THE RUSSIAN FRONT

In keeping with the Kremlin’s general trend of using history for political purposes that this blog has described here and here, on Tuesday, May 19, Russian President Dmitrii Medvedev created a “Commission to Counteract Attempts at Falsifying History to Damage the Interests of Russia.” The details of the decree (Russian language version available here) are just as ominous as the title would suggest.
While never specifying any concrete examples of the falsification of history that the Commission is set up to combat, the decree appoints a long list of heavy hitters, including N. E. Makarov, Chief of the General Staff. It’s dominated by state functionaries, and scholars are conspicuous by their minimal presence. I only spotted two and a half: V. P. Kozlov, head of Rosarkhiv, the Russian archival administration, along with two real researchers. One is A. N. Sakharov, who specializes in medieval Russian diplomacy [!]; the other is A. O. Chubarian, a well-published scholar of 20th-century diplomacy who at least possesses relevant expertise. The rest of the 28 are mostly bureaucrats, with some Duma representatives mixed in.

This balance between scholars and chinovniki leaves little doubt about what the Commission will set out to do. In particular, it is charged with (point 4a) “collection and analysis of information on the falsification of historical facts and events, directed at minimizing the international prestige of the Russian Federation.” I can’t help pointing out that the Russian Federation as a sovereign state has only existed since 1991. It’s not entirely clear to me how historical analysis of how the Soviet Union conducted World War II can damage the interests of a state that did not exist during World War II . . . unless of course the Russian Federation intends to claim full inheritance of the international role and significance of the Soviet Union.

The Commission is also supposed to take on (point 4b) “preparation of proposals for the President of the Russian Federation for measures aimed at counteracting attempts at the falsification of historical facts and events.” I’ve already formulated one such proposal: open the Presidential Archive to scholars. That would be a decisive blow against historical falsification. If Medvedev isn’t interested in doing that, then he isn’t interested in combating falsification.

On the bright side, the Commission has the power (point 5a) “to request and receive . . . necessary materials from federal organs of state powers, organs of state power of subjects [federal units] of the Russian Federation, and organizations . . . .” Seems to me that means the Commission could request the release of documents from the Presidential Archive if it wished. I doubt it wishes to do any such thing, but I can always hope.

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