Mikhail Meltyukhov

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mikhail Ivanovich Meltiukhov (also spelled Meltyukhov or Mel'tiuhov, Russian: Russian: Михаил Иванович Мельтюхов IPA: [mixʌ'il i'vʌnəviʨ mʲil'tʲuxəf]) is a Russian military historian. Currently he is working at the Russian Institute of Documents and Historical Records Research.

[edit] Works

In 1995, he defended the dissertation “Contemporary Historiography on Pre-history of the Great Patriotic War”^[1] on historiography concerning the beginning of World War II. Since then, he has published several studies, many of which are notable for the critical review of the official Soviet conceptions of World War II. Some important works in this direction are On the Verge of the Great Patriotic War: the Debate Goes on^[2] and Stalin's Missed Chance^[3]^[4].

His Soviet-Polish Wars: Military and Political Confrontation in 1918-1939 was strongly criticized for bias and inaccuracies by Peter Cheremushkin from Moscow State University^[5] and Andrzej Nowak of Jagiellonian University and Institute of History, Polish Academy of Sciences.^[6] Nowak in his 2004 book in detail lists bias and inaccuracies concerning Polish-Russian relations in this book, primarily pointing out that Poland is always portrayed as an aggressor and many instances of Russian aggression toward Poland are ignored: Bar Confederation for him is not a 'pro-Polish independence movement' but only an 'anti-religious tolerance' one; for a comprehensive study of Polish-Russian relations, there is no mention of Polish-Russian War of 1792 nor of Targowica Confederation; in another example, he claims that 60,000 Soviet POWs died in Polish camps during the Polish-Soviet war, and all Polish POWs were returned safely - ignoring the recent finding of both Polish and Russian historians that for both sides, POWs losses were similar (15,000-20,000).^[7]; Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is declared non-infringing on Soviet-Polish Non-Aggression Pact and as containing no anti-Polish aspects; Soviet invasion of Poland is termed 'peace operation' and 'liberation'; and main concern of Soviet government during its occupation of Poland was... the well-being of Polish citizens (deportations were meant to safeguard Poles from retribution of now-liberated minorities in that region, and Katyn massacre is justifed due to "60,000 Soviet POWs murdered during the Polish-Soviet War". Nowak also criticizes the work on methodological grounds, noting its reliance of Soviet sources like Nikolai Kuzmin Kruszenije trietjego pochoda Ententy (1958) or Paweł Olszański's Riżskij dogowor (1969) and near complete omission of any works from Russian authors who would disagree with his claims, Polish or Western historiography.^[8]

In his latest work, Stalin's Liberation Campaign,^[9] using newly declassified documents, he deals with Joseph Stalin's attempts to re-gain 'lost territories' of the Russian empire, for example, Bessarabia. He presents a hypothesis that precisely at the time of Soviet occupation of Bessarabia did Adolf Hitler make the decision to invade the Soviet Union.

Meltyukhov also contributed to a recently published collection of articles on Viktor Suvorov's thesis.^[10] Meltyukhov supported some ideas of Suvorov in general but criticized him for inaccuracies.

An English version of some of his work has been published as "Disputes over 1941" by M I Mel'tiukhov in the series Russian studies in history. 36, no. 2, (1997) Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., ISSN 1061-1983. OCLC 89401509.

[edit] References

^ Современнная отечественнная историографии предистории Великой Отечественнной войны (1985-1995). Дисссертация. Москва, 1995
^ Канун Великой Отечественнной войны: дискуссия продолжается. Москва, 1995
^ Упущенный шанс Сталина. Советский Союз и борьба за Европу: 1939-1941 (Документы, факты, суждения). - М.: Вече, 2000 ISBN 5-7838-0590-4
^ М. И. Мельтюхов Упущенный шанс Сталина: Советский Союз и борьба за Европу 1939-1941 гг. : Документы, факты, суждения. Изд. 2-е, испр. , доп. ISBN 5-7838-1196-3 (second edition)
^ Peter Cheremushkin, Russian-Polish Relations: A Long Way From Stereotypes to Reconciliation, InterMarium Volume 5 (2002), p.18
"Russian historians were unable to take a united stand against those who claim that “nothing wrong happened in Katyn.” Some historical publications have appeared in this context, such as a book by Mikhail Meltyukhov called Soviet-Polish Wars: Military and Political Confrontation in 1918-1939.42."[...] "This [Meltyukhov's - note by P.P.] point of view can be used to justify the execution of the Polish officers in 1940." [...] "But can this point of view be considered correct if it is so close to Stalinist and neoimperial concepts?"
^ Andrzej Nowak, History as an Apology of Totalitarianism, p.9, conference paper at Soviet Totalitarianism in Ukraine: History and Legacy, Kyiv, September 2–6, 2005
"It would be possible to indicate various examples of more subtle apologias for the Empire, linked with the rejection of all arguments for its victims or critics. Examples which dress themselves in the trappings of the most academic monograph. [...] A more brutal example of the same tendency is expressed in the book by the professional historian from Moscow, Mikhail Meltyukhov, dedicated to the Polish-Soviet conflicts of the twentieth century. These conflicts are, for him, fragments of eternal Western aggression against Russia. When Russia (in this case, Soviet Russia) comes into conflict it is only to take what is rightfully hers. Stalin appears as a genial successor to Catherine II. The Ribbentrop-Molotov pact and the involvement of the USSR in the attack on Poland in September 1939 are presented as purely defensive postures, underlining the primacy of Russian raison d’etat. This posture represented not only Stalin’s profound realism but also historical justice and even – argues Meltyukhov – humanitarianism. In this context the mass deportations of more than half a million people from the territory occupied by the Red Army in September 1939 to camps in the depths of the Soviet Union is presented as a “peacekeeping mission” which prevented the murder of those Poles deported to Siberia by protecting them from the Ukrainians panting with thirst for revenge...". Please also note the footnote: "M. Meltyukhov, Sovetsko-polskie voiny. Voienno-politicheskoe protivostoianie 1918-1939 gg., Moskva 2001 – compare my comprehensive review concentrating on the shocking falsehoods in this book – in: A. Nowak, Od imperium do imperium. Spojrzenia na historię Europy Wschodniej, Kraków 2004, p. 258-271."
^ For more on this subject, see Camps for Russian prisoners and internees in Poland (1919-1924) and Polish prisoners and internees in Soviet Union and Lithuania (1919-1921)
^ Andrej Nowak, Od imperium do imperium. Spojrzenia na historię Europy Wschodniej, Arcana, Kraków 2004, ISBN 83-89243-81-4, p. 258-271
^ М. И. Мельтюхов Освободительный поход Сталина. Яуза, Эксмо, 2006. ISBN 5-699-17275-0
^ Преддверие Великой Отечественной войны 1939-1941 гг.: становление великой державы. in: Правда Виктора Суворова. Переписывая историю Второй Мировой. Яуза, 2006 c. 31-108. ISBN 5-87849-214-8