“War is the greatest tragedy, not just a mass disaster...”: F.A. Stepun about World War I
https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6339-2024-6-55-70
Abstract
The article discusses the historical, philosophical, and religious views of F.A. Stepun (1884–1965), a scientist and Christian thinker, on World War I, drawing from his three-year firsthand involvement in the conflict. The paper highlights F.A. Stepun’s unique research strategy and reveals the central role of religious symbolism in his historical philosophy, particularly his interpretation of the war as a religious tragedy. Stepun’s unique view of war as a semantically complex event, based on his religious beliefs and meticulous attention to factual details, is emphasized. The article also discusses his recognition of the significance of religion and religious consciousness in wartime experiences, particularly on the front lines.
The article focuses on Stepun’s analysis of Russia’s failures in the war and on his study of the real state of affairs in the active army in their dynamics up to the February Revolution. His ideas of the impact of industrialization on the nature and style of modern total warfare are examined. This article is the first to explore Stepun’s observations on the cultural destruction aimed at erasing enemy’s national identity during a war. His positive evaluation of the army as an important structure for the national existence of the country is highlighted. Stepun’s contribution to the study of the complex system of the relations between the officers and the lower ranks in the Russian army is indicated. The article concludes by recognizing the scientific merit of Stepun’s World War I reflections, which offer valuable factual and theoretical insights into the nature of modern warfare.
About the Author
L. A. Gaman
Seversk State Technological Academy
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Lidiya A. Gaman, Dr. of Sci. (History), associate professor
65, Kommunistichesky Av., Seversk, 636036
References
1. Assman, A. (2019), Zabvenie istorii – oderzhimost’ istoriei [Historical forgetfulness, history obsession], Novoe literaturnoe obozrenie, Moscow, Russia.
2. Bakhtin, M.M., (2017), “Problems of Dostoevsky’s poetics”, in Bakhtin, M.M., Problemy poetiki Dostoevskogo [Problems of Dostoevsky’s poetics], “E”, Moscow, Russia.
3. Balakleets, N.A. (2022), “Intellectuals as creators of war narratives”, Vestnik of Samara State Technical University, Series “Philosophy”, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 5–16.
4. Baranov, A.N. and Chugunov, E.A. (2017), “World War I through the eyes of historian and philosopher F.A. Stepun”, Gumanitarnye problemy voennogo dela, vol. 12, no. 3, pp. 34–37.
5. Ermichev, A.A. (2014), “Fyodor Stepun: a Christian vision of Russia”, in Ermichev, A.A., Imena i syuzhety russkoi filosofii [Names and subjects of Russian philosophy], Nauka, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
6. Gaman, L.A. (2014), “F.A. Stepun about World War I”, Dialog so vremenem: Al’manakh intellektual’noi istorii, iss. 47, pp. 71–80.
7. Gaman, L.A. (2014), “N.A. Berdyaev about war”, Tomsk State University Journal of History, vol. 29, no. 3, pp. 41–47.
8. Gaman, L.A. (2020), F.A. Stepun o revolyutsii 1917 g. i Sovetskoi Rossii: vzglyad khristianskogo myslitelya iz emigratsii (1922–1965 gg.) [F.A. Stepun about the Revolution of 1917 and Soviet Russia: the view of a Christian thinker from emigration (1922–1965)], Izdatel’stvo Severskogo tekhnologicheskogo instituta NIYaU MIFI, Seversk, Russia.
9. Gergel’, R. (2000), “Humanist scholar”, in Stepun, F.A., Byvshee i nesbyvsheesya [The former and the unfulfilled], Aleteiya, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
10. Kantor, V. (2009), “F.A. Stepun: A Russian philosopher in the era of madness of reason”, in Stepun, F.A., Zhizn’ i tvorchestvo: Izbrannye sochineniya [Life and creativity. Selected works], Astrel’, Moscow, Russia.
11. Kantor, V., Khufen, K., Shchukin, V., Kusse, Kh., etc. (2012), Fedor Avgustovich Stepun [Fyodor Stepun], ed. by V.K. Kantor, ROSSPEN, Moscow, Russia.
12. Kara-Murza, A.A. (2015), “Stepun, Moscow and the World WarЭ, Voprosy filosofii, no. 10, pp. 83–86.
13. Karpovich, M. (1956), “Comments. About the reminiscences of F.A. Stepun”, Novyi zhurnal, no. 46, pp. 220–237.
14. Kiselev, A.F. (2011), S veroi v Rossiyu: Dukhovnye iskaniya Fedora Stepuna [With faith in Russia. The spiritual quest of Fyodor Stepun], Drofa, Moscow, Russia.
15. Mikhailovskii, A.V. (2015), “Two literary accounts of the Great War”, Voprosy filosofii, no. 10, pp. 105–111.
16. Raev, M. (1996), Rossiya za rubezhom: Istoriya kul’tury russkoi emigratsii, 1919–1939 [Russia abroad. History of the culture of Russian emigration in 1919–1939], Progress-Akademiya, Moscow, Russia.
17. Sanborn, J. (2021), Velikaya voina i dekolonizatsiya Rossiiskoi imperii [The Great War and the destruction of the Russian Empire], Academic Studies Press, Boston, USA, Bibliorossika, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
18. Shtammler, A. (1975), “F.A. Stepun”, in Russkaya religiozno-filosofskaya mysl’ XX v. [Russian religious and philosophical thought of the 20th century], Pittsburg, USA.
19. Stoff, L. (2022), Oni srazhalis’ za Rodinu: Russkie zhenshchiny-soldaty v Pervuyu mirovuyu voinu i revolyutsiyu [They fought for their country. They fought for the Motherland: Russia’s women soldiers in World War I and the Revolution], Academic Studies Press, Boston, USA, Bibliorossika, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
20. Vandalkovskaya, M.G. (2015), Prognozy postbol’shevistskogo ustroistva Rossii v emigrantskoi istoriografii (20–30-e gg. XX v.) [Forecasts of the post-bolshevik future of Russia in emigrant historiography (1920s – 1930s)], Institut Rossiiskoi istorii RAN; Tsentr gumanitarnykh initsiativ, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Russia.
21. Zander, L. (2013), “About F.A. Stepun and some of his books”, in Stepun, F.A., Pis’ma [Letters], ROSSPEN, Moscow, Russia.
Review
For citations:
Gaman L.A. “War is the greatest tragedy, not just a mass disaster...”: F.A. Stepun about World War I. RSUH/RGGU Bulletin Series "Political Science. History. International Relations". 2024;(6):55-70. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6339-2024-6-55-70
Views:
65
Email this article 