While in exile, many representatives of the Russian intelligentsia continued to work: they did scientific discoveries, promoted Russian culture, created medical care systems, developed faculties, headed the departments of leading universities in foreign countries, established new universities and gymnasiums.

In Moscow, within the framework of the International Annual Theological Conference of St. Tikhon's Orthodox Humanitarian University, the IX International Scientific and Educational Conference "People and Destinies of the Russian Diaspora" was held.

The conference was dedicated to the emigration of the Russian scientific elite abroad at the beginning of the 20th century. Experts in their reports told about the history life path scientists who went abroad and made a significant contribution to the development of world science.

The event was attended by: Archbishop Mikhail of Geneva, independent researchers, experts from the Institute of World History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, INION RAS, NRU Higher School of Economics, Moscow State University, Institute of Russian cultural heritage Latvia, Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, etc.

As the professor of the Odessa National medical university K.K. Vasiliev, the fate of the professor Imperial Russia naturally fell into two parts - life at home and in exile. What made some scientists, many of whom have already managed to make a career and earn a name in domestic science, emigrate from Russia after 1917 and disperse throughout the world along with other intellectuals? Everyone had their own private reasons: persecution, arrests, family circumstances, dismissals, closing of departments, inability to continue work on the chosen topic, etc. However, ideological pressure can be called the main reason. “People were put in certain limits. A person who grew up free could not agree to such conditions, and, naturally, people left Russia not with joy, but with great bitterness in the hope of returning back to their homeland soon, ”said the doctor of history and representative of the Russian Institute to the International Affairs magazine. cultural heritage of Latvia Tatjana Feigmane.

The fate of the professor of Imperial Russia naturally fell into two parts - life at home and in exile. Data on the number of Russian scientists who emigrated in the 1920s vary from 500 to more than 1,000 people. However, as Associate Professor high school(Faculty) of State Audit of Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov Olga Barkova, many modern researchers believe that the Russian scientific emigration was about ¼ of the pre-revolutionary scientific community, i.e. about 1100 people. Some scientists who found themselves in a foreign land managed not only to realize themselves in the difficult conditions of emigration, but also to promote Russian scientific thought abroad. As an example, they include the following personalities, whose life and work were described in detail by the participants of the conference:

• Privatdozent of Petrograd University Alexander Vasilyevich Boldur, having emigrated to Romania, headed for many years the historical departments of the leading universities of the country.
• Professor N.K. Kulchitsky, who made a dizzying career from a medical student to the Minister of Education in Imperial Russia, became world famous in the field of histology and embryology. In 1921, he moved to Britain and, while working at the University of London, made a significant contribution to the development of domestic and British histology and biology.
• Historian of philosophy and jurisprudence P.I. Novgorodtsev became one of the organizers of the Russian Faculty of Law in Prague, which was opened at the Charles University in 1922.
• Clinical scientist A.I. Ignatovsky after 1917 was evacuated to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, where he received a chair at the University of Belgrade. After the Second World War, the University of Skopje opened in Macedonia, where he also headed the clinical department. Among other things, A.I. Ignatovsky founded his scientific school.
• Private Associate Professor of St. Petersburg University A.N. Kruglevsky in connection with the closure of the legal departments of the faculties social sciences in 1924 he left for Latvia, where already at the University of Latvia he earned authority, became the author of many scientific works on criminal law, published in Latvian, Russian and German. Participated in the creation of articles on criminal law for the Latvian Encyclopedic Dictionary.
• Professor F.V. Taranovsky (a well-known lawyer, doctor of public law, author of the textbook "Encyclopedia of Law", which is still published and used in law faculties) emigrated to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in 1920, where he was immediately elected professor of Slavic law at the University of Belgrade, and in 1930 he headed the Russian Scientific Institute in Belgrade.

An important contribution to the formation and development of the Russian scientific community in exile, as well as world science, was made not only by men, but also by women who, according to Olga Barkova, went abroad mainly as part of their families, either with their parents or with their husbands. The expert cited several women as examples:

• Doctor of Medicine Nadezhda Dobrovolskaya-Zavadskaya, the first woman from Russia to head the Department of Surgery, whose research in the field of oncology in the 1930s. were associated with the study of the effects of X-rays on the nature of various cancers.
• Immunologist, graduate of Moscow University, head of the laboratory at the Pasteur Institute and laureate of the French Medical Academy(1945) Antonina Gelen (née Shchedrina), who proposed a technique for using bacteriophage viruses for medical purposes, which laid the foundation for one of the methods of modern chemotherapy.
• Philosopher - theologian Nadezhda Gorodetskaya, the first woman professor who worked at the university department in Liverpool.
• Historian Anna Burgina, a specialist in the history of the Menshevik movement, through whose efforts the United States was formed scientific direction on the study of the history of the labor movement and trained a whole generation of American specialists in the history of Russia.

At the same time, not all of the Russian intelligentsia who emigrated successfully realized themselves in a foreign land, as complex processes of adaptation and integration into a new society, language difficulties and other problems affected. According to the Paris and Marseille Bureau of Zemgor for 1923, out of 7050 people, 51.3% were people of intelligent professions who received earnings in the field of physical labor, and only 0.1% - in the field of mental labor.

The Russian emigration wave after 1917 moved not only to Europe, but also to Asia, to China, where there were specific conditions - not only the climate, but also a completely different civilization, language, customs, lack of sanitation and much more. Viktoria Sharonova, senior researcher at INION RAS, who highlighted her report to Russian professors in Shanghai, noted that the Russian faculty in this country can be divided into two categories: 1 - those who came to China during the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway, 2 - refugees , who came mainly from St. Petersburg (it was they who made up the color of the professorship), as well as the remnants of Kolchak's army, refugees from Western and Eastern Siberia, the Far East, Transbaikal Cossacks. “In China, professors carried out, first of all, educational activities not only among Russians, but also among Chinese youth. Thanks to our intelligentsia, a new generation of Chinese has emerged. Directions were very different. For the Russians, military education was the most important (because they were evacuated to China cadet corps and a large number of Russian military lived here), for the Chinese, European medicine was important, as well as culture, ”the expert said.

In her speech, Victoria Sharonova mentioned Professor Bari Adolf Eduardovich, a native of St. Petersburg, a psychiatrist by training. He arrived in Shanghai, a city with one of the highest suicide rates, where people went crazy, homesick. Adolf Eduardovich was active in educational and social activities: he taught at the University of Shanghai, arranged free consultations for Russian emigrants, was a detachment doctor of the Russian regiment of the Shanghai volunteer corps, chairman of the Russian charitable society, professor at the Chinese University in Beijing. Victoria Sharonova noted high role Bari in saving the lives of Russian emigrants in Shanghai.

At the end of the conference, the participants agreed that in addition to all scientific achievements, Russian emigrant scientists presented amazing examples of morality, fortitude, readiness for self-sacrifice, which can serve as an example for today's youth.

Barkova O. N. "They could not go into only one science ...": women - scientists of the Russian diaspora in 1917 - 1939 // Clio. - 2016. - No. 12. - S. 153–162.

The main reasons for leaving the Motherland, the stages and directions of the "first wave" of Russian emigration; attitude to emigration as "temporary evacuation";

Mass emigration Russian citizens the gyusle of the October Revolution of 1917 began immediately and continued intensively in various countries until 1921-1922. It was from this moment that the number of emigration remained approximately constant in general, but its share in different countries was constantly changing, which is explained by internal migration in search of a slave to receive an education and better material living conditions.

The process of integration and socio-cultural adaptation of Russian refugees in various social conditions The European countries and China went through several stages and basically ended by 1939, when most emigrants no longer had the prospect of returning to their homeland. The main centers of dispersion of Russian emigration were Constantinople, Sofia, Prague, Berlin, Paris, Harbin. The first place of refuge was Constantinople, the center of Russian culture in the early 1920s. In the early 1920s, Berlin became the literary capital of Russian emigration. The Russian diaspora in Berlin before Hitler came to power was 150,000 people. When the hope of a speedy return to Russia began to fade and an economic crisis began in Germany, the center of emigration moved to Paris, from the mid-1920s - the capital of the Russian diaspora. By 1923, 300 thousand Russian refugees settled in Paris. Eastern centers of dispersion - Harbin and Shanghai. Scientific center of Russian emigration for a long time was Prague. The Russian People's University was founded in Prague, 5,000 Russian students studied there free of charge. Many professors and university lecturers also moved here. An important role in preserving Slavic culture, the development of science was played by the "Prague Linguistic Circle".

The main reasons for the formation of Russian emigration as a sustainable social phenomenon steel: first World War, Russian revolutions and civil war, the political consequence of which is a lot of redistribution of borders in Europe and, above all, a change in the borders of Russia. The turning point for the formation of emigration was the October Revolution of 1917 and the civil war caused by it, which split the country's population into two irreconcilable camps. Formally, this provision was legally enshrined later: on January 5, 1922, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars published a decree of December 15, 1921, depriving certain categories of persons abroad of citizenship rights.

According to the decree, the rights of citizenship were deprived of persons who were abroad continuously for more than five years and did not receive a passport from the Soviet government before June 1, 1922; persons who left Russia after November 7, 1917 without the permission of the Soviet authorities; persons who voluntarily served in the armies that fought against the Soviet regime or participated in counter-revolutionary organizations.

Article 2 of the same decree provided for the possibility of restoring citizenship. In practice, however, this possibility could not be realized - from persons wishing to return to their homeland, not only an application was required to accept citizenship of the RSFSR or the USSR, but also the adoption of Soviet ideology.

In addition to this decree, at the end of 1925, the Commissariat of Internal Affairs issued rules on the procedure for returning to the USSR, according to which it was allowed to delay the entry of these persons under the pretext of preventing an increase in unemployment in the country.

Persons intending to return to the USSR immediately after obtaining citizenship or an amnesty were recommended to attach to the application documents on the possibility of employment, certifying that the applicant would not replenish the ranks of the unemployed.

The principal feature of the Russian post-revolutionary emigration and its difference from similar emigrations of other major European revolutions is its broad social composition, which includes almost all (and not just the previously privileged) social strata.

the social composition of the Russian emigration; problems of adaptation;

Among the people who found themselves outside Russia by 1922, there were representatives of practically classes and estates, ranging from members of the former ruling classes to workers: "persons living off their capital, government officials, doctors, scientists, teachers, military and numerous industrial and agricultural workers, peasants".

Their political views were also heterogeneous, reflecting the entire spectrum of the political life of revolutionary Russia. The social differentiation of Russian emigration is explained by the heterogeneity of the social causes and methods of recruitment that caused it.

The main factors of this phenomenon were the First World War, the Civil War, the Bolshevik terror and the famine of 1921-1922.

Related to this is the dominant trend in the gender composition of the emigration - the overwhelming predominance of the male part of the Russian emigration of working age. This circumstance opens up the possibility of interpreting Russian emigration as a natural economic factor of post-war Europe, the possibility of viewing it in the categories of economic sociology (as a large-scale migration of labor resources of various levels of professional qualifications, the so-called "labor emigration").

The extreme conditions of the genesis of Russian emigration determined the specifics of its socio-economic position in the structure of Western society. It was characterized, on the one hand, by the cheapness of the labor force offered by emigrants, which acts as a competitor to national labor resources) and, on the other hand, by a potential source of unemployment (since emigrants were the first to lose their jobs during the economic crisis).

Territories of predominant resettlement of Russian emigrants, reasons for changing the place of residence; cultural and political centers of Russian emigration;

The principal factor determining the position of emigration as a socio-cultural phenomenon is its legal insecurity. Refugees' lack of constitutional rights and freedoms (speech, press, the right to form unions and societies, join trade unions, freedom of movement, etc.) did not allow them to defend their position at a high political, legal and institutional level. The difficult economic and legal situation of Russian emigrants made it necessary to create a non-political public organization with the aim of providing social and legal assistance to Russian citizens living abroad. Such an organization for Russian emigrants in Europe was the Russian Zemstvo-City Committee for Assistance to Russian Citizens Abroad (“Zemgor”), created in Paris in February 1921. The first step taken by the Parisian Zemgor was to influence the French government in order to achieve its refusal to repatriate Russian refugees in Soviet Russia.

Another priority was the resettlement of Russian refugees from Constantinople to the European countries of Serbia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, ready to receive a significant number of emigrants. Realizing the impossibility of settling all Russian refugees abroad at the same time, Zemgor turned to the League of Nations for help; for this purpose, a Memorandum on the situation of refugees and ways to alleviate their situation was submitted to the League of Nations, drawn up and signed by representatives of 14 Russian refugee organizations in Paris, including Zemgor . Efforts Zemgor's efforts were effective, especially in the Slavic countries - Serbia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, where many educational institutions (both established in these countries and evacuated there from Constantinople) were taken to the full budget financing of the governments of these states

The central event that determined the psychological mood and composition of this "cultural emigration" was the infamous expulsion of the intelligentsia in August-September 1922.

The peculiarity of this expulsion was that it was an action of the state policy of the new Bolshevik government. The XII Conference of the RCP(b) in August 1922 equated the old intelligentsia, which strove to maintain political neutrality, with "enemies of the people", with the Cadets. One of the initiators of the deportation, L.D. Trotsky cynically explained that by this action the Soviet government was saving them from execution. Yes, in fact, such an alternative was also announced officially: in case of return - execution. Meanwhile, only one S.N. Trubetskoy could be accused of specific anti-Soviet actions.

In composition, the group of expelled "unreliable" consisted entirely of the intelligentsia, mainly the intellectual elite of Russia: professors, philosophers, writers, journalists. The decision of the authorities for them was a moral and political slap in the face. After all, N.A. Berdyaev has already lectured, S.L. Frank taught at Moscow University, pedagogical activity were engaged in P.A. Florensky, P.A. Sorokin ... But it turned out that they were thrown away like unnecessary trash.

the attitude of the Soviet government towards the Russian emigration; deportations abroad; remigration process;

Although the Bolshevik government tried to present the deportees as insignificant for science and culture, the emigrant newspapers called this action a "generous gift." It was truly a "royal gift" for Russian culture abroad. Among the 161 people on the lists of this expulsion were the rectors of both metropolitan universities, historians L.P. Karsavin, M.M. Karpovich, philosophers N.A. Berdyaev, S.L. Frank, S.N. Bulgakov, P.A. Florensky, N.O. Lossky, sociologist P.A. Sorokin, publicist M.A. Osorgin and many other prominent figures Russian culture. Abroad, they became the founders of historical and philosophical schools, modern sociology, and important trends in biology, zoology, and technology. "Generous gift" to the Russian abroad turned into a loss for Soviet Russia entire schools and trends, primarily in historical science, philosophy, cultural studies, and other humanitarian disciplines.

The expulsion of 1922 was the largest state action of the Bolshevik authorities against the intelligentsia after the revolution. But not the latest. The stream of expulsions, departures and simply flight of the intelligentsia from Soviet Russia dried up only by the end of the 20s, when an “iron curtain” of ideology fell between the new world of the Bolsheviks and the entire culture of the old world.

political and cultural life Russian emigration.

Thus, by 1925 - 1927. the composition of "Russia No. 2" was finally formed, its significant cultural potential was designated. In emigration, the proportion of professionals and people with higher education exceeded the pre-war level. In exile, a community was formed. Former refugees, quite consciously and purposefully, sought to create a community, establish ties, resist assimilation, and not dissolve in the peoples that sheltered them. The understanding that an important period of Russian history and culture has irretrievably ended came to Russian emigrants quite early.

1. The first wave.
2. Second wave.
3. The third wave.
4. The fate of Shmelev.

The poet has no biography, he has only destiny. And his fate is the fate of his homeland.
A. A. Blok

The literature of the Russian diaspora is the literature of Russian emigrants who, by the will of fate, did not have the opportunity to create in their homeland. As a phenomenon, the literature of the Russian diaspora arose after the October Revolution. Three periods - waves of Russian emigration - were stages of expulsion or flight of writers abroad.

Chronologically, they are dated to important historical events in Russia. The first wave of emigration lasted from 1918 to 1938, from World War I and civil war to the outbreak of World War II. It was of a massive nature and was forced - about four million people left the USSR. These were not only people who went abroad after the revolution: Socialist-Revolutionaries, Mensheviks, anarchists emigrated after the events of 1905. After the defeat of the volunteer army in 1920, the White Guards tried to escape in exile. Went abroad V. V. Nabokov, I. S. Shmelev, I. A. Bunin, M. I. Tsvetaeva, D. S. Merezhkovsky, Z. N. Gippius, V. F. Khodasevich, B. K. Zaitsev and many others. Some still hoped that in Bolshevik Russia it was possible to be creative, as before, but reality showed that this was impossible. Russian literature existed abroad, just as Russia continued to live in the hearts of those who left it and in their works.

At the end of World War II, a second wave of emigration began, also forced. In less than ten years, from 1939 to 1947, ten million people left Russia, among them writers such as I. P. Elagin, D. I. Klenovsky, G. P. Klimov, N. V. Narokov, B. N. Shiryaev.

The third wave is the time of Khrushchev's "thaw". This emigration was voluntary. From 1948 to 1990, just over a million people left their homeland. If earlier the reasons that prompted to emigrate were political, then the third emigration was guided mainly by economic reasons. Mostly representatives of the creative intelligentsia left - A. I. Solzhenitsyn, I. A. Brodsky, S. D. Dovlatov, G. N. Vladimov, S. A. Sokolov, Yu. V. Mamleev, E. V. Limonov, Yu Aleshkovsky, I. M. Guberman, A. A. Galich, N. M. Korzhavin, Yu. M. Kublanovskii, V. P. Nekrasov, A. D. Sinyavskii, and D. I. Rubina. Many, for example A. I. Solzhenitsyn, V. P. Aksenov, V. E. Maksimov, V. N. Voinovich, were deprived of Soviet citizenship. They leave for the USA, France, Germany. It should be noted that the representatives of the third wave were not filled with such poignant nostalgia as those who emigrated earlier. Their homeland sent them out, calling them parasites, criminals and slanderers. They had a different mentality - they were considered victims of the regime and accepted, providing citizenship, patronage and material support.

The literary work of the representatives of the first wave of emigration is of great cultural value. I want to dwell in more detail on the fate of I. S. Shmelev. “Shmelev, perhaps, is the most profound writer of the Russian post-revolutionary emigration, and not only emigration ... a writer of great spiritual power, Christian purity and lordship of the soul. His "Summer of the Lord", "Praying Prayer", "The Inexhaustible Chalice" and other creations are not even just Russian literary classics, it seems to be itself marked and illuminated by the Spirit of God, ”the writer V. G. Rasputin highly appreciated Shmelev’s work .

Emigration changed the life and work of the writer, who worked very fruitfully until 1917, who became known to the whole world as the author of the story “The Man from the Restaurant”. Terrible events preceded his departure - he lost his only son. In 1915, Shmelev went to the front - this was already a shock for his parents. But ideologically, they were of the opinion that the son must fulfill his duty to his homeland. After the revolution, the Shmelev family moved to Alushta, where there was hunger and poverty. In 1920, Shmelev, who fell ill with tuberculosis in the army and was undergoing treatment, was arrested by B. Kun's Chekists. Three months later he was shot despite the amnesty. Upon learning of this, Shmelev does not return to Russia from Berlin, where he is caught by this tragic news, and then moves to Paris.

In his works, the writer recreates the terrible in its authenticity picture of what is happening in Russia: terror, lawlessness, hunger. It is terrible to consider such a country as a homeland. Shmelev considers all those who remained in Russia to be holy martyrs. No less terrible was the life of emigrants: many lived in poverty, did not live - survived. In his journalism, Shmelev constantly raised this problem, urging compatriots to help each other. In addition to hopeless grief, pressing questions also weighed on the writer's family - where to live, how to earn a living. He, who was a deep believer and observed Orthodox fasts and holidays even in a foreign land, began to collaborate in the Orthodox patriotic magazine "Russian Bell", t Caring for others, Ivan Sergeevich did not know how to think about himself, did not know how to ask, fawn, so he was often deprived of the most necessary of things. In exile, he writes stories, pamphlets, novels, while the best work written by him in exile is “The Summer of the Lord” (1933). In this work, the way of life and the spiritual atmosphere of the pre-revolutionary Russian Orthodox family are recreated. In writing the book, he is driven by "love for his native ashes, love for his father's coffins" - these lines of A. S. Pushkin are taken as an epigraph. “The Summer of the Lord” is a counterbalance to the Sun of the Dead”, about what was alive in Russia.

“Maybe this book will be - "The Sun of the Living" - this is for me, of course. In the past, all of us, in Russia, had a lot of LIVE and truly bright things that could be lost forever. But it WAS. Life-giving, the manifestation of the Spirit is Alive, which, killed by its own death, verily, must trample death. It lived - and lives - like a sprout in a thorn, waiting ... ”- these words belong to the author himself. The image of the past, true, imperishable Russia Shmelev recreates through her faith - he describes the divine service of the annual circle, church services, holidays through the perception of the boy. He sees the soul of the motherland in Orthodoxy. The life of believers, according to the author, should become a guideline for raising children in the spirit of Russian culture. It is noteworthy that at the beginning of his book he set the feast of Great Lent and spoke of repentance.

In 1936, a new blow overtook the writer - the death of his wife. Shmelev, blaming himself for the fact that his wife took care of him too much, goes to the Pskov-Caves Monastery. There the "Summer of the Lord" was completed, two years before the death of the writer. Shmelev was buried in the Russian cemetery in Saint-Genevieve-des-Bois, and fifty years later the ashes of the writer were transported to Moscow and buried in the Donskoy Monastery, next to the grave of his father.

White emigration is a tragedy that has deprived hundreds of thousands of citizens of their homeland. This is the pride and shame of Russia. The October uprising of 1917 and the bloody Civil War that followed it is an unprecedented catastrophe of global significance. The way of life that had developed over the centuries was broken, and hundreds of thousands of people had to leave Russia. Unprecedented in world history was the emigration of an entire armed army.

Russian Empire early 20th century

The beginning of the turbulent, filled with new discoveries and breakthroughs, of the 20th century took the Russian monarchy by surprise, which ruled the country with archaic methods from the time of serfdom. The consequence of the decline of the social and administrative system, as well as the complete moral degradation of the ruling noble elite was a shamefully and mediocre lost Russo-Japanese War 1904-05 And also, as a consequence, the First Russian Revolution of 1905-07, which the monarchical state, called the Russian Empire, managed to suppress without eliminating the causes of its occurrence.

However, the proper conclusions have not yet been drawn. The Russian Empire remained industrially weak, an agrarian country, with a predominantly rural illiterate population. In the outbreak of the World War (1914-18), the Russian Empire showed its complete inconsistency and unpreparedness.

The administrative management system simply collapsed, creating a revolutionary situation in the country at war, which led first to the bourgeois revolution in February 1917, and subsequently to the proletarian Great October Socialist Revolution in Russia, which caused the greatest upheavals not only on the territory of the former Empire, but throughout the world . Some time later, the first wave of emigration, which began in February, intensified, the officers went to the Don, where the formation of the White movement began.

Russian Civil War (1918-1922)

The history of Russia in the early twentieth century says that immediately after the victory of the Bolsheviks in 1917, forces began to form, behind which stood staunch opponents of Soviet power. The ideological differences were so strong that it came to a full-scale war between the supporters of the new government - the "Reds" and its opponents - the "Whites".

And if in 1917 the struggle was of a scattered, spontaneous nature, then from 1918 the formation of full-fledged armed forces- Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), in which the main driving force there was a working class, and the White Army, which was based mainly on pro-manarchist officers, the Cossacks and, at the first stage, the peasantry, which later took the side of the Bolsheviks

The White Guard, despite the economic and direct military support of the Entente countries, was ideologically disorganized, since it was made up of politically diverse groups, which, moreover, were constantly intriguing and at enmity with each other. The ideas of restoring the monarchy did not find support among the majority of the Russian population.

On the contrary, the Red Army, although technically inferior to the White Army, was soldered by iron discipline and ideology. Its leaders knew exactly what they wanted and went to achieve their goals, despite any obstacles. In addition, the ideas of the Bolsheviks were simple and understandable (“factories for the workers!”, “Land for the peasants!”) Much better perceived by the majority of the population.

Therefore, despite the colossal exertion of forces, the White movement was defeated and, as a result of this defeat, a phenomenon arose, later called the “Great Exodus” - this is Russian emigration, which brought to civilized Europe selected genetic material, hundreds of thousands of workers, representatives highest culture, its color. But Russia did not become impoverished in talents, after the “bleeding” in the form of the Great Exodus, it gave the world great scientists, generals, world writers, famous composers and poets.

Stages of emigration

The first emigrants, the so-called first wave, the most prudent and wealthy, moved from Russia in the first months of 1917, this part took away not small capitals in precious metals, jewelry, and currency. They were able to get along well, having the money to receive required documents, permits, finding comfortable housing.

All these capitalists and "great" princes did not come into contact with poverty, none of them participated in the Civil War, did not shed blood, did not starve, and abroad they weaved intrigues against each other and arranged endless squabbles over the "virtual" Throne of the Russian Empire, not realizing that after the Great October Revolution in Russia there could be no throne.

The variegated "political émigrés": Mensheviks, nationalists, Cadets, Bundists, Socialist-Revolutionaries, and others, have settled down very well in the West. But by 1919, the exodus took on a massive character, more and more resembling a stampede.

The second emigration wave included white officers fleeing the persecution of the Bolsheviks. All of them did not lose hope to return soon. It was the military that formed the backbone of the Russian emigration in Europe. Historically, this white emigration is divided into stages:

• The first. Associated with the departure of the Russian White Army from Novorossiysk in 1920, together with its General Staff and Commander-in-Chief - A.I. Denikin.
• Second. Evacuation from Crimea Wrangel P.N. with the army in November 1920
• Third. The evacuation of the troops of Admiral V.V. Kolchak from the Far East in 1922.

The total number of emigrants from Russia is, according to various sources, from 1.4 to 2 million. A significant part of this number of emigrants were the military. They were mostly officers, Cossacks. Only in the so-called First Wave, about 250,000 people left Russia, they hoped for the imminent fall of Soviet power and expected to return quickly.

White emigration, its composition

The composition of emigrants from Russia was heterogeneous. In addition to the military, who made up the majority, representatives of various classes and strata descended into it. Overnight, the emigrants became:

• The prisoners of war of the First World War who were in the camps of Europe.
• Officials of Russia, on duty, who are outside of Russia are employees of embassies and various representative offices of Russia, who for various reasons did not want to go to the service of Soviet power.
• representatives of the nobility.
• Civil servants.
• The bourgeoisie, the clergy, the intelligentsia and other citizens of Russia who did not accept Soviet power.

Most of the civilian emigrants, from among the above categories, except for prisoners of war, left the country with their whole families. These victims of the White emigration did not offer armed resistance to Soviet power. They were simply people frightened by the revolution, confused people. Taking this into account, the Soviet government on November 3, 1921 announced an amnesty. She touched the rank and file of the White Guards and citizens who did not stain themselves with the fight against the Bolsheviks. About 800,000 people returned to their homeland.

Russian emigration (military)

A huge mass of refugees demanded the solution of basic issues of accommodation of people. Back in May 1920, Baron Wrangel established the so-called "Emigration Council", Some time later it was renamed the Council for the Settlement of Russian Refugees. Civilian refugees were settled near Constantinople, in Bulgaria and on the Princes' Islands.

Military refugee camps were located in Gallipoli, Chataldzha and Lemnos ( Kuban Cossacks). By the end of 1920, the card index of the Main Registration Bureau already contained 190,000 data with addresses. The military numbered 50,000-60,000 people, and non-military - 130,000-150,000 people.

Gallipoli seat

The glory of the White emigration was brought by the most famous military camp, where the 1st Corps of General A. Kutepov, who had fled from the Crimea, was located in Gallipoli, where they showed the whole world an example of the fortitude and masculinity of Russian officers. This is a matter of pride for our compatriots. To the greatest regret, brought up in unforgiveness, hatred for their people, unable to understand it, it was they who formed the backbone of the Nazi Russian Corps.

In total, it housed more than 25,000 people, 363 officials, 143 doctors and health workers, as well as 1,445 women, 244 minors and 90 military pupils - boys aged 10 to 12 years.

The life of the emigrants was unbearable. Living conditions were terrible. Half-naked, often without anything to their hearts, people lived in uninhabitable barracks. Due to overcrowding and unsanitary conditions, epidemic diseases began. During the first time in the camp, more than 250 people died from wounds and diseases. In addition to physical suffering, people also suffered mental suffering. Demoralization and moral decay of the army began.

A. Kutepov was well aware that this would lead to a catastrophe and the death of people for whom he was responsible. He knew that discipline, constant employment, could save them. Only this can save people from moral degradation. Most of the military received military training with hope. Parades were held here, concerts, sports competitions were organized, newspapers were published.

Military schools were organized for young men, 1,400 cadets studied in them, a theater studio, choreographic circles, a fencing school, and two theaters worked. The children studied at the gymnasium, organized by educators from among the refugees, and went to Kindergarten. Services were held in 8 churches. For violators of discipline, 3 guardhouses functioned. Allied delegations visiting the camp did not leave indifferent appearance and bearing the Russian military. The history of the White emigration did not know such examples.

In August 1921, the issue of the export of emigrants was resolved, they began to be transported to Serbia and Bulgaria. It lasted until December, the last "inmates" were placed in the city itself. The remaining "Gallipoli inmates" were taken out in 1923.

Russian emigration in the Balkans

In the spring of 1921, the representative of the Russian army, Baron Wrangel, addressed the ruling circles of the Slavic countries of Yugoslavia and Bulgaria with a letter. It contained a request for permission to station the army on the territory of these states. A favorable answer was given to this, containing a promise to provide material assistance for the maintenance of the army at the expense of the treasury, with a monthly allocation of a small salary and rations to the officers, subject to the fulfillment of work contracts. In the summer, the planned export of military personnel from Turkey began.

On September 1, 1924, a significant event took place in the history of the emigrant movement - the Russian All-Military Union was founded. Its purpose was to unite and rally all military units, formed military societies and unions.

This emigrant association became the successor of the White Army. But to our great regret, this organization stained itself with cooperation with the Nazis during WWII. It was from the personnel of the ROVS that the Russian Corps was formed, which fought along with the Germans against the partisan movement of Tito and the Red Army. AT again The Russians went against the Russians.

The Cossacks were also evacuated to the Balkans from Turkey, who settled in the same way as in Russia - the villages, which were controlled by the village atamans. The “United Council of the Don, Kuban and Terek” was created, along with it the “Cossack Union”, to which all the villages were subordinated.

Located in Yugoslavia most of villages. Well-known and at first numerous was the Belgrade village. Initially, more than 200 people lived in it. At the beginning of the 1930s, only about 80 people remained in it. Little by little, all the villages located in Bulgaria and Yugoslavia passed into the ROVS, under the command of General Markov.

Russian emigration in Europe

Most of the white emigrants concentrated in the West - in Europe. They are located in France, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Germany. According to the League of Nations, in 1926 755,000 refugees from Russia were registered. Most of them were in France - 400,000, Germany - more than 200,000. In Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Latvia, 30,000-40,000 people each.

The centers of Russian emigration were considered Paris, Berlin, Belgrade and Sofia. There is a simple explanation for this - in these countries there was an urgent need for labor to restore what was destroyed during the First World War.

Russians in Paris accounted for more than 200 thousand people, in second place was Berlin. But in connection with the economic crisis of 1925 and the rise of the Nazis to power, the number of emigrants from Russia in Berlin was greatly reduced.

The place of Berlin was taken by Prague, which became the center of Russian emigration. The most important place in the life of Russian foreign societies was occupied by Paris, the so-called elite and intelligentsia aspired here, as well as politicians various stripes - emigrants of the First Wave and Don Cossacks. In connection with the outbreak of World War II, a large part of emigrants from Russia who settled in Europe moved to the New World - the USA, Canada and Latin America.

Russians in China

Before the Revolution, the number of the Russian colony in Manchuria was more than 200,000 people, and by the end of 1920 it was no less than 280,000. In September 1920, the status of extraterritoriality for Russian citizens in China was abolished, all Russians living there, including refugees , moved to the unenviable position of unsubdued emigrants in a foreign state. Emigration to Far East, also went in three streams:

• The first. The beginning of mass emigration in the Far East is recorded at the beginning of 1920 - this is the time of the fall of the Omsk directory and the evacuation of the Russian army.
• Second. It began in the autumn of 1920 after the defeat of the so-called "Army of the Russian Eastern Outskirts", commanded by Ataman Semenov. She crossed the Chinese border in full force. The regular formations of troops alone numbered 20,000 people, they were disarmed by the Chinese and interned in Qiqihar camps, and then they were transferred to the Grodekovo region, located in the south of Primorye.
• Third. The end of 1922, the time of the establishment of Soviet power in Primorye. Only a few thousand people left by sea, who went mainly to Manchuria and Korea. They were not allowed into China and the CER.

At the same time, in China, namely in Xinjiang, there is another large (5.5 thousand) colony of Russians, consisting of Bakich Cossacks and officers of the White Army, who fled to these places after the defeat in the Urals and Semirechye.

The total number of Russian colonies in Manchuria and China, in 1923, when the war had already ended, was approximately 400,000 people. Of these, at least 100,000 received Soviet passports and repatriated to the RSFSR (thanks to the amnesty announced in November 1921 for ordinary members of the white movement).

In the 1920s, significant, sometimes several tens of thousands of people a year, was re-emigration to other countries, including the United States, Australia, and South America.

introduction

backstory

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

Maria Sorokina

historian

“The first major migration flow was labor migration late XIX- the beginning of the XX century. 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, all the rest were issued a passport for only 5 years, then it had to be renewed. At the same time, even the most loyal citizens had to ask for permission to leave.

It is believed that during this period Russian empire about two million Jews left. There was also an 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, whom Leo Tolstoy helped to leave. Another direction of labor migration is Latin America, up to 200 thousand people left there by 1910.”

Mikhail Denisenko

demographer

“Until 1905, emigration was allowed in relation to Jews, Poles and sectarians, among whom, in addition to the Doukhobors, were the descendants of German colonists who lost their privileges in the second quarter of the 19th century. .... Expand > Cases of proper Russian (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 left to work in Germany, as well as the already mentioned sectarians.

After 1905, leaving 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 40,000 Russians in the United States, then in the next decade, more than 160,000 people arrived there.

Numerous communities have formed in the states of Pennsylvania and Illinois. True, in American statistics, the Orthodox Ukrainians of Austria-Hungary were also classified as Russians, who settled together with the Russians and went to the same churches with them. Basically, they were engaged in hard physical labor in metallurgical and automobile plants, slaughterhouses and textile factories, in mines. However, there were also nobles and raznochintsy, according to different reasons forced to leave Russia. For example, a well-known Russian engineer, the 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 Dementiev, who became a well-known businessman in exile. Trotsky and Bukharin found political asylum in the United States.

Formerly illiterate peasants, who constituted the majority in this stream, it was not easy to adapt to the high rates of labor in American industry; they often received industrial injuries, 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, passing from Switzerland to Russia, 1917

first wave

1917 - late 1920s

It is this wave, caused by the 1917 revolution, 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 stream formed after the two revolutions of 1917 and civil war can not be called "emigration". People did not choose their fate, in fact they were refugees. .... Expand > This status was officially recognized, under the League of Nations there was a commission for refugees, which was 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 military went to Latin America.

The Russian refugees of this wave had a rather strong branched organization. In many countries of settlement, Russians arose scientific institutes who 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 Zworykin in the USA. A less well-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 the white emigration, shining with the names of S. Rakhmaninov and F. Chaliapin, I. Sikorsky and V. Zvorykin, P. Sorokin and V. Ipatiev. .... Expand > In terms of ethnic composition, it was heterogeneous, but these emigrants identified themselves with Russia and this, first of all, determined their nationality.

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

The number of this flow is estimated differently - from 1 to 3 million people. The most widely accepted estimate is 2 million people, based on Nansen passports issued. But there were also those who did not fall into the sphere of attention of organizations that helped refugees: the Volga Germans fleeing the famine of 1921-1922, Jews who fled from 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 - foreign prisoners of war of the First World War (mainly from the former Austria-Hungary) in Russia had more than 2 million people.

In the mid-1920s, the emigration outflow noticeably weakened (the Germans continued to leave), and in the late 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 after the retreating German army, others, driven 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 inhabitants Soviet Union and annexed territories that left the Soviet Union for one reason or another 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 ended up in another country in a whirlwind of war.

The fate of the population of the occupied and non-occupied territories was decided at the Yalta Conference in 1945; what to do with Soviet citizens, the allies left Stalin to decide, 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 zones of occupation; 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 citizenships, emigrants - such as the Cossacks in Lienz (in 1945, British occupation troops gave the USSR several thousand Cossacks who lived in the vicinity of the city of Lienz. - BG). In the USSR they were repressed.

The bulk of those who avoided returning 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 United States - they were helped, in particular, by the famous Tolstovsky Foundation, created by Alexandra Lvovna Tolstaya. And many of those whom the 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 is very diverse in terms of ethnic composition and other characteristics. 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 create 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 World War II are very approximate. The most probable is in the interval from 700 thousand to 1 million people. More than half of them were the peoples of the Baltic states, a quarter were Germans, a fifth were Ukrainians, and only 5% were Russians.”

third wave

early 1960s - late 1980s

Few managed to get over the Iron Curtain - Jews and Germans were released first of all, if the political situation was favorable for them. At the same time, dissidents began to be expelled

Marina Sorokina

historian

“This stream is often called Jewish. After the Second World War, 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 appeared during the thaw, many took it. .... Expand > At the same time, part of the emigrants did not stay in Israel, but went further - 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 a country of life, one of the basic human rights. Many sold all the furniture, quit their jobs - and when they refused to let them out, they went on 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. The rest were more difficult. Life in exile is bitter bread. From the beginning of the 20th century, they found themselves abroad different people with very different ideas about the future: some sat on their suitcases and waited for their return to Russia, others tried to adapt. Many were completely unexpectedly thrown out of life, someone managed to get a job, someone could not. The princes drove a taxi and starred in extras. Back in the 1930s in France, a significant layer of the Russian emigration elite was literally entangled in the intelligence network of the Soviet NKVD. Despite the fact that by the period described the situation had changed, intra-diaspora relations remained very tense.”

Mikhail Denisenko

demographer

"The Iron Curtain descended with the beginning cold war. The number of people leaving the USSR during the year was, as a rule, small. So, in 1986, a little more than 2 thousand people left for Germany, about 300 for Israel. .... Expand > But in some years, a change in the foreign policy situation led to a surge - emigration issues often acted as a bargaining chip 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 received almost 100,000 migrants from the Soviet Union. Subsequent restrictions led to a sharp reduction in this flow. For this reason, the United States adopted the Jackson-Vanik amendment in 1974, which was repealed this fall (the amendment to the American Trade Law restricted 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. Its ethnic composition was formed not only by Jews and Germans, who were in the majority, but also by representatives of other nations 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 one way or another get settled abroad poured out of the country - through repatriation programs, through refugee status, or in some other way. By zero, this wave has noticeably dried up

Mikhail Denisenko

demographer

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

The beginning of the first flow 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 Russian Federation increased from 10 to 115 thousand people; more than 1.5 million left Russia between 1987 and 2002. This migration flow had a clear geographical component: from 90 to 95% of all migrants went to Germany, Israel and the USA. This direction was set by the presence of generous repatriation programs in the first two countries and programs to receive refugees and scientists from former USSR in the last one.

Since the mid-1990s, in Europe and the United States, the policy regarding emigration from the former USSR began to change. Opportunities for emigrants to obtain refugee status have been sharply reduced. In Germany, the program for the admission of ethnic Germans began to be curtailed (by the beginning of the 2000s, the quota for their admission was reduced to 100 thousand people); significantly increased the requirements for repatriates in terms of knowledge 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, a new stage in the history of Russian emigration began. Currently, this is normal economic emigration, which is subject to global economic trends and is regulated by the laws of those countries that receive migrants. The political component no longer plays a special role. Russian citizens seeking to emigrate to developed countries have no advantages over potential migrants from other countries. They have to prove their professional competence to the immigration services of foreign states, demonstrate knowledge foreign languages and integration opportunities.

Largely due to tough selection and competition, the Russian immigrant community is becoming younger. Emigrants from Russia living in European countries and North America, differ high level education. Women predominate among emigrants, which is explained by the 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 noticeably expanded. Against the backdrop 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 conditional concept.”

Marina Sorokina

historian

“The 20th century was exceptionally active in terms of migrations. Now the situation has changed. Take Europe - it no longer has national borders. .... Expand > If earlier cosmopolitanism was the lot of singles, 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 has begun in Russia, and the fact that the country has entered a new open world. This has nothing to do with the flows of Russian emigration that we spoke 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 able to transfer anyone who wishes to an imaginary Odessa of the Brezhnev times. Brighton "pounds" and "slash", concerts by Mikhail Zadornov and pensioners walking along the "boardwalk" - all this, obviously, is not long, and the old-timers complain that Brighton is not the same anymore. Photographer Mikhail Fridman (Salt Images) observed the modern life Brighton Beach