Stanislav S. Yudin

Candidate of Sciences (History), Contractor for the Grant

Tula State Lev Tolstoy Pedagogical University

(Tula, Russia)

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2024-3-39-49

Abstract. The article is an attempt to show the historical context for the phrase of poet-partisan Denis V. Davydov “Jomini, oh, Jomini – but not a word about vodka!”. This line appears in the poem Song of the Old Hussar (1817) and is attributed to the Swiss military theorist A.-H. Jomini and his followers in Russia. The article shows that this military writer enjoyed an ambiguous reputation because of the circumstances of his defection to the side of the anti-French coalition in 1813 as well as features of his character. Jomini’s name was associated in the mind of the military and the reading public with attempts to create a rigorous military science based on rigid immutable principles. For D. V. Davydov and his entourage such an approach to the Patriotic War of 1812 was unacceptable. In an attempt to develop a theory of guerrilla action D. V. Davydov came from the peculiarity of Russia and concrete experience, not from abstract rules. Finally, the name of Jomini was associated with the activity of K. F. Tol, Quartermaster General of His Imperial Majesty's Chief Staff. His attempts to keep militaryscientific work under control met with resistance from P. D. Kiselev and his colleagues on the headquarters of the 2nd Army. D. V. Davydov was close to them in service, as well as in his views on the military affairs.
Keywords: A.-H. Jomini, D. V. Davydov, K. W. von Toll, P. D. Kiselev, the Russian Imperial Army, military thought.

Full text of the article (PDF)

For citation: Yudin, SS 2024, ‘On Jomini and Vodka: Historical Context of Partisan-Poet Denis Davydov's Phrase’, Tula Scientific Bulletin. History. Linguistics, issue 3 (19), pp. 39–49, http://doi.org/10.22405/2712-8407-2024-3-39-49 (in Russ.)

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