| Popis: |
This paper analyzes the creation and manipulation of a modern myth through an examination of the career of Lieutenant-General Mikhail Dmitrievich Skobelev. From the summer of 1877 until his death in 1882, Mikhail Skobelev’s career and reputation enjoyed a meteoric rise among the Russian people, within the Russian army, and all over the world. He became an icon of Russian Imperial might and a hero to the Russian lower classes, as well as a figure of international renown. This reputation was shaped and created in the popular press, particularly mass-circulation papers such as the British London Daily News and the Russian Golos. During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 correspondents for these publications, including J. A. MacGahan, Archibald Forbes, and Vasiliy Nemirovich-Danchenko, presented Skobelev to their readers with glowing praise and helped to forge an enduring legend surrounding the general. This legend was then used after Skobelev’s death by groups within Russia, including the Pan-Slavs and military reformers, to build support for their ideologies. Utilizing the original newspapers, archival materials, published memoirs, and secondary sources, this paper analyzes how these authors crafted the legend surrounding the general and how that legend was then instrumentalized |
