“First People War Minister” A. I. Guchkov and “Cult of Freedom Fighters” (Spring of 1917)

Relevance. Despite the increasing interest in the study of the political culture of Russia in 1917 on the part of scientists and the significant role of A. I. Guchkov during the first stage of the development of the revolution, so far neither his image, nor his "scenario of power" have yet become a subject of study by historians. Moreover, their reconstruction could shed light on a number of controversial issues related to the activities of A. I. Guchkov as Minister of War.
The purpose or the work is to determine whether the notion of ‘civic spirit’ played a role in the legitimation of Alexander I. Guchkov’s power of the Minister of War in the Provisional Government and how he was linked to the ‘cult of freedom fighters’ that was gaining popularity in spring 1917.
Objectives: Having studied the press publications of the first post-revolutionary months, highlight the system of argumentation that allowed the supporters of A. I. Guchkov, to rank him among the "freedom fighters", as well as to analyze the forms of appeal used to the first minister of war of the Provisional Government.
Methodology. Content analysis and the method of comparative analysis of sources made it possible to single out information related to the cultural phenomena considered in this article from a large array of newspaper and archival materials.
Results. The analysis of historical sources allows us to assert that the epithet “citizen-minister of war” and similar ones were used in relation to A. I. Guchkov not only in the press, but also in greetings, telegrams and appeals sent to him.
Conclusion. A. I. Guchkov the sympathizers, fragmentarily used facts from the political past of A. I. Guchkov, focusing on conflicts, and not on the cooperation of Alexander Ivanovich with the tsarist government in the prerevolutionary period. The analogy that was drawn between the past of the Boers and the present of Russia added to the “right” interpretation of this “cult” patriotic features that shifted the focus of attention from the pathos of social struggle to international confrontation.

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