War and Enlightenment in Russia explores how members of the military during the reign of Catherine II reconciled Enlightenment ideas about the equality and moral worth of all humans with the Russian reality based on serfdom, a world governed by autocracy, absolute respect for authority, and subordination to seniority.
While there is a sizable literature about the impact of the Enlightenment on government, economy, manners, and literature in Russia, no analytical framework that outlines its impact on the military exists. Eugene Miakinkov’s research addresses this gap and challenges the assumption that the military was an unadaptable and vertical institution. Using archival sources, military manuals, essays, memoirs, and letters, the author demonstrates how the Russian militaires philosophes operationalized the Enlightenment by turning thought into reality.
Author(s): Eugene Miakinkov
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Year: 2020
Language: English
Pages: 336
City: Toronto
Contents
Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments
Note on Translation, Spelling, and Dates
Abbreviations
Introduction: The Enlightenment, the Army, and the State
Chapter One Between Patronage and Education: The Enlightenment and the Military Proto-Intelligentsia in Catherine’s Russia
Chapter Two Favourites and Professionals: Merit, Seniority, and Advancement in Catherine’s Military
Chapter Three “We must distinguish the military establishment from other callings”: Writers and Ideas of the Russian Military En
Chapter Four “Always remember that he is not a peasant, but a soldier”: The Enlightenment and the Shaping of Russian Soldiers
Chapter Five “Fantastic forms of folly”: Individualism and the Performance of Military Culture
Chapter Six “The gutters of the town were dyed with blood”: The Siege of Izmail, the Russian Military Culture, and the Limits of
Chapter Seven “His Majesty recommends to gentlemen-officers to dress better and not to stutter”: Paul I and the Military Enlight
Conclusion: The Legacy of the Enlightenment in Russian Military Culture
Notes
Bibliography
Index
