Monument to the 1916 Russian Expeditionary Force at Paris

On February 5 representatives of Russia and France laid wreaths at the monument honoring Russian soldiers on the bank of the Seine in Paris. Sergey Naryshkin, speaker of the Russian State Duma, took part in the ceremony, RIA Novosti reports.  

In 1916 the Russian Expeditionary Force was sent to Europe to assist allies during World War I. The Russian soldiers together with French troops defended the Champagne-Ardenne region. The Russian infantry performed a key role in stopping the German army and preventing the capture of Paris.

“Without Russia’s participation, many of the battles of the Allies would have ended differently, and for France in particular,” said General Elrick Irastorza, who heads the France’s interdepartmental commission on commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the First World War.

Following the February Revolution, the Russian Expeditionary Force was demobilized, but approximately 1000 Russian volunteers continued to serve among allied forces. This group was called the Russian Legion of Honor.

The monument to the Russian Expeditionary Force was unveiled in summer of 2011 during a visit to France by Vladimir Putin. It is situated in the historical center on the right bank of the Seine not far from the Grand Palais and Pont Alexandre III.

The Russian delegation met at L'Hôtel national des Invalides with representatives of France to discuss preparations for the 100th anniversary of World War I in Moscow and Paris.

© Russkiy Mir and RIA Novosti. 07 February, 2013

Tsar Nicholas II blessing his troops during World War I 

August 1 will be the date on which, each year, Russia remembers its soldiers who fell during the First World War, the Kremlin Press Service announced on Monday.

“The following changes are introduced to the Federal Law on Days of Military Glory and Remembrance Days in Russia, adding the date of August 1 as a Day of Remembrance for the Russian soldiers who fell in the First World War of 1914-1918,” the press release says.

President Putin suggested creating a memorial to the Russian soldiers who fought in World War I (WWI) during his state of the nation address of December 12.

Allied to Britain and France in WWI, Russia is thought to have lost about 1.5 million soldiers at the front, with about 5 million wounded – according to the history site firstworldwar.com, although some historians question these figures.

Russia’s participation in WWI was downplayed in the Soviet Union, largely due to the Bolshevik view of it as an “imperialist war” that paved the way for revolution.

Speaking with young Russians at the Seliger youth camp in July 2013, President Putin raised the issue of Russia's role in WWI, and blamed the Bolsheviks for how Russia left the war. "It is also known that the Bolsheviks wished for the defeat of their own nation in World War I. And overall, I must say that their input in Russia’s defeat was commensurate."

The Treaty of Brest Litovsk, signed between Bolshevik Russia, the German Empire, Austria Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire on March 3, 1918, officially terminated Russia's involvement in WWI.

"This was an astonishing situation, wherein Germany surrendered to the Allies, but Russia lost to the defeated nation, Germany, and with such grave consequences – losing enormous territories and suffering other truly severe ramifications. This is truly a unique large-scale example of national treachery!" Putin said.

© RIA Novosti. 31 December, 2012

© RIA Novosti. 10 December, 2012

A CODED letter in which Napoleon Bonaparte vows to blow up the Kremlin will go under the hammer near Paris next month, 200 years after the French invasion of Russia.

"I will blow up the Kremlin on the 22nd at three am," reads the missive written in numbers and signed "Nap", expected to fetch up to 15,000 euros ($18,916) at the sale in Fontainebleau.

Dated October 20, 1812, the day after Napoleon retreated from the centre of Moscow, it is addressed to his external relations minister Hugues-Bernard Maret.

Napoleon's order was carried out by Marshal Mortier, who destroyed several towers and sections of wall at the Kremlin, at the time both an imperial palace and military fortress.

The towers were later rebuilt identically.

"Letters written by Napoleon from Russia are rare," said Alain Nicolas, expert for the auctioneer Ocenat. "Many were lost, probably intercepted by the Russians."

Napoleon's army entered Moscow on September 14, 1812, but much of the population had already fled and the emperor was forced to leave without securing a formal victory over Alexander I, embarking on a disastrous westward retreat.

© The Australian News and NTD Television. 23 November, 2012

The Russian State Historical Archives (RHSA)  at St. Petersburg is marking its 300th anniversary this year. Housing more than 6 million items, it is Europe's largest repository of of historical documents.

RHSA archives documents from the former Russian Empire, mostly from the late 18th to early 20th centuries, as well as public organizations, institutions and individuals of pre-Revolutionary Russia. It is one of two federal archives based in St. Petersburg, the other being the Russian State Naval Archive.

The archive houses 1368 funds from among the highest State institutions in Russia before the Revoution. Among them are documents from HM Imperial Chancellery, the State Council of Russia (1810-1917), its departments, the Main Committee on Peasant Affairs, as well as foundations of Russia's first elected legislative authority - the State Duma of the Russian Empire (1905-1917). The archives holds funds of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire (1802-1917), a complete collection of the Laws of the Russian Empire, and documents of the codification of the State Council and the separation of the Laws of the State Chancellery. 

RHSA houses the voluminous former Archives of the Governing Senate of the Russian Empire (1711-1917). Of particular interest is the vast repository of Imperial edicts, correspondence with governors, senatorial audits, and criminal appeals.

Another fund includes the Department of Heraldry (1757-1917), and includes a collection of charters, diplomas and  ranks, substantial genealogical records, and information about granting titles.

The archive also contains documents on religious and cultural history, including proceedings of the Holy Synod, the Archive of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, and documents of the Ministry of the Interior, Justice, Trade and Industry, Post and Telegraph, Public Education and Finance.

The archive includes many rare treasures of the Romanovs, including one of its oldest documents, an ABC handwritten by Peter the Great as a child. Also found are documents from Catherine the Great to Prince Potemkin, letters, book plates, books, and autographs.

It is estimated that the total length of the filing system which make up the massive collection housed at RHSA would measure some 220 miles. It is truly remarkable that this rich repository of Imperial Russian treasures survived the madness that came with the Red Terror, but Russians and historians alike can now celebrate the tercentenary of this remarkable institution.

© Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 16 November, 2012

Photo: Emperor Nicholas II holds an icon over Russian troops departing for the Eastern Front in 1914 

"One of the great tragedies under Bolshevik and Soviet rule from 1917-1991 was the latters refusal to honour the millions of men who fought for Russia during the First World War" - Paul Gilbert, Royal Russia  

Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, who heads the newly-created Russian historical society, suggests setting up an international committee that will make up a schedule of events devoted to the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI in 2014, ITAR-TASS reports.
 
Naryshkin told foreign historians whom he met late last week that projects of cooperation could be different. “First and foremost, they can be linked to historical dates in the life of Europe. One such date is centenary anniversary of the outbreak of WWI to be marked in two years from now. That war brought enormous suffering and devastation to the whole of Europe,” Naryshkin emphasized.
 
He said that World War One is often referred to in Russia as “the forgotten war” partly due to the fact that the October revolution that followed in 1917 overshadowed the events of WWI.
 
“Nevertheless, we understand the significance of WWI and the consequences it had on the life of Europe and the whole world,” Naryshkin emphasized. “I don’t rule out that possibly we should think of setting up an international direction and an international committee to prepare a plan of commemorations of this crucial cultural and historical event in the life of Russia.”
 
He added that Russia and Europe would celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII in 2015 and that offered new areas for cooperation between Russian and foreign historians.

© Russkiy Mir and Paul Gilbert @ Royal Russia. 06 November, 2012

Photo: View of the Anitchkov Bridge in St. Petersburg. Artist: Alexander Begrov (1841-1914) 

In the autumn of 1917 the Bolsheviks seized power in Russia. The centuries old Russian Empire was no longer. The Soviet government opened a new page in the country's development but did its best to either distort or hush up its previous history. Pre-revolutionary Russia was portrayed as a backward, poorly managed, semi-cultural and semi-literate state. But how was it in reality?

Statistics show that in the first decade of the 20th century Russia experienced an industrial and economic boom that pushed it to the 4th place after the United States, Britain and Germany. A sharp boost in the extraction of raw materials was matched by rapid progress in machine-building, chemistry, electrical engineering and aircraft construction. Domestic agriculture was making steady headway. As a result, the share of farming produce in national exports increased considerably. Russia produced 28% more grain than the United States, Britain and Argentina taken together. European markets were flooded with Russian butter and eggs. The ruble was a stable currency traded at  2 Deutche marks or 50 US cents. Under the last Emperor Nicholas II taxes were the lowest in Europe, life was relatively cheap and there was no unemployment. The law on social insurance for workers passed by the tsarist government aroused envy in the West. The then President of the United States William Taft once remarked that no democratic state  boasted such a perfect labor legislation as the one created by the Russian Emperor. 

The years that preceded the revolution were marked by tangible progress in the social and cultural sphere. The introduction of free compulsory primary education for all was bound to stamp out illiteracy by 1922. Both huge and smaller cities had secondary schools of highest grade which prepared boys and girls for universities. Russia boasted a better system of education for girls than Western Europe: in 1914 there were 965 women's high-schools plus higher courses for women in all major cities. Tuition fee was quite low: law faculties charged 20 times less than in the United States and Britain. Poor students got grants. There was a scholarships system of for gifted students.

The high level of education was confirmed by scientific advances. The names of chemist Dmitry Mendeleyev famous for his periodic system of elements, physiologist Ivan Pavlov, biologist and selectionist Kliment Timiryazev, and the inventor of radio Alexander Popov are known to almost everyone. Russian scientists who emigrated after the 1917 revolution were highly appreciated abroad. Aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky, who settled in the United States, designed the world's first helicopter, and his fellow countryman Vladimir Zvorykin invented television.

French poet Paul Valery called the Russian culture of that time one of the wonders of the world, apparently because despite its secularism it reflected a more  Christian outlook than Western-European culture. Suffice it to say world-famous writers Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Anton Chekhov, Ivan Bunin, together with composers Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff and many others, let alone the unrivalled Russian ballet. How could all that emerge under what bolshevik ideologists labeled as a police and bureaucratic regime?

As far as bureaucracy is concerned, the number of state officials in Russia was surprisingly low compared to Europe. The national police force was 7 times smaller than in Britain and 5 times smaller than in France, which is an indication of low crime rates. Russia's jury-based system of legal proceedings commanded the admiration of foreigners for its unbiased and humanistic approach. Economic and cultural growth was accompanied by higher birth rates.  By 1913  Russia had a population of 175 million with the annual increase of about 3.3 million. A prominent French economist Edmond Thiery wrote that if the trend persisted, by the middle of the century Russia would dominate Europe politically, economically and financially.  The then Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin once said: "Give us 20 peaceful years and you won't recognize Russia". Stolypin, whose reformist ideas encountered a mixed response in Russian society, was viciously murdered by his revolutionary opponents.

© The Voice of Russia. 03 November, 2012

 

Sergei Naryshkin, Chairman of the Russian Historical Society

Chairman of Russia’s State Duma and Chairman of the Russian Historical Society /RHS/ Sergei Naryshkin said the Society’s registration procedures are over and meeting is due before the yearend, ITAR-TASS reports. “We have just finalized the registration procedures,” he said. “The Russian Historical Society is restored both de-facto and de-jure.”
 
The agenda of the society is to establish an archive and a library. “I believe that an archive and a library should be important attributes of the society,” Naryshkin said.
 
He told reporters that the Russian Historical Society initiated and organised transfer to the museum of the Patriotic War of 1812 of two unique documents – Napoleon’s letters addressed to France’s military minister and dated 1812, where one of the letters was written on the day of the battle near Russia’s Smolensk city on August 5, 1812. The letters were given by Larisa Anisimova, who lives in Italy. The letter, Naryshkin said, would be the first items in the society’s archive.
 
Besides, the Society will form commissions and councils of RHS. They “will attract most interested professionals,” Naryshkin said. The Society receives suggestions on cooperation from companies, organisations and from individuals.
 
The Russian Historical Society is open for cooperation, and the question of new members would be considered by the Society’s meeting, which is “due before the yearend.”
 
Naryshkin noted that the year 2012 is full of historical dates and jubilees. “2012 is not over yet. The Russian Historical Society will participate in preparations and organization of a forum, a conference devoted to the Patriotic War of 1812,” he said. “2013 will also have many historical events and jubilees – they are the 1150th anniversary of Slavic alphabet – the holiday which unites all Slavic peoples; the 400th anniversary of the first Romanov tsar, and besides this date is connected with overcoming the civil revolt of the early 17th century. Besides, it is the 70th anniversary of the Kursk battle and the 20th birthday of the Russian Constitution and new parliament. The Russian Historical Society pays much attention to these events.”
 
Naryshkin said that following the registration, the Society will follow its main objective – to unite efforts of the society, the power, the civil community, and fans of history to form Russia’s new historical culture. “It may be done only on the basis of objective studies and promotion of the history, on keeping the national memories and the truth about our history.”

© Russkiy Mir. 09 October, 2012

Lenfilm Studios has received a collection of 350 Russian silent movies made before the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the St. Petersburg City Culture Committee said on Friday, RIA Novosti reports. The collection was handed over by Steven Krams, president of Magna-Tech Electronic Co. Inc. The films were taken out of Russia during the Civil War.

Besides seminal cinematic works, there are also movies that are of historical value. As Drankov's famous footage of the writer Leo Tolstoy illustrates, making films was something of a fad among the upper classes in the latter days of the Russian Empire.  Indeed, even Tsar Nicholas II himself was said to have made some of these "home movies."

Krams decided to return the films to Russia as a sign of respect for Lenfilm Studios’ contribution to cinematography. According to Lenfilm board chairman Eduard Pichugin, the collection will arrive in Russia by December. The films will be digitized and prepared for screening. Lenfilm, Russia’s second largest film studio, was founded in 1918.

© Russkiy Mir and RFE/RL. 01 October, 2012

Veliky Novgorod’s remarkable monument celebrating the 1,000th anniversary of Russian statehood is getting a $13,000 facelift ahead of the 1,150th anniversary, a representative of Novgorod’s State Museum and Conservancy told RIA Novosti.

Unveiled on September 8, 1862, the 50-foot-high Millenium of Russia monument traces the first 1,000 years of Russian history with bronze statues of 129 rulers and cultural figures, from the Varangian chieftain Rurik to the Romanovs and 19th century artists and scholars.

In a nod to local sensibilities, one notable figure was left off the monument: Ivan the Terrible, who sacked Novgorod in 1570, massacring thousands of city residents.

Veliky Novgorod, the seat of the medieval Republic of Novgorod, will celebrate the 1,150th anniversary of Russian statehood on September 21-23.

The monumental cleanup job, the first since the 1990s, targets removal of accumulated dirt, soot, dust, lichen, moss and bird droppings.

© RIA Novosti. 09 September, 2012