KOLONITSKII B.I., GODUNOV K.V. From the History of Civil War Language Development: “Kornilovshchina” and Legitimation of Political Violence
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2022.4.17
Boris I. Kolonitskii
Doctor of Sciences (History), Professor,
European University at Saint Petersburg,
Gagarinskaya St, 6/1 191187 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation;
Leading Researcher,
Saint Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Petrozavodskaya St, 7 197110 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9862-170X
Candidate of Sciences (History), Senior Researcher,
European University at Saint Petersburg,
Gagarinskaya St, 6/1, 191187 Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation
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https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1253-3886
Abstract. Introduction. The article examines some of key words used by Russia’s opposing political forces in 1917.
Method. Using methodological tools of the Cambridge Cambridge school of intellectual history the authors study the meaning of words “Kornilovites”, “Kornilovism” and “Kerenshchina”. The authors study the different contexts of political statements and of political usage of these words.
Analysis. The rhetorical design of the conflicts that preceded the Kornilov affair influenced the course of this political crisis: people of different views assumed that the crisis is inevitable, and it would take the form of a violent confrontation. Some people even believed that this crisis would develop into a civil war.
Results. The Kornilov affair was perceived as an outbreak of a the civil war, it changed the discursive situation: for some actors the words “Kornilovites”, “Kornilovism” became a tool for describing political enemies, and all compromises with them were excluded, while for others these words were a sign of forming of their own political identity. In such situation, the positions of supporters of political compromises were weakened, while different scenarios for the political solutions by force acquired many new supporters both “from the left” and “from the right”. Such descriptions and self-descriptions of political opponents justified the use of violence, and it contributed to the country’s slide into the full-scale civil war.
Key words: civil war, “Kerenshchina”, “Kornilovism”, history of concepts, legitimization of violence.
Citation. Kolonitskii B.I., Godunov K.V. From the History of Civil War Language Development: “Kornilovshchina” and Legitimation of Political Violence. Vestnik Volgogradskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta. Seriya 4. Istoriya. Regionovedenie. Mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya [Science Journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations], 2022, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 192-202. (in Russian). DOI: https://doi.org/10.15688/jvolsu4.2022.4.17.
From the History of Civil War Language Development: “Kornilovshchina” and Legitimation of Political Violence by Kolonitskii B.I., Godunov K.V. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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