Historians and Historical Societies in the Public Life of Imperial Russia

Vera Kaplan

Description

What was the role of historians and historical societies in the public life of imperial Russia? Focusing on the Society of Zealots of Russian Historical Education (1895–1918), Vera Kaplan analyzes the network of voluntary associations that existed in imperial Russia, showing how they interacted with state, public, and private bodies. Unlike most Russian voluntary associations of the late imperial period, the Zealots were conservative in their view of the world. Yet, like other history associations, the group conceived their educational mission broadly, engaging academic and amateur historians, supporting free public libraries, and widely disseminating the historical narrative embraced by the Society through periodicals. The Zealots were champions of voluntary association and admitted members without regard to social status, occupation, or gender. Kaplan's study affirms the existence of a more substantial civil society in late imperial Russia and one that could endorse a modernist program without an oppositional liberal agenda.

Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1. From Associations of the Educated to Societies for Education: Historical Background
2. Historical Societies at the Juncture of Scholarship, Politics, and Education
3. From the University Societies to the "University Extension:" Historians as Public Activists
4. The Society of Zealots of Russian Historical Education: Conservative Activism and the Quest for Useful History
Conclusion: Voluntary Historical Societies in the Fin-de-Siècle Associational World
Bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Former Soviet Union
• HISTORY
• POLITICAL SCIENCE
• EDUCATION
• Histoire
• URSS
• General officer
• Eastern Europe
• Russian
• Russia
• General
• Russie

Informations

• Publié par: Indiana University Press
• Date de parution: 27 février 2017
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780253024060
• Langue: English

Extrait

HISTORIANS AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES IN THE PUBLIC LIFE OF IMPERIAL RUSSIA
HISTORIANS AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES IN THE PUBLIC LIFE OF IMPERIAL RUSSIA
Vera Kaplan
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
Office of Scholarly Publishing
Herman B Wells Library 350
1320 East 10th Street
Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
2017 by Vera Kaplan
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Cataloging information is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-0-253-02398-8 (cloth)
ISBN 978-0-253-02406-0 (ebook)
1 2 3 4 5 22 21 20 19 18 17
For my father ,
and in fond memory of my mother
Contents
Acknowledgments
Note on Transliteration
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
1 From Associations of the Educated to Societies for Education: Historical Background
2 Historical Societies at the Juncture of Scholarship, Politics, and Education
3 From the University Societies to the University Extension : Historians as Public Activists
4 The Society of Zealots of Russian Historical Education: Conservative Activism and the Quest for Useful History
Conclusion: Voluntary Historical Societies in the Fin-de-Si cle Associational World
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
I T IS A distinct pleasure to begin this book with words of thanks to all those people and institutions who have advised, assisted, and supported me in the course of the research for this book, and during its writing.
My research was supported by the Israel Science Foundation (grant no. 134/09). Its generous funding enabled me to undertake extensive archival research, which constitutes the most fascinating part of the historian s labor. Yet, anyone who has ever visited the Russian archives knows how complicated their structure and methods of operation are. However, my work there was made pleasant and effective thanks to the assistance of my colleague from the Cummings Center of Russian and East European Studies at Tel Aviv University, Boris Morozov. As a renowned expert on Russian archives, he helped me to collect documents from the Moscow archives. Furthermore, I would never have been able to discover and explore the treasures of St. Petersburg s archives without the invaluable aid and advice of Viktor Efimovich Kelner, who shared with me his extraordinary erudition and experience. I am also deeply grateful to the staff of the Russian state and municipal archives, whose names usually remain unknown, but whose everyday efforts to fulfill researchers requests deserve much greater appreciation. I am especially grateful to the personnel of the Department of Manuscripts of the Russian National Library, who were so kind and helpful. Special thanks are due to this Department and its head, Aleksei Ivanovich Alekseev, for permission to reproduce some photographs from its rich collection of visual sources.
I was privileged to be able to discuss the idea for this book with the late Michael Confino, from whom so many of us learned so much. My colleagues and, in various ways, academic mentors, Gabriel Gorodetsky and Avner Ben-Amos, read the first version of a project proposal in which the plan for the study was outlined; their thoughtful criticism helped me to turn my vague aspirations into a flesh and blood research program. The study has also benefited a great deal from my conversations and correspondence with Boris Kolonitsky, Pavel Tribunskii, Vitalii Tikhonov, Wladimir B r lowitch, Frances Nethercott, Larry Holmes, and Ben Eklof. The members of Tel Aviv University s Department of History were very attentive and encouraging when I presented them the intermediary results of the research; their questions and suggestions made a valuable contribution to its further progress. Mark Gamsa, Igal Halfin, Yaacov Ro i, and Oded Rabinovitch read various portions of the manuscript; their critical comments were constructive and extremely beneficial for me. Iris Rachamimov, Dina Moyal, Inna Shtakser, and Deena Leventer, with whom I have worked closely in the Cummings Center in different periods of time, were always ready to offer comfort at moments of distress and advice when necessary; their friendship has been and remains my most precious achievement. I discussed some of my ideas with my seminar students at Tel Aviv University. Their responses-frequently challenging but never indifferent-were refreshing and stimulating. Throughout the preparation of this book my devoted research assistant, Stas Tarasov, and my wonderful style editor, Philippa Shimrat, bore with me all the ups and downs of the writing. Their help and empathy made this (sometimes exhausting) process much more effective and enjoyable.
Some aspects of this study were presented in the article From Soslovie to Voluntary Associations: New Patterns of Collective Identities in Late Imperial Russia, which appeared in Cahiers du Monde russe in 2010; I am delighted to acknowledge this journal s part in advancing my research.
I was most fortunate that Indiana University Press selected my manuscript among the plethora of submissions that this renowned publishing house regularly receives. Its editor-in-chief, Robert Sloan, found time to read the manuscript critically but carefully. His insightful recommendations, together with the thought-provoking comments of the anonymous readers, helped me to make some important finishing touches and to place my findings in a broader historical context. I appreciate their knowledge and contribution. During the final stage of the manuscript s transformation into a book, Janice Elizabeth Frish, Darja Malcolm-Clarke, and Melissa Dalton guided me through the strains and pressures of the publishing process.
Nonetheless, I would hardly have been able to complete this almost decade-long project without the support and care of my family. My uncle and aunt, Vladimir and Raisa Lebedev, cordially received me in their hospitable home in St. Petersburg, where I stayed for weeks during my archival trips there. My cousins, Lucy and Michael Rudin, welcomed me in Moscow and New York where they used to live, and where I used to visit them in search of more materials for my research. My sisters, Anna and Helena, who know the secret of how to combine raising children with a career without losing their natural joy and sense of humor, always appeared just at the moment when the problems of everyday life seemed insoluble, and resolved them by taking the difficulties upon their shoulders. My husband, Boris, whose interests lie in the spheres of music and mathematics, so different in their precision from the spontaneity and unpredictability of history, still never doubted that there is (bewildering) significance in my occupation as well. My daughter and son, Ksana and Kosta, who managed to become adult, independent, and extremely creative individuals while this book was taking shape, continue to impress me with their vigorous aspirations for new experiences and discoveries. And I owe most of all to my beloved parents, Lev and Liudmila, who have ever been the major source of light, tenderness, and inspiration for me.
Note on Transliteration
I HAVE APPLIED THE system of transliteration that is widely used in the historical scholarship and is based on ALA-LC system. In particular, the Russian vowels have been transliterated as follows:
as iu, as ia, as , as e, as y, and as i.
The consonants are transliterated in following way:
as zh, as kh, as ts and as shch.
Apostrophe stands for .
List of Abbreviations
AHA-the American Historical Association
ASpbII RAN-Arkhiv Sankt-Peterburgskogo instituta istorii Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk
GARF-Gosudarstvennyi arkhiv Rossiiskoi Federatsii
IOR- Izvestiia Obshchestva Revnitelei russkogo istoricheskogo prosveshcheniia v pamiat imperatora Aleksandra III
MHS-Massachusetts Historical Society
MGH- Monumenta Germaniae Historica
OIDR-Obshchestvo istorii i drevnostei rossiiskikh
OR RNB-Otdel rukopisei Rossiiskoi natsional noi biblioteki
OR GTG-Otdel rukopisei Gosudarstvennoi Tret iakovskoi galerei
ORTZ-Obshchestvo rasprostraneniia tekhnicheskikh znanii
RTO-Russkoe tekhnicheskoe obshchestvo
RGALI-Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv literatury i iskusstva
RGADA-Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv drevnikh aktov
RGIA-Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi istoricheskii arkhiv
RIO-Russkoe istoricheskoe obshchestvo
TsGIA Spb-Tsentral nyi gosudarstvennyi istoricheskii arkhiv Sankt-Peterburga
TsMAM LS-Tsentral nyi moskovskii arkhiv-muzei lichnykh sobranii
ZhMNP- Zhurnal Ministerstva Narodnogo Prosveshcheniia
HISTORIANS AND HISTORICAL SOCIETIES IN THE PUBLIC LIFE OF IMPERIAL RUSSIA
Introduction
I T ALL BEGAN with an archival discovery. While in Russia in 2005 for the purpose of finalizing my previous research project, I was astonished to find a rich collection of practically untouched documents belonging to the formerly unknown Society of Zealots of Russian Historical Education in Memory of Alexander III, which was established in 1895 and remained active until 1918. These archival materials revealed a surprising picture. We