‘Remember Tsushima!’ Polyphonic and Peripheral Memories of the Russo–Japanese War in Putin’s Russia

Abstract

Remembering the devastating defeat of the Russian Empire in the Russo–Japanese War (1904–1905), in particular, at the Battle of Tsushima (May 1905), does not easily fit into patriotic and ‘great power’ narratives of the past promoted in Putin’s Russia. In contrast to monolithic, state-dominated accounts of the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945), which have come to prevail over the last two decades, alternative accounts of memory emerge through remembering the Russo–Japanese War. This article highlights how the polyphonic memory of this conflict poses a challenge to monopolistic state-authored accounts, with their rigid, nationalist framings of memory, borders and identity.