THE ADMIRAL'S MASKS: THE STYLIZED REPRESENTATION OF THE SUPREME RULER OF ALL-RUSSA, ADMIRAL ALEKSANDR VASILIEVICH KOLCHAK
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The present thesis seeks to develop a better understanding of how political images and symbols of power were constructed during the Russian Civil War through a textual analysis of the presentation surrounding the leader of the anti-Bolshevik movement in Siberia, Aleksandr Kolchak. The research was based primarily on the collection of microfilmed "anti-Soviet" newspapers available at the Library of Congress, while also expanding on the theoretical contributions of Wortman, Kolonitskii, and Holquist to the study of power in revolutionary Russia. The thesis focuses on the construction of a stylized representation of Admiral Kolchak by Kadets in Omsk, and how his public image was transformed to reflect the ideological goals and beliefs of the White movement. The political mythmaking of the Whites reveal that they, contrary to previous assessments, were fully engaged in propaganda campaigns and that Kolchak himself must be viewed within the wider revolutionary dynamic of emerging "leader cults."