COLLECTION OF HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS "RUSSIA AND THE UPRISING IN BiH 1875 - 1878" PRESENTED

PALE, JUNE 8 /SRNA/ - A collection of historical documents titled “Russia and the Uprising in BiH 1875–1878” was presented this evening in Pale, which contains documents from the Russian archives.

The Ambassador of the Russian Federation to BiH, Igor Kalabukhov, stated that the significance of such works is immense, especially in a time of widespread falsifications, particularly in the field of history. “We must reject the efforts of our enemies in this important domain, especially at a time when we are marking 80 years since the victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War and the Second World War together with the partisans of Yugoslavia,” Kalabukhov said. Kalabukhov emphasized that only by working together can an objective truth about historical events be reached, and that objectivity is the only solid foundation for the future. He said that it is always a pleasure for him to visit Pale and that he was honored to have the opportunity this evening to congratulate Professor Konstantin Nikiforov, Director of the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, under whose direction the collection was published. “The presence of distinguished and learned individuals is a guarantee that we can objectively understand what took place in the history between Russia and BiH. This event is proof of friendship and a guarantee that we can move forward together,” Kalabukhov said. Nikiforov stated that commemorating the 150th anniversary of the uprising in BiH is of great importance for the history of the Serbian people. “I can say that it was the third Serbian uprising. After the first uprising, Serbia gained autonomy, and after this third one, it gained independence — Serbia and Montenegro, two Serbian states,” said Nikiforov. Draga Mastilović, Director of the Institute of History at the University of East Sarajevo, said that this book represents the most important source material on the Herzegovina Uprising and expressed hope that it will soon be translated into the Serbian language. “This will enrich Serbian historiography, as for a century and a half historians have been asking how that small black dot in Herzegovina eventually grew into something resembling a cloud that obscured what seemed to be the clear skies of European diplomacy, at least in the eyes of German Chancellor Bismarck in the summer of 1875,” said Mastilović. Mastilović emphasized that this is one of the most important topics in Serbian, Russian, and European history, as the Herzegovina Uprising triggered a major European crisis. “After it came the Berlin Congress and a new division of Europe among the great powers. That, in turn, eventually contributed to the outbreak of the First World War,” Mastilović recalled.