Events of the Civil War in the south-west of Russia in military reports and journalism of the Head of the General Staff Academy (Imperial Russia), Professor A.I. Andogsky

The paper focuses on the events of the Civil War in the South-West of Russia described in the military reports and journalism of the Chief of the General Staff Academy (Imperial Russia), Brigadier General, Professor A.I. Andogsky. The Academy was subordinated to the Bolsheviks and located in Petrograd since October 1917. In the summer of 1918 it was evacuated to Tomsk. The paper describes the circumstances of the Academy transition to the side of the Siberian White government as well as the main approaches to this issue presented in the historiography. In Tomsk, A.I. Andogsky acted as a military observer and journalist. The authors analyse his publications in the newspapers "Russkaya armiya" and "Sibirskaya zhizn'" in terms of the subjectivity reconstruction with the focus on personal assessments of the events and personalities of the Civil War. It is emphasised that these assessments are emotional, partly tendentious. However, it is these peculiarities that open the space of subjectivity of the General as well as other representatives of the White movement. The authors analyse the dictionary of metaphors, among which the so-caLLed "infectious" metaphors, as weLL as metaphors of "dehumanization" of the enemy hoLd an important pLace. It is noted that in rare cases Andogsky resorted to grotesque and sarcastic techniques aimed at ridicuLing the enemy, especiaLLy poLiticaL Leaders (Lenin, Trotsky, Zinoviev). The "uncompromising" nature of his journalism reflects trends in the formation of stable "White" positions in relation to Germany, the BoLsheviks, Skoropadsky, PetLiura, aLLies, etc. It is emphasised that the Life and attitudes of such peopLe as GeneraL Andogsky represent the canonicaL image of a White officer in culture, literature and cinematography.

Keywords

Authors

References