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| Admiral Kolchak: Let the Bolsheviks get the gold, lest it will be taken away from Russia |
| 2022-07-30 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate., Edited. by Andrey Martynov [REGNUM] Vladimir Khandorin. Admiral Kolchak: Drama of the Supreme Ruler. Moscow: AFK Sistema; Political Encyclopedia, 2022. This publication is not a classic biography of Alexander Kolchak (1874–1920). The author of the book, Moscow historian Vladimir Khandorin, focuses primarily on the period of the Civil War, "this book is both about a man and about the movement that he personified." Therefore, the researcher only briefly touches on the studies of his hero, his activities as part of polar expeditions (for his work on the ice of the Kara and Siberian seas, the scientist was awarded the Konstantinovsky gold medal highly valued in academic circles and was elected a full member of the Russian Geographical Society), as well as participation in the Russian -Japanese and World War I (in April 1916 he was promoted to rear admiral, and three months later - to vice admiral and appointed commander of the Black Sea Fleet). Reflecting on the role of Kolchak in the Civil War, Khandorin criticizes in detail the myths and false stereotypes that have been established since the Soviet era. For example, the researcher refutes the alleged absolute loyalty of the admiral to the governments of the Entente countries. Among other things, he cites Kolchak's harsh response to the "proposal" of the allies to take the gold reserve under protection: "it is better for the Bolsheviks to get this gold than to be taken away from Russia." According to his contemporaries, the Supreme Ruler "in dealings with foreigners always followed the line of greatest resistance." The monograph also devotes a lot of space to the admiral's everyday culture. The supreme ruler was quite unpretentious in everyday life and, moreover, did not consider it possible to spend public funds on himself. Here is what he wrote to his wife Sophia: “I live in the same room and do not make any receptions, and you write about some social life and ask if you need to make receptions. Our homeland is ruined and impoverished, and I don't have much money." After all, the politician continued in another letter: "I look at my position as a service position, as the same as commanding a ship, division or fleet. I serve my Motherland without pursuing any personal goals, and I will leave at the first opportunity, when I can transfer power to hands that can do a better job than I ... Having unlimited power, I have nothing ... and I do not consider it possible to take from the ruined and more poor country than is necessary for the simplest life." The scientist supports his statements with references to various archival collections (the State Archives of the Russian Federation, the Center for the Storage of Documents of the Recent History of the Omsk Region, etc.), including documents from the Parisian family archive of S. F. Kolchak, which were purchased at the end of 2019 by the State Archives of the Russian Federation and the House of Russian Diaspora. So conscientious critics of Khandorin's monograph, before objecting to the researcher or refuting him, will have to work hard in the archives. Will they just make it? BACKGROUND A branch of the economy that specializes in the preparation, publishing, and distribution of books. In Russia, the first printing house began work in 1553. Books for children and adults, textbooks, reference books, scientific literature. The largest publishing houses in Russia include: "Eksmo-Ast", "OLMA Media Group", "Azbuka-Atticus", "RIPOL-Classic", "Phoenix". In 2018, Eksmo-Ast published the most books in Russia - 9,244 titles. The first place in terms of circulation of publications was taken by Enlightenment - 81.7 million. In general, over 10 years, the total circulation of books published in Russia has decreased by 1.5 times. In 2018, there were about 1.5 thousand bookstores in Russia. The largest bookselling networks are Read City, Book Labyrinth, and Mirs. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #2 His first love was Russia. |
| Posted by: badanov 2022-07-30 16:22 |
| #1 Article humanizes what had been a stick-figure anti-communist. |
| Posted by: borgboy 2022-07-30 15:31 |