Studies in modern French history at Saint Petersburg State University (original) (raw)
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The department of Russian history at St. Petersburg University (1821–1917): a group portrait
Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History
The Russian History department of the Imperial St. Petersburg University was an acknowledged centre of Russian historiography from the 19 th to the beginning of 20 th centuries. The main aim of this research is to define the characteristics of the collective biography of these Russian historians, on the basis of data which were prepared during the realization of a research project dedicated to the history of higher schools. Presented conclusions demonstrate that Russian history was one of the most progressive and competitive directions of scientific activity. In particular, historians of Russian history had more publications and higher academic status than other professors of the History and Philological faculties. Although historians of Russian history existed as a limited corporative group, their department received specialists from all over the country and at the same time sent historians to the provincial universities. The important fact to note is that historians of the department of history had first been formed as specialists in ancient history (before the rein of Peter I), but later, in the last decade of 19 th century, the department opened up a new direction in Russian humanitarian science-Russian History of 18 th and 19 th Century. In contrast to other humanitarian researchers, professors of the Russian history department for the most part did not leave the country before 1917. But in the 1920s most of them were excluded from university for ideological reasons and were caught under the "Academic Case". But at the same time loyalty to the profession, to the object of exploration and to the university as a whole ensured the continuity of the St. Petersburg history school in that dramatic period for the country and academia alike. Refs 20.
Set against the background of the rapid transformation of Russia into a major European power, the two volumes of French and Russian in Imperial Russia consider the functions of multilingualism and the use of French as a prestige language among the elite, as well as the benefits of Franco-Russian bilingualism and the anxieties to which it gave rise. The first volume, Language Use among the Russian Elite, provides insight into the development of the practice of speaking and writing French at the Russian court and among the Russian nobility from the mid-eighteenth century to the mid-nineteenth century. It examines linguistic practice, the use of French in Russia in various spheres, domains and genres, as well as the interplay between the two languages. Including examples of French lexical influence on Russian, this volume takes a sociolinguistic interest in language choice, code-switching and the degree to which the language community being observed was bilingual or diglossic. The second volume, Language Attitudes and Identity, explores the impact of French on Russian language attitudes, especially among the literary community. It examines the ways in which perceptions of Russian francophonie helped to shape social, political and cultural identity as Russia began to seek space of its own in the European cultural landscape. In the process, it investigates approaches to translation, journalistic debate about language, literary representation of devotees of French social practice and fashion, and manifestations of linguistic purism and patriotism. A comprehensive and original contribution to the multidisciplinary study of language, the two volumes address, from a historical viewpoint, subjects of relevance to sociolinguists (especially bilingualism and multilingualism), social and cultural historians (social and national identity, linguistic and cultural borrowing), Slavists (the relationship of Russian and western culture) and students of the European Enlightenment, Neo-Classicism, Romanticism and cultural nationalism.
The Czar's General: Memoirs of a Russian General of the Napoleonic Wars
Aleksey Yermolov is a legend in Russia. A man who rose from obscurity to command armies and conquer provinces, he was the epitome of a military man of action. To his enemies he was a byword for brutality, but, to his homeland, a hero. His memoirs are as dramatic as his rise to fame and fortune. Disgraced and exiled by the mad Czar Paul he was brought back into service only to witness Russian defeat at the battle of Austerlitz in 1805. Honoured and advanced by his new patron, the dashing Czar Alexander, Yermolov then made rapid progress. He witnessed at firsthand Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812 but went on to see revenge completed when the Russians marched into Paris in April 1814. When peace was declared in Europe, this hard and capable soldier was sent into the Caucasus to conquer Chechnya, sparking Russia's long and complex struggle to govern this unstable region. Yermolov was a talented general who captured the spirit of his times in his brilliant and engaging memoirs. His acidic wit, acute powers of observation and grasp of drama make this book stand out as a unique source on the wars which defeated Napoleon and made Russia a superpower.
The Russian History department of the Imperial St. Petersburg University was an acknowledged centre of Russian historiography from the 19 th to the beginning of 20 th centuries. The main aim of this research is to define the characteristics of the collective biography of these Russian historians, on the basis of data which were prepared during the realization of a research project dedicated to the history of higher schools. Presented conclusions demonstrate that Russian history was one of the most progressive and competitive directions of scientific activity. In particular, historians of Russian history had more publications and higher academic status than other professors of the History and Philo-logical faculties. Although historians of Russian history existed as a limited corporative group, their department received specialists from all over the country and at the same time sent historians to the provincial universities. The important fact to note is that historians of the department of history had first been formed as specialists in ancient history (before the rein of Peter I), but later, in the last decade of 19 th century, the department opened up a new direction in Russian humanitarian science — Russian History of 18 th and 19 th Century. In contrast to other humanitarian researchers, professors of the Rus-sian history department for the most part did not leave the country before 1917. But in the 1920s most of them were excluded from university for ideological reasons and were caught under the " Academic Case ". But at the same time loyalty to the profession, to the object of exploration and to the university as a whole ensured the continuity of the St. Petersburg history school in that dramatic period for the country and academia alike. Refs 20.
This review of Professor Boris Mironov's monograph highlights the discussion in his work of the most important parameters of economic development and social life in Russia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The book covers the period from Peter the Great to the October 1917 Revolution, when the ripening of individualistic aspirations and the gradual extension of civil rights occurred. Boris Mironov's book examines the social structure of Russian cities and rural areas, means of communication, the evolution of legislation and institutions, demographic changes, etc. Considerable attention is devoted to the discourse of the erosion of the formerly rigid social hierarchy in the post-Reform period. The review noted that the author introduced a considerable array of documents into scientific circulation, mainly from RGIA. The comparative approach, which considers Russian history from the perspective of European and American models of development, is an advantage of the book. The review noted the great contribution of Boris Mironov in the analysis of recent historiography; especially valuable in this regard is his reflection of the most important academic discussions of the last forty years.
Captain Jacques Margeret: a Remarkable Huguenot Soldier in Russia’s Time of Troubles
Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Serija 4. Istorija. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnoshenija
Captain Jacques Margeret (fl. 1591-1621), a brave and highly intelligent French Huguenot soldier, was an active observer-participant in the Time of Troubles who contributed to Russia’s military modernization. Margeret also wrote one of the most valuable foreign accounts of early modern Russia: Estat de l’Empire de Russie et Grand Duché de Moscovie (1607). In this essay, Chester Dunning surveys two hundred years of scholarship about Margeret and his famous book, and he lays the foundation for a more objective biography of the remarkable French captain who served Tsar Boris Godunov, Tsar “Dmitrii”, Tsar Vasilii Shuiskii, the Tushinite pretender Dmitrii, “Tsar” Wladyslaw, King Sigismund III of Poland-Lithuania, Prince Janusz Radziwiłł, and finally King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden. This essay challenges recent scholarship concerning Margeret’s identity, his religious affiliation, his early career in France, his controversial career in Russia, his later career, and the composition of his b...