The Russian Army of the Nicholas Era in the “Notes on the Khiva Campaign” by V.I. Dahl

The article analyzes “Letters to friends from the campaign in Khiva” by V.I. Dahl (also published under the title “Notes on Khiva campaign”) as a “document of the epoch”, important for understanding its mentality and culture. Russian army’s inner life became for the first time the subject of artistic reflection in the works of classics of Russian literature, and the subject of comprehension in memoir and epistolary prose in the era of Nicholas the First. In the Dahl’s text under consideration the main moral qualities and cultural constants of the Russian army are identified, and they determined its effectiveness and importance as a special sphere of life of Russian society.