THE JOURNAL OF REGIONAL HISTORY V.6 No.3
Minister of War of the Russian Empire A.F. Roediger: Between service and politics
DOI:
Full text:
The Russian Empire of the early 20th century saw gradual alienation of the supreme authority represented by the emperor and his inner circle from the bureaucracy and the generals who were their most important supporters, which contributed to the political crisis escalation. The article considers this issue on the example of certain aspects of the administrative and political activities of Alexander Roediger, General of Infantry, who served as Minister of War in 1905–09. The article shows his attempts to solve personnel problems in the army by removing unqualified personnel from the Higher Command, which caused discontent among the courtiers. The author analyzes A. Roediger’s political views, which can be described as moderately liberal. The Minister of War himself never went public about them, considering it unacceptable for an officer to engage in politics. However, due to his position, he could not completely distance himself from politics, especially during the revolutionary upheavals of 1905–07. Alexander Roediger belonged to those statesmen of Russia who sought to carry out serious reforms along the lines of constitution through a constructive dialogue with the legislative authority. The article also notes his role in preserving the Second State Duma during the “Zurabov incident,” his close cooperation within his ministerial powers with the Third Duma State Defense Commission, and so on. Such a course of the government official turned out to be unacceptable for Nicholas II, which caused resignation of Roediger. The desire of Minister of War Alexander Roediger to improve the state of things in the army through cooperation with moderately liberal deputies (members of the Octobrist Party) aroused suspicions of his political disloyalty, for which there were actually no grounds, and the attempts to solve personnel problems by purging of senior officers brought into question the established personnel policy in such an important area for the tsar as the imperial army. The material analyzed in the article convincingly shows that absolute loyalty to the monarch was the main personnel principle of the last reign. It implied that any attempts of a government official to manage his sphere as he deemed necessary in the interests of the cause rather than as it was understood by the monarch were doomed to fail.
Aleksandr Ivanovich Guchkov rasskazyvaet… [Alexander I. Guchkov tells us…]. Moscow: TOO Redaktsiya zhurnala “Voprosy istorii,” 1993. (In Russian)
Aleksandrov, K.A. Nakanune Fevralya: Russkaya Imperatorskaya armiya i Verkhovnoe komandovanie zimoi 1917 goda [On the eve of February: The Russian Imperial Army and the High Command in the winter of 1917]. Moscow: Sodruzhestvo “Posev,” 2022. (In Russian)
Avrekh, A.Ya. Tsarizm nakanune sverzheniya [Tsarism on the eve of the overthrow]. Edited by A.M. Anfimov. Moscow: Nauka, 1989. (In Russian)
Bei, E.V. General V.A. Sukhomlinov. Voennyi ministr epokhi Velikoi voiny [General V.A. Sukhomlinov. Minister of War during the era of the Great War]. Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf, 2021. (In Russian)
Bennigsen, E.P. Zapiski (1875–1917) [Notes (1875–1917)]. Compiled by A.G. Rimskii-Korsakov. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo imeni Sabashnikovykh, 2018. (In Russian)
Beskrovnyi, L.G. Russkaya armiya i flot Rossii v nachale ХХ v. Ocherki voenno-ekonomicheskogo potentsiala [Russian army and navy in the early 20th century. Essays on the war-economy potential]. Moscow: Nauka, 1986. (In Russian)
Danilov, Yu.N. Na puti k krusheniyu: Ocherki poslednego perioda Rossiiskoi monarkhii [On the way to collapse: Essays on the last period of the Russian monarchy]. Moscow: XXI vek – Soglasie, 2000. (In Russian)
Denikin, A.I. Put' russkogo ofitsera [The Career of a tsarist officer]. Moscow: Sovremennik, 1991. (In Russian)
Dzhunkovskii, V.F. Vospominaniya [Memoirs], 2 vols., edited by A.L. Panina, vol. 1. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo imeni Sabashnikovykh, 1997. (In Russian)
Golovin, F.A. Vospominaniya. 1870–1918 [Memoirs. 1870–1918]. Compiled by A.K. Afanas'ev, and M.A. Goryacheva. Moscow: Novyi khronograf, 2020. (In Russian)
Gurko, V.I. Cherty i siluety proshlogo: Pravitel'stvo i obshchestvennost' v tsarstvovanie Nikolaya II v izobrazhenii sovremennika [Features and silhouettes of the past: The government and the public during the reign of Nicholas II portrayed by a contemporary]. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2000. (In Russian)
Kireev, A.A. Dnevnik. 1905–1910 [The diary. 1905–1910]. Compiled, introductory article, commentary and notes by K.A. Solov'ev. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2010. (In Russian)
Kir'yanov, Yu.I., comp. Pravye partii. 1905–1917. Dokumenty i materialy. [Right-wing parties. 1905–1917. Documents and materials], 2 vols., vol. 1. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 1998. (In Russian)
Lopukhin, V.B. Zapiski byvshego direktora departamenta Ministerstva inostrannykh del [Notes of the former head of the department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs], edited by S.V. Kulikov. St Petersburg: Nestor-Istoriya, 2008. (In Russian)
Lukoyanov, I.V. “Kamaril'ya” [Camarilla]. In Pervaya mirovaya voina i konets Rossiiskoi imperii [The First World War and the end of the Russian Empire], vol. 1, Politicheskaya istoriya [Political history], edited by I.V. Lukoyanov, 629–87. St Petersburg: Liki Rossii, 2014. (In Russian)
Menning, B.W. Pulya i shtyk. Armiya Rossiiskoi imperii, 1864–1914 [Bayonets before bullets: the Imperial Russian Army, 1861–1914], translated from English by N. Edelman, edited by O. Airapetov. Moscow: Modest Kolerov, 2015. (In Russian)
Polivanov, A.A. Iz dnevnikov i vospominanii po dolzhnosti voennogo ministra i ego pomoshchnika. 1907–1916 gg. [From diaries and memoirs on the post of Minister of War and his assistant. 1907–1916], vol. 1. Moscow: Vysshii voennyi redaktsionnyi sovet, 1924. (In Russian)
Pozhigailo, P.A., ed. P.A. Stolypin glazami sovremennikov [P.A. Stolypin through the eyes of his contemporaries]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2008. (In Russian)
Pozhigailo, P.A., ed. P.A. Stolypin: Perepiska [P.A. Stolypin: Correspondence]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2004. (In Russian)
“Protokoly Tsarskosel'skikh soveshchanii (1905–1906)” [Minutes of the Tsarskoye Selo meetings (1905–1906)]. In A.V. Gogolevskii, comp., Russkii konstitutsionalizm: ot samoderzhaviya k konstitutsionno-parlamentskoi monarkhii: sbornik dokumentov [Russian constitutionalism: From autocracy to constitutional parliamentary monarchy: Collected documents], 39–162. Moscow: Gardariki, 2001. (In Russian)
Roediger, A.F. Istoriya moei zhizni. Vospominaniya voennogo ministra. [The story of my life. Memoirs of Minister of War], 2 vols. Moscow: Kanon-Press-Ts, Kuchkovo pole, 1999. (In Russian)
Samoilo, A.A. Dve zhizni [Two lives]. Moscow: Voenizdat, 1958. (In Russian)
Savel'ev, P.Yu., ed. Sotsial-demokraticheskie fraktsii I i II Gosudarstvennykh dum: protokoly fraktsionnykh zasedanii i materialy. 1906–1907 gg. [Social democratic factions of the First and the Second State Dumas: Minutes of factional meetings and materials. 1906–1907]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2020. (In Russian)
Savich, N.V. Vospominaniya [Memoirs]. St Petersburg: Logos; Dusseldorf: Goluboi vsadnik, 1993. (In Russian)
Shatsillo, K.F. Ot Portsmutskogo mira k Pervoi mirovoi voine. Generaly i politika [From the Treaty of Portsmouth to the First World War. Generals and Politics]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2000. (In Russian)
Shatsillo, K.F. Rossiya pered pervoi mirovoi voinoi (Vooruzhennye sily tsarizma v 1905–1914 gg.) [Russia before the First World War (Armed forces of tsarism in 1905–1914)]. Moscow: Nauka, 1974. (In Russian)
Shelokhaev, V.V., ed. Predstavitel'nye uchrezhdeniya Rossiiskoi imperii v 1906–1917 gg.: Materialy perlyustratsii Departamenta politsii [Representative institutions of the Russian Empire in 1906–1917: Materials of perlustration by the Police Department]. Moscow: Politicheskaya entsiklopediya, 2014. (In Russian)
Shul'gin, V.V. Dni. 1920: Zapiski [Days. 1920: Notes]. Moscow: Sovremennik, 1989. (In Russian)
Solov'ev, K.A. Zakonodatel'naya i ispolnitel'naya vlast' v Rossii: mekhanizmy vzaimodeistviya (1906–1914) [Legislative and executive power in Russia: Mechanisms of interaction (1906–1914)]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2011. (In Russian)
Suryaev, V.N. Russkaya imperatorskaya armiya nakanune i v gody Velikoi voiny [Russian imperial army on the eve and during the Great War]. Moscow: Russkaya panorama, Russkoe istoricheskoe obshchestvo, 2015. (In Russian)
Witte, S.Yu. Vospominaniya [Memoirs], 3 vols., vol. 3, edited by A.L. Sidorov. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo sotsial'no-ekonomicheskoi literatury, 1960. (In Russian)
Zaikina, T.V. “A.F. Rediger kak gosudarstvennyi i voennyi deyatel'. Istochniki i istoriografiya problemy (kratkii nauchnyi obzor)” [A.F. Roediger as a statesman and military leader. Sources and historiography of the problem (a brief scholarly survey)]. Izvestiya Samarskogo nauchnogo tsentra Rossiiskoi akademii nauk, vol. 20, no. 3 (2) (2018): 407–12. (In Russian)
Zaikina, T.V. “Rol' voennogo ministra A.F. Redigera v provedenii voennykh reform skvoz' prizmu ego vzaimootnoshenii s rossiiskimi gosudarstvennymi, politicheskimi i obshchestvennymi deyatelyami” [The role of Minister of War A. Roediger in military reforms through the prism of his relations with the Russian state officials, political and public figures]. Izvestiya Samarskogo nauchnogo tsentra Rossiiskoi akademii nauk, vol. 20, no. 3 (2018): 62–66. (In Russian)
Zaikina, T.V. “Stanovlenie A.F. Redigera kak krupnogo voennogo professional” [The formation of A.F. Roediger as a prominent military professional]. Izvestiya Samarskogo nauchnogo tsentra Rossiiskoi akademii nauk, vol. 19, no. 3 (2) (2017): 273–79. (In Russian)
Aleksandrov, K.A. Nakanune Fevralya: Russkaya Imperatorskaya armiya i Verkhovnoe komandovanie zimoi 1917 goda [On the eve of February: The Russian Imperial Army and the High Command in the winter of 1917]. Moscow: Sodruzhestvo “Posev,” 2022. (In Russian)
Avrekh, A.Ya. Tsarizm nakanune sverzheniya [Tsarism on the eve of the overthrow]. Edited by A.M. Anfimov. Moscow: Nauka, 1989. (In Russian)
Bei, E.V. General V.A. Sukhomlinov. Voennyi ministr epokhi Velikoi voiny [General V.A. Sukhomlinov. Minister of War during the era of the Great War]. Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf, 2021. (In Russian)
Bennigsen, E.P. Zapiski (1875–1917) [Notes (1875–1917)]. Compiled by A.G. Rimskii-Korsakov. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo imeni Sabashnikovykh, 2018. (In Russian)
Beskrovnyi, L.G. Russkaya armiya i flot Rossii v nachale ХХ v. Ocherki voenno-ekonomicheskogo potentsiala [Russian army and navy in the early 20th century. Essays on the war-economy potential]. Moscow: Nauka, 1986. (In Russian)
Danilov, Yu.N. Na puti k krusheniyu: Ocherki poslednego perioda Rossiiskoi monarkhii [On the way to collapse: Essays on the last period of the Russian monarchy]. Moscow: XXI vek – Soglasie, 2000. (In Russian)
Denikin, A.I. Put' russkogo ofitsera [The Career of a tsarist officer]. Moscow: Sovremennik, 1991. (In Russian)
Dzhunkovskii, V.F. Vospominaniya [Memoirs], 2 vols., edited by A.L. Panina, vol. 1. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo imeni Sabashnikovykh, 1997. (In Russian)
Golovin, F.A. Vospominaniya. 1870–1918 [Memoirs. 1870–1918]. Compiled by A.K. Afanas'ev, and M.A. Goryacheva. Moscow: Novyi khronograf, 2020. (In Russian)
Gurko, V.I. Cherty i siluety proshlogo: Pravitel'stvo i obshchestvennost' v tsarstvovanie Nikolaya II v izobrazhenii sovremennika [Features and silhouettes of the past: The government and the public during the reign of Nicholas II portrayed by a contemporary]. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2000. (In Russian)
Kireev, A.A. Dnevnik. 1905–1910 [The diary. 1905–1910]. Compiled, introductory article, commentary and notes by K.A. Solov'ev. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2010. (In Russian)
Kir'yanov, Yu.I., comp. Pravye partii. 1905–1917. Dokumenty i materialy. [Right-wing parties. 1905–1917. Documents and materials], 2 vols., vol. 1. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 1998. (In Russian)
Lopukhin, V.B. Zapiski byvshego direktora departamenta Ministerstva inostrannykh del [Notes of the former head of the department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs], edited by S.V. Kulikov. St Petersburg: Nestor-Istoriya, 2008. (In Russian)
Lukoyanov, I.V. “Kamaril'ya” [Camarilla]. In Pervaya mirovaya voina i konets Rossiiskoi imperii [The First World War and the end of the Russian Empire], vol. 1, Politicheskaya istoriya [Political history], edited by I.V. Lukoyanov, 629–87. St Petersburg: Liki Rossii, 2014. (In Russian)
Menning, B.W. Pulya i shtyk. Armiya Rossiiskoi imperii, 1864–1914 [Bayonets before bullets: the Imperial Russian Army, 1861–1914], translated from English by N. Edelman, edited by O. Airapetov. Moscow: Modest Kolerov, 2015. (In Russian)
Polivanov, A.A. Iz dnevnikov i vospominanii po dolzhnosti voennogo ministra i ego pomoshchnika. 1907–1916 gg. [From diaries and memoirs on the post of Minister of War and his assistant. 1907–1916], vol. 1. Moscow: Vysshii voennyi redaktsionnyi sovet, 1924. (In Russian)
Pozhigailo, P.A., ed. P.A. Stolypin glazami sovremennikov [P.A. Stolypin through the eyes of his contemporaries]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2008. (In Russian)
Pozhigailo, P.A., ed. P.A. Stolypin: Perepiska [P.A. Stolypin: Correspondence]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2004. (In Russian)
“Protokoly Tsarskosel'skikh soveshchanii (1905–1906)” [Minutes of the Tsarskoye Selo meetings (1905–1906)]. In A.V. Gogolevskii, comp., Russkii konstitutsionalizm: ot samoderzhaviya k konstitutsionno-parlamentskoi monarkhii: sbornik dokumentov [Russian constitutionalism: From autocracy to constitutional parliamentary monarchy: Collected documents], 39–162. Moscow: Gardariki, 2001. (In Russian)
Roediger, A.F. Istoriya moei zhizni. Vospominaniya voennogo ministra. [The story of my life. Memoirs of Minister of War], 2 vols. Moscow: Kanon-Press-Ts, Kuchkovo pole, 1999. (In Russian)
Samoilo, A.A. Dve zhizni [Two lives]. Moscow: Voenizdat, 1958. (In Russian)
Savel'ev, P.Yu., ed. Sotsial-demokraticheskie fraktsii I i II Gosudarstvennykh dum: protokoly fraktsionnykh zasedanii i materialy. 1906–1907 gg. [Social democratic factions of the First and the Second State Dumas: Minutes of factional meetings and materials. 1906–1907]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2020. (In Russian)
Savich, N.V. Vospominaniya [Memoirs]. St Petersburg: Logos; Dusseldorf: Goluboi vsadnik, 1993. (In Russian)
Shatsillo, K.F. Ot Portsmutskogo mira k Pervoi mirovoi voine. Generaly i politika [From the Treaty of Portsmouth to the First World War. Generals and Politics]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2000. (In Russian)
Shatsillo, K.F. Rossiya pered pervoi mirovoi voinoi (Vooruzhennye sily tsarizma v 1905–1914 gg.) [Russia before the First World War (Armed forces of tsarism in 1905–1914)]. Moscow: Nauka, 1974. (In Russian)
Shelokhaev, V.V., ed. Predstavitel'nye uchrezhdeniya Rossiiskoi imperii v 1906–1917 gg.: Materialy perlyustratsii Departamenta politsii [Representative institutions of the Russian Empire in 1906–1917: Materials of perlustration by the Police Department]. Moscow: Politicheskaya entsiklopediya, 2014. (In Russian)
Shul'gin, V.V. Dni. 1920: Zapiski [Days. 1920: Notes]. Moscow: Sovremennik, 1989. (In Russian)
Solov'ev, K.A. Zakonodatel'naya i ispolnitel'naya vlast' v Rossii: mekhanizmy vzaimodeistviya (1906–1914) [Legislative and executive power in Russia: Mechanisms of interaction (1906–1914)]. Moscow: ROSSPEN, 2011. (In Russian)
Suryaev, V.N. Russkaya imperatorskaya armiya nakanune i v gody Velikoi voiny [Russian imperial army on the eve and during the Great War]. Moscow: Russkaya panorama, Russkoe istoricheskoe obshchestvo, 2015. (In Russian)
Witte, S.Yu. Vospominaniya [Memoirs], 3 vols., vol. 3, edited by A.L. Sidorov. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo sotsial'no-ekonomicheskoi literatury, 1960. (In Russian)
Zaikina, T.V. “A.F. Rediger kak gosudarstvennyi i voennyi deyatel'. Istochniki i istoriografiya problemy (kratkii nauchnyi obzor)” [A.F. Roediger as a statesman and military leader. Sources and historiography of the problem (a brief scholarly survey)]. Izvestiya Samarskogo nauchnogo tsentra Rossiiskoi akademii nauk, vol. 20, no. 3 (2) (2018): 407–12. (In Russian)
Zaikina, T.V. “Rol' voennogo ministra A.F. Redigera v provedenii voennykh reform skvoz' prizmu ego vzaimootnoshenii s rossiiskimi gosudarstvennymi, politicheskimi i obshchestvennymi deyatelyami” [The role of Minister of War A. Roediger in military reforms through the prism of his relations with the Russian state officials, political and public figures]. Izvestiya Samarskogo nauchnogo tsentra Rossiiskoi akademii nauk, vol. 20, no. 3 (2018): 62–66. (In Russian)
Zaikina, T.V. “Stanovlenie A.F. Redigera kak krupnogo voennogo professional” [The formation of A.F. Roediger as a prominent military professional]. Izvestiya Samarskogo nauchnogo tsentra Rossiiskoi akademii nauk, vol. 19, no. 3 (2) (2017): 273–79. (In Russian)
Keywords:
Ministry of War, senior officers, A. Roediger, State Duma, State Council
For citation:
Egorov, A.N. “Minister of War of the Russian Empire A.F. Roediger: Between service and politics.” Historia Provinciae – the Journal of Regional History, vol. 6, no. 3 (2022): 891–932, https://doi.org/10.23859/2587-8344-2022-6-3-5
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
ISSN 2587-8344 (Online)