THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION OF 1917 AND SERBIA
https://doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2017-3-54-16-40
Abstract
The paper considers the Serbian-Russian official relations on the eve and during the February Revolution of 1917 in Russia. The study is based on numerous archival sources and on the wide range of Russian and Serbian historiography. For the best understanding of changes of Russian foreign policy on the Balkans caused by the Provisional Government’s coming to power the author investigates the Russian Empire plans of post-war reorganization of the western part of the Balkan Peninsula; the influence of other countries – allies of Russia in World War I is also analyzed. The Serbian official representatives noted the English influence on the coup in Russia though they did not provide any exact data about it. The official representatives of Serbia were not unanimous in their reactions towards the February revolution. The military took a cautious approach and noted the growth of negative phenomena, their opinions were rather conservative. Diplomats were more liberal in their assessments, they criticized the fallen dynasty more strongly and showed greater optimism than the military. At the same time all of them were unanimous in the necessity to follow the path of full neutrality and non-interference in internal affairs of Russia. The author comes to the conclusion that despite the radical changes that the February revolution made in the post-war reconstruction of the Balkan Peninsula, Serbia could not have foreseen those changes beforehand. The exceptions were only some analytical works of the officers of the Serbian General Staff.
About the Author
A. Yu. Timofeev
Institute for Contemporary History;
Belgrade University
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Alexey Yu. Timofeev – Doctor of Historical sciences, the associate professor, 11000, Trg Nikole Pašića 11, Belgrade;
Department of Modern History of the Philosophy Faculty, 11000, 18-20 Čika Ljubina Street, Belgrade
References
1. Bublikov A. A. Russkaia revoliutsiia (ee nachalo, arest tsaria, perspektivy). Vpechatleniia i mysli ochevidtsa i uchastnika [Russian Revolution (its beginning, the arrest of the tsar, prospects). Impressions and thoughts of an eyewitness and participant.] New-York, 1918. 160 p. (In Russian).
2. Vishniakov Ia.V. [“The Serbian Golgotha” through the eyes of Russian diplomat and General]. Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal - Military Historical Journal, no. 4, 2016, pp. 52-59. (In Russian).
3. Vishniakov Ia.V. [Serbia at the beginning of the First World War: 1914-1915]. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia – Modern and Current History Journal, no. 2, 2013, pp. 53-65. (In Russian).
4. Vishniakov Ia.V. [Serbs in the Russian army during of the First World War] Slavianovedenie - Slavic Studies, no. 3, 2017, pp. 15-29. (In Russian).
5. Grazhdanskaia voina v Rossii: Chernomorskii flot [Civil War in Russia: the Black Sea Fleet]. Ed. by V. Dotsenko. Moscow, AST Publishing House, 2002. 544 p. (In Russian).
6. Gurko V. I. Voina i revoliutsiia v Rossii. Memuary komanduiushchego Zapadnym frontom. 1914—1917 [War and revolution in Russia. Memoirs of the Commander of the Western Front. 1914—1917]. Moscow, Tsentrpoligraf, 2007. 399 p. (In Russian).
7. Gusliarov E. [The fatal mistake of Timofey Kirpichnikov]. Rodina - Homeland, no. 11, 2016, pp. 54–57 (In Russian).
8. Diakin V. S. Russkaia burzhuaziia i tsarizm v gody pervoi mirovoi voiny (1914—1917) [The Russian bourgeoisie and tsarism during the First World War (1914—1917)]. Leningrad, Nauka, 1967. 362 p. (In Russian).
9. Ignat’ev A. V. Russko-angliiskie otnosheniia nakanune Oktiabr’skoi revoliutsii (fevral’- oktiabr’ 1917 g.) [The Russian-English relations on the eve of the October revolution (February-October, 1917)]. Moscow, Nauka, 1966. 400 p. (In Russian).
10. Kashirin V. B. [The unrealized expedition of the Russian Armed Forces to the Balkans in the autumn of 1915]. Novaia i noveishaia istoriia - Modern and Current History Journal, no. 6, 2004, pp. 175-203. (In Russian).
11. Kolenkovskii A. K. Dardanell’skaia operatsiia [The Dardanelles operation]. Moscow – Leningrad, GIZ (State Publishing House), 1930. (In Russian).
12. Kuvshinov V.A. Razoblachenie partiei bol’shevikov ideologii i taktiki kadetov (fevral’-oktiabr’ 1917 g.) [The exposure of ideology and tactics of the Cadets by Bolsheviks Party (February-October 1917)]. Moscow, Publishing House of Moscow State University, 1982. 240 p. (In Russian).
13. Menning B. U. Pulia i shtyk. Armiia Rossiiskoi imperii, 1861-1914 [Bullet and bayonet. Army of the Russian Empire, 1861-1914]. Moscow, Publishing House of Modest Kolerov, 2016. 423 p. (In Russian).
14. Mironov B. N. Strasti po revoliutsii: Nravy v rossiiskoi istoriografii v vek informatsii [Debating the revolution: customs of Russian historiography in the Information Age ]. Moscow, Ves’ mir, 2014. 336 p. (In Russian).
15. Mironov B.N. Blagosostoianie naseleniia i revoliutsii v imperskoi Rossii: XVIII — nachalo XX veka [Welfare of the population and revolutions in imperial Russia: from the eighteenth to the early twentieth centuries]. Moscow, Novyi Khronograf, 2010. 911 p. (In Russian).
16. Pisarev Iu. A. Serbiia na Golgofe i politika velikikh derzhav, 1916 g [Golgotha of Serbia and the policy of the great powers in 1916]. Moscow, Nauka, 1993. 203 p. (In Russian). 1
17. Polikarpov V. D. Voennaia kontrrevoliutsiia v Rossii. 1905-1917 gg [Military counterrevolution in Russia. 1905-1917]. Moscow, Nauka, 1990. 381 p. (In Russian).
18. Senin A. S. Aleksandr Ivanovich Guchkov [Alexander Ivanovich Guchkov]. Moscow, Skriptorii, 1996. 263 p. (In Russian).
19. Sidorov A. L. Finansovoe polozhenie Rossii v gody Pervoi mirovoi voiny (1914-1917) [Financial situation of Russia during the First World War (1914-1917)]. Moscow, USSR Academy of Sciences Publishing House , 1960. 579 p. (In Russian).
20. Sidorov N., Kondakova I. [E.I. Dostovalov’s essays]. FEB. Rossiiskii Arkhiv: Istoriia Otechestva v svidetel’stvakh i dokumentakh XVIII—XX vv. - FEL. The Russian Archive: the national history in testimonies and documents, XVIII—XX centuries, vol. VI, 1995. (In Russian).
21. Smirnov A. F. Gosudarstvennaia Duma Rossiiskoi Imperii, 1906–1917: Istorikopravovoi ocherk [State Duma of the Russian Empire, 1906–1917: history and law essay]. Moscow, Kniga i biznes, 1998. 624 p. (In Russian).
22. Firsov E.F. T. G. Masarik v Rossii i bor’ba za nezavisimost’ chekhov i slovakov [T. G. Masaryk in Russia and the struggle for independence of Czechs and Slovaks]. Moscow, 2003. (In Russian).
23. Iakovlev N. N. 1 avgusta 1914 [1 August, 1914]. Moscow, Molodaia gvardiia, 1974. 240 p. (In Russian).
24. Iastrebov N. V. [The Great Serbia as the resolution of the South Slavs problem in the Great War of 1914-15]. Voprosy Mirovoi voiny: sbornik statei - World War issues: a collection of articles, Petrograd, 1915. (In Russian).
25. Ajrapetov O. R. Generali, liberali i preduzetnici: rad za front i za revoluciju (1907 -1917) [Generals, liberals and bisnessmen: work for the front and for the revolution]. Beograd, Udruženje za drushtvenu istoriju, 2005. 252 p. (In Serbian)
26. Broadbent H. Gallipoli: The Fatal Shore. Camberwell, VIC: Penguin, 2005, 312 p.
27. Howard Н. The Partition of Turkey: A Diplomatic History, 1913-1923. Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1931. 486 p.
28. Hrabak B. Serbia and the February revolution of 1917. Zbornik radova Filozofskog fakulteta [Proc. of the Faculty of Philosophy]. Priština, 1978, no. XIII, pp. 7-58. (In Serbian)
29. Janković D. Jugoslovensko pitanje i Krfska deklaracija 1917. Godine [The Yugoslav Question and the Corfu Declaration of 1917] Beograd, Savremena administracija, 1967. 517 p. (In Serbian)
30. Katkov G. M. Russia 1917: The February Revolution. London, Longmans, 1967. 489 p.
31. Mandić А. Fragmenti za historiju ujedinjenja, povodom četrdesetgodišnjice osnivanja Jugoslavenskog odbora [Episodes of the history of integration, on the occasion of the anniversary of the creation of the Yugoslav Committee]. Zagreb, Jugoslavenska Akademija Znanosti i Umjetnosti, 1956. 262 p. (In Serbian)
32. Marjanović М. Londonski ugovor iz godine 1915. Prilog povijesti borbe za Jadran: 1914-1917. [The London Treaty of 1915. Contribution to the struggle for the Adriatic: 1914-1917]. Zagreb: Jugoslavenska Akademija Znanosti i Umjetnosti, 1960. 469 p. (In Serbian)
33. Mironov B. N. The Standard of Living and Revolutions in Russia, 1700—1917. New York, Routledge, 2012. 668 p.
34. Mitrović A. Srbija u prvom svetskom ratu [Serbia in the First World War]. Beograd, Srpska knjizevna zadruga, 1984. 513 p. (In Serbian)
35. Paulova М. Jugoslavenski odbor: povijest jugoslavenske emigracije za svjetskog rata od 1914-1918. [The Jugoslav Committee: the history of the Yugoslav emigration in the World War of 1914-1918]. Zagreb, Prosvjetna nakladna zadruga, 1925. 603 p. (In Serbian)
36. Pavelić А. S., Meštrović I. Dr. Ante Trumbić: problemi hrvatsko-srpskih odnosa [Dr. Ante Trumbić: problems of Croatian-Serbian relations]. München, Knjiznica Hrvtske revije, 1959. (In Serbian)
37. Stanković Đ. Nikola Pašić, saveznici i stvaranje Jugoslavije [Nikola Pašić , the Allies and the creation of Yugoslavia]. Zaječar, Zaduzbina Nikola Pasić, 1995. 282 p. (In Serbian)
38. Timofeev А., Živanović М. Carnegie Report on the Causes and Conduct of the Balkan Wars 1912/13 in Serbia. Tokovi istorije - Currents of history, no. 1, 2017, pp.43-70. (In Serbian)
39. Timofejev A., Kremić D. Ruska vojna pomoć Srbiji za vreme Prvog svetskog rata [Russian military support to Serbia during the First World War]. Beograd, Institut za noviju istoriju Srbije, 2014. 352 p. (In Serbian)
40. Trgovčević L. J. Naučnici Srbije i stvaranje jugoslovenske države: 1914-1920 [Scientists of Serbia and the creation of the Yugoslav state: 1914-1920]. Beograd, Narodna knjiga : Srpska knjizevna zadruga, 1986. 358 p. (In Serbian)
41. Vendel H. Borba Jugoslovena za Slobodu i Jedinstvo [Yugoslavs Fight for Freedom and Unity]. Beograd, Narodna Prosveta, 1925. 744 p. (In Serbian)
Review
For citations:
Timofeev A.Yu. THE FEBRUARY REVOLUTION OF 1917 AND SERBIA. MGIMO Review of International Relations. 2017;(3(54)):16-40. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2017-3-54-16-40
Views:
1480
Email this article 