A number of important thoughts on the vision of national history were expressed in the community of Russian compatriots at the VI Assembly of the Russian World, held on November 3, 2012 in Moscow under the motto Russian language and Russian history. The Director of the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences Yuri Petrov, summing up the discussion on the Year of Russian History, stressed that the diversity of views in the scientific community is undoubtedly necessary for the development of scientific knowledge, but the pluralism of opinions does not cancel the task of developing coordinated positions on key issues in the Russian history:
Unlike the elites, in science, not only diversity is not prohibited, but even welcomed. All this is good,’ said Yuri Petrov. ‘But I believe we need a new national history, and the Institute of Russian History has suggested such an initiative. We have spearheaded this project which should unite all experts on Russian history including Russian nationals, members of the Russian world, and the best foreign professionals.[20]
The world of Russian compatriots abroad is undoubtedly socially and politically heterogeneous when it comes to the historical retrospective and modern events in Russia and abroad. This heterogeneity often affects the internal life of Russian-speaking communities, leads to controversy and disputes, instability in the composition of coordination councils and other representative bodies in a given country, etc. At the same time, almost all institutional structures of Russia Abroad (Russian Centers, schools, clubs, etc.) directly engage with Rossotrudnichestvo and institutions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, representative offices of the Russkiy Mir Foundation, or with public organizations close to Russia in spirit and nature of their activities.
Currently, of the development of the public life in Russia shows an increase in activity and number of people participating in cultural and historical associations addressing the consolidation of the Russian society, including the continuity of traditions within the Russian culture in all their diversity and complexity. This trend also creates new opportunities for widening the dialogue with the world of Russian compatriots living abroad. At present, the historical retrospective and modern life of the Russian foreign countries are reflected in the activities of the leading public associations of national figures of science, culture, and enlightenment, i. e. the Russian Historical Society (RHS), the Russian Military Historical Society (RMHS), the Russian Society of Historians and Archivists (ROIA), the Russian Society Znanie and the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society (IPPO). Their close ties with the Russian community abroad are based on a common determination to restore and preserve historical memory and cultural traditions covering all chronological and territorial flows of the Russian “time river.” Most of these societies have their prototypes in well-known pre-revolutionary scientific and cultural organizations with high reputation in the scientific world. Thus, the Imperial Russian Historical Society (IRHS), founded in 1866 in St. Petersburg, united not only famous historians, but also high military and civil officials who contributed to the study of the Russian history and archaeology. In 1909–1917, the IRHS was chaired by Grand Duke Nikolai Mikhailovich, who was executed by the Bolsheviks in Petrograd in 1919. Other members of the IRHS dissolved after the revolution were also repressed. Thus, for the Russian scientific emigration, the Imperial Russian Historical Society was not only part of the corporate tradition, but was also surrounded by an aura of memories of the tragic days when the empire collapsed.
There have been three attempts by the Russian community abroad to revive the Russian Historical Society. It was spearheaded by an outstanding historian Yevgeny Shmurlo (1853–1934), a representative of the St. Petersburg Sergei Platonov’s historical school, author of scientific works and documentary publications on the history of Russia during the era of Peter the Great, the Russian-Italian relations and the contacts between Russia and the Vatican in the 17
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an association of intellectuals, the elite of Russian historical science, who in difficult circumstances of emigration remained faithful to the cause of all their lives: historical science. The main focus of their activities within the framework of the RHS was the preparation of collections of scientific works, i. e. “Notes of the Russian Historical Society in Prague”. In 1940, the activities of the RHS were banned by the German occupation authorities, and its chairman Antoniy Florovsky was arrested.
In 1937, a group of Russian scientists in San Francisco came up with an idea of recreating the Russian Historical Society in America, and a year later an edition of “Notes” was issued. The RHS in San Francisco was a predecessor of the famous Museum of Russian Culture, which was founded in 1948 and played an extremely important role in collecting the historical and cultural heritage of the Russian emigration in the United States. In the early 1990s, another attempt was made by a small group of enthusiasts in the United States to revive the Russian Historical Society. Under its auspices two additional volumes of the “Russian Biographical Dictionary” were published to be discontinued in 1917. On National Unity Day, November 4, 2004, the Russian Historical Society Abroad announced the resumption of its activities at home; Petr Aleksandrov-Derkachenko was elected as Chairman. (Currently, the Russian Historical Society Abroad has an office in Moscow and is a member of the Russian Historical Society).
The Imperial Russian Military Historical Society (IRMHS), founded in 1907, united military historians, including representatives of officers and generals, archivists, publishers, museologists. Cavalry General Dmitriy Scalon was elected Chairman of the Council of IRHMS. In 1912, he was replaced by Lieutenant General Nikolai Mikhnevich. Both served as Chief of General Staff, which ensured a high level of official and personal interaction of the IRMHS Council with the army, administrative and scientific institutions. The Society saw its task in studying and promoting the military history of Russia, including publication of scientific works, memoirs, epistolary sources and other documentary materials of military history; the search and archaeological research of places of battles; immortalizing the memory of Russian soldiers; the creation and arrangement of military history museums, collection of uniforms, weapons, awards, banners, and other paraphernalia. Periodicals published by IRMHS, i. e. the Journal of the Imperial Russian Military Historical Society, Works of the Imperial Russian Military Historical Society and Notes of the department of military archaeology and archeography, were popular among military intellectuals and a wide range of readers interested in military history. The active work of the Society was curtailed with the beginning of World War I, when most of its members went to the front, and in 1917 it officially ceased to exist. A number of its members, while in exile, continued their military-historical works, which became part of the scientific heritage of the Russian world, and in 1990-2000s entered the national scientific information space.
It should be noted that in pre-revolutionary Russia there were other military scientific societies engaged in historical research. Thus, in 1898, in St. Petersburg, a group of officers established the Society of Military Knowledge Zealots, headed by military historian Colonel Aleksandr Myshlayevsky. Later, the Society’s branches were established in Riga, Vilna, Minsk, Suvalki, Chuguyev, Khabarovsk, Tiflis, Libav, Samarkand, Ashgabat and Warsaw. The Society of Military Knowledge Zealots in its classes and publications dealt mainly with issues of military theory in connection with the military conflicts of the time, namely the Anglo-Boer War, the Boxing Uprising in China, the Russian-Japanese War, etc., but there were also reports on military historical topics.
In the 1920s and 1930s, in most centres of Russian emigration in Europe, the U. S. and China, there were officer societies and unions the participants of which studied various problems of military history and prepared documentary publications and memoirs. The scope of their interests mainly included understanding of the events and results of the First World War of 1914–1918 and the Civil War of 1917–1922 in Russia with the majority of emigrant officers and generals being veterans of these conflicts. The military press of the Russian community abroad, for example La Sentinelle magazine, bulletin of the Gallipoli Society, etc., covered the outcomes of their scientific and creative activities. Later, in 1950-1970s in Paris, there was the Society of Russian Military Antiquities Enthusiasts, which published 50 issues of the Military Historical Bulletin. Thus, the traditions of the Imperial Russian Military Historical Society and other military scientific associations of the tsarist Russia became an important part of the corporate culture of the Russian military emigration, its scientific and publishing heritage, and found their continuation in the activities of modern Russian historical and cultural organizations like the RMHS and the Russian Historical Society.
Numerous members of the pre-revolutionary Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society also found themselves in exile after 1917. In particular, the grandfather of Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky, the Deputy Chairman of the International Council of Russian Compatriots (ICRC), was Treasurer of the Society before the revolution. At the same time, the Palestinian society continued to exist as a research orientalist structure within the system of the USSR Academy of Sciences. (In 1992, it was returned the former name and functions of the manager of pilgrimage trips of Russians to the Holy Land).
Accordingly, the management and the members of these organizations hold dear both their own, corporate historical tradition, and the very idea of preserving historical memory, including the objective interpretation of documentary evidence of the past, recovering the memory of forgotten names and dates, the protection of national history from accidental distortion and intentional falsification.
The acknowledgment of the Russia Abroad by the public as an integral part of Russian history and an important component of cultural and scientific life in modern Russia has become one of the tasks of the Russian Historical Society is a. In the summer of 2012, ITAR-TASS circulated a statement by the State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin about the upcoming revival of the RHS:
Creating, or rather recreating, the Russian Historical a decision long overdue. We must do everything to ensure that events under its auspices are not diurnal, but a basis for sustainable traditions. The same was once attempted by our predecessors from the Imperial Russian Historical Society.
Sergey Naryshkin also stressed that the emigrant period in the history of RHS deserves special attention and respect, because “even in those difficult circumstances, members of the Society did a lot to preserve our historical memory.” This message was posted on the Russkiy Mir portal and in the Russian-speaking foreign media.[21]
On June 20, 2012, the Reception House of the Government of the Russian Federation held the first meeting of the Russian Historical Society, with T1 leading Russian educational, scientific and cultural institutions, research funds, and mass media as its founders. The meeting was attended by heads of federal executive bodies, members of the Council of Federation, members of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, representatives of public organizations and the scientific and expert community. The Speaker of the State Duma Sergey Naryshkin, elected Chairman of the RHS, noted that an important task for the Historical Society will be ‘strengthening ties with compatriots abroad. Among other things, to preserve the memory of those who found themselves abroad in the aftermath of the revolution and civil war. And also – to return relics and documents directly related to landmark historical events back to our country.’[22] In his speech, Sergey Naryshkin also emphasized the importance of updating the experience of the past decades and its relevance in the process of modern development of Russia and the Russian world.
The main activity of the RHS as the largest and most reputable association of intellectual elites is to support the most significant educational and scientific projects, including those concerned with the development of international cultural dialogue within the Russian world. Since its creation, the RHS and, personally, its Chairman Sergey Naryshkin, have taken an active part in developing cultural dialogue with the world of Russian compatriots abroad, such as holding international conferences and round tables, preparing for historical, documentary, and art exhibitions related to the topic of Russian emigration in 19
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With the support of the RHS, international-level projects involving representatives of the Russian community abroad are being implemented in various cities of Russia, for instance the Franco-Russian workshop “France-Russia, 1914–1918: from alliance to cooperation” held in 2014 in Yaroslavl. On October 20, 2015, a self-titled collection of the workshop outcomes was presented in the residence of the Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Paris.
Scientific and information work of the RHS involves publication of new books on historical subjects, including studies in the held of history of the Russian community abroad, as well as reprints of masterpieces of science and social thought of the Russian emigration of 19
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The fact that a topic related to the Russian community abroad has so much importance for the RHS is due not only to the conceptual framework for its work, but also to the presence of organizations and establishments directly connected with the world of Russian compatriots living abroad that are among its founders, such as Russkiy Mir Foundation, the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, the Russian Historical Society Abroad etc. The list of legal entities that are members of the RHS includes the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Lomonosov Moscow State University and Russian State University for the Humanities which have centres for studies on Russian history and culture of Russian community abroad. The members of the Russian Historical Society are Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russia Abroad, the Russian Book Union and a number of other organizations engaged in dissemination of Russian books and other cultural and educational activities abroad. Besides, there are plans under way to establish the RHS structures in the Near and Far Abroad. In June 2015, during a meeting of Russian and Belarusian historians at Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno, a proposal was made to set up a representative office of the Russian Historical Society at the University of Grodno. The idea was supported by the Chairman of the RHS Sergey Naryshkin, State Secretary of the Union State Grigory Rapota and the entire scientific and historical community. The activities of the RHS branch in Belarus that are to be managed by the Faculty of History, Communication and Tourism of Yanka Kupala State University and the Russian State University for the Humanities will certainly play a positive role in expanding the involvement of Russian compatriots living in Belarus in historical and cultural events and in spreading historical knowledge.