К историческим образам интервентов в Белой Сибири 1918-1919 гг.

Abstract

This article is a review of the monograph “The Image of Foreign Allies of the Anti-Bolshevik Movement in the Periodicals of Western Siberia (May 1918 – December 1919),” prepared by the famous Siberian historian-archivist, candidate of historical sciences Maksim Maksimovich Stelmak. The book was printed in Omsk. Its was presented to the general scientific community on June 20, 2023 at the Center for the Study of the History of the Civil War of the Historical Archive of the Omsk Region. The monograph was prepared on the basis of his dissertation research, substantially revised and supplemented to include new sources, identified by M. M. Stelmak, and historiography developments of the last six years. This final version can be rightfully called a valuable comprehensive study on the history of the Civil War in Siberia and of the life of the region and its population in the era of social cataclysms. Historical-anthropological approach and imagology served as theoretical basis for the monograph and, accordingly, for this review. Principles of consistency and determinism permit to call the book a phenomenon in scientific life, reflecting subjective and original assessments of the author, not detaching, however, from the generality of historical knowledge. The review overviews specific features of the source base of M. M. Stelmak’s research. It highlights key features of the monograph and its relevance, characteristic for flamboyant development of the historical science in a regional state archive. The review concludes with speculative passages on the impact of the monograph on potential development of the historiography on the issue: further study of the history of images, military-political history, comparative historical studies of the image of the Civil War participants and foreign military intervention in Russia in 1918–22 based on periodicals.