Bosnian ethnic communities’ long-term foreign policy affiliations: from the Crimean War to Dayton

The essay treats the long-term patterns of Bosnia and Herzegovina's (BiH) constituent peoples' (Bošnjaks, Croats, and Serbs) foreign policy orientations as seen by Russian diplomats. Comparative analysis is based on the first Russian study of the area, Bosnia, Herzegovina and Ancient Serbia (1859) by Alexander F. Gilferding, first Russian Consul in Sarajevo, as well as on contemporary documents of the Archives of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation from 1995 to 1998. The object of this study is to investigate the descriptions of their Bosnian counter-parts from all three main ethnic groups in order to find out long-term patterns and their evolution from the middle of the nineteenth to the early twenty-first centuries. In both the middle of the nineteenth and at the dawn of the twenty-first centuries, Russian diplomats reported on fundamental differences in the foreign policy orientations of BiH's Bošnjaks, Croats, and Serbs. Their Bosnian counterparts, regardless of their ethnic origin, almost unanimously stated that the Bošnjaks were looking towards Turkey, the Croats towards the West, and the Serbs towards Russia. These fundamental sympathies directly influenced Bosnian politicians' actions. For Russia, it meant that Republika Srpska's leaders were eager to use every possibility to cooperate with Moscow as well as the neartotal neglect of Russian propositions by Bošnjak and Croat leaders. Nevertheless, these long-term patterns have evolved over the last 150 years. Alexander Gilferding recorded the predominantly confessional identity of Bosnians. In the late 1990's however, Bosnians perceived themselves primarily ethnically, with the religious factor somewhat subordinated to ethnicity. Furthermore, there is a visible evolution of foreign policy orientation for Bosnian peoples: (a) the Bošnjaks, along with the habitual attraction to Turkey, are now drawn to the wider Arab world and the US, inasmuch as their support was crucial during the Bosnian War of 1992-1995 and for the maintenance of BiH's very existence; (b) the Croats no longer gravitate towards Vienna, but to Zagreb and Germany; and (c) the Serbs are drawn to pan-Serb interests, with a predominant orientation towards Serbia (FRY of the late 1990s), which has become more important than their still existing penchant for Russia. However, even such an evolution does not alter the fundamental differences between BiH's constituent peoples' aspirations that effectively exclude any coherent and widely accepted foreign policy. Therefore, the Bosnian political scene is extremely sensitive towards tensions between the global centres to which its constituent peoples gravitate.

“Cultural diplomacy” in the absence of diplomatic relations: Pushkin’s “Vsevolozhsky Writing book” returns to Russia

The return of the “Vsevolozhsky Writing Book” from Belgrade to Moscow (1933) is of interest not only from the point of view of studying and preserving literary heritage, but also as an important episode in the history of Russian-Serbian relations. These relations are a complex phenomenon, the evolution of which, according to Miroslav Jovanović, took course at “various levels of the historical past: in the plane of politics and diplomacy; spiritual and church, social and cultural ties; relatively frequent migrations from one environment to another; fragmented economic relations; and, finally, in the plane of individual, personal contacts, connections and impressions”. It is obvious what of the above in particular came to the fore during the period of mutual non-recognition between the USSR and Yu-goslavia (1918-1940). The correspondence between the Serbian philologist and translator Jovan Maksimović and Vladimir Bonch-Bruevich that resulted in the acquisition of the Pushkin manuscript by the Literary Museum refers to the type of informal contacts that maintained relations between Russia and Serbia even when political ties were interrupted. “Over time, cultural, spiritual, and social contacts developed into what is today called traditional in Serbian-Russian relations, and what greatly influenced the formation of collective memory, mentality, and mutual perception”. As for the Serbs, one of the peculiarities of this perception was the widespread Russophilia or the idea of “real/fictional proximity” with the Russians. Without this, Pushkin's manuscript would not have returned to Russia.

Interethnic contradictions in Transylvania (middle of the nineteenth — early twentieth centuries) as seen through the eyes of Russian observers

Reorganisation of the Austrian Empire into the dual Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1867 was followed by an attempt to cancel the special status of the Grand Principality of Transylvania, which had a long tradition of autonomous statehood, and absorb it into the Kingdom of Hungary. This caused a reaction by the Romanian nationalist movement in the region that intensified decade by decade. That this movement became a threat to the integrity of Austria-Hungary could not help but become an object of observation for Russian diplomats in the neighbouring Kingdom of Romania, where the issue of the status of Transylvanian Romanians was gaining more and more political attention. In this essay, based on archival and published sources, it is shown how Russian observers, first and foremost Russian diplomats in Bucharest, described not only the complex interethnic relations at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but also the attitude of the Romanian political elite and Romanian public opinion towards the status of Romanians in Transylvania - subjects of the Habsburgs. The author comes to the conclusion that a glace thrown from outside on this remote region, loosely con-nected with Russia, nevertheless allows conclusions to be drawn that help to reassess issues that concerned the Russian Empire (such as the Bessarabia question).

The Crimea between East and West according to Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Century British Travelogues

Following its annexation by Russia in 1783, the Crimea became a stage on the Western grand tour. Foreign travelogues informed their readers about the country, previously almost unknown in Europe. This paper addresses the British travelogues that played an important role in shaping notions of the Crimea and Russia's role in its history, many of which still exist today. The travellers created works of different kinds: unedited letters and journals, encyclopaedic descriptions, imagined journeys, and pseudo-correspondences. Their authors had varied levels of intelligence, motivations, and passions, intricately entwining empirical observations with stereotypes. Geographically located in Europe, the Crimea was understood as a country featuring distinctive features of the East. Its image possessed traits of paradisiacal nature, inhabited by naïve and lazy persons resembling Rousseau's utopia, with an extraordinarily rich archaeological heritage, the romantic culture of Islam, and various ethnic and religious types. The British offered plans for the establishment of Western colonists in the Crimea, as well as the development of communications, trade, agriculture, and industry. William Eton and Matthew Guthrie considered the Russian occupation of the Crimea historically progres-sive, which would bring prosperity and well-being to the country and its residents. However, Edward Clarke interpreted the Russians as the avatar of barbarism and developed a plan to return the peninsula to the Ottomans. Some negative stereotypes originating from his book continue nowadays and are restated in periods of aggravated relations between Russia and the West.

Greece and its history in The Greek mosaic: History, people, travels by Natalia Nissen: A contemporary Russian narrative

The essay examines the contemporary Russian narrative on Greece and its history using The Greek mosaic: History, people, travels by Natalya Nissen as an example. The book is a collection of essays linked by a common plot thread - the life and travels of a foreigner in Greece. The author had spent considerable time living in Greece, and had travelled extensively accompanied by her friend, Yannis, a Greek historian, documenting both her travels and the historical backgrounds of the locations she visited. Nissen is a professional historian as well as a journalist, and her writing can certainly be considered “qualified” journalism at the very least, since the author has far more familiarity with the subject than an average travel writer. Despite that, the book is still influenced by the predominant Russian narrative about Greece, portraying the Greeks as kind, hospitable people, closely linked to the rich and fascinating history of their country. This prevents the author from presenting an accurate picture of the country and leads to her ignoring any and all negative social trends influencing contemporary Greek society, despite all her knowledge and the depth of cultural analysis.

Interns of the “Russian Grain” company on their trips to Slovenian lands (1909–1913)

This essay reveals some yet unexplored pages in the history of Russian-Slovenian relations. Based on materials in the Russian and Slovenian archives, the main features of the trips of Russian peasants, who were trainees of the Russian grain company, to practice in Slovenian lands are reconstructed. These visits were carried out with the aim of studying progressive methods of agriculture, which they would then be able to effectively apply at home. The organizer from the Slovenian side was the liberal politician and long-term župan (lord mayor) of Ljubljana, Ivan Hribar. Parties of Russian interns were sent to Slovenian lands in 1909 and 1912 and many of the trainees stayed abroad for one or two years. The main focus of this study is the analysis of the feedback of Russian peasants about their work and study in a foreign country and their impressions of the Slovenes. Reviews by the Russian peasants who were dispatched in 1909 were more favourable than those sent on the 1912 trip, which was for various reasons less successful. In general, the trainees who remained in the Slovenian lands for a long time acquired a lot of new knowledge and skills, which could then be successfully applied in Russia. Slovenes as a people, their culture, and their economic organization made a good impression on the Russian peasants. In addition, it was the peasants' first encounter with another world, and being close to the Slovenian people in language, culture, and traditions contributed to the expansion of their common horizons.

A look at China and the formation of the doctrine of relations: distinctive features of the imperial and Soviet cultural policy of interaction

When studying Russian-Chinese relations, many aspects are covered through the prism of state interests. The essay tells how knowledge of China and practical Oriental studies became important corrective elements of the foreign policy of the Russian Empire and later of Soviet Russia / USSR. Here a large role was played by people with professional oriental education, but there were few of these at all times; therefore, part of the information resource was also occupied by the testimony of publicists, scientists, travelers, whose names are quite well known, and we are rediscovering some of the names and achievements of lesser-known people. It can be said that the main information about Ching China (the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) came to the Russian press thanks to writers and journalists. Of the most popular, we can recall the travel essays of Ivan A. Goncharov Frigate ‘Pallas', the novels of the writer Aleksei S. Novikov-Priboy, the stories of the traveler M. Shcherbakov and many others. For the period from the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries a gigantic literature has been accumulated on the history of Russian-Chinese relations of different historical epochs, which include memoirs, reports, reports of diplomats and reviewers, impressions of travelers, and a huge number of articles by journalists and reporters on China. In turn, all this information required the generalization, selection and analysis of specialist scientists, who began to create their work from the second half of the nineteenth century to the present day. At different periods of their lives and activities, these people discovered eastern countries for themselves and generously shared knowledge with compatriots. Materials for the essay include archival research, Russian periodicals in China, and published works of oriental scholars, travel notes and memoirs.

Soviet Turkmenia through the eyes of the Soviet writer: language and translation

The Soviet project of national literature was strongly motivated by the government in the 1930s. The government was not the only client, as regional literary circles were also interested (Turkmen in particular). The question about the language of literature was actively discussed in the Turkmen press, in particular, the new language, new literature, translation, and the work of Soviet writers on Turkmen themes. The author uses the press, critical review, and a poem by G. A. Sannikov as particular examples of this topic. The poem was published in the almanac Ajding-Gjunler which was created for the 10th anniversary of Turkmenistan as a Soviet republic by the writers' “brigade”, which had to create poems, short stories, and sketches about “new Turkmenia”. I consider the press publications controversial in the matter of the “cleanness” of new Turkmen as well as the loanwords used. The review by R. Aliev strongly criticises the translations from the classic Turkmen literature. In his opinion, the translators do not understand the sound and the nuances of the language used in national poetry. Sannikov uses Turkmen words as a means to make the reader feel the sound and the shape of them, but does not explain the meaning, which leads to the conclusion that this was an attempt to construct zaum (more or less). We conclude that the movement of Russian and Turkmen language of fiction towards each other stalled and was substituted by mass translation owing to the background of the discussion about “cleanness”, negatively reviewed translations, and the specific usage of Turkmen elements in soviet poetry. We suggest that the project of language exchange was not successful.

Perception of the nature and population of the Caucasian theatre of war by representatives of the Russian health service

In this essay, the author attempts to discuss the perception by doctors and nurses of the nature of territories of the Caucasus front and the relationship of representatives of the Russian medical and sanitary services with the local population. In this study, the author refers to reports, diaries, memoirs, and press reports of doctors, nurses, orderlies and representatives of the military sanitary department, the Russian Red Cross Society, the Zemstvo and city Union, and other organizations. Contemporaries and participants of the studied events repeatedly point to the “peculiarity” of the Caucasian front. The “special conditions” of the Caucasian theatre had a serious impact on the conduct of hostilities there and, of course, on the work of the medical service. Most of the medical and sanitary representatives of the service of the Caucasian theatre of military operations came from the European part of Russia and for the first time were faced with different natural, geographical, and sanitary conditions, as well as the traditions and mentality of the populations of Transcaucasia, Turkey, and Persia. Some of the staff had lived previously in the Caucasus, but nevertheless encountered a different cultural and natural environment being in Asia Minor and Persia. In these conditions, it was more difficult to organize the medical care of the army, the refugees, and to improve the sanitary situation in the territories occupied by the Russian army. It is important to highlight the unusual nature of that time: it was the first opportunity for women to be involved in this process. Women of the “East” lived in the territories occupied by Russians, while women of the “West” held positions as doctors, nurses, heads of the economy, etc., and they came there together concerning the institutions of sanitary and medical care. At the Caucasian Front, we can discern a forced meeting of “East” and “West”, which had a mutual influence on each other.

Greeks as perceived by Greek diplomats in the Russian service (using the examples of A. Mustoxidi and C. Basili)

The paper deals with the problem of whether the national feelings of diplomats of foreign origin in the Russian diplomatic service in the nineteenth century influenced their performance of their duties. Two diplomats of Greek origin were selected as subjects of research: Angelo Mustoxidi (1786-1861) and Constantine Bazili (1809-1884), who served for many years as consuls in Macedonia and Syria, which were multi-ethnic areas of the Ottoman Empire, where the interests of the Greek population overlapped with the interests of other peoples. The study of their own impressions of the Greeks, the assessment of their work activities by contemporaries and later researchers suggest how their attitudes towards their compatriots influenced their activities. Striving to do their duty to defend the interests of Russia in their region, they could not overcome quite natural sympathies for their compatriots. This did not contradict the state interests of Russia in the 1830s, since at that time the national movements of the Sultan's other Christian subjects did not compete with the Greeks, and the consuls were supposed to patronize Christians regardless of their ethnicity. However, towards the middle of the century the situation began to change. As the nationalist movements of the Balkan Slavs and Middle Eastern Arabs were gaining strength and were increasingly attracting the attention of the Russian state and society, the national feelings of the Greek consuls began to conflict with the priorities of Russian foreign policy.