Vasilij I. Ul’janovskij Smutnoe vremja. Izdat. Evropa Moskva 2006. 447 S., 22 Abb. = Serija “Imperii”.

Vasilij I. Ul’janovskij (in Ukrainian, Vasyl’ Irnarkhovych Ul’janovskyj) is a leading authority on Russia’s Time of Troubles (1598–1613); he has also published extensively on the history of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Ul’janovskyj’s path-breaking scholarship on the Time of Troubles, based upon careful study of virtually all archival and published sources available, is deeply reflective and generally excellent. Most notably, he has been a pioneer in overturning old myths concerning Tsar Dmitrii (r. 1605–1606), the only tsar to gain the Russian throne by means of a military campaign and popular uprisings. In Rossiiskie samozvantsy: Lzhedmitrii I (1993), Ul’janovskyj challenged the stereotypical image of Tsar Dmitrii as an evil and despised impostor by meticulously examining the real historical relationship – far from negative – between Dmitrii and the boyars. Ul’janovskyj also demonstrated that Tsar Dmitrii was genuinely popular among rank-and-file gentry and ordinary Russians; and, following Ruslan Skrynnikov’s lead, he wisely abandoned the long-held view that Dmitrii’s victory over the Godunovs was the result of a social revolution or “peasant war.”

Ul’janovskyj’s new book is not a history of the Time of Troubles. Instead, it contains eleven tightly structured essays focusing on religious issues that arose during the first few years of the Troubles, from the reign of Tsar Boris Godunov to the days immediately following Tsar Dmitrii’s assassination. Ul’janovskyj offers useful insights into Godunov’s relationship with the Church, the fate of Patriarch Iov, and the canonization of “Tsarevich Dmitrii.” Most importantly, he challenges many traditional interpretations of “False Dmitrii” and demonstrates that the charismatic young man was admired and accepted as a legitimate Orthodox Christian tsar by most of his subjects. In “Smutnoe Vremja” Ul’janovskyj relentlessly challenges the extremely powerful myth of Tsar Dmitrii as an enemy of the Russian Orthodox Church. With impeccable scholarship he demonstrates that Dmitrii’s relationship with church officials was basically positive; in the process, he totally devastates long-held notions about the Church’s supposedly heroic resistance to the “false tsar.” One of the most refreshing aspects of this book is that the author takes Tsar Dmitrii seriously as an intelligent human being who wished to rule wisely and who wrestled with his own complicated religious beliefs in an era of extreme intolerance. This interesting and important book does not solve all the mysteries surrounding Tsar Dmitrii, but it significantly advances our understanding of one of Russia’s most fascinating rulers.

Unfortunately, the publisher of “Smutnoe Vremja” did Professor Ul’janovskyj and the scholarly community a real disservice by the premature release of this book. Although Izdatel’stvo “Evropa” subsequently agreed to make numerous changes deemed necessary by the author, the press did not withdraw the earlier book from the market. As a result, there are two versions of “Smutnoe Vremja” in circulation sharing the same ISBN (5-9739-0043-6). In fact, the editors of “Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas” inadvertently sent this reviewer the older version of the book. Fortunately, I had recently purchased the newer version; otherwise, I would not have known there was a problem. Scholars wishing to cite “Smutnoe Vremja” in the future need to be aware that the pagination differs significantly between the two books. The problem starts on page 155 and gets progressively worse due to the accumulation of minor additions and changes in chapters 4 through 11 plus about two dozen new end notes. The earlier version concludes on page 438; the corrected one ends on page 447.

A less perilous but more striking difference between the two versions of “Smutnoe Vremja” is found on its lurid cover, where a stern-looking tsar stands with sword drawn in the foreground while two hideous beasts wrestle and a volcano (yes, a volcano!) smolders in the background. Ul’janovskij was understandably horrified by the cover art. Even if by some stretch of the imagination one could visualize the beasts as predatory Poland and Sweden fighting over the spoils of devastated Russia, what is a stylized image of Tsar Aleksei (who was born long after the Time of Troubles ended) doing in the picture? Apparently, to the publisher of this book all tsars look alike. In response to Ul’janovkij’s objections, the publisher agreed to make one minor alteration in the cover art of the revised edition. A small black rectangle was pasted over the eyes of the tsar to hide his identity. This technically solved the problem of the wrong tsar, but it made the already odd-looking cover of a serious book look utterly ridiculous. Gentle reader, please do not judge this book by its cover.

Chester Dunning, College Station, TX

Zitierweise: Chester Dunning über: Vasilij I. Ul’janovskij Smutnoe vremja. Izdat. Evropa Moskva 2006. = Serija “Imperii” ISBN: 5-9739-0043-6 , in: http://www.dokumente.ios-regensburg.de/JGO/Rez/Dunning_Uljanovskij_Smutnoe_vremja.html (Datum des Seitenbesuchs)