The Caucasian War in the Russian Public Sphere (1801–1864)

The article is devoted to determining the place and features of the representation of the Caucasian War in the Russian public sphere in the 19th century. The reasons for the peripheral nature of discussions about the Caucasian War are considered, among which the problems of communication routes with the far southern outskirts, the fascination of Russian society with European news, and the shortage of “Caucasian” news items in the Russian press are highlighted. The role of Russian romantic literature about the Caucasus is emphasized, which formed influential images of the region and its population. The article shows that the dynamics of public discussion of the Caucasian War and related issues of imperial policy in the southern outskirts directly depended on the changes in the governmental policy. Large-scale changes in the administration of the region, the appointment of popular public figures to responsible positions intensified public attention. The conclusion is drawn that various official actors used Russian public sphere as an informal space of political competition.

Atnashev, T.M., T.V. Vaizer, and M.B. Velizhev, comps. Nesovershennaya publichnaya sfera. Istoriya rezhimov publichnosti v Rossii [Imperfect public sphere. History of publicity modes in Russia]. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2021. (In Russian)
Davydov, M.A. Oppozitsiya Ego Velichestva [His Majesty’s opposition]. Moscow: Rossiiskii gosudarstvennyi gumanitarnyi universitet, 1994. (In Russian)
Demchenko, A.A. “‘Otechestvennye zapiski’ i tsenzura 1840-kh – 1880-kh gg. [Otechestvennye zapiski and censorship in the 1840s – 1880s]. Izvestiya Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta, no. 4 (68) (2012): 119–23. (In Russian)
Dudarev, D.S., and S.L. Dudarev. Severnyi Kavkaz glazami predstavitelei rossiiskogo obshchestva pervoi poloviny – serediny XIX veka [The North Caucasus through the eyes of representatives of Russian society of the first half – mid-19th century]. Armavir; Stavropol: Dizain-studiya B, 2017. (In Russian)
Gatagova, L.S. “Obraz Kavkaza v russkom obshchestvennom soznanii (XVII–XIX vv.)” [The image of the Caucasus in the Russian public consciousness (17th–19th centuries)]. In Obrazy regionov v obshchestvennom soznanii i kul'ture Rossii (XVII–XIX vv.) [Images of regions in the public consciousness and culture of Russia (17th–19th centuries)], edited by V.V. Trepavlova,
153–99. Tula: Grif i K; Moscow: Institut rossiiskoi istorii RAN, 2011. (In Russian)
Gordin, Ya.A. Kavkaz: zemlya i krov'. Rossiya v Kavkazskoi voine XIX veka [Caucasus: land and blood. Russia in the Caucasian War of the 19th century]. St Peterburg: Zhurnal “Zvezda”, 2000. (In Russian)
Gordin, Ya.A. et al., comps. Kavkazskie pis'ma A.P. Ermolova M.S. Vorontsovu [Caucasian letters from A.P. Ermolov to M.S. Vorontsov]. St Petersburg: Zhurnal “Zvezda”, 2011. (In Russian)
Habermas, J. Strukturnoe izmenenie publichnoi sfery. Issledovaniya otnositel'no kategorii burzhuaznogo obshchestva [The structural transformation of the public sphere: an inquiry into a category of bourgeois society], translated from German by V.V. Ivanova. Moscow: Ves' mir, 2016. (In Russian)
Khoroshilova, O.A. Dzhentl'men Dzhek v Rossii. Neveroyatnoe puteshestvie Anny Lister [Gentleman Jack in Russia. The incredible journey of Anne Lister]. Moscow. Mann, Ivanov i Ferber, 2022. (In Russian)
Kolosovskaya, T.A. “Kavkaz v sluzhebnoi biografii i istoriko-literaturnom nasledii general-leitenanta D.I. Romanovskogo (1825–1881)” [The Caucasus in service biography and historical and literary heritage of Lieutenant General D.I. Romanovsky (1825–1881)]. Gumanitarnye i yuridicheskie issledovaniya, no. 2 (2021): 42–49. (In Russian)
Lapin, V.V. Armiya Rossii v Kavkazskoi voine XVIII–XIX vv. [Russia’s Army in the Caucasian War of the 18th–19th centuries]. St Petersburg: Evropeiskii dom, 2008. (In Russian)
Lisitsyna, G.G., comp. Darginskaya tragediya. 1845 god [The Dargo tragedy. 1845]. St Petersburg: Izdatel'stvo zhurnala “Zvezda”, 2001. (In Russian)
Litvinova, T.F. “Prizhiznennaya reputatsiya i istoriograficheskaya sud'ba M.P. Pozena” [Lifetime reputation and historiographical fate of M.P. Posen]. Vestnik Omskogo universiteta. Seriya: Istoricheskie nauki, no. 4 (4) (2014): 44–50. (In Russian)
Murav'eva, O.S. “Rastsvet i razrushenie svetskikh literaturnykh salonov ‘zolotogo veka’” [The rise and fall of high literary salons in the “Golden Age”]. Literaturnyi fakt, no. 4 (26) (2022):
140–82. (In Russian)
Nechkina, M.V., ed. Dekabristy. Biograficheskii spravochnik [Decembrists. A biographical reference book]. Moscow: Nauka, 1988. (In Russian)
Nikitenko, A.V. Dnevnik [Diary]. 3 vols. Vol 1, 1826–1857. Edited by N.L. Brodskii et al. Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel'stvo khudozhestvennoi literatury, 1955. (In Russian)
Patrakova, V.F. “Kavkazskaya voina v obshchestvennom soznanii Rossii pervoi treti XIX veka” [The Caucasian War in the public consciousness of Russia in the first third of the 19th century]. In Essequamvideri, iss. 2, Pamyati Yu.I. Serogo (1922–1986) [In memory of Yu.I. Seryi (1922–1986)], edited by A.V. Lubskii, and V.V. Chernous, 148–60. Rostov-on-Don: Antei, 2013. (In Russian)
Pokrovskii, N.I. Kavkazskie voiny i imamat Shamilya [The Caucasian wars and Shamil’s imamate]. Moscow: Rossiiskaya politicheskaya entsiklopediya (ROSSPEN), 2000. (In Russian)
Pypin, A.N. Obshchestvennoe dvizhenie v Rossii pri Aleksandre I [Social movement in Russia under Alexander I]. St Petersburg: Akademicheskii proekt, 2001. (In Russian)
Samoilova, S.V. “Graf M.S. Vorontsov v obshchestvenno-politicheskoi zhizni Rossii pervoi chetverti XIX veka” [Count M.S. Vorontsov in the socio-political life of Russia in the first quarter of the 19th century]. PhD thesis, Moscow State University, 1995. (In Russian)
Soplenkov, S.V. Doroga v Arzrum: rossiiskaya obshchestvennaya mysl' o Vostoke (pervaya polovina XIX v.) [A journey to Arzrum: Russian social thought about the East (first half of the 19th century)]. Moscow: Vostochnaya literatura, 2000. (In Russian)
Sulaberidze, Yu.S. “Vospriyatie Kavkaza dekabristami: kul'turnyi tip dekabrista na Kavkaze” [The perception of the Caucasus by the Decembrists: Decembrist cultural type in the Caucasus]. Istoricheskii kur'er, no. 6 (14) (2020): 53–71. (In Russian)
Urushadze, A.T. “Drugaya Kavkazskaya voina: kavkazskii namestnik vs tsarskie ministry (1844–1853)” [The other Caucasian War: Caucasian viceroy vs the tsar’s ministers (1844–1853)]. Ural'skii istoricheskii vestnik, no. 3 (64) (2019): 31–39. (In Russian)
Vakhtin, N.B., and B.M. Firsov, eds. “Sindrom publichnoi nemoty”: istoriya i sovremennye praktiki publichnykh debatov v Rossii [“Public muteness syndrome”: history and modern practices of public debate in Russia]. Moscow: Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, 2017. (In Russian)
Voloshina, S.M. Vlast' i zhurnalistika. Nikolai I, Andrei Kraevskii i drugie [Power and journalism. Nicholas I, Andrei Kraevsky and others]. Moscow: Delo, 2022. (In Russian)