Sergei Fedoseev Research Institute of Military History. Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

POLYGON No. 2 OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE To test the atomic bomb, it was necessary to find on the territory of the USSR a deserted and without agricultural land area with a diameter of about 200 km. Moreover, this area was supposed to be located no further than 200 km from the railway line and

The Research Institute (Military History) of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will celebrate its 50th anniversary on November 5, 2016. At present, it is the only specialized research center in the field of military history in the country and in the Armed Forces.

The institute has deep historical roots. Its prototype was the Military Historical Commission at the General Staff of the Russian Army, formed by decree of the emperor Alexander II dated March 21, 1879 according to the description of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877-1878. In 1906-1908, similar commissions in the military and naval departments were created according to the description of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Their work has become quite instructive and fruitful.

To the beginning In the 20th century, an integral system of military-historical science developed in Russia, covering state and public structures. In addition to the generally recognized center of military historical research - the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff - it is worth mentioning the Society of Zealots of Military Knowledge and the Imperial Russian Military Historical Society. In addition, active military-historical work was carried out at the headquarters of the districts and military museums and the military-historical commissions mentioned above.

The experience gained and the developed methods were used by Soviet military scientists in the study and generalization of the experience of the First World War and the Civil War.

The Great Patriotic War made serious adjustments to the organization and conduct of military history work in the Armed Forces. In order to timely generalize combat experience and introduce it into the practice of military affairs, departments are created at the headquarters of the armies, and departments at the headquarters of the fronts, types of the Armed Forces and in the directorates of the military branches, in the General Staff - a department (since March 1944 - department) for the study and use of the experience of war.

In the post-war period, the Military Historical Directorate was formed as part of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR, which carried out the general management of military historical work. Fundamental changes in military affairs, the need to generalize the experience of the past large-scale war, and the need to strengthen the military-patriotic education of citizens of the USSR have significantly expanded the scope of military historical research. As a result, an objective need arose to create a single scientific center that would coordinate the research work of the country's scientific institutions in the field of military history and provide them with scientific and methodological assistance.

On August 27, 1966, the Central Committee of the CPSU adopted a resolution "On the Organization of the Institute of Military History" as the country's leading research institution in the field of military history. In organizational terms, the institute was subordinate to the USSR Ministry of Defense and the Main Political Directorate of the Soviet Army and Navy, the scientific and methodological management of its work was entrusted to the USSR Academy of Sciences.

November 5 of the same year, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR - First Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR Marshal of the Soviet Union Matvey Zakharov signed a directive on the creation of the Institute of Military History of the USSR Ministry of Defense with the introduction of a temporary staff. Later, this date was officially approved as the day of the beginning of the formation of the institute and its annual holiday.

The first head of the Institute of Military History was one of the initiators of its creation - Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, laureate of the Lenin and Stalin Prizes of the USSR, well-known military historian Lieutenant General Pavel Zhilin For more than 20 years he has been the head of the Institute.

A significant contribution to the further improvement of the work of the Institute of Military History was also made by its other leaders: Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Colonel General Dmitry Volkogonov, Candidate of Historical Sciences Major General Alexey Bazhenov, Doctor of History and Doctor of Law, Professor Major General Vladimir Zolotarev, candidate of military sciences colonel Alexander Koltyukov; Candidate of Historical Sciences Colonel Ivan Basik; Acting Head of the Institute: Candidate of Military Sciences, Lieutenant-General Sergey Radzievsky, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Major General Anatoly Khorkov.

In a short time, the institute managed to create an effective system for organizing research work, form a close-knit, friendly creative team capable of successfully solving the problems facing the institute. In subsequent years, many problems were solved by its employees in close connection with the Institute of Marxism-Leninism under the Central Committee of the CPSU, the Institute of World History and the Institute of History of the USSR under the Academy of Sciences, as well as with the military historical bodies of the Warsaw Pact countries.

On May 6, 1983, by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR "for merits in the development of military history science", the Institute was awarded the Order of the Red Star.

As part of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the status of the Institute of Military History has not changed. He continued to carry out scientific research in the field of military history in the interests of solving urgent problems of military history, theory and practice of military development, and patriotic education of servicemen and citizens of the Russian Federation.

The staff of the Institute has developed more than 1,500 military-historical, military-theoretical and scientific reference works, published in a circulation of tens of millions. Many of these works have been awarded prizes, including the State and Lenin Prizes, as well as diplomas and medals. Some of the institute's works have received recognition not only in our country, but also abroad. More than 100 works have been translated into foreign languages.

Among the most famous works of the institute are: the 12-volume "History of the Second World War 1939-1945", the 8-volume "Military Encyclopedia", the two-volume "Civil War in the USSR", the two-volume "History of the First World War", the two-volume "National Military History" , "The General Staff of the Russian Army: History and Modernity", "Military Art in Local Wars and Armed Conflicts (second half of the 20th - early 21st centuries)" and many others.

In accordance with the order of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation of March 4, 2010 No. 203, the institute was reorganized in the form of its affiliation to the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (VAGSh RF Armed Forces). In May 2016, in connection with the transition of the institute to a new staff, it underwent serious structural changes and adjustment of the main tasks of scientific departments.

One of the most important tasks of the institute is the implementation of scientific research in the field of military history, the preparation of military history, military theory and scientific reference works, statistical and documentary collections, educational and methodological materials on military history and military history work in the Armed Forces. The employees of the Institute successfully cope with this task. In this regard, it is worth mentioning some of the works prepared by the Institute staff over the past five years: “The Great Patriotic War. 1941–1945 In 12 volumes: Volume 4. Liberation of the territory of the USSR. 1944; Volume 11. Politics and strategy of the Victory: strategic leadership of the country and the Armed Forces during the war years”; "The Great Patriotic War: Encyclopedia"; “The Great Patriotic War: Divisional Commanders. Military biographical dictionary. In 5 volumes"; "The Armed Forces of the Leading NATO States at the Turn of 2020-2025"; "Armed Forces of Russia in the First World War (1914-1917)"; "Heroes of the Soviet Union. Brief biographical dictionary in 2 volumes”; "Public Administration in Military Conflicts in the Second Half of the 20th - Early 21st Century"; "The Great Patriotic War. State Defense Committee (June - December 1941). Decrees and orders”; History of the military district system in Russia. 1862-1918"; "A Brief History of the Russian Army: Atlas-Reference"; "The peoples of Russia and Belarus in the year of the Napoleonic invasion"; "Chiefs of the General Staff of Russia. Biographical collection"; “Liberation of Belarus 1943-1944. Feat. Tragedy. Memory"; "The main directions and trends in the construction of the armed forces of the states of the North Atlantic bloc"; "Native naval art, 1921-1945: theory and practice"; "World War I: facts, events, people, historical and cultural heritage"; "Field Deployment of Troops: Organizational Experience and History Lessons"; “Policy of Nuclear Arms of the Foreign Founders of the “Nuclear Club””; "Full Cavaliers of the Order of Glory: A Brief Biographical Dictionary: In two volumes"; "Means of armed struggle as one of the attributes of human civilization: (some regularities and development prospects)"; "Steel Guard of the Fatherland"; "US Nuclear Policy in 1945-1991"; "U.S. Nuclear Policy 1992–2012".

The list of published works of the institute is far from complete. For the current year alone, their number already totals more than twenty.

Since 2001, a lot of work has been carried out as part of the implementation of the five-year state programs "Patriotic Education of Citizens of the Russian Federation", aimed at the formation of Russian patriotic consciousness in difficult conditions of economic and geopolitical rivalry. The scientific products developed by the institute are generally focused on all social strata and age groups of Russian citizens, while maintaining the priority of patriotic education of the younger generation.

Every year, the staff of the institute performs a large amount of operational tasks of a serious analytical research nature. The most important and time-consuming are the assignments carried out in pursuance of the decisions of federal state authorities and military command and control.

Scientific and scientific-methodical support of the educational process continues to be an important direction of the institute's activity. Its employees are actively involved in organizing and holding the annual All-Army (since 2015 - international) Olympiad among cadets of higher military educational institutions of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

In September 2013, by decision of the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, the institute was designated as the lead contractor for the development of a single innovative scientific and methodological complex "History of Russia", intended for use in the system of continuous military education: in Suvorov schools, military institutes and schools, military academies. Currently, the institute's specialists are actively involved in the implementation of the project to create electronic textbooks for military educational organizations of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

According to the plans of the Ministry of Defense (General Staff), the institute holds scientific conferences, meetings and other events on military-historical issues. During the period of his activity, he acted as an organizer and active participant in a large number of international, all-Union, all-Russian scientific conferences, round tables and other public events of great theoretical and practical importance.

Particular attention is paid to the activities carried out in pursuance of the Federal Law of March 13, 1995 No. 32-FZ "On the days of military glory and memorable dates in Russia", the programs of the Government of the Russian Federation and the plans of the Russian Ministry of Defense for its implementation.

In the light of the Federal Law of May 9, 2006 No. 68-FZ, the Institute staff prepared about 200 relevant conclusions on materials on conferring the honorary title of the Russian Federation “City of Military Glory” to cities. To date, 45 cities in various regions of Russia have been awarded this title.

The most important direction of the institute's activity is solving problems of scientific information in the Armed Forces in terms of the history of wars and military art. First of all, we are talking about the popularization of Russian military history, the fight against its distortion and falsification.

One of the priority directions in the activities of the research institution at the present time is the development and deepening of international scientific relations on the problems of military history. In 2014, the Russian Federation restored its membership in the International Commission of Military History (ICVI), which operates under the auspices of UNESCO and unites in its work more than 40 national commissions of the UN member states. The Ministry of Defense of the USSR (Institute of Military History of the USSR Ministry of Defense), the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation (Research Institute (Military History) of the VAGSh of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation) traditionally represented and today represent the interests of the USSR (Russia) in the above organization. Today, the institute is actively developing international cooperation with scientific departments (in the field of military history) of the Republic of Belarus, Mongolia, China, South Korea, Vietnam, the USA, Germany, Kazakhstan, Denmark, Finland, Italy, maintaining close working relations with the military for a long time. historical structures of more than 20 foreign states. The result of such cooperation is jointly published scientific works and research projects, including: a collection of Russian-German documents from the period of the First World War of 1914–1918, generalized materials based on the results of working meetings with military historians of South Korea, China and Vietnam. The work of the institute staff is highly appreciated by the permanent Interdepartmental Commission on prisoners of war, internees and missing persons.

The training of qualified scientific personnel, carried out in dissertation councils in three scientific specialties: “national history”, “general history” and “military history”, helps in many ways to fulfill such versatile tasks. At the present moment, there are two dissertation councils at the Higher Military General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, as well as a full-time postgraduate course in military history.

Today, the institute has switched to a new structure, which allows increasing research in the field of local wars and armed conflicts, as well as bringing the work performed closer to the practice of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and increasing the number of applied research.

The Institute is a well-known research organization in the country and abroad with its scientific school, which will continue to expand the boundaries of military historical knowledge, allowing you to get rid of the shortcomings of the past and adopt positive experience for the practice of military affairs in the future.

Yuri LESCHENKO, Alexey KUZNETSOV

Readers and like-minded people send me many letters. They are of very different content: questions, articles, requests, criticism, gratitude, suggestions. Much of what comes in the mail is published on my website.

But there is another "genre" of letters that can be described as anxiety. The author of such a letter sees a serious problem, talks about it, in the hope that the publication on my resource will help draw public attention to it and, in the future, solve this problem.

This is the kind of letter that I want to make public today.

This June marked the 50th anniversary of the once-famous Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense throughout the Soviet Union. Suffice it to recall the 60-80s of the last century, when the Institute was headed by a well-known military historian, lieutenant general, corresponding member of the USSR Academy of Sciences P.A. Zhilin, who put the study of military history on a solid scientific basis. The period (1993-2001) of the leadership of the Institute by Major General, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor V.I. Zolotarev, when, in the conditions of the collapse of domestic science, it was possible to preserve the most important direction of military-historical research and even open up new horizons.

Today, unfortunately, this unique scientific center no longer exists in its former form. Now it is called the Research Institute (Military History) of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces. It is understandable - such is the dictate of the time, when not only the forms of the former reality are forgotten, but sometimes its very content.

Over the past 10-12 years, research institutes (military history) are rapidly losing their former professional level. In 2004-2009 The Institute frustrated the project "The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", which was developed in accordance with the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation. The presented pilot volume was 98% scanned from the works of the institute during the 1990s, and the remaining 2% were replete with statements that “the USSR did not liberate, but occupied Eastern Europe”, “strategic operations were not carried out in the Great Patriotic War”, etc. .P. , and therefore was canceled, and the project was entrusted to another scientific team. In 2012, the Institute did not comply with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation: two works (“The Black Sea Fleet in the History of Russia” and “The Great Patriotic War. Myths and Facts”), which were published within the framework of the state program “Patriotic Education of Citizens of the Russian Federation”, were not published. During this period, previously started projects were mainly republished (biographical reference books "Commanders", "Comcors", "Division Commanders", "Heroes of the Soviet Union", "Chevaliers of the Order of Glory", encyclopedias "The Great Patriotic War", etc.), and also the works of previous years.

It is regrettable that, for example, over the past 2015, in scientific journals included in the list of the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Federation, we find no more than 30 authors - employees of the Institute, although there are about 200 of them in the staff. Not to mention the fact that the number of candidates and doctors of science is rapidly decreasing (even the leadership of the research institute does not have doctoral degrees). It is no coincidence that for the first time in the 50 years of the Institute's existence, the question of the professional failure of the leadership of the research institute (military history) was raised not so long ago at a meeting of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where fears for the future of military history were seriously expressed.

Against the backdrop of the rapidly developing recently public initiatives for the study of Russian military history (we are talking not only about the activities of the Russian Historical Society and the Russian Military Historical Society), the situation with the academic study of military history disciplines by such a solid state structure looks somehow paradoxical like the Department of Defense.

Since the state allocates considerable funds to the existing large military-scientific unit, we have the right to expect from it appropriate activity in the military-historical sphere, which is so significant for the Russian public.In fact, we are witnessing how numerous appeals of military historians, veterans, scientists to the leadership of the General Staff, which is in charge of the Research Institute (of military history), end with on-duty inspections of the institute, which are turned by its current chiefs into a farce to protect the "honor" of their own uniform.

In a situation where the former world glory of the national military-historical science is driven into a corner by the hands of the military themselves, it remains to rely only on the support of civil society, a worthy representative of which is the Great Fatherland Party.

Military historian with 40 years of experience scientific work