„Wie schwer war dieses Jahr“ –: Chaos und Ordnung, Besitzverlust und Eigentumskonzeptionen in Erinnerungen des Adels an 1812

Abstract

The article is based on the premise that in many Russian memoirs, the loss of property during the events of 1812 appears in more prominent and dramatic ways than, for instance, physical violence. This suggests not only a certain modesty in the narratives, but also a strong concept of ownership and property. It also situates 1812 within the Russian process of propertization. In the memoirs, the experience of losing property is presented mostly as a problem of forfeited traditions and as emotional loss rather than as pure material damage. The analysis of these narratives of loss also leads to the question of how “the enemy” was described: on the one hand, members of the Grande Armée were perceived not only as adversaries, but also as preservers of justice. Russian peasants, on the other, could act either as allies within the emerging national community or as troublemakers who vandalized the nobility´s rightful property and disrupted the social order.