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Facts and Propaganda. Латвийские русские. Десять веков истории

The film emphasises Russia's greatness and strength, but provides no answers to several fundamental questions. The enemy is clearly identified - the West - yet it is entirely unclear in which direction Russia wishes to develop, and it does not appear that this question has preoccupied the film's authors either. Evidently the barn is empty and it is time to go raiding.

On 26 October 2014, the TV3 programme "Nekas personīgs" (Nothing Personal) featured a report about a film made in 2009 by a little-known historian Igor Gusev: "Latvian Russians: Ten Centuries of History", which was screened as part of Russian Cultural Days held in various Latvian cities from 10 to 17 October. The documentary is devoted to the claim that Baits (and Latvians in particular) actually descended from Russians.

Following this broadcast, "academic circles" also stirred. University of Latvia Faculty of History and Philosophy Professor A. Vasks noted: "What the film says about Latvia's connection with the ancient Slavic people of the Wends is only one of the historians' hypotheses. It is not correct for one historians' hypothesis to be taken out of context while the other hypotheses are silenced [1]." Meanwhile, the leading researcher at the University of Latvia's Institute of Latvian History, Dr. hist. A. Lerhis, emphasised that the aim of the film's creators had been to try to convince the viewer "that Russians are not only the indigenous nation in Latvia and the other Baltic states (not even alongside Latvians, Lithuanians and Estonians), but simply the oldest and the only one. Moreover, in the film, when referring to Slavs, it is primarily the Russian factor that is discussed [2]."

Let us leave the assessment of historical facts and the methodology of history as a science to historians. In the remainder of this article we will examine several facts and details which, if not in contradiction with each other, are at least worthy of discussion and reflection.

The Red People

(8:38) "Выделилось из многообразия народов славянского корня - племя особое именуемое руссы. Подобна индийской касте брахманов, несли они ответственность за судьбы племен славянских."

(9:12) "Имя Русь связано с цветом русый. Красный цвет столь важный цвет для символики означал - могущество, право на власть."

In L. Matsikh's lecture course "История религий" (History of Religions) a somewhat different explanation can be found: "Шива же бог разрушения, его аналог в древней тантристской религии – Рудра, т.е. красный. Руда, руды – красный. Руда называлась кровь. Так вот Рудра красный от крови и красный от гнева. Брахма – созидать, Шива – разрушитель, Вишну – охранитель."

Slavs as a People, But Not as a State

(12:27) "От Иллирии до Днепра приходят в движение славянские племена, которые вскоре окажутся на побережий Северного и Балтийского морей [..] вберут в себя многие народы и частично ассимилируются сами. Двигалось и славянская племя руссов [..] оседая в приглянувших им места" (in Ukraine).

(14:35) "В Прибалтике они смешиваются с Кельтами, Венетами и Северными Иллирийцами. Так появились Балтийские славяне - Венды."

It is claimed that the peoples merged and that Slavic tribes only partially assimilated - from which it implicitly follows that the peoples who had already settled there were the ones who assimilated, though no more detailed basis for this assumption is provided.

(27:00) "Исконно отсталый русский народ, изначально не способен к историческому творчеству, раз даже владеть и править собой позвали русичи иноземных варягов скандинавов." - М.В. Ломоносов

The film explains that the Vikings (варяги) are none other than Baltic Russians [4]. That said, this is merely one of the historical hypotheses, which in the film is presented as the sole and correct one.

The Similarity Between Russian and Latvian

The film's creators do not deny the similarity of Baltic languages to German, but insist that this similarity has developed only (recently) over time, whereas the similarity to Slavic languages was instilled in them almost from the cradle. The similarity of Slavic language (primarily Russian) to Sanskrit is also pointed out. It was a surprise to hear the similarity of Russians (Russi, as a distinctly separate Slavic tribe) to Aryans being emphasised. It should be noted that Aryans, as the only "correct" race, were also extolled by A. Hitler.

(45:54) "У Балтийских и Славянских языков отличие почти отсутствует. Изба - istaba, Заяц - zaķis, Рука - roka, итд."

Linguistic similarity is an interesting fact, but it is not exclusive to Latvian and Russian. Russian contains many loanwords from German, Greek, Polish, French and Chinese. For instance, the Russian word for tea (чай) is not Russian in origin at all, but Chinese - 茶 chá. What conclusion should be drawn from that? Only that there was trade between Russia and China and that this word was probably short enough to stick.

The film uses the assumption that Baltic tribes did not settle in places where Slavic tribes may once have been, or live alongside them, but rather that they lived together. It must be remembered that we are talking about events approximately 4,500 years ago, and the only evidence from that time consists of archaeological excavations.

Tributes to Russian Princes Caused No Hardship

(55:55) "Князя с дружинами объезжали свои владения собирали подати [..] налоги вносились натурой и были совсем не обременительны. [..] Защита получаемая от княжеских дружин и спокойная охраняемая торговля ценились дороже мифической независимости."

It is typical of the chauvinist spirit to consider that if a people did not rebel (and if they did - they were suppressed), then they paid their tributes with joy. Meanwhile, the remark about independence seems to be the film authors' own invention. Ideas of national identity and statehood could have emerged in the 19th century, but certainly not in the 12th–15th centuries.

The next quotation very well illustrates with what joy and satisfaction Latvians welcomed Slavs in their land:

(1:00:00) "О политическом влиянии Руси сохранилась память в словах: sods - суд; soģis - судья; robeža - рубеж; kalpi - холопы."

Muscovites

(1:30:00) "В 16. веке произошло стремительное формирование пропагандистского мифа о варварской России являющей собой угрозу для западного мира. В Польше стали популярны летучие листки, сообщавшим об зверствах и насилие московитов. Отрывки от этих пропагандистских материалов многовековой давности используется и сегодня в исторических публикациях, когда нужно крепко уязвить уже современную Россию."

Of course, not a word is mentioned in the film about Ivan the Terrible's destructive personality, nor about why it was so important to him to wage war against the Livonian Order while showing no interest in the conquered land. Did the boy just want to feel powerful and domineering? The film's authors provide a laconic answer - you see, such was the geopolitical situation at the time. :)

Krievs, Krieviņi and Krīvs

(44:30) "Если Курши и Земгалы считаются предками латышей, по почему не признать предками русских древних славян -Кривичей? Тем более что "Krievs" по латышки означает - русский."

The word krievs has several known uses and meanings:

In Prussian mythology: a hierarchical priestly organisation led by a hierarchy of priests - krīvs - at the head of which was the krīvu krīvs (Kriwo Kriweto). The symbol of the krīvu krīvs's authority was a crooked staff - krivule. This symbol was also carried by the krīvs's messengers, who communicated the high priest's orders throughout all Old Prussian lands. [5]

Krieviņi - these are Votes (Votians), whom in 1445 the Master of the Livonian Order, H. Finke, brought back as prisoners of war following an incursion into Novgorod territory and settled in the Bauska region, which had been devastated and sparsely populated by wars with the Lithuanians and plague epidemics. The Krieviņi preserved the marks of their identity until the second half of the 19th century. [6]

Rainis

The "weaving in" of Rainis to the film was evidently important for two reasons: 1. J. Rainis was a social democrat, and 2. his ancestral home was genuinely called "Krieviņi."

The first to undertake a search into the roots of J. Rainis's family - with the poet's own approval - was the man of letters Kārlis Dziļleja. In his archival studies the researcher traced back to a double house name recorded in the 1797 revision list. Seeking an explanation for this old house name, K. Dziļleja settled on the Finnish word seppa - blacksmith. He also discovered that one of the Sepp homes later became "Krieviņi", and the family living there also acquired this surname. [7]

Summarising everything known about himself, Rainis expressed his genealogical tree in another poem, "Tadenavas saules pērklis" (The Sun Bargain of Tadenavs), as follows:

"A Latgalian I was born,
A Zemgalian, half-Lithuanian -
Three Latvian and Lithuanian tribes
Have joined their hands together."

In Conclusion:

(1:39:42) "Своих реформаторов нахватало, потому привлекали украинских священников."

L. Tolstoy in his work "War and Peace" included a telling Napoleon Bonaparte quotation:

"- К чему такая бездна церквей? Большое количество монастырей и церквей есть всегда признак отсталости народа, - сказал Наполеон."

In the film, although the importance of faith is emphasised, Orthodoxy is not particularly highlighted. However, the 1666 schism of the Orthodox Church is mentioned, as a result of which the Old Believers were forced either to perish or to emigrate - for example, to Latvia. That these people found no place in Russia is, in the film authors' view, apparently fine.

(22:30) "Однако, это факты. А, факты - вещ упрямая."

At the end, the film's creators arrive at the conclusion that facts can, after all, also be something other than facts - and honestly admit that they can also be propaganda. :)