ISSN 2078-9823 (Print), ISSN 2587-7879 (Online)

DOI: 10.15507/2078-9823.043.018.201803.274-283

Aleksandr I. Lushin1, Dmitry Y. Savchenko2

1 North-West Institute of Management of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation (Saint-Petersburg, Russia),

e-mail: savchdm@mail.ru

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3432-9491.

2 North-West Institute of Management of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Service under the President of the Russian Federation (Saint-Petersburg, Russia),

e-mail: lushinai@mail.ru

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7955-3449

 

SOVIET-POLISH WAR IN THE DOMESTIC HISTORIOGRAPHY OF THE 1920s

 

Introduction. Events related to the Soviet-Polish war of 1919–1920s and its consequences still attract the attention of historians and professional politicians for reasons of significant scientific and cognitive interest. Their objective analysis and research of the whole complex of factors that led to open military actions between the two states will make it possible to get rid of both ideological myths that have a negative impact on relations between the Russian Federation and Poland and neighboring states, as well as the prevalence of military strategy in domestic historiography and tactics as opposed to a comprehensive scientific analysis of the causes of the war and its consequences that affect the relationship between our Russian Federation and Poland. The article attempts to analyze the works on the most topical issues of the Soviet-Polish war of 1919–1920, which found their definite reflection in the domestic historiography of the 1920s. The purpose of the study suggests a description of the dominant and constant policies for covering the events of the Soviet-Polish war of 1919–1920, its causes, results and consequences, which are still poorly understood, despite a number of separate publications, articles and new archival materials that have become accessible to domestic researchers since the late 80s of the XX century and introduced into scientific circulation recently. Methods and materials. The research is based on problem and chronological, comparative historical methods, as well as on the method of terminological analysis. The main sources were the texts of speeches and statements of the top political and military leadership of the Soviet Russia (RSFSR) in 1920s. Results and discussion. The results of the research showed a dominant dependence of the coverage of the events of the Soviet-Polish war of 1919–1920 on the ideological guidelines of the party leadership of the RSFSR. The available publications reflected the ideological and political preferences of the “Lenin Guard”, which in many ways determined the policy of the state in the early years of Soviet authority. At the same time, the lack of documentary sources and the lack of objective information had a negative impact on the analysis of the causes and consequences of the war. The conclusion. Based on theoretical approaches, expert assessments and archival materials, it was shown that the first attempt to analyze the causes and course of the Soviet-Polish war undertaken in the 1920s could not be truly objective, in view of the prevailing tendency to cover the history of the Soviet-Polish war with propaganda clichés, military-strategic and military-operational aspects, which completely exhausted itself at the time of the collapse of the USSR, and the dismantling of the socialist system in Europe at the end of the 20th century.

Keywords: military-political leadership, Soviet-Polish war, historiography, Poland, Soviet Russia.

 

For citation: Aleksandr I. Lushin, Dmitry Y. Savchenko. Soviet-polish war in the domestic historiography of the 1920s. Gumanitarian : aktual’nye problemy gumanitarnoi nauki i obrazovaniia = Russian Journal of the Humanities. 2018; 18(3): 274–283. (In Russ.). DOI: 10.15507/2078-9823.043.018.201803.274-283

 

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