“Today We Can Put a Period to the Revolution”: the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Poltava in 1909 in the National, Social and Foreign Policy Contexts

The jubilee of the Poltava battle, commemorated on June 26-27, 1909, was the first broadly celebrated commemoration since the First Russian revolution. The main festivities with participation of the Emperor took place in Poltava, 1500 kilometers from Saint-Petersburg. Besides demonstrating a general idea that the monarchy is now back in control after the revolutionary upheavals the jubilee addressed also certain regional topics. The article addresses four main issues that local and central authorities had to deal with: 1) revolutionary (the issue of security and prevention of revolutionary activities), 2) nationality issue (preventing nationalist public demonstrations), 3) peasant (the necessity to reconfirm the unity of people and the Tsar), 4) foreign policy considerations (the choice of delicate tone as far as the losing side was concerned). Central authorities, local governor N.L. Muraviev and the Tsar Nicholas II himself, all worked hard to address all for issues in practical and symbolic terms. Festivities, which lasted two days and attracted tens of thousands of people, proceeded without any disturbances. Nationalist challenge, in spite of expectations, came not from Ukrainian, but from Russian nationalists, and was muted by restrictive measures, planned together by central and local authorities. The peasant representatives had direct access to the Emperor and later it was broadly advertised as the re-union of Tsar and people. Finally, the Poltava memorial complex for the first time commemorated the heroism of the perished Swedish soldiers, thus stressing the amical relations and family ties between the Russian Emperor and the Swedish King. The festivities conformed the belief of the top bureaucrats that the control over the country has been reestablished, albeit through its symbolic demonstration in the provinces of the empire.