«Imperial turn» in the study of Russian history. Modern interpretations

The article analyzes a new direction in modern historiography, called the «imperial turn». As a result of «imperial research», an integral image of the Russian Empire is constructed throughout its historical existence, which, according to modern interpretations, covers the period from the second half of the 15th century until 1917. Researchers focus not only on the western out-skirts, the Volga region, the Caucasus and Central Asia, traditional for imperial studies of Russia, but also on the Russian-Chinese borderlands and Russian America. The modern historiography of imperial Russia considers and analyzes such controversial issues as «Russia and the West», «Russia and the East», the degree of uniqueness of Russian imperialism, the concept of «internal colonization», the role of rising nationalism in the collapse of empires during the First World War. The Russian Revolution in the «imperial» context is positioned as one of the results of the Great War: the revolution of 1917 in Russia became only a link in the global crisis of the twentieth century. As a result, in modern historiography «the threshold of the revolution» is of less and less interest to historians. Their attention is focused on previous centuries and on the Soviet era. They do not argue about the crisis of the Russian Empire, do not question it, do not look for alternatives or those responsible for it. The presence of a crisis is simply stated, believing that the fall of the monarchy could not be avoided, and this reality should be historicized.

The imperial nature essence of Russia is defended by the theory of neo-Eurasianism. The neo-Eurasians’ idea of empire combines all Eurasian values: overcoming ethnic nationalism, recognizing Russia as a special civilization, creating a strong ideology: the state dissolves in the continent, Russia’s «latitudinal» orientation is realized in the empire. Eurasianism shows to what extent the theme of the East is fundamental for the Russian consciousness of the 19th – 20th centuries, how closely the theme is connected with the classical philosophical postulates of the Russian history of ideas. A conversation about the East is a conversation about Russia, a way of thinking about the identity of Russia, its place and nature. Eurasianism demonstrates the need for generalizing ideas, to explain the specifics of the Russian world, which spanned two continents, and to legitimize the empire. It is Eurasianism that represents the Russian intellectual tradition, which has always tried to present Russia as a special world.

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