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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 March 2019
Studies of Russian culture in the eighteenth century concentrate on the era of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, with some attention paid to the reign of Elizabeth. They deal only scantily with the reign of Anna Ioannovna, except to point out the dismal aspects of this period of German misrule. A closer examination, however, reveals that during Anna's reign, separated by five years from that of Peter the Great, the Westernization of Russian culture not only continued but in some areas assumed new forms and new directions.
1 The chief accusations levelled against the reign of Anna Ioannovna have been discussed in Lipski, A., “A Re-examination of the ‘Dark Era’ of Anna Ioannovna,” The American Slavic and East European Review, XV (1956), No. 4, 477-88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 Ostermann attended the University of Jena. Münnich received private tutoring in French literature, philosophy, the classics, and mathematics. Korff, who had studied sciences at the University of Jena, is said to have left behind a library of 36,000 volumes. There is no information about Löwenwolde's education. However, his letters to Prince Kantemir indicate that he was a cultured person. Kleff, C., “Graf Ostermann,” in Bochum, tin Heimatbuch (Bochum, 1930), p. 7 Google Scholar; Vischer, S., Münnich (Frankfort, 1938), p. 51 Google Scholar; “Baron Johann Albert Korff, 1697-1766,” Recueil des actes de la seance publique de I'academie imperial des sciences de St. Pétersbourg, tenue le 11 Janvier 1847 (St. Petersburg, 1847), p. 176; V. Stojunin, “Knjaz Antiokh Kantemir v Londone,” Vestnik Evropy, II (June, 1867), 113-14; see also Beyer, H. J. and Lohr, O., Grosse Deutsche im Ausland (Stuttgart, 1939)Google Scholar and Seraphim, E., Führende Deutsche im Zarenreich (Berlin, 1942).Google Scholar
3 Karnovich, E. P., “Znachenie Bironovshchiny v russkoj istorii,” Otechestvennye £apiski, CCX (October, 1875), 551.Google Scholar
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5 Regarding the foundation of the Academy of Sciences, see Harnack, A., Geschichte dtr Königlich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (Berlin, 1900), I, 26 Google Scholar; Lebedev, V. I., Pëtr I: Materjaly dlja biografii (Moscow, 1941), p. 310Google Scholar; Andreev, A. I., “Osnovanie akademii nauk v Peterburge,” in A. I. Andreev, ed., Petr Velikij (Moscow-Leningrad, 1947), I, 284–333 Google Scholar; Lipski, A., “The Foundation of the Russian Academy of Sciences,” Isis, XLIV (December, 1953), 349-54Google Scholar.
6 Report of the Academy of Sciences to the Cabinet, November 30, 1739, Materjaly dlja istorii imperatorskoj akademii nauk (hereafter cited as Materjaly A. N.) (St. Petersburg, 1885-90), IV, 264-65; G. F. Muller and I. G. Stritter, “Istorija akademii nauk,” Ibid., VI, 315, 444. Among significant members added to the academic staff during Anna's time were in addition to Amann, Steller, who became known during the Second Bering Expedition, and Richmann, known for his experiments with electricity. Pekarskij, op. cit., I, lxi (preface), 254, 493-96; Muller and Stritter, op. cit., VI, 490-97, 516-24.
7 The secretary of the Academy, J. Schumacher, tried to control all academic activities and to institute a strictly bureaucratic rule. Many professors resented the fact that Schumacher, who had studied humanities, jurisprudence, and theology, but not natural sciences, attempted to direct academic affairs without consulting them. Muller and Stritter, op. cit., VI, 162-64, 180. The Most Holy Synod delayed the publication of Kantemir's translation of Fontenelle's Entretiens sur la pluraliti des mondes, and it impeded the publication of Russian chronicles. Pekarskij, op. cit., I, lxvi-vii (preface); Stojunin, op. cit., pp. 110-12.
8 Muller and Stritter, op. cit., VI, 490-97, 516-24.
9 Pokrovskij, A., ed. Ekspedicija Beringa. Sbornik Dokumentov (Moscow, 1941), pp. 40–46 Google Scholar.
10 Golder, F. A., Bering's Voyages (New York, 1925), I, 27 Google Scholar; Berg, L. S., Otkrytie Kamchatki i ekspedicii Beringa (Moscow-Leningrad, 1946), pp. 126-29Google Scholar; Cabinet minutes, April 17, 1732, Sbornik imperatorskoj russkogo istoricheskogo obshchestva (hereafter cited as Sbornik) (St. Petersburg, 1867-1916), CIV, 230 Google Scholar; Cabinet minutes, March 26, 1732, Ibid., CIV, 216; Bakhrushchin, V., “G. F. Muller kak istorik Sibiri,” in G. F. Muller, Istorija Sibiri (Moscow-Leningrad, 1937), pp. 20–55 Google Scholar; see also Gmelin, Johann Georg, D. Johann Georg Gmelins Reise durch Sibirien von den Jahren 1733 bis 1743 (Gottingen, 1751-52)Google Scholar; Gmelin, Johann Georg, Johann Georg Gmelin, 1709-1755. Der Erforscher Sibiriens. Ein Gedenken (Munich, 1911)Google Scholar; “G. W. Stellers Beschreibung von dem Lande Kamtschatka” in Allgemeine deutsche Bibliothek (Berlin and Stettin, 1775), XXIV.
11 Pekarskij, op. cit., I, 528.
12 Pypin, op. cit., Ill, 368.
13 Bestuzhev-Rjumin, K., “V. N. Tatishchev, administrator i istorik XVIII veka,” in his Biografii i kharakteristiki (St. Petersburg, 1882), pp. 94–140 Google Scholar; Popov, N. A., “Uchenye i literaturnye trudy V. N. Tatishcheva,” Zapiski imperatorskoj akademii nauk, LV (1887), 23–24 Google Scholar; Tatishchev, V. N., “Razgovor o pol'ze nauk i uchilishch,” Chtenija, I (1887), 1–171 Google Scholar.
14 Miljukov, P., Ocherki po istorii russkoj kultury, jubilee ed. (Paris, 1930), III, 250.Google Scholar
15 Pekarskij, op. cit., II, 20-27; Blagoi, D. D., Istorija russkoj literatury XVIII veka (Moscow, 1951), pp. 151-52.Google Scholar
16 Pypin, op. cit, III, 481.
17 Decree by Baron Korff, March 14, 1735, Materjaly A. N., II, 633; Muller and Stritter, op. cit., VI, 367.
18 Among the books translated were B. Gracian's The Courtier; The Life and Deeds of Marc Aurel; A Life of Prince Eugene of Savoy; S. Vauban's Attack and Defence of Towns; G. Marsigli's The Military Condition of the Turkish Empire; G. Krafft's Manual of Mathematics and Natural Ggeography. N. V. Gubert, comp. “Khronologicheskoe obozrenie redkikh i zamechatel'nykh russkikh knig, XVIII stoletija napechatannykh v Rossii grazhdanskim shriftom, 1725-1800,” Chtenija, I (1878), 52-77.
19 Professor Bayer to the president of the Academy, L. Blumentrost, January 13, 1732, Materjaly A. N., II, 96-97; petition of students, June 9, 1738, Ibid., III, 731-32; S. Rozhdestvenskij, “Ocherki po istorii sistem narodnogo prosveshchenija v Rossii v XVIII-XIX vekakh,” Zapiski istoriko-filologicheskogo fakul'teta St. Peterburgskogo universiteta, CIV (1912), 171-72; I. Chistovich, “Feofan Prokopovich i ego vremja,” Sbornik otdelenii russkogo jazyka i slovesnosti imperatorskoj akademii nauk, IV (1868), 618-19; D. A. Tolstoj, “Ein Blick auf das Unterrichtswesen Russlands im XVIII. Jahrhundert bis 1782,” tr. by P. v. Kügelgen, Beiträge zur Kenntnis des russischen Reiches und der angrenzenden Länder Asiens (hereafter cited as Beiträge), 2nd ser., VIII (1885), 10.
20 Report, February 8, 1738, Materjaly A. N., Ill, 618; Order by Baron Korff, July 15, 1736, Ibid., Ill, 144-45; Stählin, K., Aus den Papieren Jacob von Stählins (Königsberg and Berlin, 1926), pp. 32, 51Google Scholar; Pekarskij, , op. cit., I, 480 Google Scholar; Wolff, H. M., Die Weltanschauung der deutschen Aufklärung (Bern, 1949)Google Scholar, chapters III, V, VII and IX; Hettner, H., Geschichte der deutschen Literatur im XVIII. Jahrhundert (Leipzig, 1929), I, 56–114 Google Scholar; Hazard, P., The European Mind, tr. by J. L. May (London, 1953), p. 176 Google Scholar.
21 General list of students in the secondary school, September 13, 1736, Materjaly A. JV., III, 178-79; D. A. Tolstoj, “Das akademische Gymnasium und die akademische Universitat im XVIII. Jahrhundert,” Beiträge, 3rd ser. I (1886), 5, 20-21; Pekarskij, P., “Redaktor, sotrudniki i censura v russkom zhurnale 1755-64 godov,” Zapiski imperatorskoj akademii nauk, XII (1867), 21–24 Google Scholar.
22 Pobedonoscev, K., comp., “Materjaly dlja istorii akademii nauk,” in N. Tikhonravov, ed., Letopisirusskojliteratury i drevnosti (Moscow, 1863), V, 32 Google Scholar; Pekarskij, op. cit., I, xlvii-xlviii; E. Gollerbakh, Istorija gravjury i litografii v Rossii (Moscow-Petrograd, 1923), pp. 51-53.
23 The first Russian newspaper, Vedomosti o voennykh i inykh delakh dostojnykh znanija i pamjati, sluchivshikhsja v moskovskom gosudarstve i v inykh okrestnykh stranakh, was published on Peter I's order in 1703. In 1727 it was turned over to the Academy of Sciences which issued in its stead the Sankt Peterburgskie Vedomosti. The new journal was published in German in 1727 and also in Russian after 1728. Memorandum, December 5, 1734, Materjaly A. N., II, 525; C. Eichhorn, Die Geschicte der St. Petersburger Zeitung (St. Petersburg, 1902), pp. 7-9.
24 “O poleznom upotreblenii vremeni,” Istoricheskie, genealogicheskie i geogrqficheskie primechanija v Vedomostjakh, February 8, 1731, p. 41.
25 “Primechanija o Malte,” Ibid., August 2, 1731, pp. 249-64; “O zhizni gercogini de Maintenona,” Ibid., October 14 to 28, 1731, pp. 333-52; “Sego sentjabra mesjaca 7 dnja umer Djuk de Mazarin,” Ibid., October 11, 1731, pp. 329-32; “Razgovora iz spektatora,” Ibid., June 19, 1731, August 30 and September 30, 1731, pp. 233, 281-84, 317-20; Stahlin, Aus den Papieren. … p. 54.
26 Stählin, Aus den Papieren … , p. 54; P. Berkov, N., Istorija russkoj zhurnalistiki XVIII veka (Moscow, 1952), pp. 65–66.Google Scholar
27 “Kitajskaja istorija,” Istoricheskie, genealogicheskie … , February 15 to March 4, 1731, pp. 49-72.
28 “O gromovoj pogode,” Ibid., September 16, 1731, p. 301; V. N. Tatishchev to Schumacher, August 16, 1731, Materjaly A. N., II, 62-63.
29 “O smeshnom sueverii bezumnykh ljudej,” htoricheskie, genealogicheskie…, April 19, 1731, pp. 123-26; “Trjasenija zemli,” Ibid., July 22, 1731, p. 237; “Editorial without heading,” Ibid., January 7, 1731, pp. 5-9; Stählin, Aus den Papieren …, pp. 42-68; Pekarskij, op. cit., I, 465; Eichhorn, op. cit., p. 63; Rajkov, B. E., Ocherkipo istoriigeliocentricheskogo mirovozzrenija v Rossi, 2nd ed. (Moscow & Leningrad, 1947), pp. 241, 247.Google Scholar
30 The Primechanija were issued biweekly together with the Sankt Peterburgskie Vedomosti. In 1733 a total of 235 Russian copies and at least an equal number of German copies were printed. Students of the Academy of Sciences, the Cadet Corps and members of the central government offices received the Primechanija. Student report, July 4, 1737, Materjaly A. N., III , 422-23; Specifications of books required for instruction at the Cadet Corps, Ibid., III , 465; Tatishchev to Schumacher, August 5, 1741, Ibid., IV, 719-20; Eichhorn, op. cit., p. 43; M. A. Popov, V. N. Tatishchev i ego vremja (Moscow, 1861), p. 433; Berkov, op. cit., p. 65.
31 Pekarskij, Redaktor … , p. 4.
32 Regulation for the Cadet Corps, November 18, 1731, Polnoe sobranie zakonov rossijskoj imperi s 1649goda (cited hereafter as P.S.Z.), ser. 1 (St. Petersburg, 1830), VIII, 557-59; S. Rozhdestvenskij, “Ocherki po istorii sistem narodnogo prosveshchenija v Rossii v XVIII-XIX vekakh,” Zapiski istoriko-filologicheskogo fakul'teta St. Peterburgskogo universiteta, CIV (1912), 15-23.
Münnich took a great interest in the progress made by the cadets. He demanded regular reports from the Cadet Corps, and in 1740 he presided at the annual examination of the cadets. Report of the Director of the Cadet Corps, A. F. von Tettau, August 2, 1737, Materjaly A. N., Ill, 451-56; A. Viskovatov, Kratkaja istorija pervogo kadetskogo korpusa (St. Petersburg, 1832), pp. 10, 13-14, 19, 83.
33 Rozhdestvenskij, op. cit., pp. 15-16; L. G. Beskrovnyi, “Voennye shkoly v Rossii v pervoj polovine XVIII v., “’ Istoricheskie zapiski, XLII (1953), 285-300; A. v. Crousaz, Geschichte des Koniglich Preussischen Kadetten-Corps (Berlin, 1857), pp. 14, 72, 79-80.
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35 Stählin, Von der Tanzkunst … , II, 12.
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