scholarly journals Transformation of autocracy in the Russian Empire at the beginning of the 20th century: Sergei Witte’s viewpoint

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 926-965
Author(s):  
Konstantin I. Shneider ◽  
Irina N. Verevkina
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Institutional Design ◽  
Personal Characteristics ◽  
Historical Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Political Myth ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Revolutionary Period

The article examines the opinions of Sergei Witte, one of the first Russian public politicians and one of the most influential officials of the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, on the transformation of the Russian autocracy. The Memoirs of Sergei Witte as well as documents from his personal fonds stored in the Russian State Historical Archive (RGIA) constitute the source basis of the research. The interdisciplinary research paradigm of the performative turn was adopted as the methodological basis of the research. S. Witte’s views on the process of transformation of autocracy are considered through the prism of the following scientific categories: the image of power, scenario of power, authoritative discourse, political myth, performative shift, the principle of outsideness. The analysis of the historiography presented in the article allows us to justify the relevance of the performative approach to the study of Russia’s historical realities in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. Special attention is paid to the personal characteristics of the last two Russian emperors, which were given by Sergei Witte in the pages of his Memoirs and became an important part of Witte’s representation of the process of evolution of the institution of autocracy in Russia in the pre-revolutionary period. Of considerable academic interest are his substantial “portraits” of Russian political parties at the time of their institutional design and programmatic self-identification. Interesting nuances of Sergei Witte’s resignation presented by him in the extremely subjective optics of perception remain of high relevance for the analysis of various materials on the subject. The final part of the article draws conclusions about the content and elements of the concept of transformation of autocracy and describes the influence of new political institutions on that transformation in socio-political situation which had been changing.

scholarly journals The Armenian Apostolic Church in the Politics of the Russian Empire: the Search for an Administrative Optimum

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 63-93
Author(s):  
Amiran Urushadze
Keyword(s):  
Russian Empire ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
Historical Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Political Interaction ◽  
History Of ◽  
Imperial Politics ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Scholarly Discourse ◽  
First Time

The article analyzes governmental debates on the functions, rights and privileges of the Armenian Catholicoi in the context of inter-institutional controversies. The author attempts to identify and analyze the most influential programmes for solving the “Echmiadzin issue” and their origins presenting at the same time certain aspects of political interaction between the Russian Empire and the Armenian Church as overlapping processes and related events. The history of relationships between Russian state and Armenian Church in XIX–XX centuries shows that different actors of the imperial politics had different ideas about the optimal model of cooperation with Echmiadzin. The divisions took place not only between the various departments (the Ministry of Internal Affairs versus the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), but also within them, where individual officials could hold “anti-departmental” views in each particular case. All this hindered administrative consolidation, slowed down the empire's response to important political challenges and dragged the imperial structures into protracted service-hierarchical confrontations. The “Etchmiadzin Question” and the governmental discussions around it show in part the administrative paralysis of the autocracy and the decompensation of the system of power in the Russian Empire in the early 20th century. The article employs a rich documentary base of archival materials from the collections of the Russian State Historical Archive. These materials are introduced into the scholarly discourse for the first time ever.

scholarly journals Международно-правовое положение Внутренней Монголии на рубеже XIX–XX вв. глазами ее правителя (записка хорчинского князя Удая, 1910 г.)

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 1496-1512
Author(s):  
Roman Yu. Pochekaev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Inner Mongolia ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Historical Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Chinese Peasant ◽  
Regional Authorities

Introduction. The article publishes and provides a historical legal analysis of one letter by Prince Uday, ruler of Khorchin Khoshun (Horqin Banner) in Inner Mongolia at the end of 19th – first quarter of 20th century, who sent it to Pyotr Stolypin, the Prime-Minister of the Russian Empire, in 1910. This letter is a part of a file kept in the Russian State Historical Archive (St. Petersburg, Russia) in original Mongolian as well as in its Russian translation. As is known, the document was not published before. Goals. The aim of research is to extract from the Uday’s note — the information on the international legal status of Inner Mongolia which is given from the local ruler’s point of view. Results. The results of the research confirm the value of the note as a source, although its author attempted to emphasize his own significance in the eyes of the Russian authorities. Coupled with materials of other contemporaries (Russian and Western diplomats, intelligence officers, missionaries, merchants and scientists) it allows to give an authentic view on the status of Inner Mongolia at the international scene at the edge of 19th – 20th centuries. The utmost interest should be paid to the dynamics of relations of rulers of Inner Mongolia with the Qing imperial authorities that initiated a forced colonization of Mongolian lands through resettlement of Chinese peasant colonists, changes in relations of Manchu administration and Mongol feudal lords with Russian regional authorities and merchants, as well as strengthening of the Japanese influence in the region.

scholarly journals Alphabetical Lists of Confirmed and Ascribed Nobles of the Ufa and Orenburg Gubernias of the Russian Empire as a Historical source: The Second Half of the 19th – Early 20th Century

2020 ◽  
pp. 627-639
Author(s):  
Albina Ya. Ilyasova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Russian Empire ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Historical Source ◽  
Historical Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
The Family ◽  
Plain Paper ◽  
Source Studies ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Russian Empire

The article presents the results of the source studies analyses of the alphabetical lists of confirmed and ascribed nobles of the Ufa and Orenburg gubernias from the Russian State Historical Archive (RGIA). Imperially approved opinion of the State Council of the Russian Empire (January 2, 1861) ordered national noble assemblies to send annually to the Department of Heraldry of the Governing Senate “alphabetical lists of noble families during the year confirmed in their nobility by the Governing Senate” and “similar lists of those families, to which, in the course of the year, were attached some individuals.” Most of these lists are preserved in the materials of the “Third Department of the Senate” fond of the Russian State Historical Archive. The archives holds original copies of 39 reports and 65 lists, including 28 lists of confirmed nobles, and 37 — of ascribed, which were sent to the to the Department of Heraldry of the Governing Senate by the Orenburg Noble Assembly in 1862-1917; and 48 reports and 89 lists, including 41 of confirmed nobles and 48 — of ascribed, which were sent to the Department of Heraldry by the Ufa Noble Assembly in 1866-1917. These documents are written on plain paper on both sides of the sheet sized 22.2 (width) * 35.4 (height) cm. Most are handwritten. Reports of the Ufa Noble Assembly became typewritten from 1899 on, those of the Noble Orenburg Assembly — since 1911; lists of Ufa Noble Assembly became typewritten from 1897 on, of the Orenburg Noble Assembly — from 1908 on. The lists have a title page. Information about the nobles is given in tabular form. A list of confirmed nobles contains the following information: surname, name, patronymic of the person confirmed in hereditary nobility; date of the resolution of the Noble Assembly on declaring them a noble; part of the genealogical book, in which that person was entered; the date of receipt of documents for consideration in the Department of Heraldry; date and number of the confirming decree of Department of the Heraldry. The list of ascribed nobles includes such data as: surname, name, patronymic of the person added to the nobility; the date of the resolution of the Noble Assembly to ascribe the person to a noble family, confirmed by the Department of Heraldry; name, date, and document number(s) on the basis of which they were ascribed; part of the genealogical book, in which the family was entered; date and number of the decree of the Department of Heraldry of the Governing Senate confirming the family to rank among the nobility. The list was to be certified by signatures of the gubernia marshal of nobility, or those acting in that position, and by the secretary of the Noble Assembly. The list was not sealed. These documents are unique and quite valuable written sources on the history of the Russian nobility.

scholarly journals On the prospects of transitioning from the corruption “track” of historical path of the Russian society

2020 ◽  
pp. 10-22
Author(s):  
Dmitry Vadimovich Bakharev
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Russian State ◽  
State Administration ◽  
Mode Of Operation ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Government ◽  
Russian Model

The subject of this research is the historical prerequisites of formation of the modern Russian model of state administration with its enormous corruption component. Analysis is conducted on the sociopolitical processes that took place in Russia, since the origin of conception of its statehood (formation of the Grand Duchy of Vladimir) until the events of past decade. A wide variety of literature of the Russian and foreign authors dedicated to the historical and institutional aspects of formation of national and foreign statehood became the source base for this research. An attempt is made to determine the fundamental factors of the emergence and wide spread of various manifestations of corruption at all stages of existence of the Russian state. A conclusion is made that drastic reconstruction of the historically established in Russia model of relationship between the government and society, and thus, decline in the scale of corruption, are possible only under the condition of formation of a large social coalition that supports: 1) the expansion of pluralistic basis in creation and development of the mode of operation of political institutions; 2) further public control over their activity. The reference point of such processes can become only a historical situation, which marks an informed need of broad social circles to be able to fully exercise political rights, and simultaneous response to such request from the acting political elite.

New Facts on the History of the Russian America (Based of the Russian Archival Documents)

2009 ◽  
pp. 54-58
Author(s):  
Ivan B. Mironov
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
State Archive ◽  
Historical Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Archival Documents ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
State Library

The refusal of Russia from its territory in Alaska is presented to this day as a goodwill gesture for the peace and consent with USA. The fragments of the documents stored in the archive of foreign policy of the Russian Empire, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, in the Russian State Historical Archive, in the State Archive of the Russian Federation, in the research department of manuscripts of the Russian State Library, reveal the true reasons for the taken decisions. New facts for scientific use and previously unknown documents are introduced.

Surveying the History of Rossini’s Russian Contacts: the Composer’s Autographs in the St. Petersburg and Moscow Archives 

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
А.А. Логунова
Keyword(s):  
Main Attention ◽  
National Library ◽  
Historical Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
State Museum ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
First Time

Статья продолжает тему, начатую документальной публикацией автора в журнале Opera musicologica № 4 (42) / 2019, и освещает малоизвестные факты из истории взаимоотношений Россини с подданными Российской империи в период с 1817 по 1865 год. Источниками информации послужили материалы из следующих хранилищ: Российский государственный исторический архив, Российская национальная библиотека, Государственный архив Российской Федерации, Российский национальный музей музыки, Санкт-Петербургский государственный музей театрального и музыкального искусства, Российский государственный архив литературы и искусства. В статье подробно комментируются два письма Россини к И. М. Толстому, придворному из окружения Александра II, свидетельствующие о продолжительных дружеских отношениях композитора с влиятельным российским чиновником. Среди рекомендательных писем Россини особенно интересны послания 1860 года — к Т. Рикорди и Дж. Боноле, в которых идет речь о молодом русском певце, будущем режиссере А. Д. Гарфильд-Дмитриеве. Представленные в настоящей статье документы — шесть писем и музыкальный автограф для альбома М. Я. Раппапорта — не только открывают новую страницу в истории русских контактов Россини, но содержат малоизученные факты, касающиеся биографии композитора и его итальянских связей. Большинство автографов публикуются впервые. The article continues the documentary publication in the Opera musicologica, no. 4 (2019) and deals with unknown facts from the history of relations between Rossini and subjects of the Russian Empire on the basis of the materials from the Russian State Historical Archive, the State Archive of the Russian Federation, the Russian National Museum of Music, the National Library of Russia, the St. Petersburg State Museum of Theatre and Music, the Russian State Literature and Arts Archive. The main attention is paid to letters by Rossini to Ivan M. Tolstoy, testifying to the composer’s long-term friendly relations with the influential Russian official from the entourage of Alexander II. Among Rossini’s letters of recommendation, messages to Tito Ricordi and Giovanni Bonola about a Russian singer Aleksandr Dmitriev are of particular interest. Six letters and a musical autograph presented in this article not only open a new page in the history of Rossini’s Russian contacts, but also contain little-studied facts concerning the composer’s biography and his Italian connections. Most autographs are published for the first time.

scholarly journals ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURES OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN SIBERIA IN THE CONTEXT OF STATE-CONFESSIONAL POLICY (THE 19TH - EARLY 20TH CENTURIES)

2021 ◽  
pp. 47-55
Author(s):  
TATYANA G. NEDZELYUK ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Russian Empire ◽  
The State ◽  
State Archive ◽  
Historical Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Administrative Structures ◽  
Roman Catholics

The article studies the peculiarities of the state and confessional policy of the Russian Empire in the 19th - early 20th centuries in relation to Roman Catholics. The materials that served as the basis for the study are stored both in the Russian State Historical Archive and in the archives of Siberian cities: Tobolsk, Tomsk, Omsk, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk. Government orders of identical content were sent to all Siberian provincial centers, but in Tomsk they are in the best state of preservation, which gave us the opportunity to systematize them and use them for analysis. Government orders of identical content were sent to all Siberian provincial centers, but they are in the Tomsk State Archive in the best degree of preservation, which gave us the opportunity to systematize them and use them for analysis. The study revealed that the initiative to create the first Catholic parishes in Siberia belonged to the government and was dictated by the desire to remove the clergy of the Jesuit оrder from the capital...

scholarly journals «In the Shadow of the Central Wic»: the Economic Activities of the Petrograd District War Industry Committee in 1915-1918

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-266
Author(s):  
Vladimir Lobanov ◽  
Yasyn Abdullaev
Keyword(s):  
Economic Activities ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
Historical Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Manufactured Products ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
First Time ◽  
Western Historiography

The purpose of this study is the analysis of the economic activities of the Petrograd District War Industry Committee in 1915-1918. Despite the fact that the history of the war industry committees is widely described in Russian and Western historiography, this topic still retains a serious research potential. In particular, until now no special work dedicated to the Petrograd District War Industry Committee has been published. At the same time, the study of one of the largest regional committees in the Russian Empire, which was located in the capital of the country, certainly is of great value. The article considers the history of the establishment and liquidation of the Petrograd District Committee, its structure and composition, peculiarities of relations with the Central War Industry Committee and the Imperial authorities, and shows the results achieved by the committee in the economic field. The author comes to the conclusion that the Petrograd District War Industry Committee made a great contribution to the mobilization of Russian industry and the supply of the belligerent army, far outstripping the other district and local committees in terms of the volumes of orders and manufactured products. At the same time, for a number of special reasons, the Petrograd District Committee lost hopelessly before two other capitals war industry committees: Central and Moscow District. The research is based on a wide range of historical sources, the basis of which is the documentary materials from the Russian State Historical Archive that were put into scientific circulation for the first time.

scholarly journals ALEXANDER GOLITSYN 'S ACTIVITIES BASED ON MATERISALS OF RUSSIAN STATE HISTORICAL ARCHIVES

2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (07) ◽  
pp. 07-15
Author(s):  
A.V. Ashikhmin ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Education ◽  
General Description ◽  
Russian Scientific ◽  
Historical Archive ◽  
Russian State ◽  
History Approach ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Chief Prosecutor ◽  
Xix Century ◽  
The 19Th Century

The article examines some little-studied documents devoted to the state activities of the prince, the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod, the minister of public education and spiritual affairs, the chief of the postal department A.N. Golitsyn (1773-1844). A brief historiographic review is given in connection with the examination of documentary materials of the Russian State Historical Archive, which are related to the administrative-charitable, administrative-religious and state aspects of A.N. Golitsyn’s activities. The prince was one of the most famous and controversial statesmen of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century, which means that it is important to update his documentary heritage. The figure of A.N. Golitsyn, who have already gained popularity in Russian fiction in the second half of XIX century, is still being actively studied by Russian and foreign scholars both in the traditional «source-studying» context and the «new imperial history» approach. Since the documentary basis, related to the activities of the prince, is stored in various Russian scientific and archival institutions, the article attempts to give a general description of some documents from the founds of the Russian State Historical Archive, revealing the significance of A.N. Golitsyn outside his activities as the chief of the postal department, Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod and Minister of Public Education.

scholarly journals Russia in Eastern Vatican Politics: Pope Leo XIII's Project

2008 ◽  
pp. 39-52
Author(s):  
Ella V. Bystrycka
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Schools ◽  
Russian State ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Apostolic See ◽  
The Russian Empire ◽  
Academy Of Sciences ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Soviet Historiography

The relationship between the Vatican and Russia has been the subject of research by more than one generation of scientists representing various scientific schools. Of particular interest was the pontificate of Leo XIII. The new emphasis of the foreign policy of the Curia, initiated by him, provided for the establishment of friendly relations with the Russian Empire. In this regard, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences intensified the study of the history of the papacy. In the end, she published a number of interesting documents, edited by E.F. Shmurla (for the period from the creation of the centralized Russian state until the death of Peter I), A. Turgenev (2 volumes, 1841-1842), A. Popov (1845-1850). In Soviet historiography, the study of the history of Vatican-Russian relations in the nineteenth century. engaged M. Sheiman, E. Adamov. On the basis of documentary materials, a monograph of the German scientist E. Winter was constructed. The documents published by the authors have not lost their significance for the modern researcher. Their impartial analysis opens up the possibility of a new understanding of the Eastern policy of the Apostolic See, the place and role of Catholics of the Orthodox rite, in particular Ukrainian Greek Catholics in the context of these relations.

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