Military Geography, Military Statistics and Ethnography: the Process of Defining the Meaning of Ethnography for the Military of the Nicholas General Staff Academy (1830s–1840s)

Abstract

The significant role of the military in the practical study of the peoples of the 19th century Russian Empire is commonly acknowledged. However, to this day there are no studies that consider the question whether there were any specific theoretical ideas about ethnography among the military. In this article we attempt to understand whether or not ethnographical topics were touched upon within the course of military geography/military statistics in the Nicholas General Staff Academy in the 1830s–1840s. The conclusion is that the aforementioned course’s development at the time was not evolutionary, as is commonly believed in modern historiography, but revolutionary. The first teachers of military geography in the academy were, in fact, teaching strategy (P. A. Iazykov) and topography (G. F. Stefan). They not only did not review ethnographical topics, but also excluded most of the topics which were beyond the scope of physical geography. However, starting from 1845, D. A. Milyutin transformed the course of military geography into the course of military statistics. Besides introducing the study of certain ethnographical topics, he also theorized on how ethnography should be studied in relation to military statistics. He believed that "the spirit of the people" influenced the military power of the state, and thus ought to be studied in the scope of military statistics. At the same time, he urged limiting the studies to ethnographical topics that have long-term predictable influence on the state’s military power. In his own military and statistical descriptions D. A. Milyutin implemented this approach through productive and theoretically established description of ethnographical questions, though not in line with the one accepted in the humanities discourse. Instead of fully describing peoples living in a chosen territory, he first asked a question crucial for the military and related to ethnographic situation and then answered it. Thus, D. A. Milyutin’s theory of military statistics, dominant in the Russian Empire, demanded a different approach to describing peoples than was common in the humanities in the 19th century.

Funding

The research was supported by the Strategic Academic Leadership Program of the Southern Federal University («Priority 2030»).

Received 11 December 2025

Revised 26 April 2026

Accepted 25 May 2026

For citation: Peretyatko, A. Yu., 2026. Military Geography, Military Statistics and Ethnography: the Process of Defining the Meaning of Ethnography for the Military of the Nicholas General Staff Academy (1830s–1840s). Slavic World in the Third Millennium, 21 (1–2), pp. 9–33. https://doi.org/10.31168/2412-6446.2026.21.1-2.01