Western propaganda during the Caucasian war. Old tradition of defamation

Military gathering of the Circassians. James bell illustration

The tears of the girl Bana, the ubiquitous armored Buryats, the holy cow of the “White Helmets”, Russian hackers, poisoners of the outgoing Skripals, Russian special forces in Norway and so on. All these are simple details of the modern information war, woven from the so-called fakes and shifting emphasis. Moreover, the avalanche-like flow of this lie within the framework of propaganda causes a dual reaction in society. Some people do not notice propaganda behind the turbulent information flow - it doesn’t matter, for personal gain or because of myopia. Others loudly declare that the planet did not know such a heat of the info-war.

Neither one nor the other is right. The information war is as old as the world. And its intensity is associated only with the development of technical means of delivery of lies and the number of channels through which it passes. In the midst of the Caucasian war of the 19th century, Europe fought in the information field no less low, dirty and actively than now.

Caucasian war - a shelter for European adventurers

Any conflict accumulates around itself a lot of people of very different qualities. And conflicts with the presence of national, religious, and in the case of the Caucasus, where the interests of Russia, Persia and Porta clashed, even civilizational confrontation, are simply black earth for all kinds of adventurers, seekers of glory and just rogues.

In the Caucasus, there was no shortage of provocateurs and seekers of cheap fame. One of the most famous was probably James Stanislav Bell. A provocation with the schooner Vixen made his name well-known (the author has already described this incident). James was born into a wealthy Scottish family of bankers and at first held as a middle-aged businessman. Bell had never received any military education, or even formally served in the public service. But his penchant for thrills, weighed down by the lack of the need to seek a livelihood, led him to the ranks of scouts and provocateurs of Her Majesty.

There is essentially no information about Bell’s brave fighting activity. But as a provocateur, James worked notably. Immediately after the collapse of the provocation with Vicksen, official London disowned Bell. But he managed to return home. And he again came in handy for the crown. In just less than a year, James had sprinkled a whole book of memoirs entitled "Diary of a stay in Circassia during the 1837, 1838 and 1839 years." The book with rich illustrations was published already in 1840. In it, Bell smoothed out all the sharp corners of the Circassian reality in the form of the slave trade, internecine wars and other things. But he was desperately exposing Russia.

Another noteworthy provocateur of that period was Teofil Lapinsky, born in the family of the Polish deputy of the Galician Sejm. Theophilus was a patented xenophobe based on the “Turanian theory”, i.e. racial theory, which claimed that the Russians are not only not Slavs, but also not Europeans. From youth, Lapinsky wandered from camp to camp, guided by hatred of Russia. Alexander Herzen characterized Theophilus this way:

“He had no firm political convictions. He could go with white and red, with clean and dirty; Belonging by birth to the Galician gentry, by education - to the Austrian army, he was very drawn to Vienna. He hated Russia and everything Russian wildly, insanely incorrigible. ”

And here is the characteristic of Lapinsky, given to him by his comrade-in-arms on the fight in one of the military expeditions, Vladislav Martsinkovsky:

“The colonel drinks Bordeaux wine, but leaves us hungry. He solders women and eats gourmet dishes for the money of the unfortunate Poles. How could such a man lead an expedition in which so much attention to things, it would seem, is insignificant? "He is whining at a time when his subordinates suffer hunger and thirst on a ship full of insects."

Naturally, from time to time this “commander” was so tired of his surroundings with his behavior that he had to flee to Europe in order to grind his reputation. And as with Bell, he was greeted with open arms. After the plan of British intervention of the Caucasus proposed by him was rejected by the British Prime Minister, he wrote the book “Highlanders of the Caucasus and their war of liberation against the Russians” literally in a year and managed to publish it instantly. Of course, he kept silent about his plans for intervention, but he thoroughly approved Russia as the "occupier." As a result, Lapinsky devoted all recent years to campaigning and writing memoirs.

One of the leading provocateurs and heralds of the anti-Russian side in the Caucasus, in my humble opinion, is David Urquhart. The British diplomat with an adventurous streak already in the 30-ies began the real anti-Russian PR campaign in the British media, directed against the approval of Russia in the Black Sea. The campaign was so successful that in the 1833 year he entered the trade mission in the Ottoman Empire. In a new place, he not only became the best "friend" of the Turks, but also continued his propaganda activities, interrupted by the publication of a rather disgusting pamphlet, "England, France, Russia and Turkey." His opus even forced London to withdraw Urquhart from his post.

David Urquhart

In the 1835 year, David founded an entire newspaper called Portfolio, in the first issue of which he published a series of government documents to which he had access, with the necessary comments. When he was returned to Constantinople, for two years he inflated such an anti-Russian information scandal that he had to be recalled again. As a result, he devoted his whole life to anti-Russian propaganda, became a peculiar forerunner of Goebbels, and even was the author of the flag of Circassia. Yes, the idea of ​​that very green banner does not belong to the Circassians.

Snow-white castles and dirty lies

And now let's start bare empiricism. One of the lesser known PR managers of the 19 century in the Caucasus is Edmund Spencer. In the 1830-ies this English official made a trip to Circassia. Moreover, all this time he was pretending to be an Italian doctor, exploiting the neutral image of the still Genoese merchants of the Middle Ages. Upon arrival in his native Britain, Edmund instantly published a book entitled "Description of trips to Circassia."

For an illustrative example, the author decided to give a few excerpts from the description by Spencer Sujuk-Kale:

“The fortress of Sujuk-Kale was undoubtedly very ancient ... The Turks in modern days have added a lot to their structure, it is absolutely obvious due to the large number of glazed blue, green and white bricks ...
These ruins are now to some extent dangerous for the lover of antiquity exploring them due to the large number of snakes and myriads of tarantulas and other poisonous reptiles ...
Leaving the ruins of the formerly majestic castle of Sujuk Kale, I traveled around a large bay and an adjacent valley. It is impossible to imagine a more sad picture ... And such was the ruin committed by the Russian soldier.
A sparkling camp, a joyful crowd of beautiful young men with whom I talked some months ago, the sounds of noisy fun and joy - all this melted away like a ghost. ”

To begin with, we forget that all these artistically decorated humanistic sorrows were written by an official in Britain, a country whose colonialism has wiped out millions of people over several centuries. Also, let us leave his dismissive naming of Russian soldiers (“soldier”), this is still a mild example of his historical vocabulary. Cossacks, for example, he often refers to as "drunkards." Weigh the dry data.

Firstly, the antiquity of Sujuk-Kale immediately begins to limp. This Turkish outpost was built at the beginning of the 18 century, i.e. one hundred years before the visit of the author. Attempts to assert that the fortress was erected on the remains are only partly true, since the use of broken stone is hardly a sign of heredity.

Secondly, the intentional artistic thickening of paints with snakes and myriads of tarantulas does not have objective biological soil. No myriads of tarantulas to the Novorossiysk spawn did not bother. The most nasty insects in the area are flying reptiles that spread malaria and live in the floodplains. As for snakes, in total, no more than five poisonous snakes live on the Caucasus coast, one of which does not go down from the mountains below 2000 meters. All of them are extremely rare, but only the steppe viper inhabits the area of ​​Novorossiysk directly from the venomous snakes. At the same time, due to philistine fear and banal illiteracy, the average citizen has already contributed to the genocide of innocuous snakes and legless lizards.

Thirdly, Sujuk-Kale has never been a majestic castle. In the 1811 year, the adjutant Duke de Richelieu Louis Victor de Rocheshuar was a member of the expedition to Sujuk-Kale. Here is how he described this “castle”:

“The fort consisted of four walls, inside it there were only ruins and piles of garbage, no one thought to protect this ruin ... We were extremely disappointed with our new conquest, duc de Richelieu considered himself a victim of mystification. How could they have ordered such expedition from Petersburg? Why was it necessary to move six thousand people and numerous artillery into the campaign? Why equip one fleet with ten ships? What are all these expenses and troubles for? In order to seize the four dilapidated walls. "

Gate plate Sujuk Kale

Moreover, never Russian troops directly stormed Sujuk-Kale. Each time they stumbled upon the ruins of a fortification plundered and turned into ruins either by the Turks themselves or by the local Circassians. The unwillingness of the garrison to defend this outpost of the Ottoman Empire is understandable. Appointment to the garrison was perceived as a kind of reference. After the loss of Crimea, the Turks were in Sudzhuk-Kale in geographic isolation, without proper provisions and without sources of fresh drinking water. Even the janissaries who fell into the garrison of the fortress, at any opportunity, deserted. The deplorable state of fortification is also characterized by the fact that the Circassians, sensing the weakness of the Ottoman "allies", began to steal them for resale.

Fourth, what sparkling camp is Spencer talking about? Most likely, he skillfully veils the banal and dirty slave market, which flourished here until the arrival of Russian troops. For example, it was in Sudzhuk Bay that the aforementioned Louis Victor de Rocheshuar detained a small brig, the cargo of which were Circassian girls for Turkish harems. However, it is already known that Sujuk-Kale, like any Turkish fortress on the coast of the Caucasus, was primarily the center of the slave trade. Confirmation of this can easily be found both among Russian historians and foreign ones: Moritz Wagner, Charles de Paysonel, etc. Directly from Sudzhuk (Tsemess) bay annually, up to 10 thousands of slaves were taken to Constantinople.

Thus, the Sujuk "castle", the "heroic" White Helmets "in Syria or the" heavenly hundred ", made up of victims of an allergic reaction and car accidents, are links of one chain as old as the world. And it’s time to draw conclusions based on hundreds of years of experience.

Comments

[Talgarets]

I do not think that the slave trade in the Caucasus by Europeans in the early 19th century. was perceived as something supernatural, because at this time the transatlantic trade in blacks was in full swing.

[Bar2]

Upon arrival in his native Britain, Edmund instantly published a book entitled "Description of trips to Circassia."

written
Travel to Cherkasy and Crimean Tartaria.
Somehow, the author of the article forgot to translate half the name.

[Seal]

Quote: Talgarets

I do not think that the slave trade in the Caucasus by Europeans in the early 19th century. was perceived as something supernatural, because at this time the transatlantic trade in blacks was in full swing.

Not certainly in that way. The company to ban the slave trade began in England in 1787, when a well-known British philanthropist William Wilberforce, the offspring of a wealthy landowner family famous for its conservative views, led the parliamentary campaign to ban the slave trade. However, the young peer considered it his duty to put an end to slavery, for it contradicts the Christian dogma. By 1788, over 60 signatures were collected for the abolition of slavery.
In 1807, the campaign was a success. On March 25, 1807, the British Parliament adopted the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act, which was initially aimed at restricting the economic interests of France, with which Great Britain fought, and then was extended to itself.
The law was adopted by 283 votes to 16. Trafficking in persons was considered illegal, not only in the form of sale, but also barter (Purchase, Sale, Barter, or Transfer). Under the Slave Trade Prohibition Act, a captain caught with slaves on board should have been fined £ 100 per slave (in the West Indies they were paid £ 80). The slave trade within some British possessions still persisted, but the sale into slavery of free Africans was prohibited. And most importantly, the transportation ("traffic") of slaves from Africa to America was prohibited. Opponents of the slave trade, having reached their goal, proceeded to the next stage of the struggle, forming the Society for the gradual abolition of slavery.
As early as May 2, 1807, the British Foreign Secretary ordered the formation of a special Court of Vice-Admiralty in Sierra Leone to convict slave traders. The prominent opponent of slavery, Robert Thorpe, was appointed Chief Justice in Sierra Leone, taking over from former shopkeeper Alexander Smith. In 1808, regular patrolling by the English ships of the African coast began. Subsequently, the Vice Admiralty Courts were established in Cape Town and on St. Helena. Since 1811, transporting slaves has become a criminal offense in the British Empire.
In 1833, there was a complete prohibition of slavery throughout the British Empire, including the British West Indies.
By the way, in 1816, American supporters of abolitionism bought land on the African coast and founded the state of Liberia on them, where Blacks were transported from the United States.

[Talgarets]

Thank you for the clarification, I did not know this.

[Olgovich]

In general, the topic is well-known, but the details presented by the author are, as always, interesting.

It is depressing that in Nalchik, in 1995, the English Russophobic abomination is translated and published ....

[Alexander Trebuntsev]

The Highlanders were heroized in Europe, they made "Robin Hoods" out of them, portraying them as noble knights fighting against the barbarian empire. And the "thinking society" of the then Russia considered it obligatory to sympathize with them. When Shamil's gang kidnapped the Chavchavadze family, the kidnapped wife wrote a letter to Chavchavadze. He forwarded this letter to Nicholas II. He ordered to publish this letter and send copies to Europe, so that the free press would publish the letter there too. The gang burst in at night, grabbed the women and children and, fearing chase, quickly fled back to the mountains. The women and children were in the same shirts, but it was very cold and it was pouring rain. The women were thrown on horses and they barely held on during the race, and they also had to keep small children. As a result, the five-year-old girl fell off and fell at full gallop on the stones, and the whole horde galloped over her without stopping. One of the murids threw the second child, very young, head down into the sack and so galloped. Then they took him out of the bag, already dead. His neck was broken. And only an older girl was able to resist, clinging to the French governess. As a result, they were put in a damp pit almost naked in the open air and fed once a day, throwing food at them. This was all described in the letter. So in France and in England it was forbidden to publish the letter, although several French women were captured, and Shamil asked for a ransom that was not real at all. But then the press was still more decent and the English Times nevertheless published this letter. It was a cold shower for the English audience. The English consul in Istanbul in a sharp letter demanded the release of the captives without any conditions. The French never wrote to Shamil after this incident and did not answer his letters either. Shamil did not fulfill the requirements and after that the English consul also never wrote to him. He was ignored. And even in the Crimean War, when Shamil was waiting for a letter and help from the British with the French, he was ignored. Only the Turks kept in touch with him. Such was the effect of Nikolai's competent work through public opinion. By the way, John Badaley writes about this case in detail in his book "The Conquest of the Caucasus by the Russians". The book is very honest and not biased. I recommend reading.

[Bar2]

Quote: Alexander Trebuntsev

writes John Badaley in his book "The Conquest of the Caucasus by the Russians". The book is very honest and not biased. I recommend reading.

what the British write cannot be honest by definition. Angles always lie, how can they tell the truth if they destroyed entire nations in India, Kenya, America, South Africa, Ireland? If they write honestly about their atrocities, about the supply of weapons around the world, about the playoff of tribes and peoples, they will lose their current status of "missionaries and civilizers", and under this mask will be just a bestial and bloodthirsty muzzle drunk with robbery and impunity.

[kalibr]

Even as they can, but it's hard for you to understand, because you're not used to the fact that other people may have a different opinion. In addition, you need to read books in English, and you have a small intestine for this.

[Bar2]

one who serves the official English history can say that your time is passing, more and more adequate history researchers appear who have a completely different picture of the world, you need to correspond somehow, otherwise you will become uninteresting along with your English.

[Alexander Trebuntsev]

Oh well. The same denseness as the English Russophobes.
By the way, I’ll say it again about John Badaley. I highly recommend his book again. There is a book by V. Potto, but it ends with Paskevich’s time, and Badeili describes it before Shamil’s capture. And once again I say that it is very honestly describes. On top of that, he writes the look of the British, including using the English archives. It is interesting that in the introduction he thanks his wife, who, having read the materials, was very interested in this war and helped him write a book. The book can be downloaded, it is in Russian.

[Slavutich]

And it’s time to draw conclusions based on hundreds of years of experience.

Oh, it's time, it's time, it's a pity the Foreign Ministry and others have not read these articles.

[Undecim]

Among the comments there is one very correct one, kalibr'a. It is in enemy English and contains advice to read books in the language of a potential enemy. Hamsters of the barasekond type are unaware that one of the most compelling reasons for Russia's constant loss in the information war, which the author writes about in the article, is the low quality of the information soldiers of this war. The author, a typical representative, "an ardent self-taught agitator" of the local level.
The only thing from the article that needs to be carved in granite is the last phrase: "And it is high time, based on hundreds of years of experience, to draw the appropriate conclusions."
Indeed, it is high time to understand, with hundreds of years of experience, that self-taught amateurs have no place in an information war. This requires professionals. Knowledge of the enemy language. Then an amazing picture will open that the European Russophobia in Europe has been studied, described and interpreted by orders of magnitude better than in Russia. Until today. Because there professionals are engaged in it, and here "winds" and "barisekond". Therefore, the "sensational" moments "there" described by the author have long been known and appreciated accordingly.
For those who, suddenly, are familiar with the enemy language, I recommend the book THE GENESIS OF RUSSOPHOBIA IN GREAT BRITAIN (Genesis of Russophobia in Great Britain) published back in 1950 at Harvard University to understand the level of "warfare" on the information front. Or a very recent publication of the head of the Swiss press club, the famous Swiss politician Guy Mettan RUSSIE-OCCIDENT. UNE GUERRE DE MILLE ANS. LA RUSSOPHOBIE DE CHARLEMAGNE À LA CRISE UKRAINIENNE. (West - Russia: the thousand-year war. The history of Russophobia from Charlemagne to the Ukrainian crisis).
Then it will become clear that information wars are not won by the efforts of the "winds", "Samsonovs" and secondbars.

[hohol95]

The youth is pale with a burning eye,
Now I give you three covenants ...

Where, where are they - experts in foreign languages ​​and customs of "foreign"?
After 1917 did everyone run away?
Or were there not so many similar specialists under the kings?
But, how famously know French or German spied!
Better than native language. I also remember one of the domestic poets living abroad and speaking French for some reason wrote in Russian and was published only in Russia! (Probably I could not get money in another way - there "over the hill".)
You are right - professionals should occupy a similar topic!
Only not them! Do not start in our country even from dampness ...
And in my "profane opinion" there have never been any in our country ...
And if they were, they were in very small quantities, and did not affect the "average temperature in the hospital"!

[kalibr]

Alexei! And it is very difficult for us to become a professional in this field. Look: I’ve been engaged in the culture of Japan since 1998, I wrote a couple of books, though from its history, and again, mainly from the history of the weapons of the samurai. But ... it just so happened that I had a student who studied Japanese, who was in Japan, wrote a diploma in Japanese advertising, which eventually resulted in our joint book on Japanese advertising, published in Germany. I personally cracked a tiny bit of Japanese culture in business. Tiny. And look how much it took time, effort and confluence of circumstances. And to achieve serious success at a solid level? Can you imagine how much labor, effort and time are needed? And how much they taught me at home to eat with a knife in my right hand and a fork in my left ... I would never have learned if my mother had not taken me to Bulgaria in 1968 ... and so on!

[hohol95]

Then what kind of "dampness" in the "countries behind the border posts" such "professionals in Russia" come from? Or is everything now based on notes from internet blogs? And where have all our scholars of Orientalists, professors in Europe, specialists in the United States and Canada gone?
Or are the modern authorities and media owners "dumbly addressing smart people"?
Or was this scientific stratum itself crushing heavily?

[voyaka uh]

Unconvincing.
There are Russophobes in England, but there are Russophiles.
Outbid both those and these.
Accordingly, in Russia there are Anglophobes and Anglophiles.
Kinks - similarly.
English Russophobes go too far in the descriptions of the Caucasian wars.
Russian Anglophobes just as well go beyond the descriptions of the Boer, Indian, and other warfare.

[hohol95]

The thing is the number of those or other in the governments and other power structures of the countries! And do not discard temporary situations - WWII!
Churchill, a fighter against communism, was forced to become an ally of the communist Stalin!
But at the same time, not forgetting to help forces with a Russophobic orientation!

[awdrgy]

They never loved us

[Seal]

Quote: Alexander Trebuntsev

He sent this letter to Nicholas II.

Everything is correct, only that Nikolai was still the FIRST.
And one moment. This.

When Shamil’s gang abducted the Chavchavadze family, the abducted wife wrote a letter to Chavchavadze.

It would be nice to specify to which Chavchavadze the princess wrote the letter. Since Prince Ivan Chavchavadze was also captured along with everyone and was held captive.

[Alexander Trebuntsev]

Second Lieutenant Chavchavadze (if memory has not changed). He was then just on a trip to the Turks in the army of Paskevich.

[Seal]

Probably his husband David Chavchavadze. But he was in Georgia. Just defended Shields (or Shilda).

It was about 14 p.m. It seemed to David that things were going well, and he sent a note to Tsinandali, where he wrote that the Highlanders had retreated and there was no need to worry. This note had tragic consequences: when the whole village of Tsinandali went into the forest, the prince's family decided to stay in the estate. Moreover, when a local doctor arrived to get them on a wagon, Anna refused to leave, citing the fact that her husband did not order. There is also an opinion that the Highlanders followed the messenger with a note and determined by what ford he crossed the Alazani River. In the camp of Shamil, all the prisoners were sent inside the Pohalskaya tower. There, in the tower or nearby, Anna Chavchavadze saw Ivan Chavchavadze, the commander of the tower’s garrison, also a prisoner.

And Ivan Chavchavadze commanded the garrison of the Pohalsky tower.
In the letter, Anna Chavchavadze also has her exaggerations.

The gang broke into the night, grabbed women and children, and fearing the chase, quickly ran back to the mountains. Women and children were in the same shirts, and it was very cold and it was pouring rain. Women were thrown on horses and they barely held on during the race, and they also had to keep small children. As a result, the five-year-old girl fell off and fell on stones at full gallop, and the whole horde galloped over her without stopping.

In fact, on July 14, 1854, Shamil crossed the Caucasian ridge with 15 troops: cavalry under the command of his son Ghazi-Magomet and infantry under the command of the former Ilyisu Sultan Daniyal-Bek. Moreover, Shamil even had artillery - three guns. He walked from the side of the Dido aul Kidero to Mount Ninikas-Tsikhe (000 m.), Where at 3117:20 he was noticed by the post of the Pohalskaya tower, or even another, more distant post. The garrison of the tower was only 00 people. The Highlanders demanded surrender, but the garrison refused to give up. Then Shamil set his three guns against the tower and began firing. The assault on the tower delayed the Highlanders for a while, but there was no chance of surviving it and the tower surrendered.
That is, the gang did not run into the mountains, as it was not afraid of the chase.
So in the morning of July 16 (July 4 of the old style), the highlanders again attacked the Shilda fortress. At this time, a large cavalry detachment of Daniyal-Bek bypassed the fortress from the east, at the foot of Mount Kontskhi, broke into the plain and crossed the Alazani River. Learning about this, David left Ratiev’s detachment in the fortress, and with four regular companies of Prince Tumanov went to Alazani. He could not cross the river because of the high water in the river, but already from his shore he could see the burning villages of the right bank.
The highlanders of Daniyal-Bek discovered the empty village of Tsinandali, found the estate without any protection, seized all the property of Prince David and his entire family.
Daniyal-Bek immediately understood who he had got and organized the hostage guard.
The exact path of the detachment from Shilda to Tsinandali is unknown. But the return trip is described in the memoirs of the participants and can be modeled. Descriptions of the route and events vary, which implies that the mountaineers were divided into several groups. At first everyone crossed the Kisiskhevi river. Now in the summer season there is almost no water there, but on that July day there was water about a man’s chest and Princess Anna was almost carried away by the stream.
Crossing Kisiskhevi, the highlanders passed through the village of Kondoli and set it on fire. From Kondoli they went to Alazani.
Anna still hurt her leg in the estate. She had to carry Lydia in her arms. The other children were carried by handmaids. Someone was taken on horseback, someone was walking. The highlanders treated the prince's family humanely out of respect for status, but they perceived the servants as slaves and, on occasion, beat them with whips. There was almost no clothing on the prisoners, and what was was wet at two crossings.
The retreating crossed the river in several places. Some units were ambushed and suffered losses. The squad that drove Anna Dranse reached the mountains without problems and went into the mountains. The detachment with Princess Anne approached Mount Kontskhi and here came under fire from the captain Khitrovo, who was sitting in an ambush. In the confusion under the fire, Lydia died - Anna lost her hand. Here the maid Darejan Gamkrelidze died.
The highlanders managed to go around Mount Kontskhi and through the forests to return to the Pohalskaya tower in the Shamil camp - they were in the camp already on July 17th. The steep climb through alpine meadows to Pohalskaya mountain was the most difficult part of the path.