Alexander Bitis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263273
- eISBN:
- 9780191734700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263273.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter covers the developments prior to 1801, the Imperial Army during the reign of Alexander I, the origins and programmes of the revolutionary ‘military intelligentsia’ from 1815 to 1825; the ...
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This chapter covers the developments prior to 1801, the Imperial Army during the reign of Alexander I, the origins and programmes of the revolutionary ‘military intelligentsia’ from 1815 to 1825; the Caucasus Corps and the Second Army during 1816 to 1825; the character and policy of Nicholas I and the struggle against the ‘Russian Party’. The regime's belief in the existence of a Russian party certainly aids in understanding tsarist Eastern policy under Nicholas. On one hand, the regime attempted to defuse nationalist passions by presenting the war as a dispute between two courts. Alternatively, the domestic benefits of a forward Eastern policy were well understood. By leading his troops to a short and glorious war, Nicholas could enhance his image and deliver a public rebuke to Metternich.Less
This chapter covers the developments prior to 1801, the Imperial Army during the reign of Alexander I, the origins and programmes of the revolutionary ‘military intelligentsia’ from 1815 to 1825; the Caucasus Corps and the Second Army during 1816 to 1825; the character and policy of Nicholas I and the struggle against the ‘Russian Party’. The regime's belief in the existence of a Russian party certainly aids in understanding tsarist Eastern policy under Nicholas. On one hand, the regime attempted to defuse nationalist passions by presenting the war as a dispute between two courts. Alternatively, the domestic benefits of a forward Eastern policy were well understood. By leading his troops to a short and glorious war, Nicholas could enhance his image and deliver a public rebuke to Metternich.
Boris Khavkin
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780813175416
- eISBN:
- 9780813175447
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Kentucky
- DOI:
- 10.5810/kentucky/9780813175416.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Military History
Boris Khavkin presents the traditional military and historical view of Russia as the “steamroller” of the Entente that fought the war “down to the last Russian soldier.” The Western Powers, according ...
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Boris Khavkin presents the traditional military and historical view of Russia as the “steamroller” of the Entente that fought the war “down to the last Russian soldier.” The Western Powers, according to this perspective, used the Russian military as a counterbalance to the German offensive in France. The chapter argues that Russia made a major contribution to the victory of the Entente despite the Russian Army’s material inferiority and the fact that Russian leaders had been repeatedly obliged by their allies to enter into unprepared offensives. These events helped create the preconditions for the Revolution of 1917.Less
Boris Khavkin presents the traditional military and historical view of Russia as the “steamroller” of the Entente that fought the war “down to the last Russian soldier.” The Western Powers, according to this perspective, used the Russian military as a counterbalance to the German offensive in France. The chapter argues that Russia made a major contribution to the victory of the Entente despite the Russian Army’s material inferiority and the fact that Russian leaders had been repeatedly obliged by their allies to enter into unprepared offensives. These events helped create the preconditions for the Revolution of 1917.
Alexander Bitis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263273
- eISBN:
- 9780191734700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263273.003.0013
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter outlines the strategic implications of Russia's support of the Porte during the Mohammed Ali crisis and, following the formation of an anti-Russian Anglo-French coalition, Nicholas l's ...
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This chapter outlines the strategic implications of Russia's support of the Porte during the Mohammed Ali crisis and, following the formation of an anti-Russian Anglo-French coalition, Nicholas l's attempts to solve the army's manpower problems. The great event challenging Russia's somewhat guarded commitment to the preservation of the Ottoman Empire came in 1832–3 with the onset of the Mohammed Ali crisis. The ambitious Pasha of Egypt dreamed of conquering the Middle East to create an Arab empire and, like Mustafa, sought as his allies Muslims discontented by the Sultan's reforms. With France supporting Mohammed, the Sultan had little choice but to turn to Russia. The chapter also considers the Russian response and the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi and its consequences.Less
This chapter outlines the strategic implications of Russia's support of the Porte during the Mohammed Ali crisis and, following the formation of an anti-Russian Anglo-French coalition, Nicholas l's attempts to solve the army's manpower problems. The great event challenging Russia's somewhat guarded commitment to the preservation of the Ottoman Empire came in 1832–3 with the onset of the Mohammed Ali crisis. The ambitious Pasha of Egypt dreamed of conquering the Middle East to create an Arab empire and, like Mustafa, sought as his allies Muslims discontented by the Sultan's reforms. With France supporting Mohammed, the Sultan had little choice but to turn to Russia. The chapter also considers the Russian response and the Treaty of Unkiar-Skelessi and its consequences.
Alexander Bitis
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197263273
- eISBN:
- 9780191734700
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197263273.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This book aims to examine the role of the Russian army, government, and society in the Russo-Turkish and Russo-Persian military and diplomatic struggle in the Near East — the Balkans, Caucasus and ...
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This book aims to examine the role of the Russian army, government, and society in the Russo-Turkish and Russo-Persian military and diplomatic struggle in the Near East — the Balkans, Caucasus and Transcaucasia — between 1815 and 1833. It focuses on the ideas and activities of tsars Alexander I (r. 1801–25) and Nicholas 1 (r. 1825–55), the Russian Foreign Ministry and its diplomatic corps, the high command of the Second Army and Caucasus Corps, and domestic political groupings and educated society toward Eastern affairs. This chapter outlines the main trends in English and Russian historical writings.Less
This book aims to examine the role of the Russian army, government, and society in the Russo-Turkish and Russo-Persian military and diplomatic struggle in the Near East — the Balkans, Caucasus and Transcaucasia — between 1815 and 1833. It focuses on the ideas and activities of tsars Alexander I (r. 1801–25) and Nicholas 1 (r. 1825–55), the Russian Foreign Ministry and its diplomatic corps, the high command of the Second Army and Caucasus Corps, and domestic political groupings and educated society toward Eastern affairs. This chapter outlines the main trends in English and Russian historical writings.
Joshua Sanborn
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199642052
- eISBN:
- 9780191774492
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199642052.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Military History
This chapter begins with a discussion of the diplomatic crisis that preceded the war and the reasons for Russian involvement in the Austro-Serbian dispute. It continues with a description of the ...
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This chapter begins with a discussion of the diplomatic crisis that preceded the war and the reasons for Russian involvement in the Austro-Serbian dispute. It continues with a description of the early battles of the war in East Prussia, Poland, and Galicia. It then focuses on the social and political impact of the war on these combat zones. The everyday life of the Russian soldier is described, and it is followed by a treatment of the civilian experience of war in Poland and Ukraine. It argues that the imposition of martial law began a process of state failure in the region that led to greater physical insecurity and economic disaster. At the same time, and in response to this crisis, the state and many citizens engaged in ever more violent practices of ethnopolitics, targeting outcast minority groups for violence and plunder.Less
This chapter begins with a discussion of the diplomatic crisis that preceded the war and the reasons for Russian involvement in the Austro-Serbian dispute. It continues with a description of the early battles of the war in East Prussia, Poland, and Galicia. It then focuses on the social and political impact of the war on these combat zones. The everyday life of the Russian soldier is described, and it is followed by a treatment of the civilian experience of war in Poland and Ukraine. It argues that the imposition of martial law began a process of state failure in the region that led to greater physical insecurity and economic disaster. At the same time, and in response to this crisis, the state and many citizens engaged in ever more violent practices of ethnopolitics, targeting outcast minority groups for violence and plunder.
Zbyněk Zeman and Antonín Klimek
- Published in print:
- 1997
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198205838
- eISBN:
- 9780191676802
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198205838.003.0015
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This chapter describes the acceptance of the resignation of Sramek's cabinet, where Beneš addressed the Slovak national council and formally approved the new team, agreed on in Moscow. The new ...
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This chapter describes the acceptance of the resignation of Sramek's cabinet, where Beneš addressed the Slovak national council and formally approved the new team, agreed on in Moscow. The new government started to make changes of personnel, particularly senior officers who were not acceptable to the Communists. Beneš aimed for the army to reach the line of Wismar-Schwering-Domitz, while in the centre he hoped to hold positions along the Elbe and the Mulde rivers. The Czech national council declared that it had no political agreement with the command of the Russian Liberation Army, and that the co-ordination of operations against the Germans would be supervised by military commanders. The East-West division of Europe deepened in consequence, and Beneš's hope that Czechoslovakia could act as a bridge between the two worlds began to fade.Less
This chapter describes the acceptance of the resignation of Sramek's cabinet, where Beneš addressed the Slovak national council and formally approved the new team, agreed on in Moscow. The new government started to make changes of personnel, particularly senior officers who were not acceptable to the Communists. Beneš aimed for the army to reach the line of Wismar-Schwering-Domitz, while in the centre he hoped to hold positions along the Elbe and the Mulde rivers. The Czech national council declared that it had no political agreement with the command of the Russian Liberation Army, and that the co-ordination of operations against the Germans would be supervised by military commanders. The East-West division of Europe deepened in consequence, and Beneš's hope that Czechoslovakia could act as a bridge between the two worlds began to fade.
Semion Lyandres
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199235759
- eISBN:
- 9780191745898
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199235759.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Political History
This chapter presents a translation of the Russian-language transcripts of the two-part interview with Lev StepanovichTugan-Baranovskii (1880–1955), a Colonel of the General Staff in the Russian ...
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This chapter presents a translation of the Russian-language transcripts of the two-part interview with Lev StepanovichTugan-Baranovskii (1880–1955), a Colonel of the General Staff in the Russian imperial army. From the morning of 28 February 1917 until his transfer to the War Ministry two months later, Tugan-Baranovskii was one of the most senior and influential officers on the Duma Military Commission and devoted his inordinate energies and fine-tuned political instincts to the monumental task of democratizing the old army. This interview represents his only known testimony. It covers the last years of his service in the General Staff, his tenure on the MC during and after the February Revolution, and the efforts by the first Provisional Government to reform the imperial officer corps and the internal organization of the army more generally. Tugan-Baranovskii's account of the political maneuverings leading to Kerenskii's appointment as War Minister is particularly revealing and unprecedented.Less
This chapter presents a translation of the Russian-language transcripts of the two-part interview with Lev StepanovichTugan-Baranovskii (1880–1955), a Colonel of the General Staff in the Russian imperial army. From the morning of 28 February 1917 until his transfer to the War Ministry two months later, Tugan-Baranovskii was one of the most senior and influential officers on the Duma Military Commission and devoted his inordinate energies and fine-tuned political instincts to the monumental task of democratizing the old army. This interview represents his only known testimony. It covers the last years of his service in the General Staff, his tenure on the MC during and after the February Revolution, and the efforts by the first Provisional Government to reform the imperial officer corps and the internal organization of the army more generally. Tugan-Baranovskii's account of the political maneuverings leading to Kerenskii's appointment as War Minister is particularly revealing and unprecedented.
Robert Blobaum
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781501705236
- eISBN:
- 9781501707889
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501705236.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, Military History
This chapter addresses the impact of the war on relations between Warsaw's two principal and competing national groups, Poles and Jews, by exploring themes that take into account the dramatically ...
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This chapter addresses the impact of the war on relations between Warsaw's two principal and competing national groups, Poles and Jews, by exploring themes that take into account the dramatically different attitudes of the Russian and German regimes toward the Jewish population. To be sure, the actions of the Russian Army were largely responsible for the large Jewish refugee population in the city during the first part of the war, one of the main contributing factors to Polish–Jewish tensions. By contrast, the principal goal of the German occupation regime was to maintain stability, which required a balancing act between Poles and Jews in Warsaw—an approach that many Poles interpreted as serving Jewish interests.Less
This chapter addresses the impact of the war on relations between Warsaw's two principal and competing national groups, Poles and Jews, by exploring themes that take into account the dramatically different attitudes of the Russian and German regimes toward the Jewish population. To be sure, the actions of the Russian Army were largely responsible for the large Jewish refugee population in the city during the first part of the war, one of the main contributing factors to Polish–Jewish tensions. By contrast, the principal goal of the German occupation regime was to maintain stability, which required a balancing act between Poles and Jews in Warsaw—an approach that many Poles interpreted as serving Jewish interests.
Michael Khodarkovsky
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801449727
- eISBN:
- 9780801462894
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801449727.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Russian and Former Soviet Union History
Russia's attempt to consolidate its authority in the North Caucasus has exerted a terrible price on both sides since the mid-nineteenth century. This book tells a concise and compelling history of ...
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Russia's attempt to consolidate its authority in the North Caucasus has exerted a terrible price on both sides since the mid-nineteenth century. This book tells a concise and compelling history of the mountainous region between the Black and Caspian seas during the centuries of Russia's long conquest (1500–1850s). The history of the region unfolds against the background of one man's life story, Semën Atarshchikov (1807–1845). Torn between his Chechen identity and his duties as a lieutenant and translator in the Russian army, Atarshchikov defected, not once but twice, to join the mountaineers against the invading Russian troops. His was the experience more typical of Russia's empire-building in the borderlands than the better-known stories of the audacious kidnappers and valiant battles. It is a history of the North Caucasus as seen from both sides of the conflict, which continues to make this region Russia's most violent and vulnerable frontier.Less
Russia's attempt to consolidate its authority in the North Caucasus has exerted a terrible price on both sides since the mid-nineteenth century. This book tells a concise and compelling history of the mountainous region between the Black and Caspian seas during the centuries of Russia's long conquest (1500–1850s). The history of the region unfolds against the background of one man's life story, Semën Atarshchikov (1807–1845). Torn between his Chechen identity and his duties as a lieutenant and translator in the Russian army, Atarshchikov defected, not once but twice, to join the mountaineers against the invading Russian troops. His was the experience more typical of Russia's empire-building in the borderlands than the better-known stories of the audacious kidnappers and valiant battles. It is a history of the North Caucasus as seen from both sides of the conflict, which continues to make this region Russia's most violent and vulnerable frontier.
Donna Tussing Orwin
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801448980
- eISBN:
- 9780801465895
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801448980.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter evaluates the reactions of military personnel towards War and Peace on its publication in the nineteenth-century. While praising Leo Tolstoy's unrivaled understanding of the psychology ...
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This chapter evaluates the reactions of military personnel towards War and Peace on its publication in the nineteenth-century. While praising Leo Tolstoy's unrivaled understanding of the psychology of the Russian army and his portrait of Russian everyday life, critics attacked his theory of history and especially his military theory. General Mikhail Dragomirov, the author of the most extensive review of War and Peace, castigated Tolstoy's take on strategy, tactics, and logistics. In different ways, Tolstoy's military readers objected to his historical determinism and especially to his denial of the possibility of control of the battlefield. The chapter also explores an important limitation in the perspective of the military readers and defends an aspect of Tolstoy's psychology that they rejected as harmful to their task as soldiers.Less
This chapter evaluates the reactions of military personnel towards War and Peace on its publication in the nineteenth-century. While praising Leo Tolstoy's unrivaled understanding of the psychology of the Russian army and his portrait of Russian everyday life, critics attacked his theory of history and especially his military theory. General Mikhail Dragomirov, the author of the most extensive review of War and Peace, castigated Tolstoy's take on strategy, tactics, and logistics. In different ways, Tolstoy's military readers objected to his historical determinism and especially to his denial of the possibility of control of the battlefield. The chapter also explores an important limitation in the perspective of the military readers and defends an aspect of Tolstoy's psychology that they rejected as harmful to their task as soldiers.
