Vladimir Abarinov: LiveJournal user with a characteristic pseudonym vladimir_kreml posted a note on his blog under the heading "The Bonapartists will ruin the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Borodino?" with a question mark at the end of a sentence. Here is an excerpt from this text:
He and his entourage are trying to infiltrate the leadership large-scale reconstruction Battle of Borodino, which can lead to a distortion of historical truth and the disruption of this one of the most important military-patriotic events in Russia.
Oleg Sokolov is the author of a number of books on Napoleon's army and his campaigns against Russia. In his writings and public statements, he repeatedly expressed anti-Russian views on the historical past of the country, planted the cult of Napoleon and used every opportunity to promote the greatness of France to the detriment of the greatness of Russia.
Oleg Valeryevich, you are a direct foreign agent, you even received the Order of the Legion of Honor for your Russophobic activities. What can you say in your defense?
Oleg Sokolov:
What can you say in your defense? To begin with, I am the creator of the historical reconstruction of Russia and, in particular, the reconstruction of the Battle of Borodino, I spent 20 years conducting it. That is, I am the person who created it. Unfortunately, all people who do something have many enemies and envious people, and such envious people who, let's say, are active, insanely active. I will not go into details now, I will not name names. I want to say that such people exist. This is an information war with the goal of this moment remove me from participation. Because people know that I am an honest person, that with me it is very difficult to cut the state budget and so on. In short, there are people for whom my presence is a bone in the throat, so all sorts of monstrous fables are composed. It turns out that there was such a good military-historical reconstruction, and then Sokolov appeared, who only dreams of disrupting it. A little bit on the contrary: there is a military-historical reconstruction that I created, to which I gave 36 years of my life.
Of course, my views are such that I have great respect for Emperor Napoleon for his domestic activities, for the many good things he did for his country. But I know perfectly well that he made many mistakes and so on. I am not at all a crazy Bonapartist, I am a person who highly appreciates the activity of this statesman. It’s even ridiculous to think that the idea could come into my head on this basis to disrupt the Borodino events, from which I was suspended for four years thanks to, let’s say, the activities of my enemies. And my desire to be on the field with those people whom I, in fact, created, invented in due time and to make the battle interesting, bright, colorful. And so that the audience, and there will be a great many of them, so that the audience sees an interesting spectacle.
Vladimir Abarinov: I don’t understand at all what kind of label this is - “Bonapartist”. Wasn't Pushkin a Bonapartist, wasn't Byron a Bonapartist? This is a deep concept, a deep theme, including for Russian culture.
Oleg Sokolov:
Firstly, a Bonapartist, to be really serious, a Bonapartist was a Russian general whom I respect most of all - this is Skobelev Mikhail Dmitrievich. He was really a man who admired Napoleon and believed that Alexander's huge mistake was that he did not go along with Napoleon's proposal for an alliance, but began to support England and Germany. Skobelev sharply and very negatively assessed the activities of Alexander and admired Napoleon. I admire General Skobelev, who gave his life for Russia. Therefore, my opinion about Napoleon is not the opinion of some crazy Bonapartist in Russia, but of a person who deeply regrets that thanks to the consistent activities of Alexander the First, pursuing exclusively his own personal goals, military conflicts eventually arose between Russia and France. Instead of the great Russian-French alliance, which Napoleon dreamed of, there was such a configuration, which we will talk about later, a war arose.
Many great people of Russia wrote about Napoleon with great respect. And what is it that I also write about this person with great respect, there is something to respect, there is something to appreciate. But this is not at all some kind of ridiculous adoration, I understand perfectly well that he had many shortcomings. Let them give an example of a statesman who had no faults, and we will all laugh together. Because while we are still all people, it is common for us to make mistakes and to be mistaken, to have our own vices, greater or lesser. We all people. I, evaluating the activities of Napoleon and others statesmen, I believe that his activities gave France a lot, so far a huge number of institutions in France - this is what Napoleon did. In Europe, there is a huge amount of what he did. How not to respect a person for these actions? He made many mistakes, one might even say criminal mistakes. Well, what to do - this is also true and this is also true, I fully admit it.
Vladimir Abarinov: As a historian, you certainly see and feel how any historical anniversary in Russia is politicized, turning into something that it should not be. I remember the anniversary of the Battle of Poltava - they also wrote about Charles XII and Mazepa. And so I assumed that something similar would happen with the war of 1812. Have you had to defend any political accusations before?
Oleg Sokolov:
You know, before that we were not particularly touched. Because until there was an anniversary, the attention was rather modest. And therefore, no one especially hung political moments on us. In general, as a matter of fact, our movement developed during the period of anarchy in our country in the late 80s - 90s. In general, no one paid attention to us, especially since the problems were more acute. And there was no way to pay attention to those people who wear Napoleonic uniforms, the Russian army - everything is the same, the hussars, as they say, looking at us. Now, in connection with the approaching anniversary, due to the fact that large funds are allocated for this, naturally, great passions are burning around large funds. There are people who want to take them for themselves and do not want something to be put to work. And therefore, naturally, everything is politicized, labels are hung. The label "Bonapartist" is typical. Because it is very easy to take and say - Bonapartist. In Soviet historiography, starting from the 1940s, this is clearly negative. This political struggle, the politicization of these moments, which has nothing to do with history. Everyone made mistakes, and Napoleon and Alexander are on the one hand.
On the other hand, the Russian and French armies fought bravely and are admired. As Bagration said: "There was no place for a coward on the Borodino field," speaking respectfully of both Russian and French troops. Some attribute this phrase to Miloradovich. In short, one of the Russian generals said that there was no place for a coward in this field. That is, courageous, brave people in beautiful uniforms, who met in a desperate battle, died with dignity. There is much to learn, there is something to see without any politicization. And in general, it is surprising why our soldiers fought courageously, and the enemy should be smeared with black paint. It was believed that with a worthy opponent, more glory to defeat him, a worthy, courageous, brave opponent. I think so too.
In my latest book, The Battle of Two Empires, I write with indignation about every attempt to draw parallels between the War of 1812 and World War II. Because as soon as such a parallel is drawn, everything immediately Scientific research down the drain, because this is a completely different era, completely different conditions, a different world, different people, different political goals. As soon as we make such a comparison, all the efforts of history to understand the Napoleonic era, which is quite remote from us, are not so easy, you need to read a lot of documents, you need a lot of tact, you need a lot of understanding. And suddenly a person - again, draws an analogy with the Second World War, everything flies to hell. If we are studying the war of 1812, we should study the war of 1812, not draw some completely absurd and unnecessary parallels, but try to understand those people, try to study their psychology, read their reports and letters, notes, diaries, try to understand how they thought how they saw all this, how the Russians and the French saw each other. A completely different era is opening up, a different world, a world that may be closer and more understandable to me than the world of the 20th century.
Vladimir Abarinov: It seems to me that this officious, propaganda myth about the war of 1812, this cult of military victories was formed primarily in the interests of the throne: the Russians never suffer defeat, the Russians have no allies, and those that are, their role is insignificant ... After all, in memoirs On the 12th year it is very difficult to find references to the allies of Russia, but they were, and powerful allies.
Oleg Sokolov: Generally speaking, England was fighting against Napoleon, and three hundred thousand of the best French soldiers were employed in Spain. In addition, Sweden, starting from May 1812, was in its own accord with Russia. So, not only were allies - they were very powerful allies. In addition, the English fleet blocked the entire coast, so paralyzed many of the French efforts that, of course, it is impossible not to say about it.
Vladimir Abarinov: Indeed, in fact, any country, any people learns, first of all, from mistakes, and not from victories.
Oleg Sokolov: Without a doubt.
Vladimir Abarinov: I wish you successful repulsion of this cavalry charge.
Oleg Sokolov: To be honest, I'm shocked by this post. The fact is that it is registered, apparently, I recognize a few words that my enemy used in a statement to the prosecutor's office against me. There were several expressions - they are from there. That is, I perfectly understand where the legs grow from, and who came up with this note.
Considering the monograph "The First Italian Campaign of Bonaparte", he noted:
O. V. Sokolov is a leading specialist in the history of the Napoleonic wars in the world. When I say “in the world”, I am not exaggerating at all, I am not joking - the way it is, because at one time, when French television was filming a film about Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign, O. V. Sokolov was the main historical consultant on French television, because in all of France there is not a single specialist in the history of Napoleon of his level, although there are a lot of good specialists. For services to French history, Sokolov received the Order of the Legion of Honor. In addition, which is very important, O. V. Sokolov is the founder of the movement military historical reconstruction in general in Russia: since 1976, we have had an Association of Napoleonic Lovers, which later turned into the Military Historical Association of Russia, from which, in fact, all the reenactors that we have in general have grown in Russia. And here he came up with them, at least in our territory. That is, a person understands the era he is studying, expounding by him, not only as an armchair scientist, although I repeat: he is an absolutely wonderful armchair scientist, but also as a practitioner who literally passed all the cities and villages through which Napoleon’s army passed, he himself passed with his feet and hooves of his a horse, knows how to wear a uniform, what a bivouac life is, what a campaign is, what the regulations and army article of that time look like in real life, and, in fact, when we read his books, including this one, the possession of texture comes through literally between each two lines.
In his review of Sokolov's book The Battle of Two Empires. 1805-1812” (2012) V. M. Bezotosny writes that she “Undoubtedly, it has a number of advantages”, which primarily include the use by its author of a large number of French sources and literature, allowing "to highlight many details reflected in French documents and little known to the Russian reader". However, at the same time, Bezotosny emphasizes that Sokolov shows clear authorial sympathies for Napoleonic France and its emperor (which Sokolov himself does not hide) and at the same time gives "the most unflattering characteristics" the British and the Russian Emperor Alexander I, on whom he lays the blame for unleashing a war with France, which ran counter to the interests of Russia and its army. First of all, Sokolov determines this by the personal hostility of the Russian monarch to Napoleon. As Bezotosny notes, Sokolov does not take into account the powerful anti-French "recharge" on the part of the Russian nobility and other internal political forces, with which Alexander I could not but reckon (examples of this are the experience of the 18th century, when in such cases, as Bezotosny noted, - “monarchs did not sit on the throne for a long time and could lose not only the crown, but also their lives”, which was understood by Alexander himself, the son of Paul I, who was killed as a result of the conspiracy). In the same place Bezotosny concludes:
These conceptual errors of the author are overshadowed by numerous minor flaws, inconsistencies in the design of the scientific apparatus, poor use of latest works domestic historians. All this significantly reduces the value of interesting source observations and findings found in the book of O. V. Sokolov.
To some extent, Sokolov's work “Austerlitz. Napoleon, Russia and Europe 1799-1805" (2006), the text of which, relating to this issue, is almost verbatim repeated in the book “The Battle of Two Empires. 1805-1812" (2012) .
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Oleg Valerievich Sokolov- Russian historian, specialist in military French history. Member of the scientific council Russian Military Historical Society.
The founder of the movement military historical reconstruction in Russia, uniting the military-historical clubs of the country. President of the All-Russian Military Historical Movement, which organizes the reconstruction of military battles during the Napoleonic Wars - large-scale spectacles with the participation of thousands of enthusiasts dressed in uniforms of that era. Participated in reconstruction at the scene of battles Patriotic War of 1812 (Borodino , Maloyaroslavets etc.), as well as a number of foreign battles of the Napoleonic era ( Austerlitz , waterloo and etc.). Known as "Sir" among like-minded people.
One of the consultants for historical films on the era of Napoleon. Author of numerous historical programs published in Russia, France, Great Britain , USA , Spain and other countries.
Proceedings
- Sokolov O. V. Napoleon's army. - SPb., 1999.
- Sokolov O. V. Austerlitz. Napoleon, Russia and Europe. 1799-1805 - T. 1-2. - M., 2006.
- Sokolov O. V. Battle of two empires. 1805–1812 - M.–SPb., 2012.
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An excerpt characterizing Sokolov, Oleg Valerievich
“Well, you still don’t want to be free, Savelich?” Pierre asked.- Why do I need, Your Excellency, will? Under the late count, the kingdom of heaven, we lived and we don’t see any offense with you.
- Well, what about the children?
- And the children will live, your excellency: you can live for such gentlemen.
“Well, what about my heirs?” Pierre said. "Suddenly I'll get married ... It might happen," he added with an involuntary smile.
- And I dare to report: a good thing, Your Excellency.
“How easy he thinks,” thought Pierre. He doesn't know how scary it is, how dangerous it is. Too soon or too late… Scary!”
- How would you like to order? Would you like to go tomorrow? Savelich asked.
- No; I will postpone a little. I'll tell you then. Excuse me for the trouble, ”said Pierre, and looking at Savelich’s smile, he thought:“ How strange, however, that he does not know that now there is no Petersburg and that first of all it is necessary that this be decided. However, he certainly knows, but only pretends. Talk to him? What does he think? thought Pierre. No, sometime later.
At breakfast, Pierre told the princess that he had been at Princess Mary's yesterday and found him there - can you imagine who? - Natalie Rostov.
The princess pretended that she did not see anything more unusual in this news than in the fact that Pierre saw Anna Semyonovna.
– Do you know her? Pierre asked.
“I saw the princess,” she answered. - I heard that she was married to the young Rostov. This would be very good for the Rostovs; They say they are completely broke.
- No, do you know Rostov?
“I only heard about this story then. Very sorry.
“No, she doesn’t understand or pretends to be,” thought Pierre. "Better not tell her either."
The princess also prepared provisions for Pierre's journey.
“How kind they all are,” thought Pierre, “that now, when it certainly couldn’t be more interesting for them, they are doing all this. And everything for me; that's what's amazing."
On the same day, a police chief came to Pierre with a proposal to send a trustee to the Faceted Chamber to receive the things that were now being distributed to the owners.
“This one too,” thought Pierre, looking into the face of the police chief, “what a glorious, handsome officer and how kind! Now he's dealing with such nonsense. And they say that he is not honest and uses. What nonsense! And yet, why shouldn't he use it? That's how he was brought up. And everyone does it. And such a pleasant, kind face, and smiles, looking at me.
Pierre went to dine with Princess Mary.
Driving through the streets between the conflagrations of houses, he marveled at the beauty of these ruins. Chimneys of houses, fallen off walls, picturesquely reminiscent of the Rhine and the Colosseum, stretched, hiding each other, through the burnt quarters. The cabbies and riders who met, the carpenters who cut the log cabins, the traders and shopkeepers, all with cheerful, beaming faces, looked at Pierre and said as if: “Ah, here he is! Let's see what comes out of it."
At the entrance to the house of Princess Mary, Pierre was doubtful about the fairness of the fact that he was here yesterday, saw Natasha and spoke with her. “Maybe I made it up. Maybe I'll go in and see no one." But before he had time to enter the room, as already in his whole being, by the instant deprivation of his freedom, he felt her presence. She was in the same black dress with soft folds and the same hairdo as yesterday, but she was completely different. If she had been like that yesterday, when he entered the room, he could not have failed to recognize her for a moment.
