Tag: October Revolution

Revolutions of 1917 in Russia: Contemporary Historiography (in Russian)

Michael

Революции 1917 года в России: современная историография (обложка)A collection of reviews and library-research papers published in 2017 for the centenary of the Russian 1917 revolutions.  Its materials address the works of Russian and foreign scholars that deal with the 1917 events, including their broader historical background.  Considerable attention is paid to the military-political, social and cultural aspects of the revolutionary period which are examined in the context of the collapse of empires.  Special emphasis is placed on the literature containing the most significant changes in research evaluation of the 1914–21 global crisis.

Contents:

  • Preface
  • V. M. Shevyrin, ‘Politicheskie protsessy v Rossii v preddverii revoliustii 1917 goda’ [Political processes in Russia on the eve of the 1917 revolution] (Review essay)
  • V. M. Shevyrin and I. K. Bogomolov, ‘Ekonomicheskoe polozhenie Rossii nakanune revoliutsii 1917 goda’ [Economical situation in Russia on the eve of the 1917 revolution] (Review essay)
  • D. Lieven, The End of Tsarist Russia: March to World War I and Revolution (Abstract)
  • J. Sanborn, Inperial Apocalypse: The Great War and the Destruction of the Russian Empire (Abstract)
  • E. Lohr, V. Tolz, A. Semyonov, and M. von Hagen, eds., The Empire and Nationalism at War (Abstract)
  • L. Riga, The Bolsheviks and the Russian Empire (Abstract)
  • V. M. Shevyrin, ‘Kontseptsiia russkoi revoliutsii v trudakh V. P. Buldakova’ [Conception of the Russian revolution in the works by V. P. Buldakov] (Review essay)
  • E. Cinnella, 1917: La Russia verso l’abisso [1917: Russia on the way into the abyss] (Abstract)
  • M. D. Steinberg, The Russian Revolution, 1905–1921 (Abstract)
  • D. P. Koenker and W. G. Rosenberg, Strikes and Revolution in Russia, 1917 (Abstract)
  • S. V. Bespalov and O. L. Aleksandri, ‘Obrazy rossiiskoi vlasti epokhi voin i revoliutsii v trudakh B. I. Kolonitskogo’ [Images of the Russian power in the period of wars and revolutions in the works by B. I. Kolonitskii] (Review essay)
  • A. N. Medushevskii, Politicheskaia istoriia russkoi revoliutsii: normy, instituty, formy sotsial’noi mobilizatsii v XX veke [Political history of the Russian revolution: norms, institutions, forms of the social mobilization in the twentieth century] (Abstract)
  • B. D. Palmer and J. Sangster, ‘The Distinctive Heritage of 1917: Resuscitating Revolution’s longue durée’ (Abstract)
  • E. Acton, V. Cherniaev, and W. Rosenberg, eds., Critical Companion to the Russian Revolution 1914–1921 (Abstract)
  • Iu. V. Dunaeva, ‘Publikatsii zhurnala “Kritika” v preddverii stoletiia revoliutsii 1917 goda’ [Publications in Kritika on the eve of the centenary of the 1917 revolutions] (Review essay)

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A Centenary of 1917 Revolutions and the Russian Historiography (Review article)

Michael

M. M. Mints, ‘Stoletie revoliutsii 1917 goda i rossiiskaia istoricheskaia nauka (Obzor)’, in Rossievedenie: v poiskakh utrachennogo vremeni [Russian studies: In search for the lost time], ed. by I. I. Glebova (Moscow, 2019), 180–209.

Download the full text (PDF, in Russian).

The review article deals with the Russian monographs and collections of articles published in 2017 and timed to the centenary of the Russian revolutions of 1917.  These works cover quite a wide range of subjects including the institutional dimension of the revolution (constitutional law, history of politics, local governance), history of political leadership, revolutionary process in the province, role of the army and the navy in the events under review, etc.

As a whole, Russian research papers devoted to the anniversary of the 1917 revolutions make mixed impressions.  On the one hand, it is obvious that the investigation of the issues mentioned above is going on, the historians use new methodological approaches and new sources that have only recently become available.  New subjects are coming under review which were understudied or not studied at all in Soviet years.  On the other hand, many works are purely descriptive, without any real analysis.  Some authors replace such an analysis with blaming the Russian liberals for the collapse of the empire or even with conspiracy theories (the revolution as an anti-government plot).  Most of the works analysed in the article only deal with certain aspects of the history of the revolution, an overall study of those events remains a matter for the future.