The State Hermitage Museum: Information

Hermitage View: Russians at Gallipoli
Published in Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti
29 May 2008 (N 097)

An event, which occurred not long ago at Gallipoli in Turkey, is in my opinion, astonishing.

A monument has been renewed in memory of the Russian soldiers who sought refuge at Gallipoli – soldiers of Wrangel’s army, who after being defeated in the Crimea arrived in Turkey and were located there for several years. The remains of the Russian army lived on an empty peninsula on the shore of the Dardanelles, fulfilled their service, worked, studied and prepared themselves for their return to their homeland. Gradually they left.

This is a very symbolic place. It was here that Russian military emigration became established. Furthermore, it was a well organised emigration.

Two Russias arose from the Civil War. One was Soviet, which could be described as preserving the Russian Empire. The second Russia lost the Civil War and departed for the West. But this Russia took with it an important part of Russian culture and managed to preserve it. It preserved the language in its classical form, family connections, family cult, the conception of honour and the memory of Russian history... In short, many things which on account of varying reasons were almost lost.

People who found themselves far from home preserved many things because they were well organised. They lived according to the rules of military organization. And later, when they departed for Paris to make a living driving taxis, they never forgot that they were officers of the Russian Army.

Gallipoli is not a simple city. It is a strategically important point on the Dardanelles. At the beginning of World War I, the British took Gallipoli. Many Turks and British were killed there. Later there was an earthquake. It was to this place, an empty field, if you like, that the Russian Army came.

On this huge, featureless field a Russian society was built to some form of military model. This is an astonishing historical example. The people who had lost the war were building for the future. Here there is some parallel with the State Hermitage Museum during the time of the Second World War. There was a war, a siege, but the State Hermitage Museum organised excursions through the empty halls, organised lectures, dedicated to Nizami. There as here, the first thing which the Russians did after landing in Turkey was to establish military training institutions. Why was it necessary when the war is already lost, and Russia is in ruins? They understood that it was necessary to educate the young. The only accessible means were military camps. At Gallipoli they celebrated the jubilees of military colleges and taught students using strict discipline. It seemed that in this hopeless situation these people found a way of preserving the memory of Russia.

Then an important event occurred, the memory of Russia splashed out into Europe. Thanks to this around the world a Russian Diaspora appeared – a Diaspora of people taking with them Russian culture, having developed Russian traditions in different ends of the world. They created their own literature, music, journals... Some of these people enriched western culture. Much of what they did is returning to us now.

Today, we are not reconciling enemies but unifying two parts of Russian culture. One lived and developed here under totalitarian conditions. The other existed overseas in less severe conditions. To some extent, everything started with that strange monument at Gallipoli. It didn’t last for long, it was destroyed by an earthquake. But it was the prototype for the monument at the Russian cemetery Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois near Paris.

It seems to me that the renewal of this monument is more symbolic than reminiscing about the Civil War or, for example, returning Denikin’s ashes to Russia. This event is not an act of reconciliation. Reconciliation is impossible. The people who erected the monument had only just returned from the battle field, far from home, exiled by their very brothers. But brothers remain brothers, even if they kill each other.

The monument erected at Gallipoli is dedicated to Russia as a whole. One might be granted permission for relocating ashes, build monuments to White generals. But we witnessed the renewal of a memorial in a foreign land. Where the camp was located everything is destroyed. But it was here in particular that we were reminded of the Orthodox cemetery. Imagine what was necessary to make a monument with a cross, create a museum with a chapel, to have services. For all of this, it was necessary not only to receive permission from the Turkish authorities but also from the Patriarchy in Constantinople. But the idea was supported and permitted.

The opening ceremony was held exactly a year following the unification of the Russian Orthodox Church: the Moscow Patriarchy and the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia. Important events for Russia were combined.

The initiators for renewing the monument were on the one hand the Foundation of St. Andrew the First Called and the Centre for the National Glory of Russia, and on the other, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They carried through the extremely hard work, which went on for a very long time.

In 1920 our history took a tumble, which we should not forget. Russia’s dream was to see the Russian Army in Constantinople. And the Russian fleet reached the Dardanelles and the army disembarked, defeated but educated by the Civil War. The army was thoroughly ready for combat, it carried out parades for several weeks following disembarkation. The event was grand by its scale of potential consequences.

We won’t send the fleet into the Dardanelles, but we are returning with the help of our history, our traditions... At Gallipoli a monument will stand, revealing Russia’s presence in the Middle East. We have Orthodox shrines there and now there is the trace of the Russian army. For Russia the army has always been very important. The time has come to look at our history with greater optimism. Even tragic events can enable this.

Nowadays everything is going quite nicely for the army – there is money and technology... But, it seems to me that there is a serious problem in that it has lost its spirit, which was inherent in the Russian guards.

A delegation from the State Hermitage Museum was present at the opening ceremony for the monument. Why was this important for us? The State Hermitage Museum plays an active role in the continuation of Russian military history. We have opened the ‘model’ for the Guards’ Museum in the General Staff Building. There are many displays there which talk about the history of the Russian army. This is one way of reviving military conceptions and traditions.

Material arrives at the State Hermitage Museum, which the Russian army carried overseas with the emigration. What did these people take away with them? They took with them regimental archives, standards and military symbols. These things are now being returned to Russia and are given to our museum. We have only recently received the archives of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. Shrines of the Grenadier Lifeguard Regiment are displayed in the first hall of the Guards’ Museum. There is the banner, which was located in storage at the Government House of Great Britain, banners coming back from the United States of America. The participation of the State Hermitage Museum in the ceremony, which took place in Gallipoli, we saw as being part of the museum’s mission.

Of course, not everything is simple. The press published information that a monument to the White Guards had been restored; an interview was broadcast with Kutepov’s son... We practically bow to the ground before the White Guards. But the matter is quite different – it is about our national history. We must preserve this history, regardless of what it was.

We can look at the events of this period in a number of ways: people fleeing from Russia, spilling their own and others’ blood in the Crimea. Or we could remember that the Russian navy and army arrived in Constantinople – worrying the English and the French. After that there was the long and tough route, which Russian army officers took to Europe, where no one was waiting for them and didn’t really want to see them. A tragedy had occurred but it became the catalyst for a large-scale cultural movement – Russia’s presence in the West. Representatives of the Russian Diaspora played an enormous role in the history of the French Resistance, French political life... The history is about how Russia saved herself and took on the world.

In various parts of the world there are points, which connect to our history. Each one of us may have a personal connection to them. But it is time to stop thinking about who won and who defeated whom.

The government saved the Sainte-Genevieve-des-Bois cemetery in Paris. And the monument in Gallipoli again stands as a symbol of Russia’s presence. This is important for Russia today.