One of the most complex and intractable problems in Russian history was, is and remains emigration. Despite its apparent simplicity and regularity as a social phenomenon (every person is given the right to freely choose his place of residence), emigration often becomes a hostage to certain processes of a political, economic, spiritual or other nature, thereby losing its simplicity and independence. The revolution of 1917, the subsequent civil war and the reconstruction of the system of Russian society not only stimulated the process of Russian emigration, but also left their indelible mark on it, giving it a politicized character. Thus, for the first time in history, the concept of “white emigration” appeared, which had a clearly expressed ideological orientation. At the same time, they ignored the fact that out of 4.5 million Russians who, willingly or unwillingly, found themselves abroad, only about 150 thousand became involved in so-called anti-Soviet activities. But the stigma attached to emigrants at that time—“enemies of the people”—remained common to all of them for many years. The same can be said about the 1.5 million Russians (not counting citizens of other nationalities) who found themselves abroad during the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War. There were, of course, among them accomplices of the fascist occupiers, and deserters who fled abroad to escape just retribution, and other kinds of renegades, but the bulk of them still consisted of people who languished in German concentration camps and were taken to Germany as free labor force. But the word - “traitors” - was the same for all of them
After the revolution of 1917, the constant interference of the party in matters of art, the ban on freedom of speech and press, and the persecution of the old intelligentsia led to the mass emigration of representatives, primarily of the Russian emigration. This was most clearly noticeable in the example of a culture that was divided into three camps. The first consisted of those who turned out to accept the revolution and went abroad. The second consisted of those who accepted socialism and glorified the revolution, thus acting as “singers” of the new government. The third included those who were wavering: they either emigrated or returned to their homeland, convinced that a true artist could not create in isolation from his people. Their fate was different: some were able to adapt and survive under Soviet rule; others, like A. Kuprin, who lived in exile from 1919 to 1937, returned to die a natural death in their homeland; still others committed suicide; finally, the fourth were repressed.

In the first camp were cultural figures who formed the core of the so-called first wave of emigration. The first wave of Russian emigration is the most massive and significant in terms of its contribution to world culture of the 20th century. In 1918-1922, more than 2.5 million people left Russia - people from all classes and estates: the clan nobility, government and other service people, the petty and large bourgeoisie, the clergy, the intelligentsia, - representatives of all art schools and movements (symbolists and acmeists , Cubists and Futurists). Artists who emigrated in the first wave of emigration are usually classified as Russian diaspora. Russian abroad is a literary, artistic, philosophical and cultural movement in Russian culture of the 20s-40s, developed by emigration figures in European countries and directed against official Soviet art, ideology and politics.
The problems of Russian emigration have been considered by many historians to one degree or another. However, greatest number Research appeared only in recent years after the collapse of the totalitarian regime in the USSR, when there was a change in the very view of the causes and role of Russian emigration.
Especially many books and albums began to appear on the history of Russian emigration, in which photographic material either constitutes the main content or is an important addition to the text. Of particular note is the brilliant work of Alexander Vasiliev, “Beauty in Exile,” dedicated to the art and fashion of the first wave of Russian emigration and containing more than 800 (!) photographs, the vast majority of which are unique archival material. However, with all the value of the listed publications, it should be recognized that their illustrative part reveals only one or two aspects of the life and activities of the Russian emigration. And a special place in this series is occupied by the luxurious album “Russian Emigration in Photographs. France, 1917-1947". This is essentially the first attempt, and undoubtedly a successful one, to compile a visible chronicle of the life of the Russian emigration. 240 photographs, arranged in chronological and thematic order, cover almost all areas of cultural and social life of Russians in France during the period between the two world wars. The most important of these areas, as we see it, are the following: Volunteer army in exile, children's and youth organizations, charitable activities, the Russian Church and the RSHD, writers, artists, Russian ballet, theater and cinema.
At the same time, it should be noted that there is a fairly small number of scientific and historical studies devoted to the problems of Russian emigration. In this regard, one cannot help but highlight the work “The Fates of Russian Immigrants of the Second Wave in America.” In addition, it should be noted the work of Russian immigrants themselves, mainly of the first wave, who examined these processes. Of particular interest in this regard is the work of Professor G.N. Pio-Ulsky (1938) “Russian emigration and its significance in the cultural life of other peoples”.

1. REASONS AND FATE OF EMIGRATION AFTER THE REVOLUTION OF 1917

Many prominent representatives of the Russian intelligentsia greeted the proletarian revolution in full bloom of their creative powers. Some of them very soon realized that in the new conditions, Russian cultural traditions would either be trampled upon or brought under the control of the new government. Valuing creative freedom above all else, they chose the lot of emigrants.
In the Czech Republic, Germany, and France, they found jobs as drivers, waiters, dishwashers, and musicians in small restaurants, continuing to consider themselves bearers of the great Russian culture. Specialization gradually emerged cultural centers Russian emigration; Berlin was a publishing center, Prague a scientific center, Paris a literary center.
It should be noted that the paths of Russian emigration were different. Some didn't accept it right away Soviet power and went abroad. Others were either forcibly expelled.
The old intelligentsia, who did not accept the ideology of Bolshevism, but also did not take an active part in political activities, came under the harsh pressure of the punitive authorities. In 1921, over 200 people were arrested in the case of the so-called Petrograd organization, which was preparing a “coup.” A group of famous scientists and cultural figures was announced as its active participants. 61 people were shot, among them the chemist M. M. Tikhvinsky, the poet N. Gumilyov.

In 1922, on the instructions of V. Lenin, preparations began for the deportation of representatives of the old Russian intelligentsia abroad. In the summer, up to 200 people were arrested in Russian cities. - economists, mathematicians, philosophers, historians, etc. Among those arrested were stars of the first magnitude not only in domestic but also in world science - philosophers N. Berdyaev, S. Frank, N. Lossky, etc.; rectors of Moscow and St. Petersburg universities: zoologist M. Novikov, philosopher L. Karsavin, mathematician V. V. Stratonov, sociologist P. Sorokin, historians A. Kiesewetter, A. Bogolepov and others. The decision to expel was made without trial.

Russians ended up abroad not because they dreamed of wealth and fame. They are abroad because their ancestors, grandfathers and grandmothers could not agree with the experiment that was carried out on the Russian people, the persecution of everything Russian and the destruction of the Church. We must not forget that in the first days of the revolution the word “Russia” was banned and a new “international” society was being built.
So emigrants were always against the authorities in their homeland, but they always passionately loved their homeland and fatherland and dreamed of returning there. They preserved the Russian flag and the truth about Russia. Truly Russian literature, poetry, philosophy and faith continued to live in Foreign Rus'. Everyone’s main goal was to “bring a candle to the homeland,” to preserve Russian culture and the uncorrupted Russian Orthodox faith for a future free Russia.
Russians abroad believe that Russia is approximately the same territory that was called Russia before the revolution. Before the revolution, Russians were divided by dialect into Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians. They all considered themselves Russians. Not only they, but also other nationalities also considered themselves Russian. For example, a Tatar said: I am a Tatar, but I am Russian. There are many such cases among the emigration to this day, and they all consider themselves Russian. In addition, Serbian, German, Swedish and other non-Russian surnames are often found among the emigration. These are all descendants of foreigners who came to Russia, became Russified and consider themselves Russian. They all love Russia, Russians, Russian culture and the Orthodox faith.
Emigrant life is basically pre-revolutionary Russian Orthodox life. The emigration does not celebrate November 7th, but organizes mourning meetings “Days of Intransigence” and serves memorial services for the repose of millions of dead people. May 1st and March 8th are unknown to anyone. Their holiday of holidays is Easter, Light Christ's Resurrection. In addition to Easter, Christmas, Ascension, Trinity are celebrated and fasting is observed. For children there is a Christmas Tree with Santa Claus and gifts and in no case a New Year's Tree. Congratulations are given on the “Resurrection of Christ” (Easter) and on the “Nativity of Christ and the New Year”, and not just on the “New Year”. Before Great Lent, Maslenitsa is held and pancakes are eaten. At Easter they bake Easter cakes and prepare cheese Easter. Angel Day is celebrated, but birthdays are almost not. New Year is considered not a Russian holiday. They have icons everywhere in their houses, they bless their houses and at Epiphany the priest goes with holy water and blesses the houses, they also often carry a miraculous icon. They are good family men, have few divorces, good workers, their children study well, and their morality is high. In many families, a prayer is sung before and after meals.
As a result of emigration, approximately 500 prominent scientists ended up abroad, heading departments and entire scientific directions(S. N. Vinogradsky, V. K. Agafonov, K. N. Davydov, P. A. Sorokin, etc.). The list of literary and artistic figures who left is impressive (F. I. Shalyapin, S. V. Rachmaninov, K. A. Korovin, Yu. P. Annenkov, I. A. Bunin, etc.). Such a brain drain could not but lead to a serious decline in the spiritual potential of Russian culture. In literary countries abroad, experts distinguish two groups of writers - those who formed as creative personalities before emigration, in Russia, and those who gained fame abroad. The first includes the most prominent Russian writers and poets L. Andreev, K. Balmont, I. Bunin, Z. Gippius, B. Zaitsev, A. Kuprin, D. Merezhkovsky, A. Remizov, I. Shmelev, V. Khodasevich, M. Tsvetaeva, Sasha Cherny. The second group consisted of writers who published nothing or almost nothing in Russia, but only fully matured outside its borders. These are V. Nabokov, V. Varshavsky, G. Gazdanov, A. Ginger, B. Poplavsky. The most outstanding among them was V.V. Nabokov. Not only writers, but also outstanding Russian philosophers ended up in exile; N. Berdyaev, S. Bulgakov, S. Frank, A. Izgoev, P. Struve, N. Lossky and others.
During 1921-1952 More than 170 periodicals were published abroad in Russian, mainly on history, law, philosophy and culture.
The most productive and popular thinker in Europe was N. A. Berdyaev (1874-1948), who had a huge influence on the development of European philosophy. In Berlin, Berdyaev organized the Religious and Philosophical Academy, participated in the creation of the Russian Scientific Institute, and contributed to the formation of the Russian Student Christian Movement (RSCM). In 1924 he moved to France, where he became the editor of the magazine “Path” (1925-1940), the most important philosophical organ of the Russian emigration, which he founded. Wide European fame allowed Berdyaev to fulfill a very specific role - to serve as a mediator between Russian and Western cultures. He met leading Western thinkers (M. Scheler, Keyserling, J. Maritain, G. O. Marcel, L. Lavelle, etc.), organized interfaith meetings of Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox Christians (1926-1928), and regular interviews with Catholic philosophers (30s), participates in philosophical meetings and congresses. Through his books, the Western intelligentsia became acquainted with Russian Marxism and Russian culture.

But, probably, one of the most prominent representatives of the Russian emigration was Pitirim Aleksandrovich Sorokin (1889-1968), who is known to many as a prominent sociologist. But he also acted (albeit for a short time) as a political figure. Participation within your power revolutionary movement brought him after the overthrow of the autocracy to the post of secretary of the head of the Provisional Government A.F. Kerensky. This happened in June 1917, and by October P.A. Sorokin was already a prominent member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party.
He greeted the Bolsheviks' rise to power almost with despair. P. Sorokin responded to the October events with a number of articles in the newspaper “The Will of the People,” of which he was the editor, and was not afraid to sign them with his name. In these articles, written largely under the influence of rumors about the atrocities committed during the storming of the Winter Palace, the new rulers of Russia were characterized as murderers, rapists and robbers. However, Sorokin, like other socialist revolutionaries, does not lose hope that the power of the Bolsheviks will not last long. Just a few days after October, he noted in his diary that “the working people are in the first stage of sobering up; the Bolshevik paradise is beginning to fade.” And the events that happened to him seemed to confirm this conclusion: workers saved him from arrest several times. All this gave hope that power could soon be taken away from the Bolsheviks with the help of the Constituent Assembly.
However, this did not happen. One of the lectures “About the current moment"was read by P.A. Sorokin in Yarensk on June 13, 1918. First of all, Sorokin announced to the audience that “in his deep conviction, after carefully studying the psychology and spiritual growth of his people, it was clear to him that nothing good would happen if the Bolsheviks came to power ... our people have not yet passed that stage of development of the human spirit. the stage of patriotism, consciousness of the unity of the nation and the power of one’s people, without which one cannot enter the doors of socialism.” However, “with the inexorable course of history, this suffering... has become inevitable.” Now,” Sorokin continued, “we see and feel for ourselves that the tempting slogans of the October 25 revolution have not only not been implemented, but have been completely trampled upon, and we have even lost them politically”; freedoms and conquests that were previously enjoyed.” The promised socialization of the land is not being carried out, the state is torn to shreds, the Bolsheviks “entered into relations with the German bourgeoisie, which is robbing an already poor country.”
P.A. Sorokin predicted that the continuation of such a policy would lead to civil war: “The promised bread was not only not given, but by the last decree must be taken by force by armed workers from the half-starved peasant. The workers know that such grain extraction will finally separate the peasants from the workers and will start a war between the two working classes against each other.” Somewhat earlier, Sorokin emotionally noted in his diary: “The year 17 gave us the Revolution, but what did it bring to my country other than destruction and shame. The revealed face of the revolution is the face of a beast, a vicious and sinful prostitute, and not the pure face of a goddess, which was painted by historians of other revolutions.”

However, despite the disappointment that at that moment gripped many political figures who were waiting and approaching the seventeenth year in Russia. Pitirim Aleksandrovich believed that the situation was not at all hopeless, because “we have reached a state that cannot be worse, and we must think that it will be better in the future.” He tried to reinforce this shaky foundation of his optimism with hopes of help from Russia’s Entente allies.
Activities of P.A. Sorokina did not go unnoticed. When the power of the Bolsheviks in the north of Russia was consolidated, Sorokin at the end of June 1918 decided to join N.V. Tchaikovsky, the future head of the White Guard government in Arkhangelsk. But, before reaching Arkhangelsk, Pitirim Aleksandrovich returned to Veliky Ustyug to prepare there for the overthrow of the local Bolshevik government. However, the anti-communist groups in Veliky Ustyug did not have enough strength for this action. And Sorokin and his comrades found themselves in a difficult situation - security officers were on his heels and were arrested. In prison, Sorokin wrote a letter to the Severa-Dvina Provincial Executive Committee, where he announced his resignation as a deputy, leaving the Socialist Revolutionary Party and his intention to devote himself to work in the field of science and public education. In December 1918 P.A. Sorokin was released from prison, and he never returned to active political activity. In December 1918 he again began work pedagogical activity in Petrograd, in September 1922 he went to Berlin, and a year later he moved to the USA and never returned to Russia.

2. IDEOLOGICAL THOUGHT OF “RUSSIAN ABROAD”

First World War and the revolution in Russia immediately found deep reflection in cultural thought. The most striking and at the same time optimistic understanding of the new era of historical development of culture was the ideas of the so-called “Eurasians”. The largest figures among them were: philosopher and theologian G.V. Florovsky, historian G.V. Vernadsky, linguist and cultural scientist N.S. Trubetskoy, geographer and political scientist P.N. Savitsky, publicist V.P. Suvchinsky, lawyer and philosopher L.P. Karsavin. The Eurasians had the courage to tell their compatriots expelled from Russia that the revolution was not absurd, not the end of Russian history, but a new page full of tragedy. The response to such words was accusations of collaborating with the Bolsheviks and even collaborating with the OGPU.

However, we are dealing with an ideological movement that was in connection with Slavophilism, pochvennichestvo and especially with the Pushkin tradition in Russian social thought, represented by the names of Gogol, Tyutchev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Leontyev, with an ideological movement that was preparing a new, updated view of Russia, its history and culture. First of all, the formula “East - West - Russia” developed in the philosophy of history was rethought. Based on the fact that Eurasia is one endowed with natural borders geographical area, which in a spontaneous historical process was ultimately destined to be mastered by the Russian people - the heir of the Scythians, Sarmatians, Goths, Huns, Avars, Khazars, Kama Bulgarians and Mongols. G.V. Vernadsky said that the history of the spread of the Russian state is, to a large extent, the history of the adaptation of the Russian people to their place of development - Eurasia, as well as the adaptation of the entire space of Eurasia to the economic and historical needs of the Russian people.
G. V. Florovsky, who left the Eurasian movement, argued that the fate of Eurasianism is a story of spiritual failure. This path leads nowhere. We need to go back to the starting point. Will and taste for the accomplished revolution, love and faith in the elements, in the organic laws of natural growth, the idea of ​​history as a powerful force process They hide from Eurasians the fact that history is creativity and achievement, and that what happened and what happened should be accepted only as a sign and judgment of God, as a formidable call to human freedom.

The theme of freedom is the main one in the work of N. A. Berdyaev, the most famous representative of Russian philosophical and cultural thought in the West. If liberalism is at its core general definition- is the ideology of freedom, then it can be argued that the work and worldview of this Russian thinker, at least in his “Philosophy of Freedom” (1911), clearly acquires a Christian-liberal overtones. From Marxism (with which he began his passion) creative path) his worldview retained a belief in progress and a Eurocentric orientation that was never overcome. A powerful Hegelian layer is also present in his cultural constructs.
If, according to Hegel, movement world history carried out by the forces of individual peoples who affirm in their spiritual culture (in principle and idea) different sides or moments of the world spirit in the absolute idea, then Berdyaev, criticizing the concept of “international civilization,” believed that there is only one historical path to achieving the highest inhumanity, to the unity of humanity - the path of national growth and development, national creativity. All humanity does not exist on its own; it is revealed only in the images of individual nationalities. At the same time, the nationality and culture of the people are conceived not as a “mechanical shapeless mass”, but as an integral spiritual “organism”. The political aspect of the cultural and historical life of peoples is revealed by Berdyaev with the formula “one - many - all,” in which Hegelian despotism, republic and monarchy are replaced by autocratic, liberal and socialist states. From Chicherin, Berdyaev borrowed the idea of ​​“organic” and “critical” eras in the development of culture.
The “intelligible image” of Russia, which Berdyaev strived for in his historian-cultural reflection, received complete expression in “The Russian Idea” (1946). The Russian people are characterized in it as “in highest degree polarized people" as a combination of the opposites of statism and anarchy, despotism and freedom, cruelty and kindness, the search for God and militant atheism. Berdyaev explains the inconsistency and complexity of the “Russian soul” (and the Russian culture that grows from this) by the fact that in Russia two streams of world history collide and come into interaction - East and West. The Russian people are not purely European, but they are not Asian people either. Russian culture connects two worlds. It is the “huge East-West”. Due to the struggle between Western and Eastern principles, the Russian cultural and historical process reveals a moment of intermittency and even catastrophism. Russian culture has already left behind five independent periods-images (Kiev, Tatar, Moscow, Peter the Great and Soviet) and, perhaps, the thinker believed, “there will be a new Russia.”
In G. P. Fedotov’s work “Russia and Freedom,” created simultaneously with Berdyaev’s “Russian Idea,” the question of the fate of freedom in Russia, posed in a cultural context, is discussed. The answer to it can be obtained, according to the author, only after clarifying whether Russia “belongs to the circle of peoples of Western culture” or to the East (and if to the East, then in what sense)? The thinker believes that Russia knew the East in two guises: “filthy” (pagan) and Orthodox (Christian). At the same time, Russian culture was created on the periphery of two cultural worlds: East and West. Relations with them in the thousand-year cultural and historical tradition of Russia have taken four main forms.

Kiev Russia freely accepted the cultural influences of Byzantium, the West and the East. The time of the Mongol yoke - the time of artificial isolation Russian culture, a time of painful choice between the West (Lithuania) and the East (Horde). Russian culture in the era of the Muscovite kingdom was significantly connected with socio-political relations of the eastern type (although already from the 17th century there was a clear rapprochement between Russia and the West). A new era comes into its own in the historical period from Peter I to the revolution. It represents the triumph of Western civilization on Russian soil. However, the antagonism between the nobility and the people, the gap between them in the field of culture predetermined, Fedotov believes, the failure of Europeanization and liberation movement. Already in the 60s. In the 19th century, when the decisive step in the social and spiritual emancipation of Russia was taken, the most energetic part of the Westernizing liberation movement went along the “illiberal channel.” As a result, the entire recent social and cultural development of Russia has appeared as a “dangerous race at speed”: what will prevent it - liberating Europeanization or the Moscow riot, which will drown and wash away young freedom with a wave of popular anger? The answer is known.
By the middle of the 20th century. Russian philosophical classic, formed in the context of disputes between Westerners and Slavophiles and under the influence of the creative impulse of Vl. Solovyova, has come to its end. A special place in the last segment of classical Russian thought is occupied by I. A. Ilyin. Despite his enormous and deep spiritual heritage, Ilyin is the least known and studied thinker of the Russian diaspora. In the respect that interests us, the most significant is his metaphysical and historical interpretation of the Russian idea.
Ilyin believed that no people had such a burden and such a task as the Russian people. The Russian task, which has found full expression in life and thought, in history and culture, is defined by the thinker as follows: the Russian idea is the idea of ​​the heart. The idea of ​​the contemplative heart. A heart that contemplates freely in an objective manner, transmitting its vision to the will for action and thought for awareness and speech. The general meaning of this idea is that Russia historically took over from Christianity. Namely: in the belief that “God is love.” At the same time, Russian spiritual culture is the product of both the primary forces of the people (heart, contemplation, freedom, conscience), and secondary forces grown on their basis, expressing will, thought, form and organization in culture and in public life. In the religious, artistic, scientific and legal spheres, Ilyin reveals a freely and objectively contemplating Russian heart, i.e. Russian idea.
Ilyin’s general view of the Russian cultural and historical process was determined by his understanding of the Russian idea as the idea of ​​Orthodox Christianity. The Russian People as a subject of historical life appears in its descriptions (concerning both the initial, prehistoric era, and processes state building) in a characteristic quite close to the Slavophile. He lives in conditions of tribal and communal life (with a veche system under the authority of princes). He is the bearer of both centripetal and centrifugal tendencies; his activity reveals a creative, but also destructive principle. At all stages of cultural and historical development, Ilyin is interested in the maturation and establishment of the monarchical principle of power. The post-Petrine era is highly valued, giving a new synthesis of Orthodoxy and secular civilization, strong super-class power and the great reforms of the 60s. XIX century Despite the establishment of the Soviet system, Ilyin believed in the revival of Russia.

The emigration of more than a million former Russian subjects was experienced and interpreted in different ways. Perhaps the most widespread point of view by the end of the 20s was the belief in the special mission of the Russian diaspora, called upon to preserve and develop all the life-giving principles of historical Russia.
The first wave of Russian emigration, having experienced its peak at the turn of the 20s and 30s, came to naught in the 40s. Its representatives proved that Russian culture can exist outside of Russia. The Russian emigration accomplished a real feat - it preserved and enriched the traditions of Russian culture in extremely difficult conditions.
The era of perestroika and reorganization of Russian society, which began in the late 80s, opened a new path in solving the problem of Russian emigration. For the first time in history, Russian citizens were granted the right to freely travel abroad through various channels. Previous estimates of Russian emigration were also revised. At the same time, along with the positive aspects in this direction, some new problems in the matter of emigration have appeared.
When predicting the future of Russian emigration, we can state with sufficient certainty that this process will continue, acquiring new features and forms. For example, in the near future a new “mass emigration” may appear, that is, the departure abroad of entire groups of the population or even nations (like the “Jewish emigration”). The possibility of “reverse emigration” - the return to Russia of persons who previously left the USSR and did not find themselves in the West - cannot be ruled out. The problem with “nearby emigration” may worsen, for which it is also necessary to prepare in advance.
And finally, most importantly, it is necessary to remember that 15 million Russians abroad are our compatriots who share the same Fatherland with us - Russia!

introduction

background

Contrary to popular belief, mass emigration from Russia began even before the revolution

Maria Sorokina

historian

“The first major migration flow was labor migration at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. These were primarily national streams - Jews, Poles, Ukrainians and Germans. .... Expand > In fact, until the end of the 19th century, only Jews were allowed to travel freely; everyone else was issued a passport only for 5 years, after which it had to be renewed. Moreover, even the most loyal citizens had to ask for permission to leave.

It is believed that about two million Jews left the Russian Empire during this period. There was also emigration of ethno-professional groups and sectarians - Old Believers, Mennonites, Molokans, etc. They went mainly to the USA, many to Canada: there are still settlements of Russian Doukhobors there, whom Leo Tolstoy helped to leave. Another direction of labor migration is Latin America, up to 200 thousand people went there by 1910.”

Mikhail Denisenko

demographer

“Until 1905, emigration was allowed for Jews, Poles and sectarians, which, in addition to the Doukhobors, also included the descendants of German colonists who lost their privileges in the second quarter of the 19th century. .... Expand > Cases of Russian emigration proper (which before the revolution included Great Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians) emigration were relatively rare - it was either political emigration, or sailors who served in the merchant fleet, seasonal workers who went to work in Germany, as well as the already mentioned sectarians.

After 1905, travel to work was allowed, and a Russian working mass began to form in the USA, Canada, Australia and Latin America. If in 1910, according to the census, there were only 40 thousand Russians in the United States, then in the next decade more than 160 thousand people arrived there.

Numerous communities formed in Pennsylvania and Illinois. True, in American statistics, the Orthodox Ukrainians of Austria-Hungary, who settled together with the Russians and went to the same churches with them, were also classified as Russians. They were mainly engaged in hard physical labor in metallurgical and automobile factories, slaughterhouses and textile factories, and in mines. However, there were also nobles and commoners who, for various reasons, were forced to leave Russia. For example, the famous Russian engineer, inventor of the incandescent lamp Alexander Lodygin, worked in the USA for a long time. The founder of the city of St. Petersburg in Florida was the Russian nobleman Pyotr Dementyev, who became a famous businessman in exile. Trotsky and Bukharin found political asylum in the United States.

It was not easy for the formerly illiterate peasants who made up the majority in this stream to adapt to the high pace of work in American industry; they often suffered work-related injuries, and foremen and managers treated them with disdain. After the Bolshevik revolution, many lost their jobs and could not find a new one - employers saw a Bolshevik in every Russian.”

Photo: ITAR-TASS
Lenin (second from right) in a group of Russian political emigrants in Stockholm, traveling from Switzerland to Russia, 1917

first wave

1917 - late 1920s

It is this wave, caused by the revolution of 1917, that is traditionally called the first, and it is with it that many associate the concept of “Russian emigration”

Marina Sorokina

historian

“Strictly speaking, the flow formed after two revolutions in 1917 and Civil War, cannot be called “emigration”. People did not choose their fate; in fact, they were refugees. .... Expand > This status was officially recognized; the League of Nations had a commission on refugee affairs, headed by Fridtjof Nansen (this is how the so-called Nansen passports appeared, which were issued to people deprived of a passport and citizenship. - BG).

At first we went primarily to the Slavic countries - Bulgaria, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Czechoslovakia. A small group of Russian soldiers went to Latin America.

Russian refugees of this wave had a fairly strong ramified organization. In many countries of settlement, Russian scientific institutes arose that helped scientists. In addition, a significant number of specialists took advantage of the established connections, left and made a brilliant career. A classic example is Sikorsky and Zvorykin in the USA. A lesser-known example is Elena Antipova, who went to Brazil in 1929 and actually became the founder of the Brazilian psychological and pedagogical system. And there are many such examples.”

Mikhail Denisenko

demographer

“The idea of ​​Americans about Russians as Bolsheviks and communists was radically changed by white emigration, shining with the names of S. Rachmaninov and F. Chaliapin, I. Sikorsky and V. Zvorykin, P. Sorokin and V. Ipatiev. .... Expand > Its ethnic composition was heterogeneous, but these emigrants identified themselves with Russia and this primarily determined their national identity.

The first main flow went to countries located relatively close to Russia (Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland). As Wrangel's army evacuated, Istanbul, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia became major centers. White fleet until 1924 it was based in Bizerte (Tunisia). Subsequently, emigrants moved further to the West, in particular to France. In subsequent years, many moved on to the United States, as well as Canada and Latin America. In addition, white emigration came through the Far Eastern borders; large emigrant centers developed in Harbin and Shanghai. From there, many emigrants subsequently moved to America, Europe and Australia.

The size of this flow is estimated differently - from 1 to 3 million people. The most widely accepted estimate is 2 million people, calculated from data on issued Nansen passports. But there were also those who did not fall into the attention of organizations helping refugees: Volga Germans fleeing the famine of 1921–1922, Jews fleeing pogroms that resumed during the Civil War, Russians who received citizenship of states that were not part of the USSR. By the way, during the Civil War, the idea of ​​marrying a foreigner and leaving the country became popular - there were more than 2 million foreigners in the form of prisoners of war of the First World War (mainly from the former Austria-Hungary) on Russian territory.

In the mid-1920s, the emigration outflow noticeably weakened (Germans continued to leave), and at the end of the 1920s, the country’s borders were closed.”

second wave

1945 - early 1950s

The Second World War caused a new wave of emigration from the USSR - some left the country following the retreating German army, others, taken to concentration camps and forced labor, did not always return back

Marina Sorokina

historian

“This wave primarily consists of the so-called displaced persons (DP). These are the residents Soviet Union and annexed territories that, for one reason or another, left the Soviet Union as a result of World War II. .... Expand > Among them were prisoners of war, collaborators, people who voluntarily decided to leave, or those who simply found themselves in another country in the whirlwind of war.

The fate of the population of the occupied and unoccupied territories was decided at the Yalta Conference in 1945; The allies left it up to Stalin to decide what to do with Soviet citizens, and he sought to return everyone to the USSR. For several years, large groups of DP lived in special camps in the American, British and French occupation zones; in most cases they were sent back to the USSR. Moreover, the allies handed over to the Soviet side not only Soviet citizens, but also former Russians who had long had foreign citizenship, emigrants - such as the Cossacks in Lienz (in 1945, the British occupation forces handed over to the USSR several thousand Cossacks who lived in the vicinity of the city of Lienz. - BG). They were repressed in the USSR.

The bulk of those who avoided being returned to the Soviet Union went to the United States and Latin America. A large number of Soviet scientists from the Soviet Union left for the USA - they were helped, in particular, by the famous Tolstoy Foundation, created by Alexandra Lvovna Tolsta. And many of those whom international authorities classified as collaborators left for Latin America - because of this, the Soviet Union subsequently had difficult relations with the countries of this region.”

Mikhail Denisenko

demographer

“The emigration of the Second World War was very diverse in terms of ethnic composition and other characteristics. Part of the inhabitants of Western Ukraine and Belarus, the Baltic states, who did not recognize Soviet power, and Volksdeutsche (Russian Germans) who lived in the territory of the Soviet Union occupied by the Germans left with the Germans of their own free will. .... Expand > Naturally, those who actively collaborated with the German occupation authorities sought to hide, primarily policemen and soldiers and officers created by the Nazis military units. Finally, not all of the Soviet prisoners of war and civilians deported to Germany wanted to return to their homeland - some were afraid of reprisals, others managed to start families. In order to avoid forced repatriation and obtain refugee status, some Soviet citizens changed documents and surnames, hiding their origin.

Numerical estimates of the emigration wave caused by the Second World War are very rough. The most likely range is from 700 thousand to 1 million people. More than half of them were Baltic peoples, a quarter were Germans, a fifth were Ukrainians, and only 5% were Russians.”

third wave

early 1960s - late 1980s

Few managed to cross behind the Iron Curtain; Jews and Germans were released first if the political situation was favorable for them. Then they began to expel dissidents

Marina Sorokina

historian

“This stream is often called Jewish. After World War II, with the active assistance of the USSR and Stalin, the State of Israel was created. By this point, Soviet Jews had already survived the terror of the 1930s and the struggle with the cosmopolitans of the late 1940s, so when the opportunity to leave during the Thaw arose, many took it. .... Expand > At the same time, some of the emigrants did not stay in Israel, but moved on - mainly to the USA; It was then that the expression “a Jew is a means of transportation” appeared.

These were no longer refugees, but people who really wanted to leave the country: they applied to leave, they were refused, they applied again and again - and finally they were released. This wave became one of the sources of political dissidence - a person was denied the right to choose his country of life, one of the basic human rights. Many sold all their furniture, quit their jobs - and when they refused to let them out, they staged strikes and hunger strikes in empty apartments, attracting the attention of the media, the Israeli embassy, ​​and sympathetic Western journalists.

Jews constituted the overwhelming majority in this stream. It was they who had a diaspora abroad, ready to support new members. With the rest, the situation was more complicated. Life in exile is bitter bread. Since the beginning of the 20th century, different people with very different ideas about the future have found themselves abroad: some sat on their suitcases and waited to return to Russia, others tried to adapt. Many found themselves completely unexpectedly thrown out of life; some managed to find a job, others were unable to do so. The princes drove taxis and acted as extras. Back in the 1930s in France, a significant layer of the Russian emigration elite was literally entangled in an intelligence network Soviet NKVD. Despite the fact that the situation had changed by the period described, intra-diaspora relations remained very tense.”

Mikhail Denisenko

demographer

“The Iron Curtain came down with the beginning of the Cold War. The number of people leaving the USSR per year was, as a rule, small. So, in 1986, just over 2 thousand people left for Germany, and about 300 for Israel. .... Expand > But in some years, changes in the foreign policy situation led to a surge - issues of emigration often acted as bargaining chips in various negotiations between the governments of the USSR and the USA or the USSR and Germany. Thanks to this, after the Six-Day War from 1968 to 1974, Israel accepted almost 100 thousand migrants from the Soviet Union. Subsequent restrictions led to a sharp reduction in this flow. For this reason, the Jackson-Vanik amendment was adopted in the United States in 1974, which was repealed this fall (the amendment to the American Trade Law limited trade with countries that violate the right of their citizens to emigrate, and primarily concerned the USSR. - BG).

If we take into account the small outflow of people to Germany and Israel that existed in the 1950s, it turns out that in total this wave involved more than 500 thousand people. Her ethnic composition It was formed not only by Jews and Germans, who were the majority, but also by representatives of other peoples with their own statehood (Greeks, Poles, Finns, Spaniards).

The second, smaller flow consisted of those who fled the Soviet Union during business trips or tours or were forcibly expelled from the country. The third stream was formed by migrants for family reasons - wives and children of foreign citizens, they were mainly sent to third world countries.”

fourth wave

since the late 1980s

After the end of the Cold War, everyone who could find a job abroad in one way or another poured out of the country - through repatriation programs, through refugee status or some other way. By the 2000s, this wave had noticeably dried up.

Mikhail Denisenko

demographer

“I would divide what is traditionally called the fourth wave of emigration into two separate streams: one - from 1987 to the early 2000s, the second - the 2000s. .... Expand >

The beginning of the first stream is associated with changes in Soviet legislation adopted in 1986–1987, which made it easier for ethnic migrants to travel abroad. From 1987 to 1995, the average annual number of migrants from the territory of the Russian Federation increased from 10 to 115 thousand people; from 1987 to 2002, more than 1.5 million left Russia. This migration flow had a clear geographical component: from 90 to 95% of all migrants were sent to Germany, Israel and the United States. This direction was set by the presence of generous repatriation programs in the first two countries and programs for the reception of refugees and scientists from former USSR in the last one.

Since the mid-1990s, policies regarding emigration from the former USSR began to change in Europe and the United States. Opportunities for emigrants to obtain refugee status have sharply decreased. In Germany, the program for the admission of ethnic Germans began to be phased out (by the early 2000s, the quota for their admission was reduced to 100 thousand people); the requirements for repatriates in terms of knowledge have significantly increased German language. In addition, the potential for ethnic emigration has been exhausted. As a result, the outflow of the population for permanent residence abroad has decreased.

In the 2000s it began new stage history of Russian emigration. Currently, this is normal economic emigration, which is subject to global economic trends and is regulated by the laws of those countries that accept migrants. The political component no longer plays a special role. Russian citizens seeking to travel to developed countries do not have any advantages compared to potential migrants from other countries. They have to prove their professional competence to the immigration services of foreign countries and demonstrate knowledge foreign languages and integration capabilities.

Thanks largely to tough selection and competition, the Russian immigrant community is becoming younger. Emigrants from Russia living in Europe and North America have a high level of education. Women predominate among emigrants, which is explained by a higher frequency of marriage with foreigners compared to men.

In total, the number of emigrants from Russia from 2003 to 2010 exceeded 500 thousand people. At the same time, the geography of Russian emigration has expanded significantly. Against the background of declining flows to Israel and Germany, the importance of Canada, Spain, France, Great Britain and some other countries has increased. It should be noted that the process of globalization and new communication technologies have significantly increased the variety of forms of migration movements, due to which “emigration forever” has become a very conventional concept.”

Marina Sorokina

historian

“The 20th century was extremely active in terms of migration. Now the situation has changed. Take Europe - it no longer has national borders. .... Expand > If earlier cosmopolitanism was the lot of single people, now it is an absolutely natural psychological and civil state of a person. We can not say that in the late 1980s - early 1990s. a new wave of emigration began in Russia, and that the country had entered a new open world. This has nothing to do with the flows of Russian emigration that we talked about above.”

photo story

pearl by the sea

In the 70s, Russian emigrants began to actively settle in the New York area of ​​Brighton Beach.
He became the main symbol of the third wave of emigration, a time machine that is still capable of transporting anyone to the imaginary Odessa of Brezhnev's times. Brighton's "pounds" and "slices", Mikhail Zadornov's concerts and pensioners walking along the boardwalk - all this, obviously, will not last long, and old-timers complain that Brighton is not the same anymore. Photographer Mikhail Fridman (Salt Images) observed modern life in Brighton Beach

The first wave of Russian emigration was a phenomenon resulting from the Civil War, which began in 1917 and lasted almost six years. Nobles, military men, factory owners, intellectuals, clergy and government officials left their homeland. More than two million people left Russia in the period 1917-1922.

Reasons for the first wave of Russian emigration

People leave their homeland for economic, political, social reasons. Migration is a process that has occurred to varying degrees throughout history. But it is characteristic primarily of the era of wars and revolutions.

The first wave of Russian emigration is a phenomenon that has no analogue in world history. The ships were overcrowded. People were ready to endure unbearable conditions in order to leave the country where the Bolsheviks had won.

After the revolution, members of noble families were subjected to repression. Those who did not manage to escape abroad died. There were, of course, exceptions, for example, Alexei Tolstoy, who managed to adapt to the new regime. The nobles who did not have time or did not want to leave Russia changed their names and went into hiding. Some managed to live under a false name for many years. Others, having been exposed, ended up in Stalin's camps.

Since 1917, writers, entrepreneurs, and artists left Russia. There is an opinion that European art of the 20th century is unthinkable without Russian emigrants. The fate of people cut off from native land, were tragic. Among the representatives of the first wave of Russian emigration there were many world-famous writers, poets, and scientists. But recognition does not always bring happiness.

What was the reason for the first wave of Russian emigration? A new government that showed sympathy for the proletariat and hated the intelligentsia.

Among the representatives of the first wave of Russian emigration, not only creative people, but also entrepreneurs who managed to make fortunes through their own labor. Among the factory owners there were those who at first rejoiced at the revolution. But not for long. They soon realized that they had no place in the new state. Factories, enterprises, factories were in Soviet Russia nationalized.

During the era of the first wave of Russian emigration, the fate of ordinary people was of little interest to anyone. The new government was not worried about the so-called brain drain. The people who found themselves at the helm believed that in order to create something new, everything old should be destroyed. The Soviet state did not need talented writers, poets, artists, or musicians. New masters of words have appeared, ready to convey new ideals to the people.

Let us consider in more detail the reasons and features of the first wave of Russian emigration. Brief biographies, presented below, will create a complete picture of a phenomenon that had dire consequences both for the fate of individual people and for the entire country.

Famous emigrants

Russian writers of the first wave of emigration - Vladimir Nabokov, Ivan Bunin, Ivan Shmelev, Leonid Andreev, Arkady Averchenko, Alexander Kuprin, Sasha Cherny, Teffi, Nina Berberova, Vladislav Khodasevich. The works of many of them are permeated with nostalgia.

After the Revolution, such outstanding artists as Fyodor Chaliapin, Sergei Rachmaninov, Wassily Kandinsky, Igor Stravinsky, and Marc Chagall left their homeland. Representatives of the first wave of Russian emigration are also aircraft designer engineer Vladimir Zvorykin, chemist Vladimir Ipatyev, hydraulic scientist Nikolai Fedorov.

Ivan Bunin

When it comes to Russian writers of the first wave of emigration, his name is remembered first. Ivan Bunin met the October events in Moscow. Until 1920, he kept a diary, which he later published under the title “Cursed Days.” The writer did not accept Soviet power. In relation to revolutionary events, Bunin is often contrasted with Blok. In his autobiographical work, the last Russian classic, and this is what the author of “Cursed Days” is called, argued with the creator of the poem “The Twelve.” Critic Igor Sukhikh said: “If Blok heard the music of revolution in the events of 1917, then Bunin heard the cacophony of rebellion.”

Before emigrating, the writer lived for some time with his wife in Odessa. In January 1920, they boarded the ship Sparta, which was heading to Constantinople. In March, Bunin was already in Paris - in the city in which many representatives of the first wave of Russian emigration spent their last years.

The writer's fate cannot be called tragic. He worked a lot in Paris, and it was here that he wrote the work for which he received the Nobel Prize. But Bunin's most famous cycle - "Dark Alleys" - is permeated with longing for Russia. Nevertheless, he did not accept the offer to return to their homeland, which many Russian emigrants received after World War II. The last Russian classic died in 1953.

Ivan Shmelev

Not all representatives of the intelligentsia heard the “cacophony of rebellion” during the October events. Many perceived the revolution as a victory of justice and goodness. At first he was happy about the October events and, however, he quickly became disillusioned with those who were in power. And in 1920, an event occurred after which the writer could no longer believe in the ideals of the revolution. Shmelev's only son is an officer tsarist army- was shot by the Bolsheviks.

In 1922, the writer and his wife left Russia. By that time, Bunin was already in Paris and in correspondence more than once promised to help him. Shmelev spent several months in Berlin, then went to France, where he spent the rest of his life.

One of the greatest Russian writers spent his last years in poverty. He died at the age of 77. He was buried, like Bunin, in Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois. Famous writers and poets - Dmitry Merezhkovsky, Zinaida Gippius, Teffi - found their final resting place in this Parisian cemetery.

Leonid Andreev

This writer initially accepted the revolution, but later changed his views. Latest works Andreeva are imbued with hatred of the Bolsheviks. He found himself in exile after the separation of Finland from Russia. But he did not live abroad for long. In 1919, Leonid Andreev died of a heart attack.

The writer's grave is located in St. Petersburg, at the Volkovskoye cemetery. Andreev's ashes were reburied thirty years after his death.

Vladimir Nabokov

The writer came from a wealthy aristocratic family. In 1919, shortly before the seizure of Crimea by the Bolsheviks, Nabokov left Russia forever. They managed to bring out part of what saved them from poverty and hunger, to which many Russian emigrants were doomed.

Vladimir Nabokov graduated from Cambridge University. In 1922 he moved to Berlin, where he earned his living by teaching English. Sometimes he published his stories in local newspapers. Among Nabokov's heroes there are many Russian emigrants ("The Defense of Luzhin", "Mashenka").

In 1925, Nabokov married a girl from a Jewish-Russian family. She worked as an editor. In 1936 she was fired - an anti-Semitic campaign began. The Nabokovs went to France, settled in the capital, and often visited Menton and Cannes. In 1940, they managed to escape from Paris, which a few weeks after their departure was occupied by German troops. On the liner Champlain, Russian emigrants reached the shores of the New World.

Nabokov lectured in the United States. He wrote in both Russian and English. In 1960 he returned to Europe and settled in Switzerland. The Russian writer died in 1977. Vladimir Nabokov's grave is located in the Clarens cemetery, located in Montreux.

Alexander Kuprin

After the end of the Great Patriotic War, a wave of re-emigration began. Those who left Russia in the early twenties were promised Soviet passports, jobs, housing and other benefits. However, many emigrants who returned to their homeland became victims of Stalinist repression. Kuprin returned before the war. Fortunately, he did not suffer the fate of most of the first wave of emigrants.

Alexander Kuprin left immediately after October Revolution. In France, at first I was mainly engaged in translations. He returned to Russia in 1937. Kuprin was known in Europe, the Soviet authorities could not do with him as they did with most of them. However, the writer, being by that time a sick and old man, became a tool in the hands of propagandists. They made him into the image of a repentant writer who returned to glorify a happy Soviet life.

Alexander Kuprin died in 1938 from cancer. He was buried at the Volkovsky cemetery.

Arkady Averchenko

Before the revolution, the writer’s life was going well. He was the editor-in-chief of a humor magazine, which was extremely popular. But in 1918 everything changed dramatically. The publishing house was closed. Averchenko took a negative position towards the new government. With difficulty he managed to get to Sevastopol - the city in which he was born and spent his early years. The writer sailed to Constantinople on one of the last ships a few days before Crimea was taken by the Reds.

At first Averchenko lived in Sofia, then in Belgorod. In 1922 he left for Prague. It was difficult for him to live away from Russia. Most of the works written in exile are permeated with the melancholy of a person forced to live far from his homeland and only occasionally hear his native speech. However, it quickly gained popularity in the Czech Republic.

In 1925, Arkady Averchenko fell ill. He spent several weeks in the Prague City Hospital. Died March 12, 1925.

Teffi

The Russian writer of the first wave of emigration left her homeland in 1919. In Novorossiysk she boarded a ship that was heading to Turkey. From there I got to Paris. Nadezhda Lokhvitskaya (this is the real name of the writer and poetess) lived in Germany for three years. She published abroad and already organized a literary salon in 1920. Teffi died in 1952 in Paris.

Nina Berberova

In 1922, together with her husband, poet Vladislav Khodasevich, the writer left Soviet Russia for Germany. Here they spent three months. They lived in Czechoslovakia, Italy and, from 1925, in Paris. Berberova was published in the emigrant publication "Russian Thought". In 1932, the writer divorced Khodasevich. After 18 years she left for the USA. She lived in New York, where she published the almanac "Commonwealth". Since 1958, Berberova taught at Yale University. She died in 1993.

Sasha Cherny

The real name of the poet, one of the representatives of the Silver Age, is Alexander Glikberg. He emigrated in 1920. Lived in Lithuania, Rome, Berlin. In 1924, Sasha Cherny left for France, where he spent his last years. He had a house in the town of La Favière, where Russian artists, writers, and musicians often gathered. Sasha Cherny died of a heart attack in 1932.

Fyodor Chaliapin

The famous opera singer left Russia, one might say, not of his own free will. In 1922, he was on tour, which, as it seemed to the authorities, was delayed. Long performances in Europe and the United States aroused suspicion. Vladimir Mayakovsky immediately reacted by writing an angry poem, which included the following words: “I’ll be the first to shout - go back!”

In 1927, the singer donated proceeds from one of his concerts to the children of Russian emigrants. In Soviet Russia this was perceived as support for the White Guards. In August 1927, Chaliapin was deprived of Soviet citizenship.

While in exile, he performed a lot, even starred in a film. But in 1937 he was diagnosed with leukemia. On April 12 of the same year, the famous Russian opera singer died. He was buried in the Batignolles cemetery in Paris.

Preface

Emigration is not a new phenomenon in human history. Large-scale events in the internal and foreign political history of a civilizational nature are always accompanied by migration and emigration processes. For example, the discovery of America was associated with the powerful emigration of Europeans from Great Britain, Spain, Portugal and other countries to the countries of the New World; The colonial wars of the 18th-20th centuries were accompanied by the resettlement of the British and French to North America. The French Revolution of the 18th century and the execution of Louis XVI caused aristocratic emigration from France. All these questions have already been covered in previous volumes of the History of Mankind.

Emigration is always a concrete historical phenomenon, colored by the era that gave birth to it, depending on the social composition of the emigrants, respectively, on their way of thinking, the conditions that accepted this emigration, and on the nature of contact with the local environment.

The motives for emigration were different - from the desire to improve their financial situation to political irreconcilability with the ruling power.

Due to these features, one or another emigrant community or diaspora acquires its own individual features characteristic of it.

At the same time, the very nature of emigration, its essence determines the general features inherent in the phenomenon of emigration.

Leaving your home country to varying degrees, but always associated with reflection, regret, and nostalgia. The feeling of losing the Motherland, the soil under one’s feet, the feeling of a passing away familiar life, its security and prosperity inevitably gives rise to wariness in the perception of the new world and often a pessimistic view of one’s future. These emotional and psychological properties are inherent in the majority of emigrants, with the exception of those few who pragmatically create their own business, their own business or their own political field in emigration.

An important common feature of emigration from different times, also manifested in different ways, is the very fact of cultural interaction, the integration of historical and cultural processes inherent in individual peoples and countries. Contact with another culture, with a different mentality and way of thinking leaves an imprint on the interacting parties - on the culture carried by emigrants and on the culture of the country where they settled.<...>

In Russia, population migration practically did not stop. In the 16th-18th centuries there was both a departure from Russia and an influx of foreigners into it. Since the 70s of the 19th century, the tendency for those leaving Russia to predominate over those arriving has become stable and long-term. During the period of the 19th - early 20th centuries (before 1917), from 2.5 to 4.5 million people left Russia. Political reasons for leaving Russia were not the leading ones; they became such only after the October Revolution of 1917.

Russian emigration of the post-revolutionary period is a special kind of emigration, which has its own specific features. The emigrants of this time were people who were forced to find themselves outside their country. They did not set themselves mercantile goals and had no material interest. The established system of beliefs, the loss of familiar living conditions, rejection of the revolution and related transformations, expropriation of property and devastation determined the need to leave Russia. Added to this were the new government’s persecution of dissent, arrests, prisons and, finally, the forced expulsion of the intelligentsia from the country.

Data on emigration during the Civil War and in the 1920-1930s are contradictory. According to various sources, from 2 to 2.5 million people ended up outside Russia.

Centers of Russian emigration of the 1920s-1930s in Europe

The emigrants settled in European countries. Emigration centers arose in Paris, Berlin, Prague, Belgrade, and Sofia. They were also joined by “small” Russian colonies located in other cities of France, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria.

That part of the Russians who, after 1917, were in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Poland, Norway, Sweden and other countries did not form such organized emigrant communities: the policy of the governments of these countries was not aimed at creating Russian diasporas.

However, the existence of stable emigrant centers in Europe did not stop the flow of Russian migration. The search for more favorable working conditions and living conditions forced many of them to move from country to country. The flow of migration increased as humanitarian work of certain countries was reduced due to economic difficulties and the looming Nazi danger. Many Russian emigrants eventually ended up in the USA, Argentina, Brazil, and Australia. But this applied mainly to the 1930s.

During the 1920s, European emigrant centers were generally at the peak of their activity. But no matter how successful and beneficial this activity was, it was impossible to solve all the emigrant problems. Emigrants had to find housing, work, gain legal status, and adapt to the local environment. Domestic and material difficulties were aggravated by nostalgic moods and longing for Russia.

The emigrant existence was also aggravated by the complexities of the ideological life of the emigration itself. There was no unity in it, it was torn apart by political strife: monarchists, liberals, Socialist Revolutionaries and other political parties revived their activities. New trends have emerged: Eurasianism - about a special path of development of Russia with a predominance of eastern elements; Smenovekhovstvo, the movement of the Little Russians, which raised questions of possible reconciliation with the Soviet regime.

The question of ways to liberate Russia from the Bolshevik regime (with the help of foreign intervention or through the internal evolution of Soviet power), the conditions and methods of returning to Russia, the admissibility of contacts with it, the attitude of the Soviet government towards potential returnees, and so on was controversial.<...>

France

Paris has traditionally been a world center of culture and art. The predominant number of Russian emigrants - artists, writers, poets, lawyers and musicians - was concentrated in Paris. This did not mean, however, that there were no representatives of other professions in France. Military men, politicians, officials, industrialists, and Cossacks even outnumbered people in intellectual professions.

France was open to Russian emigrants. It was the only country that recognized Wrangel's government (July 1920), and took Russian refugees under protection. The desire of the Russians to settle in France was therefore natural. Economic reasons also contributed to this. The human losses of France during the First World War were significant - according to various sources, from 1.5 to 2.5 million people. But the attitude of French society towards Russian emigration was not unambiguous. For political reasons, Catholic and Protestant, especially wealthy sections of the population were sympathetic to the exiles from Bolshevik Russia. Right-wing circles welcomed the appearance in France mainly of representatives of the aristocratic nobility and the officer corps. Left parties and their sympathizers treated Russians cautiously and selectively, giving preference to liberal and democratically minded immigrants from Russia.

According to the Red Cross, before the Second World War, 175 thousand Russians lived in France.

The geography of settlement of Russian emigrants in France was quite wide. The Department of the Seine, led by Paris in the 1920s and 1930s, included from 52 to 63 percent of the total number of emigrants from Russia. Four more departments of France were significantly populated by immigrants from Russia - Moselle, Bouches-du-Rhone, Alpe-Maritim, Seine-Oise. More than 80 percent of Russian emigrants were concentrated in the five named departments.

The Seine-Oise department, located near Paris, and the Bouches-du-Rhône department, with its center in Marseille, gave shelter to a significant part of the Russian emigration that arrived from Constantinople and Gallipoli, among whom were military personnel, Cossacks, and peaceful refugees. The Moselle industrial department was especially in need of workers. A special position was occupied by the Alpe Maritim department, which was inhabited by the Russian aristocracy even before the revolution. Mansions, a church, a concert hall, and a library were built here. In the 1920s and 1930s, wealthy residents of this department engaged in charitable activities among their compatriots.

In these departments, unique centers of Russian culture arose, preserving their traditions and behavioral stereotypes. This was facilitated by the construction of Orthodox churches. Even during the reign of Alexander II in 1861, the first Orthodox church was erected in Paris on Rue Daru.<...>In the 1920s, the number of Orthodox churches in France increased to 30. The famous mother Maria (E. Yu. Skobtsova; 1891-1945), who died as a martyr in a Nazi concentration camp, founded the Orthodox Cause society in the 1920s.

The national and religious characteristics of the Russians determined their well-known ethnic integrity, isolation and complex attitude towards Western morality.

The organization of work to provide emigrants with housing, material assistance, and employment was in charge of the Zemstvo-City Union. It was headed by the former chairman of the first Provisional Government, Prince G. E. Lvov, former ministers of the Provisional Government A. I. Konovalov (1875-1948), N. D. Avksentyev (1878-1943), former mayor of Moscow V. V. Rudnev ( 1879-1940), Rostov lawyer V.F. Seeler (1874-1954) and others. The “Committee for Russian Refugees” was headed by V. A. Maklakov (1869-1957), former ambassador Provisional Government in France, from 1925 until the German occupation of Paris, when he was arrested by the Gestapo and taken to Cherche Midi prison.

Great charitable assistance to emigrants was provided by the Red Cross, created in Paris, which had its own free outpatient clinic, and the Union of Russian Sisters of Mercy.

In Paris in 1922, a unifying body was created - the Central Committee for the Provision of higher education abroad. It included the Russian Academic Union, the Russian Zemstvo-City Committee, the Russian Red Cross Society, the Russian Trade and Industrial Union and others. This centralization was supposed to provide targeted educational process throughout the Russian diaspora in the spirit of preserving Russian traditions, religion and culture. In the 1920s, emigrants trained personnel for the future Russia, liberated from Soviet rule, where they hoped to soon return.

As in other centers of emigration, schools and a gymnasium were opened in Paris. Russian emigrants had the opportunity to study at higher educational institutions in France.

The most numerous of the Russian organizations in Paris was the "Russian all-military union"(EMRO), founded by General P. N. Wrangel. EMRO united all the military forces of emigration, organized military education and had its branches in many countries.

The most significant of the military educational institutions Paris recognized the Higher Military Scientific Courses, which served as a military academy. The purpose of the courses, according to their founder, Lieutenant General N. N. Golovin (1875-1944), was “to create the necessary link that will connect the former Russian military science with the military science of the revived Russia.” The authority of N. N. Golovin as a military specialist was unusually high in international military circles. He was invited to give lectures at military academies in the USA, Great Britain, and France. He was an associate member of the International Institute of Sociology in Paris and taught at the Sorbonne.

Military-patriotic and patriotic education was also carried out in the scout and Sokol movement, the center of which was also located in Paris. The "National Organization of Russian Scouts" led by the founder of Russian scouting O.I. Pantyukhov, the "National Organization of Russian Knights", "Cossack Union", "Russian Falcons" and others were active.

A large number of fraternities arose (St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kharkov and others), associations of lyceum students, regimental military, Cossack villages (Kuban, Terets, Donets).

The Union of Russian Drivers was numerous (1200 people). The life of a Parisian driver, a typical phenomenon of emigrant reality, is brilliantly reflected in the novel “Night Roads” by Gaito Gazdanov (1903-1971).<...>One could meet princes, generals, officers, lawyers, engineers, merchants, and writers behind the wheel of a car.

The “Union of Russian Artists”, “Union of Russian Lawyers” worked in Paris, headed by famous St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv attorneys N.V. Teslenko, O.S. Trakhterev, B.A. Kistyakovsky,

V. N. Novikov and others. "Union of former figures of the Russian judicial department" - N. S. Tagantsev, E. M. Kiselevsky, P. A. Staritsky and others.

In 1924, the Russian Trade and Industrial Financial Union was founded, in which N. X. Denisov, S. G. Lianozov, G. L. Nobel participated. The “Federation of Russian Engineers Abroad” worked in France, which included P. N. Finisov, V. P. Arshaulov, V. A. Kravtsov and others; "Society of Russian Chemists" headed by A. A. Titov.

The “Association of Russian Doctors Abroad” (I.P. Aleksinsky, V.L. Yakovlev, A.O. Marshak) organized a “Russian Hospital” in Paris, headed by the famous Moscow medical professor V.N. Sirotinin.

The face of Paris as a center of Russian emigration would be incomplete without a description of the Russian press. Since the early 1920s, two major daily Russian newspapers were published in Paris: Latest News and Vozrozhdenie. the main role in the formation of knowledge about Russia and its history belonged to Latest News. The influence of the newspaper on the formation of public opinion about Russia was decisive. Thus, the head of the foreign department of the newspaper M. Yu. Benediktov testified in 1930: “No one (communists, of course, does not count) no longer identifies the Bolsheviks with the Russian people, no one talks about intervention; no one believes in the socialism of Stalin’s experiments; no one no longer is the revolutionary phraseology of communism misleading."

It is typical that the French helped Latest News with finances, typesetting equipment, and printing presses.

Many foreign newspapers used the information from Latest News, some of them had their own “Russian employees” who had constant contact with the newspaper’s editors.

Germany

The Russian colony in Germany, primarily in Berlin, had its own appearance and was different from other emigrant colonies. The main flow of refugees rushed to Germany in 1919 - here were the remnants of the White armies, Russian prisoners of war and internees; in 1922, Germany sheltered the intelligentsia expelled from Russia. For many emigrants, Germany was a transit destination. According to archival data, in Germany in 1919-1921 there were about 250 thousand, and in 1922-1923 - 600 thousand Russian emigrants, of which up to 360 thousand people were in Berlin. Small Russian colonies were also located in Munich, Dresden, Wiesbaden, and Baden-Baden.

Famous emigrant writer<...>R. Gul (1896-1986) wrote: “Berlin flared up and quickly faded away. Its active emigrant life did not last long, but brightly... By the end of the 20s, Berlin ceased to be the capital of the Russian diaspora.”

The formation of the Russian diaspora in Germany in the early 1920s was facilitated by both economic and political reasons. On the one hand, relative economic prosperity and low prices created conditions for entrepreneurship, on the other, the establishment of diplomatic relations between Germany and Soviet Russia (Rapallo, 1922) stimulated their economic and cultural ties. The opportunity was created for interaction between emigrant and Soviet Russia, which was especially evident in the creation of a large publishing complex abroad.

For these reasons, Berlin was not only a refuge for emigrants, but also a point of contact with Soviet Russia. Soviet citizens now had the opportunity to travel to Berlin on business trips with a Soviet passport and visa; the bulk of them were representatives of the publishing industry. There were so many Russians in Berlin that the famous publishing house Grieben published a Russian guide to Berlin.

The famous writer Andrei Bely, who found refuge in Berlin in the early 1920s, recalled that the Russians called the Charlottenburg district of Berlin Petersburg, and the Germans called Charlottengrad: “In this part of Berlin you meet everyone you haven’t met for years, not to mention acquaintances; here “someone” met all of Moscow and all of St. Petersburg of recent times, Russian Paris, Prague, even Sofia, Belgrade... There is a Russian spirit here: all of Russia smells!.. And you are amazed, occasionally hearing German speech: How? Germans? What do they need it in “our city?”

The life of the Russian colony was concentrated in the western part of the city. The Russians “reigned” here, here they had six banks, 87 publishing houses, three daily newspapers, 20 bookstores.”

The famous German Slavist, author and editor of the book “Russians in Berlin 1918-33. Meeting of Cultures” Fritz Mierau wrote that the relationship between Germans and Russians in Berlin was complex; Russians and Berliners had little in common. Obviously, they did not recognize the rationalistic attitude to life characteristic of the German nation, and after 1923 many left Berlin.

As in other emigrant colonies, numerous public, scientific, professional organizations and unions were created in Berlin. Among them are the “Society for Assistance to Russian Citizens”, “Russian Red Cross Society”, “Union of Russian Journalists and Writers”, “Society of Russian Doctors”, “Society of Russian Engineers”, “Union of Russian Sworn Advocacy”, “Union of Russian Translators in Germany” , "Russian All-Military Union", "Union of Russian Students in Germany", "Writers' Club", "House of Arts" and others.

The main thing that distinguished Berlin from other European emigrant colonies was its publishing activity. The newspapers "Rul" and "Nakanune" published in Berlin played a large role in the emigration and were ranked next to the Parisian " Latest news". Among the major publishing houses were: "Slovo", "Helikon", "Scythians", "Petropolis", "Bronze Horseman", "Epoch".

Many publishing houses pursued the goal of not losing contact with Russia.

Founder of the magazine "Russian Book" (hereinafter - "New Russian Book"), doctor international law, professor at St. Petersburg University A. S. Yashchenko (1877-1934) wrote: “To the best of our ability, we sought to create... a bridge connecting the foreign and Russian press.” The same idea was pursued by the magazine “Life”, published by V. B. Stankevich, the former high commissioner of General N. N. Dukhonin’s Headquarters. Both emigrants and Soviet writers were published in the magazines. Many publishing houses maintained publishing ties with Soviet Russia at that time.

Of course, emigrants perceived the topic of rapprochement with Russia differently: some with enthusiasm, others with caution and distrust. Soon, however, it became obvious that the idea of ​​the unity of Russian culture “above barriers” was utopian. In Soviet Russia, a strict censorship policy was established that did not allow freedom of speech and dissent and, as it became obvious later, had a largely provocative nature towards emigrants. The Soviet publishing authorities did not fulfill financial obligations, and measures were taken to ruin emigrant publishers. The publishing houses Grzhebin, Petropolis and others suffered financial collapse.

Publishing houses, naturally, bore the imprint political views their creators. In Berlin there were right-wing and left-wing publishing houses - monarchist, Socialist-Revolutionary Social Democratic, and so on. Thus, the Bronze Horseman publishing house gave preference to publications of a monarchist nature. Through the mediation of Duke G.N. of Leuchtenberg, Prince Lieven and Wrangel, it published the collections “White Case”, “Notes” of Wrangel, and so on. However, the professional work of publishers went beyond their political sympathies and preferences. Published in large quantities fiction, Russian classics, memoirs, children's books, textbooks, works of emigrants - the first collected works of I. A. Bunin, works by Z. N. Gippius, V. F. Khodasevich, N. A. Berdyaev.

The artistic design and printing of books and magazines were at a high level. Masters of book graphics M. V. Dobuzhinsky (1875-1957), L. M Lisitsky (1890-1941), V. N. Masyutin, A. E. Kogan (? -1949) actively worked in Berlin publishing houses. According to contemporaries, German publishers highly appreciated the professionalism of their Russian colleagues.<...>

The book renaissance in Berlin did not last long. Since the end of 1923, a hard currency was introduced in Germany, which was affected by a lack of capital.<...>Many emigrants began to leave Berlin. In the words of R. Gul, “the exodus of the Russian intelligentsia began... Berlin at the end of the 20s - in the sense of Russianness - became completely impoverished.” Emigrants left for France, Belgium, and Czechoslovakia.

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia occupied a special place in the emigrant diaspora. Intelligent and scientific center It was not by chance that Prague became an emigration country.

The first decades of the 20th century became a new stage in the social and political life of Czechoslovakia. President T. Masaryk (1850-1937) shaped Czechoslovakia’s new attitude towards the Slavic problem and Russia’s role in it. Pan-Slavism and Russophilism as ideological justifications for political life lost their significance. Masaryk rejected theocratism, monarchism and militarism in both Czechoslovakia and Russia; he rejected the monarchical, feudal and clerical foundations of the old Slavic community under the scepter of Tsarist Russia.

Masaryk associated a new understanding of the foundations of Slavic culture with the creation of a pan-European culture, capable of rising above national limitations to a universal human level and not claiming racial selectivity and world domination. According to Miliukov, Masaryk “removed the romantic light of the old Pan-Slavists from Russia and looked at the Russian present and past through the eyes of a European and a democrat.” This view of Russia as a European country, differing from other European countries only in the level of development, the “difference historical age", was in tune with Russian liberal democrats. Masaryk’s idea that Russia is a backward country, but not alien to Europe and the country of the future, was shared by the democratically minded Russian intelligentsia.

The general orientation of the political views of the leaders of the Czechoslovak liberation and Russian liberal democrats significantly contributed to the favorable attitude of the Czechoslovak government to emigrants from Bolshevik Russia, which all of them could neither accept nor recognize.

In Czechoslovakia, the so-called “Russian Action” of assistance to emigration was launched. "Russian Action" was a grandiose event both in content and in the scale of its activities. This was a unique experience in creating a foreign, in this case Russian, scientific and educational complex abroad.

T. Masaryk emphasized the humanitarian nature of the “Russian Action”.<...>He was critical of Soviet Russia, but hoped for the creation of a strong democratic federal Russia in the future. The goal of the “Russian Action” is to help Russia for the sake of its future. In addition, Masaryk, taking into account the central geopolitical position of Czechoslovakia - a new entity on the map of Europe of modern times - realized that his country needed guarantees from both the East and the West. The future democratic Russia could become one of these guarantors.

For these reasons, the problem of Russian emigration became integral part political life of the Czechoslovak Republic.

Of the 22 thousand emigrants registered in Czechoslovakia in 1931, 8 thousand were farmers or people associated with agricultural work. The student body of higher and secondary specialized educational institutions numbered about 7 thousand people. Intellectual professions - 2 thousand, public and politicians- 1 thousand, writers, journalists, scientists and artists - 600 people. About 1 thousand Russian school-age children lived in Czechoslovakia, 300 children preschool age, about 600 disabled people. The largest categories of the emigrant population were Cossack farmers, intelligentsia and students.<...>

The bulk of emigrants flocked to Prague, some of them settled in the city and its environs. Russian colonies arose in Brno, Bratislava, Pilsen, Uzhgorod and in the surrounding areas.

Numerous organizations carrying out the “Russian Action” were created in Czechoslovakia.<...>First of all, it was the Prague Zemgor (“Union of Zemstvo and City Leaders in Czechoslovakia”). The purpose of creating this institution was to provide all types of assistance to former Russian citizens (material, legal, medical, and so on). After 1927, due to a reduction in funding for the Russian Action, a permanent structure arose - the Association of Russian Emigrant Organizations (OREO). The role of OREO as a coordinating and unifying center among the Russian emigration intensified in the 1930s after the liquidation of Zemgor.

Zemgor studied the number and living conditions of emigrants, helped in finding work, in protecting legal interests, and provided medical and material assistance. For this purpose, Zemgor organized agricultural schools, labor artels, craft workshops, agricultural colonies, cooperatives for Russian emigrants, opened dormitories, canteens, and so on. The main financial basis of Zemgor were subsidies from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. He was helped by banks and other financial institutions. Thanks to this policy, in the early 1920s, numerous specialists from emigrants in Czechoslovakia appeared various areas agriculture and industry: gardeners, gardeners, poultry farmers, butter makers, cheese makers, carpenters, joiners and skilled workers in other specialties. There are bookbinding, shoemaking, carpentry, and toy workshops in Prague and Brno. V.I. Mach's watch shop, perfume shops, and restaurants in Prague became popular.

By the end of the 1920s, when an economic crisis began in Czechoslovakia and there was a surplus of workers, many emigrants were sent to France.

Zemgor carried out enormous cultural and educational work in order to maintain and preserve the connection of Russian emigrants with the culture, language and traditions of Russia. At the same time, the task was set to increase the cultural and educational level of refugees. Lectures, reports, excursions, exhibitions, libraries, and reading rooms were organized. The lectures covered a wide range of socio-political, historical, literary and artistic topics. The reports on modern Russia were of particular interest. Series of lectures were given not only in Prague, but also in Brno, Uzhgorod and other cities. Systematic classes and lectures were held on sociology, cooperation, Russian social thought, modern Russian literature, foreign policy, the history of Russian music, and so on.

Important for Czech-Russian exchange was Zemgor’s organization of a seminar on the study of Czechoslovakia: lectures were given on the constitution and legislation of the Czechoslovakia, on local government bodies.

Zemgor also carried out enormous work on organizing higher education for emigrants in Czechoslovakia.

In the 1930s, OREO included a large number of organizations: the Union of Russian Engineers, the Union of Doctors, student and various professional organizations, and the Pedagogical Bureau of Russian Youth. The gymnasium organized for Russian children in Moravian Trzebow gained great popularity. A.I. Zhekulina, who was a major figure in the Union of Zemstvos and Cities in pre-revolutionary Russia, was actively involved in it. On the initiative of Zhekulina, “Russian Children’s Day” was held in exile in 14 countries. The money collected from this event was spent on supporting children's organizations.

The emigrant colony in Czechoslovakia, not without reason, was recognized by contemporaries as one of the most organized and comfortable Russian diasporas.

Yugoslavia

The creation of a significant Russian diaspora on the territory of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (since 1919 - Yugoslavia) had its historical roots.

The common Christian religion and constant Russian-Slavic relations traditionally connected Russia with the South Slavic countries. Pachomius Logofet, Croatian Yuri Krizanich (about 1618-1683), a supporter of the idea of ​​Slavic unity, generals and officers of the Russian army of Slavic origin M.A. Miloradovich, J. Horvath and others played their role in Russian history and left a grateful memory of themselves. Russia constantly helped the southern Slavs in defending their independence.

The peoples of Yugoslavia considered it their duty to help Russian refugees who could not come to terms with Soviet power. Added to this were pragmatic considerations. The country needed scientific, technical, medical and teaching personnel. To restore and develop the young Yugoslav state, economists, agronomists, foresters, and chemists were needed, and military personnel were needed to protect the borders.

Russian emigrants were patronized by King Alexander. He had both political sympathies and family ties in common with Imperial Russia. His maternal aunts Milica and Anastasia (daughters of King Nikola I of Montenegro) were married to Grand Dukes Nikolai Nikolaevich and Peter Nikolaevich. Alexander himself studied in Russia in the Corps of Pages and then at the Imperial School of Law.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in 1923 the total number of Russian emigrants in Yugoslavia numbered about 45 thousand people.

People from different social strata arrived in Yugoslavia: military men, Cossacks who settled in agricultural areas, representatives of many civilian professions; among them were monarchists, republicans, and liberal democrats.

Three Adriatic harbors - Bakar, Dubrovnik and Kotor - received refugees from Russia. Before settling around the country, their specialties were taken into account<...>and were sent to those areas where they were needed most.

At the ports, refugees were given “Temporary certificates for the right of residence in the Kingdom of the CXC” and 400 dinars for the first month; food commissions issued rations, which consisted of bread, hot meat twice a day and boiling water. Women and children received additional food and were provided with clothing and blankets. At first, all Russian emigrants received an allowance - 240 dinars per month (with the price of 1 kilogram of bread being 7 dinars).

To provide assistance to emigrants, a “Sovereign Commission for Russian Refugees” was formed, which included well-known public and political figures of Yugoslavia and Russian emigrants: the leader of the Serbian radical party, Minister of Religion L. Jovanovic, academicians A. Belich and S. Kukic, with the Russian on the part of Professor V.D. Pletnev. M. V. Chelnokov, S. N. Paleolog, as well as representatives of P. N. Wrangel.

The “Sovereign Commission” was assisted by the “Board of State Commissioners for the Placement of Russian Refugees in the Kingdom of the CXC”, the “Office of the Russian Military Agency in the Kingdom of the CXC”, the “Meeting of Representatives of Emigrant Organizations” and others. Numerous humanitarian, charitable, political, social, professional, student, Cossack, literary and artistic organizations, societies and circles were created.

Russian emigrants settled throughout the country. They were needed in the eastern and southern regions, especially those that suffered during the First World War, the northeastern agricultural regions, which were part of Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and now subject to migration (Germans, Czechs, Hungarians left the Kingdom). The central part of the state - Bosnia and Serbia - experienced a great need for workers in factories, factories and industrial enterprises, in the construction of railways and highways, where mainly the military were sent. The border service was also formed from the military contingent - in 1921 it employed 3,800 people.

On the territory of the Kingdom of the CXC, about three hundred small “Russian colonies” arose in Zagreb, Novi Sad, Pancevo, Zemun, Bila Tserkva, Sarajevo, Mostar, Nis and other places. In Belgrade, according to the “Sovereign Committee”, there were about 10 thousand Russians, mostly intellectuals. In these colonies, Russian church parishes, schools, kindergartens, libraries, numerous military organizations, branches of Russian political, sports and other associations arose.

The Headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, headed by General Wrangel, was stationed in Sremski Karlovci. The Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, headed by Hierarch Anthony (Khrapovitsky) (1863-1936), was also located here.

Military emigration in Yugoslavia was the most significant in number. P. N. Wrangel considered his main task to be the preservation of the army, but in new forms. This meant the creation of military alliances, maintaining the staff of individual military formations, ready, in a favorable situation, to join the armed struggle against Soviet power, as well as maintaining connections with all military personnel in exile.

In 1921, the “Council of United Officers’ Societies in the Kingdom of the SHS” operated in Belgrade, the purpose of which was “to serve the restoration of the Russian Empire.” In 1923, the Council included 16 officer societies, including the Society of Russian Officers, the Society of General Staff Officers, the Society of Artillery Officers, the Society of Military Lawyers, Military Engineers, Naval Officers and others. In total they numbered 3,580 people. Guards military organizations and various types of military courses were created, and efforts were made to preserve the cadet corps. In the late 1920s - early 1930s, the First Russian cadet corps became big military educational institution Russian abroad. A military training museum was opened under him, where the banners of the Russian army taken from Russia were kept. Work was carried out not only to provide material support for the military, but also to improve their military-theoretical knowledge. Competitions were held for the best military theoretical research. As a result, one of them was awarded prizes to the works of General Kazanovich (“The evolution of infantry from the experience of the Great War. The significance of technology for it”), Colonel Plotnikov (“Military psychology, its significance in the Great War and the Civil War”) and others. Lectures, reports, and conversations were held among the military.

The intelligentsia occupied the second largest place in Yugoslavia after the military and made a great contribution to different areas science and culture.

In the card file of the Yugoslav Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 85 Russian cultural, artistic, and sports societies and associations were registered in the period between the two wars. Among them are the “Society of Russian Lawyers”, “Society of Russian Scientists”, “Union of Russian Engineers”, “Union of Artists”, Unions of Russian Agronomists, Doctors, Veterinarians, Industrial and Financial Figures. The symbol of the Russian cultural tradition was the “Russian House named after Emperor Nicholas II” in Belgrade, which opened in April 1933. The meaning of his activities was to preserve the national emigrant culture, which in the future should return to Russia. The "Russian House" became a monument to the brotherhood of the Yugoslav and Russian peoples. The architect of this building, built in the Russian Empire style, was W. Baumgarten (1879-1962). At the opening of the House, the Chairman of the State Commission for Assistance to Russian Refugees, Academician A. Belich, said that the House “was created for all multilateral branches of emigrant cultural life. It turned out that Russian people can still give a lot to the old world culture even outside their desecrated homeland.”

The House housed the State Commission for Assistance to Russian Refugees, the Russian Scientific Institute, the Russian Military Scientific Institute, the Russian Library with an archive and the Publishing Commission, the House-Museum of Emperor Nicholas II, the Museum of Russian Cavalry, gymnasiums, and sports organizations.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria as a Slavic country, historically associated with Russian history, warmly greeted Russian emigrants. In Bulgaria, the memory of Russia's many years of struggle for its liberation from Turkish rule and the victorious war of 1877-1878 has been preserved.

Mainly military personnel and some representatives of intellectual professions were housed here. In 1922, there were 34-35 thousand emigrants from Russia in Bulgaria, and in the early 1930s - about 20 thousand. For territorially small Bulgaria, which suffered economic and political losses in the First World War, this number of immigrants was significant. Part of the army and civilian refugees were stationed in northern Bulgaria. The local population, especially in Burgas and Plevna, where units of the White Army were located, even expressed dissatisfaction with the presence of foreigners. However, this did not influence government policy.

The Bulgarian government provided medical assistance to Russian emigrants: special places were allocated for sick refugees in the Sofia Hospital and the Gerbovetsky Red Cross Hospital. The Ministerial Council of Bulgaria provided material assistance to refugees: issuing coal, allocating loans, funds for the resettlement of Russian children, their families, and so on. Decrees of Tsar Boris III allowed the admission of emigrants to the civil service.

However, life for Russians in Bulgaria, especially in the early 1920s, was difficult. Every month the emigrants received: an army private - 50 Bulgarian leva, an officer - 80 (with the price of 1 kilogram of butter being 55 leva, and a pair of men's boots - 400 leva). Emigrants worked in quarries, mines, bakeries, road construction, factories, factories, and cultivating vineyards. Moreover, for equal work, Bulgarians received a salary approximately twice as high as Russian refugees. An oversaturated labor market created conditions for the exploitation of the newcomer population.

To help emigrants public organizations(“Scientific-Industrial Bulgarian Society”, “Russian-Balkan Committee of Technical Production, Transport and Trade”) began to create profitable enterprises, shops, and commercial firms. Their activities led to the emergence of numerous artels: “Cheap canteen for Russian refugees”, “Russian national community” in the city of Varna, “Apiary in the area of ​​​​the city of Plevna”, “First artel of Russian shoemakers”, “Russian trading artel”, the chairman of which was the former Member of the State Duma, General N. F. Yezersky. Russian gymnasiums, kindergartens, and orphanages were opened in Sofia, Varna and Plevna; courses were organized to study the Russian language, history, and geography of Russia; Russian cultural and national centers were created; Joint Russian-Bulgarian organizations worked, whose activities were aimed at providing assistance to Russian emigrants.

The first wave of Russian emigrants who left Russia after the October Revolution had the most tragic fate. Now the fourth generation of their descendants lives, which has largely lost ties with their historical homeland.

Unknown continent

The Russian emigration of the first post-revolutionary war, also called the White one, is an epochal phenomenon, unparalleled in history not only in its scale, but also in its contribution to world culture. Literature, music, ballet, painting, like many scientific achievements of the 20th century, are unthinkable without Russian emigrants of the first wave.

This was the last emigration exodus, when not just subjects of the Russian Empire ended up abroad, but bearers of Russian identity without subsequent “Soviet” impurities. Subsequently, they created and inhabited a continent that is not on any map of the world - its name is “Russian Abroad”.

The main direction of white emigration is the countries of Western Europe with centers in Prague, Berlin, Paris, Sofia, and Belgrade. A significant part settled in Chinese Harbin - by 1924 there were up to 100 thousand Russian emigrants here. As Archbishop Nathanael (Lvov) wrote, “Harbin was an exceptional phenomenon at that time. Built by the Russians on Chinese territory, it remained a typical Russian provincial town for another 25 years after the revolution.”

According to estimates by the American Red Cross, on November 1, 1920, the total number of emigrants from Russia was 1 million 194 thousand people. The League of Nations provides data as of August 1921 - 1.4 million refugees. Historian Vladimir Kabuzan estimates the number of people who emigrated from Russia in the period from 1918 to 1924 to be at least 5 million people.

Short-term separation

The first wave of emigrants did not expect to spend their entire lives in exile. They expected that the Soviet regime would collapse and they would be able to see their homeland again. Such sentiments explain their opposition to assimilation and their intention to limit their lives to the confines of an emigrant colony.

Publicist and emigrant of the first won Sergei Rafalsky wrote about this: “Somehow that brilliant era when emigration still smelled of dust, gunpowder and blood of the Don steppes, and its elite could imagine replacing it at any call at midnight, was somehow erased in foreign memory.” usurpers" and the full complement of the Council of Ministers, and the necessary quorum of the Legislative Chambers, and the General Staff, and the Corps of Gendarmes, and the Detective Department, and the Chamber of Commerce, and the Holy Synod, and the Governing Senate, not to mention the professorship and representatives of the arts, especially literature "

In the first wave of emigration, in addition to a large number of cultural elites of Russian pre-revolutionary society, there was a significant proportion of military personnel. According to the League of Nations, about a quarter of all post-revolutionary emigrants belonged to the white armies that left Russia at different times from different fronts.

Europe

In 1926, according to the League of Nations Refugee Service, 958.5 thousand Russian refugees were officially registered in Europe. Of these, about 200 thousand were received by France, about 300 thousand by the Republic of Turkey. Yugoslavia, Latvia, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Greece each had approximately 30-40 thousand emigrants.

In the first years, Constantinople played the role of a transshipment base for Russian emigration, but over time its functions were transferred to other centers - Paris, Berlin, Belgrade and Sofia. So, according to some sources, in 1921 Russian population Berlin reached 200 thousand people - it was the city that was primarily affected by the economic crisis, and by 1925 no more than 30 thousand people remained there.

Prague and Paris are gradually emerging as the main centers of Russian emigration; in particular, the latter is rightly considered the cultural capital of the first wave of emigration. The Don Military Association, whose chairman was one of the leaders of the white movement, Venedikt Romanov, played a special place among Parisian emigrants. After the National Socialists came to power in Germany in 1933, and especially during World War II, the outflow of Russian emigrants from Europe to the United States sharply increased.

China

On the eve of the revolution, the number of Russian diaspora in Manchuria reached 200 thousand people, after the start of emigration it increased by another 80 thousand. Throughout the entire period of the Civil War in the Far East (1918-1922), in connection with mobilization, the active movement of the Russian population of Manchuria began.

After the defeat of the white movement, emigration to Northern China increased sharply. By 1923, the number of Russians here was estimated at approximately 400 thousand people. Of this number, about 100 thousand received Soviet passports, many of them decided to repatriate to the RSFSR. The amnesty announced to ordinary members of the White Guard formations played a role here.

The period of the 1920s was marked by active re-emigration of Russians from China to other countries. This especially affected young people heading to study at US universities. South America, Europe and Australia.

Stateless persons

On December 15, 1921, the RSFSR adopted a decree according to which many categories of former subjects of the Russian Empire were deprived of the rights to Russian citizenship, including those who had stayed abroad continuously for more than 5 years and did not receive foreign passports or relevant certificates in a timely manner from Soviet missions.

Thus, many Russian emigrants found themselves stateless. But their rights continued to be protected by the former Russian embassies and consulates as the corresponding states recognized the RSFSR and then the USSR.

A number of issues concerning Russian emigrants could only be resolved at the international level. For this purpose, the League of Nations decided to introduce the post of High Commissioner for Russian Refugees. It was the famous Norwegian polar explorer Fridtjof Nansen. In 1922, special “Nansen” passports appeared, which were issued to Russian emigrants.

Until the end of the 20th century different countries there were emigrants and their children living with “Nansen” passports. Thus, the elder of the Russian community in Tunisia, Anastasia Aleksandrovna Shirinskaya-Manstein, received a new Russian passport only in 1997.

“I was waiting for Russian citizenship. I didn't want anything Soviet. Then I waited for the passport to have a double-headed eagle - the embassy offered it with the coat of arms of the international, I waited with the eagle. I’m such a stubborn old woman,” admitted Anastasia Alexandrovna.

The fate of emigration

Many figures of Russian culture and science met the proletarian revolution in the prime of their lives. Hundreds of scientists, writers, philosophers, musicians, and artists ended up abroad, who could have been the flower of the Soviet nation, but due to circumstances revealed their talent only in emigration.

But the overwhelming majority of emigrants were forced to find work as drivers, waiters, dishwashers, auxiliary workers, and musicians in small restaurants, nevertheless continuing to consider themselves bearers of the great Russian culture.

The paths of Russian emigration were different. Some initially did not accept Soviet power, others were forcibly expelled abroad. The ideological conflict essentially split the Russian emigration. This became especially acute during the Second World War. Part of the Russian diaspora believed that in order to fight fascism it was worth entering into an alliance with the communists, while others refused to support both totalitarian regimes. But there were also those who were ready to fight against the hated Soviets on the side of the fascists.

White emigrants from Nice addressed the representatives of the USSR with a petition:
“We deeply mourned that at the time of Germany’s treacherous attack on our homeland there were
physically deprived of the opportunity to be in the ranks of the valiant Red Army. But we
helped our Motherland by working underground.” And in France, according to the calculations of the emigrants themselves, every tenth representative of the Resistance Movement was Russian.

Dissolving in a foreign environment

The first wave of Russian emigration, having experienced a peak in the first 10 years after the revolution, began to decline in the 1930s, and by the 1940s it completely disappeared. Many descendants of the first wave of emigrants have long forgotten about their ancestral home, but the traditions of preserving Russian culture that were once laid are largely alive to this day.

A descendant of a noble family, Count Andrei Musin-Pushkin, sadly stated: “Emigration was doomed to disappearance or assimilation. The old people died, the young gradually disappeared into the local environment, turning into French, Americans, Germans, Italians... Sometimes it seems that only beautiful, sonorous surnames and titles remain from the past: counts, princes, Naryshkins, Sheremetyevs, Romanovs, Musins-Pushkins.” .

Thus, at the transit points of the first wave of Russian emigration, no one was left alive. The last was Anastasia Shirinskaya-Manstein, who died in Bizerte, Tunisia, in 2009.

The situation with the Russian language, which at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries found itself in an ambiguous position in the Russian diaspora, was also difficult. Natalya Bashmakova, a professor of Russian literature living in Finland, a descendant of emigrants who fled St. Petersburg in 1918, notes that in some families the Russian language lives even in the fourth generation, in others it died many decades ago.

“The problem of languages ​​is sad for me personally,” says the scientist, “because I emotionally feel Russian better, but I’m not always sure of using certain expressions; Swedish sits deep in me, but, of course, I’ve forgotten it now. Emotionally, it is closer to me than Finnish.”

Today in Adelaide, Australia, there live many descendants of the first wave of emigrants who left Russia because of the Bolsheviks. They still have Russian surnames and even Russian names, but their native language is already English. Their homeland is Australia, they do not consider themselves emigrants and have little interest in Russia.

Most of those who have Russian roots currently live in Germany - about 3.7 million people, in the USA - 3 million, in France - 500 thousand, in Argentina - 300 thousand, in Australia - 67 thousand Several waves of emigration from Russia mixed here. But, as surveys have shown, the descendants of the first wave of emigrants feel the least connection with the homeland of their ancestors.