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THE TERROR OF THE PERIOD OF THE FIRST RUSSIAN REVOLUTION IN THE ASSESSMENT OF BRITISH DIPLOMATS (ON THE MATERIALS OF THE BRITISH NATIONAL ARCHIVE)
Corresponding Author(s) : Natalia Aleksandrovna Portnyagina
Humanities & Social Sciences Reviews,
Vol. 7 No. 5 (2019): September
Abstract
Purpose of the study: To explore in detail the terror of the period of the first Russian revolution in the assessment of British diplomats during the revolution of 1905-1907.
Methodology: The research is based on archival documents, most of which are introduced into scientific discourse for the first time, as well as periodical press materials of that time. The research draws from the documents of the British National Archive and the Russian State Historical Archive (fund: 1276 - Office of the Council of Ministers). The article employs chronological, historical-typological, historical-genetic, comparative and illustrative research methods, as well as systematic analysis and synthesis.
Main Findings: The research suggests that in 1905-1907 terror affected not only Russian but also British citizens. British reaction to terror in Russia slowed down the signing of a foreign policy agreement between the countries.
Applications of this study: The study may be used by historians and everyone interested in the questions of the First Russian Revolution as well as the history of diplomatic relations with Britain. The results of the study can be used in universities to study the history of Russia and the history of international relations at the beginning of the 20th century.
Novelty/Originality of this study: Many historians focus on terror in Russia during the revolution of 1905-1907. However, the reflections on revolutionary terror by British diplomats did not become a subject of research in Russian or foreign historiography.
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- Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 26 August 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/128. â„– 29415.
- Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 6 September 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/128. â„– 31314.
- Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 10 September 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/128 â„– 31324.
- Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 25 September1906 // UK NA. FO 371/128 â„– 32934.
- Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 30 October 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/129. â„– 36888.
- A. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 1 January 1907 // UK NA. FO 371/318. â„– 571.
- Nicolson to Edward Grey. 2 January 1907 // UK NA. FO 371/318. â„– 573.
- Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. Summary of Events for the fortnight ended 14 Mart 1907. (Claud Russell) // UK NA. FO 371/318. â„– 8615.
- Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. Summary of Events in Russia during the Fortnight ending. 19 June 1907 (Bentinck C.H.) // UK NA. FO 371/318. â„– 20735.
- Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. Summary of Events in Russia for the Fortnight ended. 6 June 1907. (Claud Russell) // UK NA. FO 371/318 â„– 18927.
- Bagdasaryan, V.A. &Bakayev, A.A. (2004). Russian revolutionary terrorism through the prism of historical and socio-political thought. Moscow.
- Bakayev, A.A. (2006). Historiography of the Russian revolutionary terrorism of the late 19th - early 20th century. Doctoral dissertation. Moscow.
- Budnitsky, O. V. (1996). The history of terrorism in Russia in documents, biographies, studies. Rostov-on-Don.
- Consul Medhurst to Edward Grey. Rostov on Don. 1 September 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/127. â„– 30672.
- Consul Medhurst to Edward Grey. Rostov on Don. 25August 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/127. â„– 29761.
- Consul Stevens to Edward Grey. Batoum 15 August 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/128. â„– 29155.
- Consul Stevens to Edward Grey. Batoum 3 November 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/129. â„– 38045.
- Consul-General Bagge to Edward Grey. Odessa. 6 September 1906 // UKNA. FO 371/127. â„– 30811.
- Consul-General Smith to Sir E. Grey. Odessa. 10 January 1907 // UK NA. FO 371/320. â„– 1621.
- Consul-General Ð. Murray to A. Nicolson. Warsaw. 24 July 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/127 â„– 26845.
- Council Woodhouse to Sir Edward Grey. Riga. 12 November 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/129. â„– 38678.
- Council Woodhouse to Sir Edward Grey. Riga. 28 May 1907 // UK NA. FO 371/320. â„– 17868.
- Council Woodhouse to Sir Edward Grey. Riga. 4 October 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/129. â„– 33967.
- Edward Grey to Ð. Nicolson. 19 September 1906 // UKNA. FO 371/128 â„– 31666.
- Geifman, A. (1997). Revolutionary terror in Russia. 1894-1917. Moscow.
- Gerasimov, A.V. (1991). On the edge with terrorists. Moscow.
- Gredeskul, N.A. (1906). Political hypocrisy. Rech, 12 May, 1-2.
- Gurko, V.I. (2000). Features and silhouettes of the past: the Government and the public during the reign of Nicholas II as seen by a contemporary. Moscow: Novoyeliteraturnoyeobozreniye.
- Gusev, K.V. (1963). The collapse of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party. Moscow.
- Gusev, K.V. (1975). The Socialist Revolutionary Party: From petty-bourgeois revolutionary movement to counter-revolution. Moscow.
- Gusev, K.V. (1992). Knights of Terror. Moscow.
- Hughes, M. (2000). Diplomacy before the Russian Revolution. Britain, Russia and the Old Diplomacy, 1894-1917. New York: St. Martin’s Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230599826
- Koshko, I.F. (1916). Memories of the Governor. Novgorod-Samara-Penza. Petrograd.
- Laqueur, W. (1979). The Terrorism Reader: A Historical Anthology. London.
- Lenin, V.I. (1966). Draft resolution on terror. Collected works. Vol. 7. Moscow.
- Lenin, V.I. (1967). “Where to begin?†Collected works. Vol. 5. Moscow.
- Leonov, M.I. (1997). The Socialist-Revolutionary Party. Moscow: ROSSPEN.
- Levin, Sh. M. (1974). Essays on the history of Russian social thought. Late 19th – early 20th century. Leningrad.
- Naimark, N. (1990). Terrorism and the Fall of Imperial Russia. Terrorism and Political Violence, 2(2), 56-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09546559008427060
- Neilson, K. (1987). My Beloved Russians: Sir Arthur Nicolson and Russia, 1906-1916. The International History Review, 9(4), 521-554. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.1987.9640458
- Nicolson, H. (1937). Sir Arthur Nicolson. First Lord Carnock. A Study in the Old Diplomacy. London: Constable & Co Ltd.
- Plekhanov, G.V. (1923). Report to the Brussels Congress (1891). Under the banner of Marxism, 6-7, 79-89.
- Pokrovsky, M.N. (1924). Essays on the history of revolutionary movement in Russia in the 19th-20th centuries. Moscow.
- Polyansky, N. N. (1934). Epic of court-martials. Moscow.
- Portnyagina N.A. (2014). “It is impossible to combine the constitution with the violence…â€: Octobrist’s views of terror during the revolution of 1905-1907. Vestnik of Pushkin Leningrad State University, 2, 191-200.
- Portnyagina, N. A. &Patrikeeva, O. A. (2016). Choose one of two: The Duma or the Grave: The impact of terrorism on the elections to the state Duma in the period of the first Russian revolution. AnaleleUniversităţii din Craiova. Istorie, Anul XXI, 2(30). Craiova:Editurauniverstaria Craiova.
- Portnyagina, N.A. (2013). Debate on the issue of terrorism in the State Council of the Russian Empire during the revolution of 1905-1907. Vestnik of St. Petersburg University. History, 4, 61-68.
- Portnyagina, N.A.(2015). S.Yu. Witte and P.A. Stolypin. Two views of terror during the revolution of 1905-1907. Bulletin of Slavic Cultures, 36(2), 165-173.
- Portnyagina, N.A. (2014). The party couldn’t afford to abuse the terrorists: Political terror in an assessment of the Cadet Party during the revolution of 1905-1907. Bulletin of Slavic Cultures, 1(31), 30-37.
- Portnyagina, N.A. (2015). Revolutionary terror as seen by the Cadet faction of the State Duma of the second convocation. Tauride readings 2014. Actual problems of parliamentarism: History and modern times. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference. St. Petersburg,1, 185-193.
- Pozhigaylo, P.A. &Shelokhayev, V.V. (2011). Petr Arkadevich Stolypin: Intellect and Will. Moscow.
- Protocols of the Central Committee and foreign groups of the Constitutional Democratic Party. 1994. In 6vols. Vol.1. Protocols of the Central Committee of the Constitutional Democratic Party. 1905-1911, Moscow (Russia).
- Rossiya. (1906). August 5.
- Rossiya. (1906). July 20.
- Rozanov, V.V. (2005). Collection of works. Terror against Russian nationalism (articles and essays in 1911). Ed. by A.N. Nikolyukin. Moscow.
- Rublev, D.I. (2010). Dictatorship of intellectuals? The problem of "Intelligentsia and Revolution" in the Russian anarchist journalism of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Moscow.
- Savin, A.F. (2001). It's my fault ...: Evolution and confession of a terrorist: Letters from YegorSozonov with comments. Foreword by S. G. Bocharov. Moscow.
- Savinkov, B. (1991). Memories of a terrorist. Moscow.
- Sedov, M.G. (1966). The heroic period of revolutionary Narodism (from the history of political struggle). Moscow.
- Sukhova, O.A. (2012). Revolutionary terrorism in Russia in the late 19th - early 20th century: Historiography, methodology, facts. Historical Herald. Terrorism in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, 2 (149), 136-173.
- Troitsky, N.A. (1979). Tsarism under the court of progressive public: 1866-1895. Moscow.
- Under the Draft Government Communication. August 19 - August 24, 1906 // RGIA. F. 1276. Op.1. D. 172. L. 14.
- Vilenskaya, E.S. (1965). The revolutionary underground of Russia: (60’s of the 19th century). Moscow.
- Witte, S.Yu. (1994). Memories: In 3 vols. Vol.3 (October 17, 1905 - 1911). The reign of Nicholas II. Tallinn.
References
Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 26 August 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/128. â„– 29415.
Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 6 September 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/128. â„– 31314.
Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 10 September 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/128 â„– 31324.
Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 25 September1906 // UK NA. FO 371/128 â„– 32934.
Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 30 October 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/129. â„– 36888.
A. Nicolson to Edward Grey. 1 January 1907 // UK NA. FO 371/318. â„– 571.
Nicolson to Edward Grey. 2 January 1907 // UK NA. FO 371/318. â„– 573.
Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. Summary of Events for the fortnight ended 14 Mart 1907. (Claud Russell) // UK NA. FO 371/318. â„– 8615.
Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. Summary of Events in Russia during the Fortnight ending. 19 June 1907 (Bentinck C.H.) // UK NA. FO 371/318. â„– 20735.
Ð. Nicolson to Edward Grey. Summary of Events in Russia for the Fortnight ended. 6 June 1907. (Claud Russell) // UK NA. FO 371/318 â„– 18927.
Bagdasaryan, V.A. &Bakayev, A.A. (2004). Russian revolutionary terrorism through the prism of historical and socio-political thought. Moscow.
Bakayev, A.A. (2006). Historiography of the Russian revolutionary terrorism of the late 19th - early 20th century. Doctoral dissertation. Moscow.
Budnitsky, O. V. (1996). The history of terrorism in Russia in documents, biographies, studies. Rostov-on-Don.
Consul Medhurst to Edward Grey. Rostov on Don. 1 September 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/127. â„– 30672.
Consul Medhurst to Edward Grey. Rostov on Don. 25August 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/127. â„– 29761.
Consul Stevens to Edward Grey. Batoum 15 August 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/128. â„– 29155.
Consul Stevens to Edward Grey. Batoum 3 November 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/129. â„– 38045.
Consul-General Bagge to Edward Grey. Odessa. 6 September 1906 // UKNA. FO 371/127. â„– 30811.
Consul-General Smith to Sir E. Grey. Odessa. 10 January 1907 // UK NA. FO 371/320. â„– 1621.
Consul-General Ð. Murray to A. Nicolson. Warsaw. 24 July 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/127 â„– 26845.
Council Woodhouse to Sir Edward Grey. Riga. 12 November 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/129. â„– 38678.
Council Woodhouse to Sir Edward Grey. Riga. 28 May 1907 // UK NA. FO 371/320. â„– 17868.
Council Woodhouse to Sir Edward Grey. Riga. 4 October 1906 // UK NA. FO 371/129. â„– 33967.
Edward Grey to Ð. Nicolson. 19 September 1906 // UKNA. FO 371/128 â„– 31666.
Geifman, A. (1997). Revolutionary terror in Russia. 1894-1917. Moscow.
Gerasimov, A.V. (1991). On the edge with terrorists. Moscow.
Gredeskul, N.A. (1906). Political hypocrisy. Rech, 12 May, 1-2.
Gurko, V.I. (2000). Features and silhouettes of the past: the Government and the public during the reign of Nicholas II as seen by a contemporary. Moscow: Novoyeliteraturnoyeobozreniye.
Gusev, K.V. (1963). The collapse of the Left Socialist Revolutionary Party. Moscow.
Gusev, K.V. (1975). The Socialist Revolutionary Party: From petty-bourgeois revolutionary movement to counter-revolution. Moscow.
Gusev, K.V. (1992). Knights of Terror. Moscow.
Hughes, M. (2000). Diplomacy before the Russian Revolution. Britain, Russia and the Old Diplomacy, 1894-1917. New York: St. Martin’s Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230599826
Koshko, I.F. (1916). Memories of the Governor. Novgorod-Samara-Penza. Petrograd.
Laqueur, W. (1979). The Terrorism Reader: A Historical Anthology. London.
Lenin, V.I. (1966). Draft resolution on terror. Collected works. Vol. 7. Moscow.
Lenin, V.I. (1967). “Where to begin?†Collected works. Vol. 5. Moscow.
Leonov, M.I. (1997). The Socialist-Revolutionary Party. Moscow: ROSSPEN.
Levin, Sh. M. (1974). Essays on the history of Russian social thought. Late 19th – early 20th century. Leningrad.
Naimark, N. (1990). Terrorism and the Fall of Imperial Russia. Terrorism and Political Violence, 2(2), 56-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09546559008427060
Neilson, K. (1987). My Beloved Russians: Sir Arthur Nicolson and Russia, 1906-1916. The International History Review, 9(4), 521-554. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/07075332.1987.9640458
Nicolson, H. (1937). Sir Arthur Nicolson. First Lord Carnock. A Study in the Old Diplomacy. London: Constable & Co Ltd.
Plekhanov, G.V. (1923). Report to the Brussels Congress (1891). Under the banner of Marxism, 6-7, 79-89.
Pokrovsky, M.N. (1924). Essays on the history of revolutionary movement in Russia in the 19th-20th centuries. Moscow.
Polyansky, N. N. (1934). Epic of court-martials. Moscow.
Portnyagina N.A. (2014). “It is impossible to combine the constitution with the violence…â€: Octobrist’s views of terror during the revolution of 1905-1907. Vestnik of Pushkin Leningrad State University, 2, 191-200.
Portnyagina, N. A. &Patrikeeva, O. A. (2016). Choose one of two: The Duma or the Grave: The impact of terrorism on the elections to the state Duma in the period of the first Russian revolution. AnaleleUniversităţii din Craiova. Istorie, Anul XXI, 2(30). Craiova:Editurauniverstaria Craiova.
Portnyagina, N.A. (2013). Debate on the issue of terrorism in the State Council of the Russian Empire during the revolution of 1905-1907. Vestnik of St. Petersburg University. History, 4, 61-68.
Portnyagina, N.A.(2015). S.Yu. Witte and P.A. Stolypin. Two views of terror during the revolution of 1905-1907. Bulletin of Slavic Cultures, 36(2), 165-173.
Portnyagina, N.A. (2014). The party couldn’t afford to abuse the terrorists: Political terror in an assessment of the Cadet Party during the revolution of 1905-1907. Bulletin of Slavic Cultures, 1(31), 30-37.
Portnyagina, N.A. (2015). Revolutionary terror as seen by the Cadet faction of the State Duma of the second convocation. Tauride readings 2014. Actual problems of parliamentarism: History and modern times. Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference. St. Petersburg,1, 185-193.
Pozhigaylo, P.A. &Shelokhayev, V.V. (2011). Petr Arkadevich Stolypin: Intellect and Will. Moscow.
Protocols of the Central Committee and foreign groups of the Constitutional Democratic Party. 1994. In 6vols. Vol.1. Protocols of the Central Committee of the Constitutional Democratic Party. 1905-1911, Moscow (Russia).
Rossiya. (1906). August 5.
Rossiya. (1906). July 20.
Rozanov, V.V. (2005). Collection of works. Terror against Russian nationalism (articles and essays in 1911). Ed. by A.N. Nikolyukin. Moscow.
Rublev, D.I. (2010). Dictatorship of intellectuals? The problem of "Intelligentsia and Revolution" in the Russian anarchist journalism of the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Moscow.
Savin, A.F. (2001). It's my fault ...: Evolution and confession of a terrorist: Letters from YegorSozonov with comments. Foreword by S. G. Bocharov. Moscow.
Savinkov, B. (1991). Memories of a terrorist. Moscow.
Sedov, M.G. (1966). The heroic period of revolutionary Narodism (from the history of political struggle). Moscow.
Sukhova, O.A. (2012). Revolutionary terrorism in Russia in the late 19th - early 20th century: Historiography, methodology, facts. Historical Herald. Terrorism in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, 2 (149), 136-173.
Troitsky, N.A. (1979). Tsarism under the court of progressive public: 1866-1895. Moscow.
Under the Draft Government Communication. August 19 - August 24, 1906 // RGIA. F. 1276. Op.1. D. 172. L. 14.
Vilenskaya, E.S. (1965). The revolutionary underground of Russia: (60’s of the 19th century). Moscow.
Witte, S.Yu. (1994). Memories: In 3 vols. Vol.3 (October 17, 1905 - 1911). The reign of Nicholas II. Tallinn.