Soviet historiography of 1920s on buffer statehood in Russian Civil War period in the East of Russia

Abstract

The article analyzes Soviet publications of the 1920s studied the buffer statehood in the east of Russia during the period of the Russian Civil War and finds out their contribution to the development of the research problem in Russian historiography. The article concludes by arguing that the main contribution proposed in this field by them are exploring previously unknown unique historical sources and opening them for wide public access; use of different methodological approaches to studying the buffer state and statehood phenomenon; presentation of diverse opinions on the goals of buffer statehood and interpretations of its essence in the form of the Far Eastern Republic. The article shows that the publications of the 1920s has a different fate: some were immediately forgotten or deliberately ignored, others were used by the followers situationally and/or opportunistically, and others remained in demand at all stages of the development of Soviet historiography and even used by some modern authors who studied the Irkutsk Political Center and the Far Eastern Republic.

Keywords

• soviet russia
• russian civil war
• bolsheviks
• eastern russia
• political center
• buffer
• far eastern republic (fer)
• historiography