“We Have A Tsar, But We Haven't A Tsar”: the Crisis of Russian Autocracy in Memoirs of the “Khrushchev's Thaw”

The period known as the “Khrushchev Thaw” was a time of transformation in Soviet historical memory policy. An analysis of how the ruling institutions of the Russian Empire, particularly during the last Romanov reign, were represented is valuable for studying the USSR’s system of sociocultural historical memory in the 1950s and 1960s. The methodological basis of this study is the research paradigm of the performative turn. Particular attention is paid to how memoir sources reflect upon crisis events and the responses of the Russian imperial authorities. These events include the Khodynka tragedy of 1896, Bloody Sunday in 1905, the publication of the October Manifesto during the All-Russian political strike, Russia’s entry into World War I, and the collapse of the monarchy in February-March 1917. The research draws on published memoirs from participants in the revolutionary events of 1905–1907 and 1917, such as the statesman K.E. Voroshilov and General M.D. Bonch-Bruyevich, as well as unpublished memoir sources from the State Archive of the Russian Federation, including the collection of the publicist V.V. Shulgin. The author concludes that these memoirists highlighted the cosmopolitan dimensions of monarchism, provided valuable details on the discrediting and delegitimization of the autocracy due to its inadequate crisis response, and demonstrates that the “Thaw” made possible detailed accounts of Russia’s pre-revolutionary past from the perspective of former pro-monarchist figures.