Different memory. Memorial policy and memorial space in relation to the Red Cossacks F.G. Podtelkov and F.K. Mironov

Abstract. The formation of a memorial space in relation to civil wars always takes place according to the rules of the winning side. This determines a set of events and heroes that are to be perpetuated. In Russian history, during the Soviet period, the policy of memory changed in accordance with the political situation. As a result, the heroes of the Civil War could be forgotten. The least studied issue in the topic of the memory of the Russian Civil War is the process of memorializing the participation of the Cossacks in it. In the conditions of the Cossack renaissance process, the theme of the Civil War manifested itself as a phenomenon of “wounded memory”. This led to the actualization of the theme of memory policy in relation to the Cossacks during the Civil War. The article examines the development of memorial policy in relation to the two most famous Don Red Cossacks, F.G. Podtelkov and F.K. Mironov. Their memorial fates turned out to be very different. The reasons for this difference are investigated, the features of the memorial situation in different periods of Soviet history and its impact on the policy of memory in relation to the Cossacks, and the forms of commemoration are revealed. The research is based on the concept of “memory politics” by A.I. Miller. The source base includes archival sources, newspaper material from the 1930s, published and unpublished memoirs, literary works, and toponymy.

Keywords: The Civil War, the Don Cossacks, the politics of memory, the memorial situation.