in general and in Russia in particular” (“Об этнографических исследованиях вообще и в России в особенности”, 1846), which makes a clear distinction between the scientific and political tasks of ethnography, played a role in the formation of the concept of Picturesque Russia. The authors met the scholarly criteria in their selection of reliable information about the history of the Baltic provinces and their peoples and the new stage in the formation of the national mentality of Estonians and Latvians in the period of modernisation. The authors underscored how education influenced the gradual breakaway from the traditional lifestyle, creation of national cultural societies and periodicals, development of new literature in the local languages. They tried to present to the readers interesting digressions into the history of the region and its peoples, thus meeting the criterion of popularity. Simultaneously, the authors adhered to clear ideological principles: the territory of the Baltic provinces is a primordial “Russian” territory and must forever remain a part of the Russian Empire (the authors, naturally, could not imagine that the empire was not eternal). The indigenous peoples suffered greatly because of the German invasion in the 13th century and the long-time German rule that would follow; they hated Germans, strove for liberation from German domination and wanted to integrate into the Russian context. This attitude fully met the ideology and policy of the Russian authorities concerning the Russian acculturation of the region and gradual cancellation of the Baltic special order. One of the principles of the authors of the publication was to show the indigenous peoples’ support to such policy. The book about the Baltic provinces was published anonymously, and, until now, archive searches have not revealed the authors’ names. Analysis shows that the book is a compilation; the authors relied on many sources, which are listed in the current article. However, the lack of a single editor, heterogeneity of different parts of the book, and ideological engagement had a negative effect on the quality of the book. Picturesque Russia, which was planned as an extensive and very expensive project covering the history, geography and ethnography of the all regions of the Russian Empire did not prove as successful as its initiator, the renowned Russian published Maurycy Wolff, had expected. The bulky and heavy tomes did not sell well and did not get a serious response from Russian readers. Still, the books of this series, and The Baltic Region in particular, became sources for many popular publications of the time, including guidebooks on Russia not only in Russian, but also in German.

scholarly journals The Bergholtz Collection: Architectural Drawings of the Palaces in Jelgava and Rundale from Nationalmuseum (Stockholm)

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 145-172
Author(s):  
Georgy Smirnov ◽  
Tatyana Vyatchanina
Keyword(s):  
Russian Empire ◽  
Architectural Drawings ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The Baltic

The article deals with two Courland palaces built by the Duke ErnstJohann Biron in Mitau and Ruhental (today, respectively, Jelgava andRundale, Latvia) in connection with architectural drawings of theso-called Bergholtz collection, which is part of the Tessin-HårlemanCollection (THC) in Nationalmuseum in Stockholm. Twelve drawingsof the two Courland palaces make this collection of special interestto those interested in the art of the Baltic region.The first part of the paper is dedicated to the person of FriedrichWilhelm von Bergholtz and to his collection. Who was the creatorof the collection, what were the reasons to gather it and what otherdrawings are stored there? Born in the German duchy of Holstein,Bergholtz spent in all about 15 years in Russia. An extremely richand diverse collection of architectural drawings was gathered mainly(presumably totally) during his third visit in 1742–1746 as tutor ofKarl-Peter-Ulrich, heir to the Russian throne and future emperor ofRussia under the moniker Peter III. The circumstances of compilingthe collection and reasons for it are quite obscure. All the assumptionsmade by different authors remain mere guesswork. The greaterpart of the Bergholtz collection deals with St Petersburg and itssurroundings. All other drawings, numbering 174 in total, referto Moscow, to several provinces of the Russian empire and to theDuchy of Courland.The second part of the article reveals and describes 12 sheetsfrom the Bergholtz collection dedicated to the Baroque palaces inCourland constructed in the 1730s for duke Ernst Johann Bironaccording to the projects of the great architect Francesco Rastrelli.The research resulted in the discovery of seven sheets depicting plansand façades of the palaces in Ruhental, showing how they are almostexact copies of the original projects stored in the collection of theAlbertina museum in Vienna. Of the five drawings that representthe palace in Mitau, two are also copies of the Vienna sheets, andthree are copies of completed projects. Thus, the most valuable amongthe architectural drawings from the Bergholtz collection are threedrawings depicting the façade, and plans for two floors, of the palacein Mitau – the only known copies of Rastrelli’s project, the originalsof which have not yet been discovered.

History of the Russian Empire in the context of theoretical and legal analysis (To the 300th anniversary of the Russian Empire)

2021 ◽  
pp. 186
Author(s):  
Nadezhda S. Nizhnik
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Scientific Conference ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
The North ◽  
Internal Affairs ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
The Baltic

The review of the XVIII International Scientific Conference "State and Law: evolution, current state, development prospects (to the 300th anniversary of the Russian Empire)" was held on April 29-30, 2021 at the St. Petersburg University of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Russian Empire existed on the political map of the world from October 22 (November 2), 1721 until the February Revolution and the overthrow of the Monarchy on March 3, 1917. The Russian Empire was the third largest state that ever existed (after the British and Mongolian Empires): It extended to the Arctic Ocean in the north and the Black Sea in the south, to the Baltic Sea in the west and the Pacific Ocean in the east. The Russian Empire was one of the great powers along with Great Britain, France, Prussia (Germany) and Austria-Hungary, and since the second half of the XIX century – also Italy and the United States. The capital of the Russian Empire was St. Petersburg (1721 - 1728), Moscow (1728 - 1732), then again St. Petersburg (1732 - 1917), renamed Petrograd in 1914. Therefore, it is natural that a conference dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the formation of the Russian Empire was held in St. Petersburg, the former imperial capital. The conference was devoted to problems concerning various aspects of the organization and functioning of the state and law, a retrospective analysis of the activities of state bodies in the Russian Empire. The discussion focused on various issues: the character of the Russian Empire as a socio-legal phenomenon and the subject of the legitimate use of state coercion, the development of political and legal thought, the regulatory and legal foundations of the organization and functioning of the Russian state in the XVIII century – at the beginning of the XX century, the characteristics of state bodies as an element of the mechanism of the imperial state in Russia, the organizational and legal bases of the activities of bodies that manage the internal affairs of the Russian Empire, as well as the image of state authorities and officials-representatives of state power.

Timothy Snyder's Bloodlands

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-123
Author(s):  
MARK MAZOWER
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Intimate Relationship ◽  
Mass Murder ◽  
Concentration Camps ◽  
Mass Killing ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Modern Mass

In the middle of the twentieth century, state-sponsored mass killing took place in Europe on a scale unknown before or since. Although the figures are contentious, around six million civilians are estimated to have been deliberately killed under Stalin; around eleven million under Hitler (p. xiii). What makes this phenomenon all the more striking is that not only was it severely circumscribed in time – it came to an end by the early 1950s – but it was also highly localised. Eastern Europe – in particular Poland, the Baltic states, Belarus and the Ukraine – was the epicentre, and its inhabitants among the chief victims. It is the story of these lands – the ‘Bloodlands'– that Timothy Snyder, one of our leading historians of eastern Europe, has singled out. If we are to see this extraordinary spate of murderousness as the central event of the century (as Snyder argues), then we need a much clearer view than we presently have of what happened in the Bloodlands. In particular, we need to jettison the view that modern mass murder took place chiefly in concentration camps – much of the killing happened through starvation or the shooting squad – and we need to appreciate the extent to which it happened as a consequence of the intimate relationship between the regimes of Hitler and Stalin. This, in a nutshell, is the rationale for this book.

On the history of the title and surname inheritance of Counts Perovsky by Mikhail Mikhailovich Petrovo-Solovovo in 1907: legal norms and archival reconstruction of circumstances

2019 ◽  
pp. 250-259
Author(s):  
Kseniia Donik
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Transfer Process ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
Local History ◽  
Historical Narrative ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
New Information ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Russian Empire

We highlight unknown circumstances of the title and surname transfer of Counts Perovsky to M.M. Petrovo-Solovovo – a statesman, a representative of an ancient aristocratic family who owned an estate in the Kirsanovsky County of the Tambov Governorate on the basis of new archive sources that were not previously introduced into scientific circulation. In various local history interpretations, modern periodicals that somehow transmit a historical narrative about the last owner of the Karay-Saltykovsky estate, there is a wide variety of versions of how M.M. Petrovo-Solovovo became Count Perovsky (mainly the title inheritance from mother is men-tioned). The purpose of this study is a detailed reconstruction of the titled surname Perovsky transfer in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century. Methodologically the study is based on historiographic criticism of documents and analysis of legislation on noble surnames based on the data of genealogical studies of different years. We pay special attention to the historical context of the analyzed events. We prove that the transfer initiative came from M.M. Petrovo-Solovovo’s aunt – maid of honor of the Empress, Countess V.B. Perovskaya, who, having previously secured the permission of the emperor, was able to begin the formal transfer process, although under the law as a female person she did not have such rights. We introduce new information both in Russian genealogical historiography as a whole, and in the history of the Petrovo-Solovovo clan and Tambov’s local history in particular.

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