RUDN Journal of Russian History (Dec 2017)
STAFF TRAINING FOR MILITARY AND CIVIL SERVICE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE 19TH CENTURY: ACADEMIC YEARS OF HISTORIAN, GENERAL-LIEUTENANT N.K. SCHILDER
Abstract
The purpose of the article is to replenish the information fi eld of Russian historians by introducing data about a little-known element in the historiography in the system of staff trai-ning in elite educational institutions of Russia in the middle of the 19th century. The object of the study is the young age of Nikolai Karlovich Schilder (1842-1902), who by honourable service in the military fi eld rose to the rank of Lieutenant General (1893) after completing two educational institutions. As a result of his historical studies, he became the corresponding mem-ber of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1900). Based on the information found in archival and published historical sources, as well as in the an-nexes to the published historical works, there is considered the process of N.K. Schilder’s acquiring not only a large body of knowledge, but also the process of his personality formation as a patriot of Russia.Five years (1857-1862) were a special period of his life as a future military engineer and historian - the time when he obtained secondary and special higher military education. The years of studies in the Pages Corps and the Nikolaev Engineering Academy were of great use for him. He showed good results in studies and extraordinary creative abilities. The article shows the scope of knowledge and quality of skills obtained by N.K. Shilder while studying, the degree of his preparedness to work both as a military engineer and historian-researcher. The article proves that he obtained professional knowledge necessary for a military engineer; he was accustomed to thinking big, to working systematically, independently and creatively. Self-discipline and acquired skills of research work were the key to his future success in the fi eld of military and military-political history and in the biographical genre.
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