#russianempire — Public Fediverse posts

@static
I don’t buy into arguments which rely solely on historical grievances because it begs the question; ‘How far back do you wish to go?’ Every nation on earth was born of successful aggression over an *Other*.

I would also argue that #China has been pretty much left to its own devices since 1949. No treatment of China by the then developed nations was any worse than any other developing nation.

Moreover, Chinese territorial expansion has been allowed a free hand since the PRC came to power.And more recent history demonstrates China to be an #ImperialPower (esp. in Africa). If #Putin is faililng to revive the #RussianEmpire, #Xi is yet to trip up.

No, China has historically been a warmongering power, and the #PRC suffers all the anxieties that #totalitarian regimes suffer from which makes the #ChineseCommunistParty aggressive and thin-skinned unlike the #proletariat it rules over.

Ashkenazi Jews

Author’s Note: This post has mentions of Nazis, the Holocaust, & Nazi Germany. We completely understand if you wish to skip over this post. We’ll catch you in the next one!

Also known as Ashkenazic Jews, Ashkenazis, or Ashkenazim.

This is a form of distinct ethnic subdivision of the Jewish Diaspora. Emerging from the Jewish communities that consolidated during the 10th century in the Rhineland (Western Germany) & northern France. They migrated there from centers such as the Italian peninsula & the Southern Levant. This includes present-day Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, & Jordan.

After numerous massacres of Jews during the Crusades (11th-13th centuries), they began a gradual eastward migration due to mounting restrictions within the Holy Roman Empire & the favorable policies of Casimir the Great & others.

This diaspora ramped up after the persecution during the Black Death of the 14th century. The bulk of the Ashkenazi Jews had migrated to the Kingdom of Poland (which includes modern-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, & parts of Russia). This area became the main center of Ashkenazi Jewry until the Holocaust.

Ashkenazim adapted their traditions, rites, & customs to Europe. They traditionally followed the German rite synagogue ritual & until the Holocaust primarily spoke Yiddish, an offshoot of Middle High German written in a variety of the Hebrew script, with significant Hebrew, Aramaic, & Slavic influences.

The Yiddish language progressively declined in prestige, in favor of national languages & Hebrew, being stigmatized by assimilationists & later also Zionists. Though it was spoken by over 11 million people worldwide before the Holocaust. The Yiddishist movement, which sought to preserve & revive the language, faded through the 20th century. Including Duolingo adding Yiddish as a language.

As a proportion of the world Jewish population, Ashkenazim were estimated to be 3% in the 11th century, rising to 92% in 1930, near the population’s peak. The Ashkenazi population was significantly diminished by the Holocaust carried out by Nazi Germany during WWII, which killed around 6 million Jews. Before WWII, the estimated worldwide Jewish population was 15.3-16.7 million, with 92% being Ashkenazi. As of 2023, the population of Ashkenazim was estimated to be around 10-13 million out of 15.8 million total Jews.

The name Ashkenazi comes from the biblical figure of Ashkenaz. He’s the 1st son of Gomer, grandson of Japhet, great-grandson of Noah, & a Japhetic patriarch in the Table of Nations. The name for Gomer has often been linked to the Cimmerians.

The Biblical Ashkenazis are usually derived from Assyrian Askuza, a people who expelled the Cimmerians from the Armenian area of the Upper Euphrates. The name Askuza is identified with the Scythians.

In Jeremiah 51:27, Ashkenaz figures as 1 of 3 kingdoms in the far north, the others being Minni (or Mannaea), an ancient kingdom that flourished in northwestern Iran, & Arrat (corresponding to Urartu), called on by God to resist Babylon.

Ashkenaz is linked to Scandza/Scanzia (usually identified with Scandinavia), viewed as the cradle of Germanic tribes, in the 6th-century gloss to the Historia Ecclesiastica of Eusebius. In the 10th century, in the History of Armenia of Yovhannes Drasxanakertci, Ashkenaz was associated with Armenia.

As it was occasionally in Jewish usage, where its denotation extended at times to Adiabene, Khazaria, Chimea, & areas to the east. They’re also identified with the Slavim or Slavs. In keeping with the custom of designating areas of Jewish settlement with biblical names, Spain was called Sefarad (Obadiah 20), France was called Tsarefat (I Kings 17:9), & Bohemia was called the Land of Canaan.

Given the close links between the Jewish communities of France & Germany following the Carolingian unification, the term Ashkenazi came to refer to the Jews of both medieval Germany & France.

In later times, the word Ashkenaz is used to designate southern & western Germany, the ritual of which sections differs somewhat from that of eastern Germany & Poland. Thus, the prayer book of Isaiah Horowitz (a prominent rabbi & mystic), & many others, give the piyyutim (a Jewish liturgical poem), according to the Minhag of Ashkenaz & Poland. A Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism.

In a religious sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is any Jew whose family tradition & synagogue ritual follow Ashkenazi practices (German rite). Until the Ashkenazi community 1st began to develop in the Early Middle Ages, the centers of Jewish religious authority were in the Islamic world, at Baghdad & Islamic Spain. German Ashkenaz was so geographically distant that it developed a minhag of its own.

The counterpart of Ashkenazi is Sephardic. Since most non-Ashkenazi Orthodox Jews follow Sephardic rabbinical authorities, whether or not they’re ethnically Sephardic. By tradition, a Sephardic or Mizrahi (a.k.a. Oriental Jews; Jews who lived in the Muslim world) who married into an Orthodox or Haredi (a.k.a. ultra-Orthodox) Ashkenazi Jewish family raises her kids to be Ashkenazi Jews.

On the other hand, an Ashkenazi woman who married a Sephardi or Mizrahi is expected to take on Sephardic practices & the kids will “inherit” a Sephardic identity. Though in practice, many families do compromise. A “convert” usually follows the practice of the rabbinical court (beth din) that converted them.

Culturally, an Ashkenazi Jew can be identified by the concept of Yiddishkeit, which means “Jewishness” in the Yiddish language. Before the Haskalah (a.k.a. the Jewish Enlightenment) & the emancipation of Jews in Europe, this meant the study of the Torah & the Talmud for men, & communal life governed by the observance of Jewish Law for men & women.

From the Rhineland to Riga (the largest city in Latvia) to Romania, most Jews prayed in liturgical Ashkenazi Hebrew, & spoke Yiddish in their secular (worldly) lives. But with modernization, Yiddishkeit now includes not just Orthodoxy & Hasidism, but a broader range of movements, ideologies, practices, & traditions in which Ashkenazi have participated & somehow kept a sense of Jewishness. Although pockets of Jews still speak Yiddish, Yiddishkeit can be identified in manners of speech, styles of humor, & in patterns of association.

As Ashkenazi Jews moved away from Europe, mostly in the form of aliyah to Israel. Or immigration to North America, South Africa, Europe (particularly France), & Latin America, the geographic isolation has given way to mixing with other cultures, & with non-Ashkenazi Jews who, similarly, are no longer isolated in distinct geographic locales.

Hebrew has replaced Yiddish as the primary Jewish language for many Ashkenazi Jews. Although many Hasidic & Hareidi groups still use Yiddish in daily life. Aliyah is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographic Land of Israel or the Palestine region, where the State of Israel was established.

France’s blended Jewish community is typical of the cultural recombination that’s going on among Jews throughout the world. Although France expelled its original Jewish population in the Middle Ages, by the time of the French Revolution, there were 2 distinct Jewish populations.

One consisted of Sephardic Jews, originally refugees from the Inquisition (which no one expects! Sorry, we’re Monty Python fans here.) & concentrated in the southwest. While the other community was Ashkenazi, concentrated in formerly German Alsace, & mainly speaking a German dialect similar to Yiddish.

The 3rd community of Provencal Jews living in Comtat Venaissin was technically outside France, & was later absorbed into the Sephardim. Comtat Venaissin (called Comtat, for short) was a part of the Papal States from 1274 to 1791.

But after emancipation, a sense of a unified French Jewry emerged, especially when France was wracked by the Dreyfus Affair in the 1890s. (We’ll be doing a post about the Dreyfus Affair.) In the 1920s & 30s, Ashkenazi Jews from Europe arrived in large numbers as refugees from antisemitism, the Russian Revolution, & the economic turmoil of the Great Depression.

By the 1930s, Paris had a vibrant Yiddish culture, & many Jews were involved in diverse political movements. After the Vichy years & the Holocaust, the French Jewish population was augmented once again, 1st by Ashkenazi refugees from Central Europe, & later by Sephardi immigrants & refugees from North Africa, many of them francophone. Francophone refers to people/organizations who use French (language) regularly.

Ashkenazi Jews didn’t transmit their traditions or achievements by text. Instead, these traditions were passed down orally from one generation to the next. The desire to maintain pre-Holocaust traditions relating to Ashkenazi culture has often been met with criticism by Jews in Eastern Europe.

In an ethnic sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is a descendant of the Jews who settled in the Central European region of “Ashkenaz.” For roughly 1,000 years, the Ashkenazim were a reproductively isolated population in Europe.

Despite living in many countries, with little inflow or outflow of countries from migration, conversion, or intermarriage with other groups, including other Jews. Since the mid-20th century, many Ashkenazi Jews have intermarried, both with members of other Jewish communities & non-Jews.

Religious persecution of the Jews in Western & Central Europe led to a significant migration of the Ashkenazi Jews into Eastern Europe. This resulted in a major cultural divide between Western/Central & Eastern Ashkenazi communities. In particular, this was reflected in the division of Yiddish into Western & Eastern Yiddish dialects. As well as in other cultural distinctions: traditions, food, dress, etc.

Initially, the Jews of Eastern Europe enjoyed relative freedom in terms of movement, being invited by the kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Over time, the situation was reversed. By the 19th century, the Jews in the West had gradually been integrated into the general society.

While the Eastern Ashkenazi maintained their strict Jewish traditions & were mostly confined to ghettos, especially in the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire, which incorporated a considerable amount of land where the Eastern Ashkenazi lived: Poland & Lithuania.

Well-known differences in practices include:

• Observance of Passover (Pesach)
  • Ashkenazi Jews traditionally refrain from eating legumes, grain, millet, & rice. Quinoa has become accepted as a food grain in North American communities. Sephardi Jews typically don’t prohibit these foods.
• Notwithstanding stricter requirements for the ACTUAL slaughter, Sephardi Jews permit the rear portions of an animal after proper Halakhic removal of the sciatic nerve. While many Ashkenazi Jews don’t.
• Ashkenazi Jews often name newborns after deceased family members, not after living relatives. Sephardi Jews often name their kids after their grandparents, even if those grandparents are still living. An exception to this is among Dutch Jews, where Ashkenazi for centuries used naming conventions otherwise attributed exclusively to Sephardim, such as Chuts. Chuts is the name given to Jews who immigrated to London from the Netherlands in the 1850s-1860s.
• Ashkenazi tefillins are wound toward the body, not away from it. Ashkenazim put on the tefillin while standing up. Other Jews generally do so while sitting down. A tefillin(s) is/are sets of small black leather boxes with leather straps having scrolls of parchment written with verses of the Torah inside.
• The prayer shawl (tallit/tallis) is worn by all Ashkenazi men AFTER marriage. Except for Western European Ashkenazi men who wear it from the bar mitzvah. In Sephardi or Mizrahi Judaism, the prayer shawl is commonly worn from early childhood.

The term Ashkenazi also refers to the Nusach Ashkenaz, the liturgical tradition used by Ashkenazi Jews in their siddur (prayer book). A nusach is defined by a liturgical tradition’s choice of prayers, the text of prayers & melodies used in the singing of prayers. 2 other major forms of nusach among Ashkenazi Jews are Nusach Sefard (not to be confused with the Sephardic ritual), which is the general Polish Hasidic nusach, and Nusach Ari, used by those in Chabad.

Make a one-time donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a monthly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a yearly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Rate this:

Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, Ukraine (Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin, 1905 AD)

https://piefed.social/c/traditional_ar[email protected]/p/2182623/kyiv-monastery-of-the-caves-ukraine-vasili-vasilievich-vereshchagin-1905-ad

Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, Ukraine (Vasili Vasilievich Vereshchagin, 1905 AD)

https://piefed.social/c/historyart@piefed.social/p/2182621/kyiv-monastery-of-the-caves-ukraine-vasili-vasilievich-vereshchagin-1905-ad

Yazids

Also spelled Yesidis.

They’re a Kurdish-speaking endogamous religious group indigenous to Kurdistan, a geographical region in Western Asia that includes parts of Iraq, Syria, Turkey, & Iran, with small numbers living in Armenia & Georgia (the country). Endogamy is the cultural practice of only marrying within a specific social group, religious denomination, caste, or ethnic group. The majority of the Yazidis remaining in the Middle East today live in Iraq, primarily in the governorates of Nineveh & Duhok.

Yazidism came about through a complex historical process involving a pre-Islamic Kurdish religious substratum & teachings of Sheikh Adi ibn Musafir. Generally, scholars regard Yazidism as an independent religious tradition with deep roots in ancient Iranian beliefs, shaped by later Sufi influences. Yazidism was adopted by many Kurdish tribes & Emirates. It reached as far west as Antioch & as far east as Sulaymaniyah. Sulaymaniyah/Slemani is a city in the East of the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Yezidi manuscripts (called misurs) were written in the 13th century. It contains lists of Kurdish tribes affiliated with Yezidi Pir saints. Only 2 of the 40 total manuscripts have been published so far. Namely, the Misur of Pir Sini Darani & the Misur of Pir Xetib Pisi. The list in the Misur of Pir Sini Darani includes several large tribes that have been largely or fully Islamized today.

From the 14th century on, Yazidis developed their own religious & political institutions in the areas where they lived. The Yezidi territories were divided into 7 administrative centers. Each has its own Sincaq (This is an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire). More commonly known as Tawis among the Yezids. Sincaqs are sacred bronze effigies bearing the image of a bird or peacock to symbolize Tawusi Melek. They serve as symbols of power for each administrative center.

Every 6 months, the Yezidi Quwals, who are trained reciters of Qewls & other forms of sacred oral Yezidi tradition, were sent out to other Yezidi-inhabited areas with military protection from the central administrative region of Shekhan & the spiritual center of Lalish.

This tradition serves to preserve the Yazidi faith & doctrine. The Qewals, supported by voluntary alms, led a Sincaq through Yazidi villages to maintain spiritual legitimacy & symbolize the authority of Lalish & the Mir.

During WWI, the Armenian genocide of 1915 caused a mass exodus of Yazidis from Van, Kars, & Bazid, Turkey. Together with many Armenians, they fled from the Ottoman Empire in masses to Transcaucasia (a.k.a. South Caucasus. This is located on the border of Eastern Europe & West Asia, which straddles the southern Caucasus Mountains.).

They followed their families/relatives who had already migrated to the territories of the Russian Empire after fleeing during the Russo-Turkish wars in 1828-1829 & 1877-1878. In May 1918, Ottomans crossed the Akhuryan River to invade the Armenian Republic. The Yezidi participation in the decisive Battle of Sardarabad is still commemorated by Armenians.

Yazidism is a monotheistic faith based on belief in 1 God, who created the world & entrusted it into the care of a Heptad of the 7 Holy Beings. Often known as angels or heft sirr (the 7 Mysteries). Preeminent among these is Tawusi Melek (also known as Melek Taus), the Peacock Angel. Traditionally, Yazidis who marry non-Yazidis are considered to have converted to the religion of their spouse.

Make a one-time donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a monthly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a yearly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Rate this:

https://russian-world-citizens.blogspot.com/2023/04/selected-books-in-russian-google.html Selected books in Russian - Google translated into English in 2023 - Encyclopedia _Art_ (with 2500 illustrations) - Alexander Gorkin (chief editor).epub
The activities of the masters of Russian art, whose work is most fully represented in domestic museums, are covered in more detail. The texts were written by employees of the State Tretyakov Gallery and the State Museum of Fine Arts. A. S. Pushkin - 2007 #art #russianArt #russianHistory #russianEmpire #russianPainting

@OlgaPatlyuk @ginnie_mastreani Yes, there's more to come, far more. #Ukraine will win because "your cause is just and God is on your side", paraphrasing former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew #Brzezinsky addressing troops fighting against the #SovietUnion in #Afghanistan. His positions on the rebirth of the #RussianEmpire were prophetic and sadly ignored at the time.

https://archive.org/details/watchful-state

The Watchful State: Security Police and Opposition in Russia, 1906–1917 by Jonathan W. Daly

Topics
#russianrevolution, #russianempire, #tsarism, #tsaristrussia, #politicalpolice, #policeviolence, #politicalrepression, #counterinsurgency, #counterrevolution, #imperialism, #policing, #departmentforprotectingthepublicsecurityandorder, #okhrana, #ministryofinternalaffairs, #mvd, #imperialrussia, #russianimperialism, #politicalviolence

Why did the imperial Russian government fail to prevent revolution in 1917? Were its security policies flawed? This broadly researched study of Russia's security police investigates the government's efforts to maintain order as it struggled against political opposition and threats of violence during the last decade before the Revolution. Historian Jonathan Daly brings to life the men who, often with reformist intentions, took on the task of defending Russia against political dissent and revolution from within.