Mystification of the baltic question

Abstract

A. I. Filyushkin’s book (2013) is devoted to Russia’s participation in the Livonian War of 1558– 1583 years. Its author claims a new approach to the study of traditional research the so-called Baltic question. A. I. Filyushkin regards the question about the purpose of the Livonian War to be instrumental. The author believes that Russia did not wage war for access to the Baltic Sea, since she already had a lot of sea coast with the most convenient access to the sea, as the river Neva. The author believes that “in the 16th century Russian nobility led war for land, for the seizure of new territories, which later followed the Local distribution”. A. I. Filyushkin came to the conclusion that Russia’s rulers just do not want to develop trade on the Russian ships in the Baltic Sea. Russians did not know “what to do with the sea”. They built coastal forts, but not commercial ports. Russian received merchant ships in Narva during the Livonian War but did not mount their own Baltic sea voyages. According to the author of the review, the findings of A. I. Filyushkin are purely speculative, based on a selective analysis of some of the facts. The author picks and chooses the facts of history, then developing his own “discourse” on this basis comes to “innovative” conclusions. Those facts and research findings which contradict the conclusions obtained in this way are ignored or dismissed with some witty remark without a thorough analysis. Thus the author gives generalized significance to the obtained conclusions. The author believes that the “innovation” on the part of A. I. Filyushkin is the result of ignoring the achievements Russian historiography in the 18th to the 21st — a significant step back in the development of Russian historical science. Refs 23.