Formation of the Memory Space of the Participation of the Don Cossacks in the Civil War in the 1920–1930s: Commemorative Practices, Plots, Images

Introduction. In the early Soviet period, a new memory space was created in the regions of southern Russia. Its formation was connected with the Bolshevik policy of memory, and the specifics were determined by the role of the Cossacks in the Civil War. The historiography on this issue is represented by the works of O.V. Rvacheva, A.A. Kamenev, A.V. Baranov, A.N. Eremeeva, O.V. Matveev. The closest to the research topic is B.I. Kolonitsky’s project “Processes of legitimization of violence: cultures of conflict in Russia and the escalation of the Civil War”. Methods and materials. The research’s source base consisted of newspaper materials from the early Soviet period, literary works, monuments, and toponyms. The research uses historical-chronological and historical-comparative methods. As well as A.I. Miller’s concept of memory politics as a system of interactions and communications between various actors regarding the political use of the past. Analysis. In the early 1920s, the government pursued a policy of storytelling, which did not involve the creation of a special memorial space for the Cossacks. In the mid- 1920s, forms of commemoration of the Civil War with the participation of the Cossacks appeared, and the first plots and images of the memory space were created. The peak of the commemorative practice occurred in the mid-1930s. A central event appeared for the common historical memory of the Cossacks – the deaths of F.G. Podtelkov and M.V. Krivoshlykov – and heroic images of the Red Cossacks were created. Results. The main actor of the memory policy in the early Soviet period was the government. With regard to the Cossacks, this policy was instrumental and situational in nature and depended on political objectives. The underdevelopment of the commemorative practice was due to the dominance of the narrative policy and the shortage of positive characters among the Red Cossacks.