The Phenomenon of Leningrad Military Museum in the first decades of the Soviet era

Abstract

After 1917, historical everyday life museums became widespread, but there were also projects of military everyday life museums, which are the subject of this article. In 1919–1927 in Petrograd (Leningrad) there was the Military museums Section of the People's Commissariat of Education. Its activities were aimed at conservation the military museum property and developing projects for the creation of a unified military museum, which involved the creation of an everyday life department. However, the proposed ideas were not timely, and the Section was dissolved. But already in 1930, the Military-historical-everyday life museum was organized in the Military department, which existed for 7 years, and then became part of the Artillery Museum. For the first time, the composition and activities of the Leningrad Military museums section are considered, whose employees were officers of the Imperial Russian Army, founders of regimental museums, military historians, archivists, writers, collectors who tried to save the memory of the First World War and contribute to the preservation of pre-revolutionary military history. The continuation of the development of these ideas falls on the 1930s due to the new generation of the military, who realized the importance of museumification of the historical and cultural heritage, and the creation of the Military-historical-everyday life museum. Based on the analysis of some exhibits introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, conclusions can be drawn about the features of the collections. Based on archival sources, the article analyzes how the history of museum work reflects sociocultural changes in the country.