The World of Russian emigres in the late XX – early XXI centuries

an association of intellectuals, the elite of Russian historical science, who in difficult circumstances of emigration remained faithful to the cause of all their lives: historical science. The main focus of their activities within the framework of the RHS was the preparation of collections of scientific works, i. e. “Notes of the Russian Historical Society in Prague”. In 1940, the activities of the RHS were banned by the German occupation authorities, and its chairman Antoniy Florovsky was arrested.

In 1937, a group of Russian scientists in San Francisco came up with an idea of recreating the Russian Historical Society in America, and a year later an edition of “Notes” was issued. The RHS in San Francisco was a predecessor of the famous Museum of Russian Culture, which was founded in 1948 and played an extremely important role in collecting the historical and cultural heritage of the Russian emigration in the United States. In the early 1990s, another attempt was made by a small group of enthusiasts in the United States to revive the Russian Historical Society. Under its auspices two additional volumes of the “Russian Biographical Dictionary” were published to be discontinued in 1917. On National Unity Day, November 4, 2004, the Russian Historical Society Abroad announced the resumption of its activities at home; Petr Aleksandrov-Derkachenko was elected as Chairman. (Currently, the Russian Historical Society Abroad has an office in Moscow and is a member of the Russian Historical Society).

The Imperial Russian Military Historical Society (IRMHS), founded in 1907, united military historians, including representatives of officers and generals, archivists, publishers, museologists. Cavalry General Dmitriy Scalon was elected Chairman of the Council of IRHMS. In 1912, he was replaced by Lieutenant General Nikolai Mikhnevich. Both served as Chief of General Staff, which ensured a high level of official and personal interaction of the IRMHS Council with the army, administrative and scientific institutions. The Society saw its task in studying and promoting the military history of Russia, including publication of scientific works, memoirs, epistolary sources and other documentary materials of military history; the search and archaeological research of places of battles; immortalizing the memory of Russian soldiers; the creation and arrangement of military history museums, collection of uniforms, weapons, awards, banners, and other paraphernalia. Periodicals published by IRMHS, i. e. the Journal of the Imperial Russian Military Historical Society, Works of the Imperial Russian Military Historical Society and Notes of the department of military archaeology and archeography, were popular among military intellectuals and a wide range of readers interested in military history. The active work of the Society was curtailed with the beginning of World War I, when most of its members went to the front, and in 1917 it officially ceased to exist. A number of its members, while in exile, continued their military-historical works, which became part of the scientific heritage of the Russian world, and in 1990-2000s entered the national scientific information space.

It should be noted that in pre-revolutionary Russia there were other military scientific societies engaged in historical research. Thus, in 1898, in St. Petersburg, a group of officers established the Society of Military Knowledge Zealots, headed by military historian Colonel Aleksandr Myshlayevsky. Later, the Society’s branches were established in Riga, Vilna, Minsk, Suvalki, Chuguyev, Khabarovsk, Tiflis, Libav, Samarkand, Ashgabat and Warsaw. The Society of Military Knowledge Zealots in its classes and publications dealt mainly with issues of military theory in connection with the military conflicts of the time, namely the Anglo-Boer War, the Boxing Uprising in China, the Russian-Japanese War, etc., but there were also reports on military historical topics.

In the 1920s and 1930s, in most centres of Russian emigration in Europe, the U. S. and China, there were officer societies and unions the participants of which studied various problems of military history and prepared documentary publications and memoirs. The scope of their interests mainly included understanding of the events and results of the First World War of 1914–1918 and the Civil War of 1917–1922 in Russia with the majority of emigrant officers and generals being veterans of these conflicts. The military press of the Russian community abroad, for example La Sentinelle magazine, bulletin of the Gallipoli Society, etc., covered the outcomes of their scientific and creative activities. Later, in 1950-1970s in Paris, there was the Society of Russian Military Antiquities Enthusiasts, which published 50 issues of the Military Historical Bulletin. Thus, the traditions of the Imperial Russian Military Historical Society and other military scientific associations of the tsarist Russia became an important part of the corporate culture of the Russian military emigration, its scientific and publishing heritage, and found their continuation in the activities of modern Russian historical and cultural organizations like the RMHS and the Russian Historical Society.

Numerous members of the pre-revolutionary Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society also found themselves in exile after 1917. In particular, the grandfather of Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky, the Deputy Chairman of the International Council of Russian Compatriots (ICRC), was Treasurer of the Society before the revolution. At the same time, the Palestinian society continued to exist as a research orientalist structure within the system of the USSR Academy of Sciences. (In 1992, it was returned the former name and functions of the manager of pilgrimage trips of Russians to the Holy Land).

Accordingly, the management and the members of these organizations hold dear both their own, corporate historical tradition, and the very idea of preserving historical memory, including the objective interpretation of documentary evidence of the past, recovering the memory of forgotten names and dates, the protection of national history from accidental distortion and intentional falsification.

The acknowledgment of the Russia Abroad by the public as an integral part of Russian history and an important component of cultural and scientific life in modern Russia has become one of the tasks of the Russian Historical Society is a. In the summer of 2012, ITAR-TASS circulated a statement by the State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin about the upcoming revival of the RHS:

Creating, or rather recreating, the Russian Historical a decision long overdue. We must do everything to ensure that events under its auspices are not diurnal, but a basis for sustainable traditions. The same was once attempted by our predecessors from the Imperial Russian Historical Society.

Sergey Naryshkin also stressed that the emigrant period in the history of RHS deserves special attention and respect, because “even in those difficult circumstances, members of the Society did a lot to preserve our historical memory.” This message was posted on the Russkiy Mir portal and in the Russian-speaking foreign media.[21]

On June 20, 2012, the Reception House of the Government of the Russian Federation held the first meeting of the Russian Historical Society, with T1 leading Russian educational, scientific and cultural institutions, research funds, and mass media as its founders. The meeting was attended by heads of federal executive bodies, members of the Council of Federation, members of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, representatives of public organizations and the scientific and expert community. The Speaker of the State Duma Sergey Naryshkin, elected Chairman of the RHS, noted that an important task for the Historical Society will be ‘strengthening ties with compatriots abroad. Among other things, to preserve the memory of those who found themselves abroad in the aftermath of the revolution and civil war. And also – to return relics and documents directly related to landmark historical events back to our country.’[22] In his speech, Sergey Naryshkin also emphasized the importance of updating the experience of the past decades and its relevance in the process of modern development of Russia and the Russian world.

The main activity of the RHS as the largest and most reputable association of intellectual elites is to support the most significant educational and scientific projects, including those concerned with the development of international cultural dialogue within the Russian world. Since its creation, the RHS and, personally, its Chairman Sergey Naryshkin, have taken an active part in developing cultural dialogue with the world of Russian compatriots abroad, such as holding international conferences and round tables, preparing for historical, documentary, and art exhibitions related to the topic of Russian emigration in 19th-20th centuries and today’s Russian community abroad.

With the support of the RHS, international-level projects involving representatives of the Russian community abroad are being implemented in various cities of Russia, for instance the Franco-Russian workshop “France-Russia, 1914–1918: from alliance to cooperation” held in 2014 in Yaroslavl. On October 20, 2015, a self-titled collection of the workshop outcomes was presented in the residence of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Paris.

Scientific and information work of the RHS involves publication of new books on historical subjects, including studies in the held of history of the Russian community abroad, as well as reprints of masterpieces of science and social thought of the Russian emigration of 19th and 20th centuries. So, for example, the RHS website regularly posts information about the books by Kuchkovo Pole Publishing released under its auspices.

The fact that a topic related to the Russian community abroad has so much importance for the RHS is due not only to the conceptual framework for its work, but also to the presence of organizations and establishments directly connected with the world of Russian compatriots living abroad that are among its founders, such as Russkiy Mir Foundation, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, the Russian Historical Society Abroad etc. The list of legal entities that are members of the RHS includes the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lomonosov Moscow State University and Russian State University for the Humanities which have centres for studies on Russian history and culture of Russian community abroad. The members of the Russian Historical Society are Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russia Abroad, the Russian Book Union and a number of other organizations engaged in dissemination of Russian books and other cultural and educational activities abroad. Besides, there are plans under way to establish the RHS structures in the Near and Far Abroad. In June 2015, during a meeting of Russian and Belarusian historians at Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno, a proposal was made to set up a representative office of the Russian Historical Society at the University of Grodno. The idea was supported by the Chairman of the RHS Sergey Naryshkin, State Secretary of the Union State Grigory Rapota and the entire scientific and historical community. The activities of the RHS branch in Belarus that are to be managed by the Faculty of History, Communication and Tourism of Yanka Kupala State University and the Russian State University for the Humanities will certainly play a positive role in expanding the involvement of Russian compatriots living in Belarus in historical and cultural events and in spreading historical knowledge.

The Decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin No.1710 of December 29, 2012 established the Russian Military Historical Society (RMHS). It inherited the most important functions and activities of the Imperial Russian Military Historical Society that existed before the Russian Revolution. According to the RMHS Charter, its objectives are “to consolidate the forces of State and society in studying Russia’s military and historical past, to promote the study of Russian military history, to counter attempts to distort it, to ensure the popularization of achievements in military and historical science, to foster patriotism, to improve the status of military service and to preserve the objects of military and historical cultural heritage.” The Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Vladimir Medinsky was elected Chairman of the RMHS at the Founding Congress held on March 14, 2013 in the Museum of the Great Patriotic War on Poklonnaya Hill. Among the members of the Council of the RMHS are the Minister of Defense Sergey Shoigu, the Minister of the Interior Vladimir Kolokoltsev, heads of several other ministries and departments, as well as representatives of large businesses known for their charity in the held of culture and art: Renova Group CEO Viktor Vekselberg, JSFC Sistema major shareholder Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Chairman of the Management Board of JSC Transneft Nikolay Tokarev, St Andrew the First-Called Foundation Chairman Vladimir Yakunin et al.

In his address to the participants of the RMHS Founding Congress, President Vladimir Putin said, inter alia:

It is very nice that today, the work of similar organizations is being revived. As you know, we already have active Orthodox Palestinian Society, Russian Geographical Society, Russian Historical Society, and now we have Russian Military Historical Society as well. Many of you worked actively in these areas even before this Society was revived, and up to this day. Now, I will have the pleasure of fulfilling my honourable duty as head of state in presenting many of you with state decorations, certificates of merit for your practical labours in all these areas, which are highly important for our state. I am referring to your care for our military in search parties and archives, holding large-scale patriotic events – the awards recognize your efforts, your active civic patriotic positions.[23]

At the beginning of the 20th century, the Imperial Russian Military Historical Society and the Imperial Russian Historical Society have taken an active part in museum, memorial, and publication work undertaken in Russia on the occasion of the centenary of the Patriotic War of 1812. Nowadays, a large-scale program of scientific and cultural events dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Patriotic War of 1812 has united the Russian Historical Society, the Russian Military Historical Society, the Russian Society of Historical Archivists and a number of historical and memorial organizations both in Russia and abroad. Thus, today the idea of a single “chain of times” connecting different eras of the Russian history is indeed reflected in the activities of the RHS, RMHS, and RSHA, including in terms of their predecessors’ historical experience in the fields of science and education.

The organizational structure of the Russian Military-Historical Society comprises the Russian Cossack Mission in the USA, which coordinates the interaction between the RMHS with the World Cossack Association (WCA) and various corporate, museum and memorial organizations of the Cossack emigration, such as the Kuban Cossacks Corporation (New Jersey), the Cossack People’s Union (California). This includes joint commemorative events related to the history of Russian Cossacks and the return of Cossack relics and archives to their homeland. The Cossack People’s Union is officially a partner of the RMHS. In October 2015, Alexander Pevnev, the Ataman of the Kuban Cossacks in the USA, and Valery Annenkov, the RMHS Commissioner for Cossack Affairs in the USA, arrived in Novocherkassk to participate in the Fifth World Cossack Congress and brought with them the Icon of the New Martyrs of Russia, which was to be given to one of the churches in a village of Kaletvin province of the Rostov region as a gift from the emigrant Cossacks. The RMHS Commissioner for Cossack Affairs in the United States also managed to reach an agreement with the World Cossack Association regarding the transfer to Russia of a set of Cossack periodicals that were published in 1920s-1950s in Prague, Paris, and New York and have been maintained in WCA’s archives. As reported on the RMHS website, the head of the World Cossack Association Vasily Lyashko expressed his hope that ‘the transfer of Cossack magazines from the U. S. to Russia is one of the steps within the framework of the collaboration between the RMHS and the WCA on the basis of the previously adopted Treaty on joint activities of the RMHS and the WCA.’[24]

The Russian Cossack Mission in the USA is not only a participant, but also an organizer of the most important events of the Cossack community abroad. On January 7, 2016, for instance, a conference dedicated to one of the most significant events in Russian military history (the manifesto of Alexander I on the expulsion of Napoleon’s troops from Russia in 1812) was held in the premises of the Cossack museum and club “New Kuban” (New Jersey, USA) by the RMHS office in the USA. The conference timed to coincide with the Orthodox Christmas was attended by military historians and representatives of Cossack and other Russian American organizations. The ties with the Russian community living abroad are strengthened through the partnership between the RMHS, the Scouts Federation Galitskaya Rus and the Center for Development of Relations between the Autonomous Province of Bolzano and Russia n. a. Nadezhda Borodina.

Today, the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society is also a center for creative interaction between a wide range of scientific, cultural and educational personalities of Russia and the Russian world. In 1990, the International Conference on “Russia and Palestine: cultural and religious ties, past present and future” was held in Moscow, while a group of employees of the Russian Palestine Society of the USSR Academy of Sciences visited the Holy Land for the first time in quite a long time. These events marked the beginning of the revival of Orthodox pilgrimage that became one of key topics in the process of general ideological and socio-cultural transformation of the Russian society, and also in the context of a dialogue with Russian emigrants, who showed keen interest in events of church life in Russia and resumed visits to the Holy Land. The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (the IOPS) restored its historical name in 1992, having gained a wide popularity and public credibility, which subsequently contributed to the expansion of its multiple organizational, scientific and cultural ties with the Russian world, as well as with Russia-based organizations and agencies promoting cooperation with Russians living abroad. This process was promoted through Israeli authorities’ support to the activities of the IOPS as a whole and of its branches established in Jerusalem and Bethlehem in 2005. In 2008, the government of Israel made an official decision to transfer ownership of Sergey’s Courtyard, which housed the Jerusalem branch of the IOPS, to the Russian Federation. These events coincided with the final stage of canonical reunification between the Moscow Patriarchate and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, which gave additional impetus for the Russian emigration to get closer to Russian religious and cultural institutions abroad, including the IOPS structures.

The Jerusalem branch of the IOPS is essential for establishing and developing scientific interaction between Russian scientists (historians, orientalists, biblical scholars) and their Israeli counterparts, including those representing the Russian-speaking community in Israel. Representatives of the IOPS branch in Jerusalem collaborate with specialists from the University of Jerusalem and the Ben Zvi Institute conducting research on the history and culture of the Holy Land and Jerusalem, but also with those from the School of Tourism in Haifa and several other educational institutions where IOPS staff give lectures to professors and academic personnel.

Since 2014, the IOPS branch in Jerusalem has been continuously cooperating with the Israeli Ministry of Tourism, including through courses on “The Russian Trail in Jerusalem” for Israeli tour guides. The Sergius Readings named to honour the memory of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and dedicated to the history of the Holy Land, as well as the history of the IOPS itself are one of the forms of cultural and educational work of the IOPS Jerusalem branch. These lectures are a modern version of the Palestinian readings for pilgrims that the IOPS has been conducting before the Russian Revolution. Pilgrims, representatives of the Orthodox Church, scientists and artists from Israel, Russia, and the CIS countries take part in them, and as a result we can consider the Sergius Readings in Jerusalem as another platform for intellectual dialogue within the global system of the Russian world. For example, the Sergius Readings in February 2014 were attended by the participants of the 7th session of the Chief Editors Club of the CIS, Baltic States, and Georgia.[25]

The activities of the IOPS are carried out in line with Russia’s general foreign policy aimed at strengthening peace in the Middle East and expanding economic and cultural cooperation with the states of the region. Strengthening ties with Russian-speaking communities and programs promoting Russian language and culture abroad make a significant contribution to this end. The IOPS is directly involved in the preparation and implementation of such programs. Thus, the Russian Centre for Science and Culture (RCSC) was inaugurated in June 2012 in Bethlehem in the presence of the Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of its premises was allocated to the office of the IOPS Bethlehem branch. The Center foundation and development project was implemented thanks to the collaboration between Rossotrudnichestvo, institutions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and the Palestinian Society through the sponsorship of Rosneft.

On July 3, 2012, the Voice of Russia broadcasted a conversation of Konstantin Kosachev, Head of Rossotrudnichestvo and Russian President’s Special Envoy for relations with CIS member-states, and Sergey Stepashin, Chairman of the IOPS and the Russian Book Union. This meeting was held on the occasion of the opening of the Russian Center for Science and Culture in Palestine and was devoted to the role of Russian books in shaping the international image of Russia, as well as to cultural opportunities as a tool for exercising geopolitical influence. ‘Our center in Bethlehem,” said Konstantin Kosachev, ‘is a freestanding building in the historic center of Bethlehem with an area of more than 3 thousand meters. It is a two-storey building with large exhibition spaces, a concert hall, a choreography class and a music class. Of course, there are three classes for Russian lessons. There is everything that must be in a Russian cultural and scientific center.’ The head of Rossotrudnichestvo also emphasized that the RCSC in Palestine is a very timely and relevant institution, since about 3 thousand Russian citizens and several tens of thousands of Russian compatriots, including about 15 thousand graduates of Soviet and Russian universities live in this region. ‘This center will definitely attract not dozens, but hundreds, maybe even thousands of people every day,’ said Konstantin Kosachev. ‘In my opinion, no less important is the fact that this center emerged (I believe this is the first experience of the kind) as a unique model of public-private partnership,’[26] he added. Russian compatriots are particularly attracted by one of the units of the RCSC, namely by the library of Russian classical and modern books designed to store 3.5 thousand volumes, most of which had been brought to Bethlehem for the opening of the Center. The Russian Book Union, Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library, Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russia Abroad and Rossotrudnichestvo acted as philanthropists who gave books to the newly established RCSC.

In March 2013, a memorable capsule was laid in the foundation of the first secondary school in Palestine with the study of Russian as the main foreign language. The ceremony was attended by the President of the IOPS, Sergey Stepashin. The IOPS carries out similar work in cooperation with agencies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, cultural organizations of Russian compatriots abroad, Orthodox episcopates and parishes in Egypt, Lebanon and other Christian countries of Early Christianity that traditionally attract the interest of pilgrims and tourists from Russia and the Russian world. The IOPS is also actively involved in the international social movement for protecting Christian population and international cultural heritage in Syria and other countries of the Middle East against attacks by Islamist terrorist groups, The participants emphasize that the opening of a Russian school in Palestine is important not only as a sign of respect for the traditions (before the Russian Revolution the IOPS managed 100 schools for Palestinian children there), but also as a factor for increasing Russia’s international standing.