A form of creating historical consciousness: The Russian academy and Varangian question
In: Zbornik Matice Srpske za društvene nauke: Proceedings for social sciences, Heft 152, S. 471-486
ISSN: 2406-0836
The establishment of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg gave a great
impetus to the development of historiography in Russia, and likewise to the
development of other sciences. The idea of establishing the Academy of
Sciences in Russia came from Peter the Great. Because there did not exist a
system of higher education or a university in Russia at that time, scientists
who were to become the first members of the Academy, had to be brought in
from abroad. The enlightened ruler did not regret spending effort and money
for this purpose. Large sums of money were assigned to the purchase of books
and to the salaries and awards of the future members of the Academy. The
Academy started its activities in December 1725, and during the first few
decades it was led by scientists from abroad, mainly from German countries.
That was also the case with the Humanities Section, which, among other
things, supposed to deal with Russian history. The bases for work at the
Russian Academy in St. Petersburg in the following decades were set by:
Gottlieb Siegfried Bayer, Gerhard Friedrich M?ller and August Ludwig von
Schl?zer. On the bases of the Russian historical material that they
collected, primarily Nestorov letopis (Nestor?s chronicle) that describes the
events of the 9th century, they came to far-reaching conclusions about the
origin of the Russian people and the establishment of the Russian state and
its institutions. This way was opened the so called Varangian question and
formulated Norman theory of the origin of the Russians. In the first half of
the 18th century, Russian historian Vasily Nikitich Tatishchev, academician
Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov and other Russian scientists opposed to these
theories. During the 19th century, these theories were accepted, with certain
modifications, by the most distinguished Russian bourgeois historians
Karamzin, Soloviev, Pagodin and others. The Bolsheviks mostly rejected these
theories or they were simplified and reduced to the social segment that the
Russian people were oppressed, and that the majority the oppressor elite was
of foreign origin. As is the case with the interpretations of many historical
events and processes, the conclusions related to the Varangian question and
Norman theory were widely influenced by the time in which the author wrote,
and by his political and ideological attitudes. That was perhaps more
pronounced in this case, because it was the question of the origin and
ethnogenesis of the Russian people and the establishment of the Russian state
and its institutions.
