Open Access
Access granted
Subscription or Fee Access
No 5 (2023)
Theory and methodology of history
Making of the Science of Public Law in Europe
Abstract
In contrast to the approaches widely accepted in historiography, in this article the author analyses the content of the concepts of “natural law”, “contract” and “sovereignty” developed by representatives of the “school of natural law” (Grotius, Pufendorf, Burlamaqui, Barbeyrac), as well as their followers (Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau). After Grotius, the individualistic concept of “natural law” emerges in the writings of Pufendorf, which led the representatives of the “school” to look for the form of the social contract in the private legal agreements of the people with the bearer of sovereign power. The author demonstrates that Rousseau, developing his criticism of these ideas, created a new concept of a public law contract in which the “sovereign” is not a party to the agreement, and the people do not alienate supreme power in his favour, remaining its bearer and its only source. At the same time, he did not raise the question of the real “origins of sovereignty”, which the representatives of the “school’ and their followers focused a lot of attention on, since Rousseau's social contract is not a historical fact. Thus, the formation of the science of public law in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries reflects the transition from the concepts of “natural law”, “contract” and “sovereignty” based on fact to the concepts based on law.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):5-17
5-17
The Problem of Punishment for Nazi Criminals in the Post-War Germany: History and Historiography
Abstract
Building on Ralph Giordano's narrative of the Germans' “second guilt”, the author presents and analyses four patterns of treatment of Nazi criminals in post-war Germany and their reflection in historiography. With regard to the Soviet practice of their legal prosecution, the author critically examines the theses about its “propaganda orientation” and “excessive rigidity” of the sentences handed down, while the actions of the Western occupation authorities are characterised by an arbitrary and politically motivated approach. Much of the article is devoted to a comparative analysis of how the problem of punishment for Nazi crimes was, or was not, addressed in the two German states and in unified Germany. The consistent efforts of the GDR authorities to identify and prosecute Nazi criminals have been duly highlighted and recognised. The author traces the winding path of “mastering the [Nazi] past” in West Germany: from the first wave of (largely ineffective) trials in the 1940s to the complete stagnation in the mid-50s and the relative growth of war crimes and crimes against humanity cases opened in subsequent years. The shortcomings of this judicial practice and the acquittal patterns reflected in German historiography are discussed and evaluated drawing on a broad source base.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):18-33
18-33
Modern history
Napoleon Bonaparte, General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, and the Problem of Banditry in Piedmont, 1800–1802
Abstract
The Consulship of Napoleon Bonaparte is often presented as a time of his political triumph as both politician and legislator. However, this very stereotypical assessment requires further clarifications. As the latest research suggests, the whole period between the Brumaire and the proclamation of the Empire was a period of difficult search for new methods of governance under very difficult circumstances. One of the serious problems in the formation of the new borders of Napoleonic France in the early years of the nineteenth century continued to be banditry (brigandage). In a number of regions, this phenomenon had a distinct political colouring. In the French political lexicon of the era, it referred to collective violence of any kind, anti-state actions, as well as various forms of criminal robbery. The situation was most acute in the peripheral regions, particularly in Piedmont. Although the flames of the acute civil conflict of 1799 had subsided here, yet the causes of this mass phenomenon were extremely deep. The author aims to analyse the ways of solving the problem of banditry in the context of the overall Napoleonic policy, to show the role of the French administration and, in particular, of General Jean-Baptiste Jourdan in this process during the formation of new institutions of power in the Consulate period. Drawing on the archival collections of the French Ministries of General Police and Justice, the Piedmont General Administration from the French National Archives, as well as some materials from the archival collections of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he attempts to reconstruct a set of measures to eradicate banditry. The new authorities, and above all the chief administrator of Piedmont, General Jourdan, as well as the prefects and mayors, had to resort both to the tactics of “mobile columns” and extraordinary justice, but also to seek compromise with the rural oligarchy, the parish clergy and the peasant masses in order to maintain the fragile social order. What is also significant is that the experience gained by the French in the fight against banditry in Piedmont was later successfully disseminated to other regions of Italy, and that it was this experience that largely served as the basis for the formation of Napoleon's policy of “cultural imperialism”.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):34-47
34-47
Military and Patriotic Mobilisation in Prussia During the Liberations Wars of 1813–1815
Abstract
The author focuses on the first mass mobilisation in Prussia carried out by the Prussian government during the Liberation Wars of 1813–1815. He aims to answer the question of how successful this mobilisation was and whether the Prussian political elite managed to obtain the popular support for the war against Napoleonic France. Methodologically, the study is based on the theory of modernisation, according to which, during the Napoleonic Wars, universal conscription was introduced in the countries of Europe and modern mass warfare emerged. The introduction deals with the general causes prompting the government of the Prussian King Frederick William III to introduce the universal conscription in Prussia in the spring of 1813. The author pays attention is paid to the military reforms conducted by Gerhard von Scharnhorst, Hermann von Boyen and other reformers. He focuses on legislative acts of March and April 1813 which laid the foundation for the mass mobilisation in Prussia, namely. royal decrees abolishing all exemptions from the military service and establishing voluntary detachments or the Prussian National Militia (Landwehr and Landsturm). The author also analyses the social and provincial origin of those who were mobilised in the Prussian army. In the second part of the article, he considers the organisation of the patriotic propaganda which was indispensable for the mass mobilisation. To this end, he examines official governmental proclamations, newspaper articles, pamphlets, leaflets, brochures, political lyrics, and sermons. He emphasises that not only men were supposed to be mobilised for the needs of war but women as well. He concludes that the first mass mobilisation in Prussia in 1813–1815 turned out to be highly successful and effective. The Prussian government managed to mobilise large groups of people within a very short period of time. The universal conscription became law in 1814, and the pantheon of national heroes who died for the freedom of the Fatherland was created. The massive public support for the war against Napoleon significantly contributed to Prussia's rapid rise to the leading power among all German states.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):48-61
48-61
The 1833 Bosporus Expedition of the Russian Fleet
Abstract
The Bosphorus expedition of the Russian fleet in 1833 became one of the most successful enterprises of the Russian foreign policy in the region of the Straits. The Treaty of Hünkâr İskelesi, concluded as a result of this expedition, represents the peak of the Russian influence in Ottoman Turkey throughout the years of bilateral relations between the two empires. The Treaty’s history, despite it being numerously mentioned in historical works, still harbors many unexplored details and is almost unknown in the European historiography. The documents from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire contain diplomatic papers of the Russian envoy in Constantinople Apollinary Butenev, and the correspondence of the special commissioner on the Bosphorus Nikolay Muravyov and secret instructions to Colonel Alexander Dugamel from the Russian State Military-historical Archive shed light on the true reasons for the assistance that was provided by the Russian government to the Porte. The history of the conclusion of the Treaty, which gave the Russian fleet unprecedented benefits in the Straits, testifies to the mutual benefit of the agreement and friendly relations between Russia and Turkey that were established as a result of its signing.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):76-86
76-86
The Unmasking of the “Second Kotzebue”: Background to a Spy Scandal 1831
Abstract
In 1818–1819, a high-profile spy scandal broke out in Germany. The renowned German playwright August von Kotzebue was declared a “Russian spy” and murdered as a “traitor to the Fatherland” amidst a tide of rising anti-Russian sentiment. Twelve years later, in 1831, the publicist Harro Paul Harring initiated a similar press campaign against the poet Carl Friedrich von Schweitzer de Schweigrois, also denounced as a “Russian spy”, an “enemy of the German nation”, and a “second Kotzebue”, against the backdrop of the suppression of the Polish Uprising by the Russian Empire. In the present study, the author considers the spy scandal of 1831 not only as an attempt by Harro Harringa to recreate the 1819 scenario in similar political circumstances, but also as an example of purposeful inflaming of anti-Russian sentiments in the wake of the initiation of public hysteria associated with the search for external and internal enemies of the “German nation” in the context of political processes within Germany. To study the subject, which has never been addressed in the historiography before, the author analyses the sources that have not been consulted before, namely the publications for 1830–1831 in the central and regional German press, primarily of the Kingdom of Saxony and the Duchy of Saxe-Weimar, which covered the scandal with the exposure of the “Russian spy” von Schweitzer de Schweigrois, eyewitness accounts, correspondence and memoirs of Harro Harring, as well as a number of indirect sources to reconstruct the biography of his opponent, appointed by German society to the role of “the second Kotzebue”.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):62-75
62-75
20th century
The Monroe Doctrine and Anglo-American Rivalry in Latin America, 19th – early 20th centuries
Abstract
In the article, the author analyses the issues related to the US adoption of the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 in the context of Anglo-American confrontation and rivalry in Latin America. The author examines the relations between the USA and Great Britain during the Spanish American wars of independence, the main aspects of the policy of “neutrality”, the actual support of Latin American patriots in their struggle against the Spanish metropole. Despite the common interest in preventing European competitors from entering South America, the Americans did not sign a joint document with the British, despite repeated proposals from London. The Doctrine was put into effect under conditions unfavourable to the US, characterised by Britain's unchallenged world domination in military and economic power. However, by the end of the nineteenth century, the situation changed dramatically in favour of the USA. The author analyses the content of the Doctrine (“America for the Americans”), its adjustment in the course of the rivalry between the USA and Great Britain in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the concessions made by the UK in its rivalry with its strategic competitor. In all events related to the Anglo-American rivalry in Latin America, the Monroe Doctrine was the “starting point’ for the actions and statements of American politicians, and it is not by chance that President Woodrow Wilson stated at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference that the doctrine should be extended to the whole world.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):87-98
87-98
Fleet Support to the Army Offensive on the Caucasus Front in 1916
Abstract
At the beginning of 1916, the Caucasus was the only theatre of operations of the Great War from which good news for the Entente were coming. The Russian Caucasus Army successfully advanced on Erzurum and captured this Turkish fortress in early February. In February 1916, the forces of the Russian Caucasus Army’s right flank group started an offensive along the southern coast of the Black Sea. It soon became clear that the main factor of its success will be naval support. Mountainous territory and the absence of roads made the Army entirely dependent on the Russian Navy. It provided the land forces with artillery support, logistics, communication and reconnaissance. Even tactical maneuvers were not possible without the Navy: the only way to envelop a Turkish defensive line was to land troops in its’ rear. The Russian Black Sea Fleet managed to establish an effective system of communication and coordination with the advancing army units, helping them reach their goals. This is one of not well-known examples of the dominant role of naval support in the success of the army offensive. In this article, the author examines the scope and forms of interaction between the Army and the Navy in order to demonstrate how the warfare conditions could force to overcome traditional mistrust and misunderstanding of the two Services.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):99-110
99-110
The Impact of Anti-Colonial Movements in the Middle East upon the Soviet-British Relations in the 1920s
Abstract
The author analyses the impact of anti-colonial movements in the Middle East on Soviet-British relations in the 1920s. The region, which comprised Persia, Afghanistan, Northwest India, Chinese Turkestan (Sinkiang), and Tibet always played an important role in bilateral political and economic dialogue. However, the assessment of the correlation between events in Asian states and the dynamics of political developments inside both the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom has not yet been the subject of special studies, despite a significant quantity of academic publications covering the history of their relationship. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including diplomatic correspondence, analytical reviews by experts, journalists’ comments and personal impressions of contemporaries, the author examines scenarios of actions plotted by the Kremlin and Whitehall in the Middle East, while taking into account the long-term forecasts which various political groups put forward to the Soviet and British leading circles. The conclusions drawn by the author made it possible to clarify the reasons and nature of Moscow’s abstention from the idea of “world revolution”, on the one hand, and of London’s subsequent transition from mono-party to nationwide coalition Cabinets, on the other.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):111-123
111-123
Stalin's “Soft Power”: Activities of the Commissioner for Foreign Military Formations in the USSR During the Great Patriotic War
Abstract
Foreign military formations established on the Soviet territory, more than anything else, epitomised the coalition nature of the struggle against Nazi aggression. In the latter stages of the war, they became a powerful tool for promoting the geopolitical interests of the Soviet Union in Eastern Europe, in connection with which the formation of alien troops received a new powerful impetus. The article draws on the documents of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, which are introduced into the academic circuit for the first time. The author analyses the activities of a special body of military administration directly subordinate to the highest leadership of the country, namely the Commissioner for Foreign Formations in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. He coordinated and supervised the formation of Polish, Czechoslovak, and Yugoslav military units both within the Soviet military establishment and at the interdepartmental and international levels. In the research literature, this institution has been very poorly studied and current knowledge about it is fragmentary, which determines its academic relevance. It was a highly effective instrument of Soviet “soft power&8j1;, which facilitated the extension of the Stalinist leadership's military and political influence over the countries of Eastern Europe. During the war years, the institution of the Commissioner underwent a complex evolution, changing its functions and its name several times. The direct command vertical between Stalin and the Commissioner invariably remained unchanged, which provided the latter with extremely wide administrative and control possibilities, despite the fact that this institution was not even clearly defined.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):124-143
124-143
Jan Masaryk in American Diplomatic Correspondence, 1945–1948
Abstract
Jan Masaryk (1886–1948) was the head of the Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs during the most difficult period in the history of Czechoslovakia, from 1940 to 1948. The peak of his professional career came in the post-war years, when CSR was at the centre of the unfolding Soviet-American confrontation. As a son of the first Czechoslovak President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and the closest associate of his successor Edvard Beneš, Jan Masaryk was trying to advocate democratic traditions in his country and preserve close relations with the West. But in practice, Prague was increasingly drawn into Moscow's sphere of influence. His life was tragically cut short in March 1948, soon after the Communists takeover. Until now his death remains the subject of various theories and discussions. The question of how the fate of this politician and his country would have unfolded had he stayed alive remains open. The purpose of the article is to consider Masaryk in a new context, namely through his perception by American diplomats. The author attempts to ascertain whether they associated their hopes for strengthening the western orientation of the Czech Socialist Republic and countering Soviet influence with Masaryk, and what they believed to be the reasons for his sudden death. The article draws on a study of American diplomatic correspondence. The author concludes that despite Masaryk's reputation as a pro-Western politician, in the United States he was not considered an important and influential figure in Czechoslovakia. His refusal to join anti-communist forces at home and his support for Moscow in the international arena caused resentment in Washington. Masaryk's death resonated in American political circles. Yet the State Department made no attempt to investigate its causes in detail or to question the official version of his suicide. Nevertheless, Masaryk became a tragic symbol of resistance to communism and the collapse of the last hopes for maintaining close relations between Czechoslovakia and the West.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):144-157
144-157
Chanceler Adenauer’s the Theory of Crises of the USSR
Abstract
In the article, the author analyses the foreign policy views of the FRG Chancellor Konrad Adenauer on the preconditions for the Soviet Union to change its foreign policy course. Given Adenauer's dominant position in the system of foreign policy decision-making, it was these views that for many years formed the conceptual foundations of the German eastern policy. The Chancellor's set of beliefs includes two key blocks related to the expectations of economic crisis in the USSR and the escalation of Soviet-Chinese contradictions. Economic problems combined with generational changes and the need to raise the living standards of the population should have led the Soviet Union, in the Chancellor's opinion, to limit the arms race and make concessions to the West. The Soviet-Chinese contradictions which were supposed to have a restraining effect on Soviet foreign policy were also an important factor for Adenauer. In the long term, these problems should have forced the Soviet Union to give up its position in Europe and to make concessions on the German question. These two crucial components formed the theory of crises, which the Chancellor shared with his interlocutors on foreign policy issues. The sources of the study are primarily documents from Adenauer's archive in Röndorf (Germany).
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):158-171
158-171
The DPRK and Cuba in the Initial Period of Bilateral Relations (1960–1965): The Limits of “Socialist Solidarity”
Abstract
In this article, drawing on recently declassified archive sources from the Soviet embassy in Pyongyang, the author aims to refute the traditional view of North Korean-Cuban relations as historically close and equal, based on socialist solidarity and a common struggle against imperialism. In it, she argues that for North Korea, its “unbreakable friendship” with Cuba was motivated by more than just a desire to help the “brotherly country” in its anti-imperialist struggle. Exploring the early phase of bilateral relations, the author looks behind the propaganda façade of internationalism and socialist solidarity to examine the pragmatic motives behind North Korean desire to establish strong relations with the new socialist Cuba. She argues that North Korea originally sought to adopt the same senior partner role to Cuba that the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries had with respect to North Korea itself, promoting a North Korean political and ideological model in Cuba and contrasting it with both the Soviet and Chinese models. North Korea used the growing Sino-Soviet rift to discredit both the Soviet Union and China, while simultaneously promoting itself and its model as an alternative to the two quarrelling socialist giants. The study of archival sources provides a more detailed insight into the early phase of North Korean-Cuban relations and contributes to an understanding of North Korean foreign policy and its characteristic features still in place today.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):172-183
172-183
Messages
Jean-Lambert Tallien and his Political Path
Abstract
Jean-Lamber Tallien (1767–1820) was a controversial figure of the era of the French Revolution, who rose from the lower classes, quickly made a successful political career, and just as quickly lost it. He encountered the Revolution at the age of twenty-two and became enthusiastically involved in the unfolding events, perfectly navigating the ever-changing environment. Tallien Tallien joined the Jacobin Club, organised a society for political education, began publishing his own newspaper, and was soon elected to the National Convention, becoming one of the youngest deputies in the new legislature. This was followed by a succession of assignments as a representative on mission to different regions of France, an escalation of the conflict with Robespierre, and the Thermidorian Reaction, which was truly Tallien's finest hour. However, after the overthrow of Robespierre, his career suffered a serious setback. Some facts of his biography, such as his participation in the September Massacres, his too soft policy in rebellious Bordeaux, his relationship with the Spanish Thérésa Cabarrus, gave his political opponents, and later historians, reason to accuse Tallien of bloodthirstiness, corruption, and royalism, which led to the permanent loss of his influence and credibility. His last attempt to reverse his fortunes was Bonaparte's Egyptian expedition, which, however, ended miserably not only for Tallien, but also for the great majority of its participants. The author highlights the main milestones of Tallien's biography, as well as summarises the reasons for and the essence of the “black legend” about him that has developed in historiography.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):184-197
184-197
“Abhorrent Zionism, Israel are not the Solution”: Dialectics of the Soviet and the National in Ego-Documents of the 1970s–80s
Abstract
Drawing on late-Soviet Jewish ego-documents: memoirs, diaries and letters, primarily on a corpus of (auto)biographical essays on the life of a Leningrad journalist, the author explores her protagonists' obsessive reflections on anti-Semitism and Zionism, evoked by the acute dissonance between their sincerely internalised communist ideology of internationalism and the widespread practice of anti-Semitism, as well as between Soviet patriotism and Jewish memory, Jewish solidarity and the temptation of emigration to Israel. The study of “ordinary” people’s ego-documents not intended for publication enables one to penetrate into their inner world and to extrapolate the obtained observations onto Soviet Jewish majority; in addition, it allows to explain the position of prominent Soviet authors of Jewish origin, such as playwright and publicist Tsezar Solodar, poet and editor-in-chief of Sovetisch Heymland Aron Vergelis, author of critical popular books on Judaism Moisei Belenkii, and others, who stigmatised Judaism and Zionism. Ego-documents allow for tracing not only Soviet, but also Jewish origins of late-Soviet anti-Zionism, which went back to the position of the poor strata of shtetl society, who, while leaning towards socialism, associated Zionism with the hostile bourgeoisie. The paper partly polemicises, partly complements the existing historiography on late Soviet Jewish identity, which is based mainly on post-Soviet interviews or the émigrés’ experience and therefore tends to simplify the picture, reducing the diversity of identities, attitudes and behaviours to two binaries, either to “thin culture”/“symbolic ethnicity”, or to hidden emigration aspirations presented as natural and self-evident.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):198-215
198-215
Why There Is No Socialism in the USA
Abstract
Why there is no socialism in the USA? The author tries to answer this question and identifies two main reasons of that. The first lies in the nature of American civilization. The second is in the politics of the ruling class. Violence was used. But there was also what modern political scientists call “soft power”. The first one, as a rule, was used by conservatism, and the second one by liberalism. At the present stage, these are, respectively, the Republican and the Democratic Parties. In the USA itself, the classic explanation is the work of L. Hartz, who explained the absence of socialism by the absence of feudalism. But is the rooting of socialism due to capitalism not to feudalism? The colonists attributed their departure from England either to the desire for enrichment, or to a religious reason. Protestant ethics, most fully embodied in Puritanism and placing on the individual all responsibility for his successes and failures, initially became the civilizational basis of North America, and then the United States. Another civilizational factor that pushed Puritanism was national consumerism, which has been forming since the 1920s. Ronald Reagan, George W. Bush, and Donald Trump are examples of Republican presidents. Presidents from the Democratic Party who relied on “soft power” (social reforms) in the fight against socialism in the article are Franklin Delano Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Barack Obama.
Novaya i Novejshaya Istoriya. 2023;(5):216-229
216-229
Reviews
230-233
233-237
238-245
245-249
Academic life
250-252
253-254