"Friend / Foe" - intergenerational relationships between Russian historians of the first quarter of the XX century.

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of intergenerational relations of historians of the late XIX early XX century and young historians, students of the Institute of Red Professors. On the example of the text of the review by A.A. Kizevetter for a collection of works by young historians edited by M.N. Pokrovsky highlighted the key problems through which the conflict of generations of historians is revealed within the scientific community of the first quarter of the twentieth century. The first problem is that A.A. Kiesewetter, like other historians of the older generation, assessed the young generation of historians through the prism of a personal attitude towards M.N. Pokrovsky, hence the negative attitude towards the works of historians. The second problem is the disagreement with young researchers in assessing the activities of historians of the senior school. The third is the inaccuracy in the interpretation of historical sources and, most importantly, the categorical nature of young historians. According to A.A. Kiesewetter, young researchers lacked the critical thinking necessary when working with historical material. Pre-revolutionary historiography was rejected as obsolete. The situation of the socio-cultural crisis and the revolution of 1917 created the basis for the formation of a generational conflict. The pre-revolutionary system of evolutionary development and conflict-free transfer of experience was destroyed, and as a result, dialogue between generations did not work out. Each of the generations tried to prove its own significance in scientific activity.