Russian Commander Research Articles

Горцы на стороне Российской империи в вооруженном противостоянии на Кавказе

The article reveals the circumstances of recruiting highlanders of the North Caucasus to serve in the ranks of the Russian army during the period of expansion of imperial power in the region. The Russian government saw this practice as a way to reduce their hostile belligerence, which they tried to use in their own interests. The motivation of people who agreed to swear allegiance to the state and fight against its enemies with arms in hand is analyzed. The difficulty of the choice was due to the fact that the enemy in this case could be co-religionists who did not want to recognize the new order established by Russia. There were frequent cases of going over to the enemy's side. This applied both to those highlanders who swore allegiance to the empire and to their rivals. The Russian command has not formed an unambiguous assessment of the effectiveness of such measures. There were those who expressed uncertainty about the loyalty of the police units involved. Others, on the contrary, saw this as serious assistance, strengthening the capabilities of the regular army. It seems that the main result of this practice was the gradual formation of a new perception of reality among the highlanders, and over time they began to feel themselves part of the imperial community.

ДЫКМА-СЕРДАР - ТРАГИЧЕСКИЙ ГЕРОЙ ТРАГИЧЕСКОГО ВРЕМЕНИ

The article attempts to describe Dykma-serdar, one of the brightest characters of Turkmen history. Noting that in historiography there are almost no special studies on the man’s personality and activities, the author makes a detailed reconstruction of his life path, placing it in a broad socio-historical context. The study is conducted at the intersection of biography and prosopography: the portrait of Dykma-serdar against the background of the history of the Russian Empire’s penetration into Central Asia and incorporation of the Turkmen lands into the imperial body becomes a means of revealing certain strategies inherent in the ethnic elite of the region. Tracing the life of Dykma-serdar, the author shows how and under the influence of what factors his attitude to Russia and its presence in the region changed. Courageous, energetic, intelligent, with an undoubted talent as a military commander, having great authority both among his tribesmen and in Russian military circles, Dykma-serdar understood the inevitability of inclusion of the Turkmen lands into the empire that was superior to them economically, politically, militarily and technically. So he tried to minimize the costs of that inclusion, repeatedly joining negotiations with representatives of the Russian command and involving his relatives in the negotiation process. However, short-sighted and insulting behavior of the Russian military forced Dykma-serdar to abandon peaceful interaction. And only a personal meeting with M.D. Skobelev brought him back to the camp of negotiators. Dykma-serdar’s tragic hesitation between cooperation and confrontation were typical for representatives of his ethno-social group and well illustrate the behavior of Turkmen ethnic elites during the Great Game in Central Asia.

ЛИЧНОСТЬ ГЕНЕРАЛА А.Н. КУРОПАТКИНА НА СТРАНИЦАХ БРИТАНСКОЙ ПРЕССЫ В ГОДЫ РУССКО-ЯПОНСКОЙ ВОЙНЫ (1904-1905)

The article analyzes the process of formation of the image of the commander-in-chief of the Russian army in Manchuria General A.N. Kuropatkin in the British public during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904 - 1905 on the example of periodicals of Great Britain and its colonies. The study of this problematic touches socio-cultural aspects of the perception of the "other" and the issues of military-political and strategic nature, because A.N. Kuropatkin, who held the post of Minister of War of the Russian Empire in 1898 - 1904, determined the contours of the Russian military policy, which solved the problem of defending Russian interests in Central Asia and the Far East and countering British aspirations in these regions. The construction of a certain image of General Kuropatkin in the British press followed both the propagandistic purpose of manipulating public opinion and foreign policy goal, aimed at strengthening British influence in Persia and Afghanistan. In the course of this study, materials from periodicals of Great Britain and its colonies, as well as unpublished documents from Russian and British archives were used. The study concludes that during the Russo-Japanese War the image of General A.N. Kuropatkin underwent a transformation from a "great warrior" to a "bogeyman". Such a spread in the assessments of the personality of the Russian commander on the pages of British publications retained a single semantic field, within which General A.N. Kuropatkin represented the personification of the "Russian threat to India."

Stratagems of the Ukrainian and Russian troops in the battles for Kharkiv (February 24 - May 14, 2022)

Strategies, or military tricks, are a component of military art. They also play an important role in the modern Russian-Ukrainian war. Among the Ukrainian regions, one of the key ones is the Kharkiv region with a powerful administrative center – the city of Kharkiv. Therefore, in February-May 2022, heavy battles took place around Kharkiv. Then the Defense Forces of Ukraine successfully used 8 stratagems, which helped to defeat the Russian invaders and liberate a large area of the Kharkiv Region. Russian troops also tried to use 8 stratagems, but most of them were ineffective. The reason for this was the successful actions of the Ukrainian troops, including the ability to simultaneously use several stratagems, and the miscalculations of the Russian command. It overestimated the potential of Russian troops and underestimated the combat capability of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. During the the stratagems revealing, the author's approach to the definition and analysis of military tricks was used, which was tested in previous studies. The article states that the successful use of the stratagems by Ukrainian troops in 2022 may be a consequence of preserving the heritage of the Ukrainian Cossacks and their descendants. The ability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to successfully use military tricks in the battles for Kharkiv confirmed the high level of their military art.

К ВОПРОСУ О РОЛИ ИСЛАМСКИХ РЕЛИГИОЗНЫХ ДЕЯТЕЛЕЙ В КОНТЕКСТЕ ТУРКЕСТАНСКИХ ПОХОДОВ РОССИЙСКОЙ ИМПЕРИИ: НА ПРИМЕРЕ ПЕРЕПИСКИ ОРЕНБУРГСКОЙ ПОГРАНИЧНОЙ КОМИССИИ С МУЛЛОЙ ШАГИМАРДАНОВЫМ

The middle of the 19th century became the starting point for the Russian Empire in terms of the conquest of the Kokand Khanate and the Bukhara Emirate, as well as its final positions consolidation in the region by creating the Turkestan Governor-General in the annexed territories in 1867. The defeat of the Russian Empire in the Crimean War forced the government to take more decisive measures to annex Kokand and Bukhara through a large-scale military campaign, however the need to solidify its hold on the region as soon as possible required the command to make some new strategic decisions and cooperate with representatives of the local elite, merchants and clergy. The article is intended to significantly fill the historiographical gap in the research of the cooperation between the Russian command and the Muslim institutions within the framework of the annexation of Central Asia by introducing and analyzing previously unpublished sources from the State Archive of the Orenburg Region. The article reviews examples of cooperation with representatives of the elite, merchants and clergy, their influence on the possible peaceful settlement of the conflict or its escalation, including the issue of collaboration and espionage in the Muslim environment, possible potential benefits and the need for cooperation with the Russian army. The conclusions of the article allow revising traditional views on the positions of Islamic leaders, as well as reevaluating the significance of a religious factor as one of the most important elements in the system of confrontation of Asian khanates with Russia

Mobilizacija 1876-1877 - prvo iskustvo Carske Rusije

After the defeat of the Serbian army on October 29, 1876, near Djunis, Emperor Alexander II, after much hesitation, decided to begin mobilizing the Russian army in order to force the Ottoman Empire to conclude an armistice with Serbia. Mobilization caught the army in a period of unfinished transformations. In 1874, universal conscription was introduced, in the same year the Empire's armory factories began producing Berdana rifles, their rearmament in 1877 was not completed. During the first mobilization of the mass army, all this affected the condition and combat capability of the troops. A particularly important and difficult problem was the condition of the railways, besides, the Russian command did not yet have the experience of transferring, concentrating, or supplying such a significant mass of troops by rail. All this had an impact on the war plans and the conduct of military operations beyond the Danube.

From the background of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878: the Russian-Romanian military Convention and the agreement with the partnership of Greger, Horvitz and Kogan

The article reveals, based on published and archival documents, the reasons the Russian command of the Danube Army on the eve of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877–1878 concluded an agreement for the supply of food and fodder with the partnership of Greger, Horvitz and Kogan. The path of the Russian army to the theater of military operations on the right bank of the Danube passed through the territory of Romania. The draft of Russian-Romanian military convention was drawn up in November 1876, and the convention was signed on April 4 (16), 1877, just before the declaration of war on April 12 (24), 1877. The low capacity of the railways of the Principality prevented timely delivery of food and fodder from Russia. In the absence of a convention, it was impossible to publicly make purchases in Romania, to prepare warehouses officially and in advance. The Ministry of Finance of Russia allocated only credit rubles to cover expenses, and in Romania only hard money was in use. The Commander-in-chief believed that under such circumstances it was possible to arrange the provision of troops abroad only through the medium of private commission agents. The partnership of Greger, Horwitz and Kogan was chosen, since it had considerable capital, offered to supply the entire list of required products, not only its individual items, as indicated in the calls of other commission agents, and received payment in credit rubles, not gold. In addition, its members had a good business reputation.

Romanian refugees of autumn 1916 and the russian military command in Romania: controversial cooperation at the turn of the disaster

The participation of the Romanian Kingdom in the First World War in the campaign of 1916 resulted in a heavy military defeat and the loss of the capital and most of the country’s territory. Among the humanitarian consequences, a special place is occupied by the refugee movement, which affected hundreds of thousands of civilians. Due to the fact that the refugees retreated to the north together with the army, their fate was closely intertwined with military operations, including the troops of the Russian ally. The Russian command in 1916 also had to solve the problems of regulating the refugee movement in Romania and organizing assistance to refugees.

EVENTS IN THE SECOND BATTLE OF GEOK TEPE AND RUSSIAN GENERAL MIKHAIL DMITRIEVICH SKOBELEV

Mihail Dmitrieviç Skobelev 1843-1882 arasında yaşamış Rusya ve Orta Asya tarihinde iz bırakan bir Rus Generalidir. Rusların Orta Asya ve Teke Türkmenlerine karşı savaşlarında büyük başarı elde eden ve Türkmen tarihine iz bırakan önemli komutandır. 19. yüzyıl Çarlık Rusya’sı için büyük savaşların yüzyılı olmuştur. Bu yüzyılda Ruslar kendi sınırlarını genişletmek ve yeni toprakları ele geçirmek arayışına giriştiği dönem olmuştur. Rusların ilk hedefi Osmanlı topraklarına giriş yapıp Akdeniz’de söz sahibi olmaktı. Fakat Ruslar 1856’da Osmanlı ile giriştiği Kırım savaşını Avrupa devletlerinin de dahil olduğu bu mücadeleyi kaybetmişlerdi. Bu kayıp Rusların siyasi politikasına büyük darbe vurmuştur. Fakat Ruslar pes etmeyerek yönlerini Orta Asya’ya çevirmişlerdir. Rusların Orta Asya topraklarında en çok sahip olmak istedikleri bölge Hazar ötesinde yer alan Türkmen topraklarıydı. Kafkaslar ve Orta Asya ticaretini stratejik yolla bağlayan topraklara sahip olan Türkmenlerin işgali zaruriydi. Türkmenlere karşı yapılacak işgal için Petersburg’da Türkmenlere karşı uzun stratejik hazırlık sonrası Rus ordusu bu seferin başına geçecek olan komutanın kimin olacağına dair görüşmeler uzmanlar tarafından tartışılmıştır. Komutanlar tarafından alınan kararda bu seferin komutanı olarak daha önce Türkistan seferlerinde büyük başarılar elde eden D. M. Skobelev’i uygun görülmüştür. Türkmenlerin işgali için sefer öncesi 10 Ocak 1879 tarihinde Çar II. Aleksandır, Skobelev’i ile görüşmek için Petersbug’a çağırır. Çar II. Aleksandır, Ahal-Teke seferine Skobelev’in başa gelmesi ile onun yetkilerini de genişletmiştir. Skobelev, sefer için gerekli olan yardım ve desteği Türkistan ve Orenburg’dan istediği kadar elde edebilecekti. Rusların Türkmenlere karşı daha önce verdikleri kayıp nedeniyle Skobelev daha dikkatli ve temkinli davranmayı tercih etmiştir. Çünkü Orta Asya coğrafyası Rusların yaşadıkları topraklara göre çok daha farklıydı. Ayrıca Türkmenleri işgal etmek diğer Orta Asya hanlıklarına nazaran kolay olmamıştır. Bu çalışmada Çarlık Rusya’sının Türkmen karşı ilk savaşta başarısız olmaları ardından ikinci defa savaş açmaları ve 12 Ocak 1881 tarihinde Göktepe savaşında Ruslar ve Teke Türkmenleri arasında yaşananlar ve Türkmenlerin yenilgisi gibi bilgilere yer verilmişti.

Academic Writing for Publication Purposes and Machine Translation: Is the Symbiosis Possible?

The abstracts in Russian and in English are written according to certain rules. For articles written in Russian, an abstract in English is the only means of informing the world scientific community about the authors’ research results. However, the quality of abstracts written in Russian and then translated into English does not always meet the criteria for readability and comply with the accepted academic and publication conventions. This situation might result from the intensive usage of machine translation (MT) systems by authors who do not take into account the guidelines for the input text quality and the limitations inherent in MT systems. The author analyzed the requirements for the input texts and some typical errors in the target ones. The article describes the stages of training masters, postgraduate students and university staff in the effective use of MT systems. The training is based on a bilingual approach, which implies a constant comparison of vocabulary, grammar and style in the native and English languages. The author comes to the conclusion that the effective use of MT systems for writing an abstract in English is possible if the authors have the command of Russian and English at the level sufficient for a concise and unambiguous expression of their thoughts and ideas. Self-censoring is a prerequisite for creating a text that is “understandable” for MT systems. Students must follow simple rules: write sentences of 15-20 words; express one thought per one sentence; use more active verbs; choose nouns that express a specific concept; exclude unnecessary words. At the post-editing stage, learners can use the tools available on the Internet, which allow not only editing the target text, but also will enable learners to acquire independent editing skills.

ПРОБЛЕМЫ РОССИЙСКОЙ СТРАТЕГИИ ВО ВРЕМЯ КРЫМСКОЙ ВОЙНЫ 1853-1856 ГГ

The review examines the studies of modern Russian historians devoted to the strategy of the Russian command during the Crimean War. The authors analyze various aspects of this topic related to the strategic planning in various theaters of the war operation. In particular they discuss plans of the Russian command of the defense of the Baltic Sea coast from the landing of English and French troops, of the blockade of the Turkish fortress Kars in the 1855 Caucasian campaign. Also negative assessments of the role of A.S. Menshikov in the defense of Sevastopol are subject to revision.

The Romanian Mission of General Berthelot (1916–1917): Cooperation and Disagreements with the Russian Command of the Romanian Front

When the Kingdom of Romania entered the Great War in 1916, it was supposed to receive aid from the Entente allies While the Russian troops fought alongside the Romanians on the Eastern Front, the Western allies assisted them with arms, financial resources, and experienced officers. Military cooperation in the various European theatres of war was a rather complex task, and its arrangement actualised the issues of cooperation between the allies in arms in pursuit of a common goal. The French Mission of General Berthelot assisted the Romanian army in a number of ways, including leading the fighting in the autumn of 1916, reorganising the defeated Romanian army, and acting as military advisers in the 1917 campaign. In that respect, the French were competing with the Russians for influence over the Romanian top leadership, especially the military command. The formation of the Romanian front, consisting mainly of Russian troops, allowed the Russian Stavka to sideline the French from directly influencing the course of military operations. The work of the French mission was limited to bringing the Romanian units withdrawn to the rear back into order. However, in 1917, the French resumed their leading role in influencing the Romanian generals. The February Revolution marked a turning point in relations between the rival partners, finally consolidating the leading role of the Berthelot Mission in the affairs of the Romanian Army on the Romanian front. The French Mission helped reorganise the Romanian Army, which played a decisive role in the final stage of the Great War. This allowed the Kingdom of Romania to remain among the victorious nations, despite the vicissitudes of 1918 following the withdrawal of Russia from the war. The main sources for this article are documents from the Russian State Military Historical Archive (RGVIA) relating primarily to the competence of the central military authorities and administration during the war period, namely the Supreme Command Headquarters and the General Staff Headquarters.

Kääntäjäksi idänkauppaan

The present study examines training of Russian language translators in the 1980s. The main focus is on the social and ideological context of the lively bilateral trade with the Soviet Union due to which demand for translators with a command of Russian was high in Finland. The material consists of exercises used by the author of this article in teaching Russian–Finnish translation at Savonlinna School of Translation Studies. The analysis concentrates on describing what kind of source texts and commissions were typical in translation exercises. The results of the analysis suggest that the most common type of text used in translation assignments was a media text published in a newspaper or a periodical. Media texts were perhaps not ideal from the point of view of authentic translation tasks, but teachers compensated for this by imitating real-life commissions that were linked to bilateral trade or friendship activities between Finland and the Soviet Union.

Обучение нижних чинов в российской системе подготовки военных авиаторов конца XIX – начала ХХ века

The article analyzes the issues of training military aeronauts in the late 19th – early 20th century in Russia. It is shown that the emergence of new technical means providing ascent into the airspace has opened up new possibilities for conducting military operations, as evidenced by the experience of using aeronautics abroad. The Russian command did not immediately realize the possibilities of conducting reconnaissance and conducting artillery fire on the enemy, which led to a lag in the development of aeronautics and aeronautics, as well as in training personnel for flight support. The article shows that for the training of officers and lower ranks in the Russian army, special units were created in which the lower ranks were taught special subjects that guarantee the production of safe flights due to their technical support.

К вопросу об использовании исторических анекдотов в реконструкции биографии А. В. Суворова

A number of historical anecdotes about the great Russian commander Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov are considered in the article. Attention is focused on the fact that many of the named sources are not supported by documents, but are actively used by some authors when creating the biography of A. V. Suvorov. It is shown in the article that over time, the narratives built on the basis of historical anecdotes have undergone significant changes, they help reconstruct the key moments of the commander’s life and characterize his personality traits.

Ladislav Trakal’s Art and Crafts Workshop of Decorative Painting in Kharkiv (1899–1921)

The article attempts to outline the activities of Kharkiv art and crafts workshop of decorative painting, headed by a Czech creator Ladislav Trakal in 1899. The introduction of some new archival documents into scientific circulation showed that there was a close connection between the pedagogical system of Rayevska‑Ivanova’s school, founded in 1869, and Trakal’s decorative‑handicraft workshop. The 4‑year industrial art school in Prague, which Trakal graduated from in 1896, did not have the status of a higher art institution at that period of time. When Trakal arrived in Kharkiv and headed the decorative‑handicraft workshop, which was housed in an edifice that Colonel Borodaevsky devised to Kharkiv Society for the Dissemination of Literacy, Trakal got on a well‑worked ground, which was prepared by Rayevska‑Ivanova. In 1869 this outstanding person, the first woman‑artist with a European level education and a diploma from St. Petersburg Academy of Arts in Russian Empire, founded an industrial art school in Kharkiv. Later, in 1896 she was forced to leave teaching at her school due to a complete loss of vision. However, the need for specialists of this profile did not disappear. Kharkiv was experiencing a real construction boom, and decorators, one of whom Trakal was, were in great demand. Although Trakal’s workshop did not become as multidisciplinary as Raevska‑Ivanova’s school, it used a lot of the pedagogical system developed by the founder of industrial art education in Kharkiv, to its advantage. Trakal’s workshop gave its students an initial industrial art education, prepared them for the activity in decorative painting. Unlike Rayevska-Ivanova who taught free of charge in her private school for more than 27 years, trying to lay solid foundation of industrial art education in Kharkiv, Trakal turned out to be a rather enterprising person. He successfully completed highly paid orders for the decoration of buildings in Kharkiv and also opened his own private studio. Having a good command of Russian, Trakal easily entered Kharkiv’s artistic life. He actively participated in exhibitions, where he showed his paintings, made in the Art Nouveau Style with an enhanced symbolist sound. However, the question remains about how bright and original this artist was in comparison with artists from other Ukrainian cities (M. Zhuk, Yu. Mykhailiv, M. Sapozhnikov). Similarly, the contribution of other art institutions to the development of some of Trakal’s students who eventually became famous masters, also requires further studying.

The rise of a lingua franca: The case of Russian in Dagestan

Aims and objectives:In Dagestan, Russian is the language of education, urban way of life, and upward social mobility, and the means of communication between speakers of different languages. This is a result of a quick and drastic change. At the end of the 19th century, Russian was spoken by less than 1% of the population. The aim of this paper is to understand how such rapid spread of Russian as an L2 became possible.Approach:The study uses quantitative data on Dagestanians’ language repertoires. We relate the command of Russian to certain facts from people’s biographies, such as the level of education, migration, warfare and military service, and other professional experience, and run regression analysis.Data and analysis:The data were collected by the method of retrospective family interviews during numerous field trips to highland Dagestan. We use information on 3519 individuals collected in 27 villages.Findings/conclusions:We conclude that the compulsory school education introduced in Dagestan in the 1930s is the social mechanism that resulted in the spread of Russian and its later development into a lingua franca. Russian was imposed from above and supported by the ideology that associated it with future and progress.Originality:This is the first attempt to apply quantitative methods to a large collection of field data to reveal social mechanisms underlying the spread of a single L2 instead of local bilingualism.Significance/implications:The spread of one lingua franca across a large territory is attested in many areas. We suppose that lingua francas of different origin result from different constellations of social factors and show that in Dagestan lingua franca was imposed by the authorities via a systematic educational campaign. We also suggest it was the extreme linguistic diversity of Dagestan that brought Russian from a widely known L2 to a lingua franca.

Psychosocial Paradigm of Ethnosocial Adaptation of Children from Migrant Families Process Support

Migration processes are accompanied by problems in both the political and economic spheres of host countries and the psychological, psychosocial and social well-being of migrants themselves. Children and adolescents become susceptible; their protest behaviour hampers their personal development and adaption to the new environment. This raises the issue of examining the conditions and mechanisms for maintaining effective adaptation of children. The research aims at identifying the difficulties of ethnocultural adaptation of migrant children and to rationalizing psychosocial work with them. There were applied the theoretical and methodological analysis and written and oral interviews to identify the features of adaptation to living in Russia. One revealed a low level of ethnocultural adaptation of adolescents from the regions of Central Asia and the Caucasus, which is caused by poor command of Russian; lack of motivation to use two languages (Russian and native) among close relatives in the family environment; lack of motivation and determination to learn the culture, customs, and traditions of the Russia people; a cultural conflict that impedes interaction with the local population. The research substantiates the need for developing a model of psychosocial support for adaptation of migrant children by specialists of educational, social and national organizations.

LEXICAL AND GRAMMATICAL FEATURES OF FINAL ETIQUETTE FORMULAS IN RUSSIAN LETTERS OF THE XVIII CENTURY

The purpose of the study is to define the lexical and grammatical features of the final etiquette formulas in Russian letters of the 18th century, to describe the functional and semantic types of formulas, to characterize their syntactic structure. The object of study is letters addressed to different persons by the outstanding Russian commander A. V. Suvorov and Princess E. R. Dashkova. The research material is 120 enclosed etiquette formulas extracted from letters with a continuous sampling method. The descriptive method of research has been used in the article. Practical application is possible in the process of teaching the stylistics of the Russian language. Conclusions: The final etiquette formulas are an important structural element of the ending of a letter, usually preceding the signature of the addressee. We have identified the following functional-semantic types of final etiquette formulas in Russian letters of the 18th century: 1) formulas of forgiveness; 2) formulas of wishes (wishes of physical and mental health, God's help and blessing); 3) parakinesthetic final etiquette formulas (verbal transmission of a gesture or an action); 4) honorific final etiquette formulas (direct or indirect indication by the addressor the addressee's positive qualities). The basis of the construction of the final etiquette formulas often lies in one or another speech cliche, however these cliches are spread by dependent syntactic components, as a result of which the final etiquette formulas in the letters under study are diverse in their syntactic structure. The perspective of the present study is in the research of the dynamics of the final etiquette formulas of writing in the epistolary of the 18th – 20th centuries, as well as in a more detailed explanation of the pragmatics and functioning of the etiquette formulas depending on the nature of the communicative situation.

Russian Planning a War against the Great Britain, Austria-Hungary and Turkey Coalition in 1878

The article considers Russia planning a war against the coalition of Great Britain, Austria-Hungary and Turkey in 1878. When the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-1878 was over, the Russian high military command attempted to resolve the Eastern Question and seize the Strait of Bosphorus and Constantinople. Having faced the opposition from Great Britain and Austria-Hungary, the Rus-sian command hesitated to capture Constantinople and the Bosphorus, which led to Russia's failure at the Congress of Berlin. War plans worked out by the General Staff and two-star general N.N. Obruchev, meant to help conduct military operations in the Balkans and Galicia were never realised.