Category Archives: World War I
A Snapshot of the 1918 Global Influenza Pandemic in Russia
Judging by my social media feed, several folks with an interest in Russian history have been asking themselves “Hmm, I wonder what happened in Russia during the 1918 global influenza pandemic?” Many moons ago, when researching medical care and medical … Continue reading
Lists, researching, and writing
My posts on the dead cheese master may have made one thing about me as a researcher very clear: whenever I come across a list—of people, of things, of places—I am drawn to copy it. Last summer, as I started … Continue reading
Posted in Imperial Russia, Research & Practice, World War I
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More on Empire, Pro and Contra
Many thanks to Josh for getting back with such wide-ranging elaborations on my, David’s, and John Paul’s original posts. In the interest of keeping things going, let me take up just one of Josh’s points here, hoping to chime in … Continue reading
Posted in Imperial Apocalypse, Uncategorized, World War I
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How strong was the Russian state in 1914?
OK, after a couple of rambles, this one will be a shorter post, and I’ll frame it around a question for all the panelists and for the readers of this blog. David McDonald remarks in his final point: “Finally, in … Continue reading
Posted in Imperial Apocalypse, World War I
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Mobilization, Motivation, and the Staatsidee
One of the pleasures of a forum like this is that an author can see how his or her work is read and used by colleagues in “real time.” John Paul Newman’s comments about mobilization and ideas, more specifically the … Continue reading
Posted in Imperial Apocalypse, World War I
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Imperial Apocalypse – Response regarding “decolonization”
I too want to begin with more than formulaic thanks to Alison, John Paul, David, and Willard. Alison did a wonderful job of soliciting commentators for this conversation, and (shameless plug #1!) readers should keep an eye out later this … Continue reading
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Imperial Apocalypse Part III
Josh Sanborn’s Imperial Apocalypse is a remarkable book. With so much written about World War I, including the relatively less studied Russian fronts of the war, it’s easy to lull yourself into thinking that no single work is likely to … Continue reading
Posted in Imperial Apocalypse, World War I
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Imperial Apocalypse–Part II
In deference to emerging tradition on this blog, let me begin by thanking Alison Smith for her invitation to participate in this conversation about Josh Sanborn’s important new book on Russia’s Great War. Accessible to specialists and the proverbial “general … Continue reading
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Imperial Apocalypse
Many thanks for inviting me to participate in this blog discussion. I am delighted to participate in the lively scholarly discussion that Sanborn’s work has already sparked. I should make some excuses for myself before I begin in earnest: I … Continue reading
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Article Review: William G. Rosenberg, “Reading Soldiers’ Moods: Russian Military Censorship and the Configuration of Feeling in World War I,” American Historical Review 119, no. 3 (June 2014): 714-740.
In this post, I’m hoping to use the Russian History Blog platform to explore a different form of scholarly communication – the article review. Articles are of course reviewed all the time, but normally anonymously and with the aim of … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews, World War I
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The Invention of Tradition, or How Military History Was NOT Written
Every few years, military historians in the United States engage in a bout of handwringing about the state of the field. Practitioners argue about whether military history in the academy is threatened, who or what is doing the threatening, and … Continue reading
Posted in Historiography, World War I
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Russians in East Prussia, 1914, pt. 2
I’ve gotten several interesting responses to the first post on atrocities: on this site, in private communication, and on the listserve of the International Society for First World War Studies. Many of those comments have related to the issue of … Continue reading
Posted in Imperial Russia, Uncategorized, World War I
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Atrocities in East Prussia, 1914
When Steve Barnes invited me to join this project, I hadn’t given much thought to blogging as a scholarly enterprise. I have read academic blogs from time to time and I usually enjoy them. Sometimes helpful, sometimes self-indulgent, often stimulating, … Continue reading
Posted in World War I
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