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George Kennan - photo from 1885
George Kennan - photo from 1885

George Kennan (February 16, 1845 – 1924) was an American explorer noted for his travels in the Kamchatka and Caucasus regions of Russia. Events 1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols Year 1845 ( MDCCCXLV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Year 1924 ( MCMXXIV) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending He was diplomat and historian George F. Kennan's cousin twice removed, with whom he shared his birthday. George Frost Kennan (February 16 1904 &ndash March 17 2005 was an American Advisor, Diplomat, Political scientist, and Historian, best

Kennan was born in Norwalk, Ohio, and was keenly interested in travel from an early age. Norwalk is a city in Huron County, Ohio, United States. The population was 16238 at the 2000 census. However, family finances dictated that he begin work at the Cleveland and Toledo Railroad Company telegraph office at age twelve. In 1864, he secured employment with the Russian American Telegraph Company to survey a route for a proposed overland telegraph line through Siberia and across the Bering Strait. Year 1864 ( MDCCCLXIV) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year The Russian American telegraph also known as the Western Union Telegraph Expedition and the Collins Overland telegraph was an $3000000 undertaking by the Western Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving The Bering Strait (Берингов пролив Beringov proliv) is a sea Strait between Cape Dezhnev, Russia, the easternmost point (169°43' Having spent two years in the wilds of Kamchatka, he returned to Ohio via St. Petersburg and soon became well-known through his lectures, articles and book about his travels. Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River

He provided ethnographies, histories and descriptions of many native peoples in Siberia, that are still important for researchers today. They include stories about the Koraks (Koryak language), Kamchatdal (Itelmens), Chookchees, Yookaghirs, Chooances, Yakoots and Gakouts. Koryak is a Chukotko-Kamchatkan language spoken by circa 3000 people (Koryak in the easternmost extremity of Siberia, mainly in Koryak Okrug. The Itelmen, sometimes known as Kamchadal, are an Ethnic group who are the original inhabitants living on the Kamchatka peninsula in Russia. The Chukchi language (лыгъоравэтлъан йилйил lyg"oravetl'an jiljil) also known as Luoravetlan, Chukot and Chukcha is

In 1870, he returned to St. Year 1870 ( MDCCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Petersburg and travelled to Dagestan, a northern area of the Caucasus region taken over by Russia only ten years previously. The Republic of Dagestan dæɡɪˈstɑːn (IntEng ˈdeɪɡəstæn (AmEng (Респу́блика Дагеста́н Дагъистанлъул ДжумхIурият Daɣistanłul The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending There he became the first American to explore its highlands, a remote Muslim region of herders, silversmiths, carpet-weavers and other craftsmen. He travelled on through the northern Caucasus area, stopping in Samashki and Grozny, before returning once more to America in 1871. Samashki (Самашки is a village ( selo) on the western plains in Achkhoy-Martanovsky District of the Chechen Republic, Grozny (Гро́зный Соьлж-ГIала Sölƶ-Ġala or Соьлжа-ГIала Sölƶa -Ġala sometimes referred to as ce Джовхар-ГIала Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common In 1878, he became an Associated Press reporter based in Washington, D.C.

In May 1885, Kennan began another voyage in Russia, this time across Siberia. Year 1878 ( MDCCCLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The Associated Press ( AP) is an American News agency. The AP is a Cooperative owned by its contributing Newspapers radio Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Year 1885 ( MDCCCLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Siberia (Сиби́рь Sibir) is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of Northern Asia and for the most part currently serving He had been supportive of the Tsarist Russian government and its policies, but his meetings with exiled dissidents during his travel changed his mind. Tsar csar and tzar redirect here For other uses see Tsar (disambiguation. A dissident, broadly defined is a person who actively challenges an established doctrine policy or institution On his return to America in August 1886, he began to espouse the cause of revolution. Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A revolution (from the Latin revolutio, "a turnaround" is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively He had been particularly impressed by Catherine Breshkovskaia, the populist "little grandmother of the Russian Revolution". She had bidden him farewell in the small Transbaikal village to which she was confined by saying "We may die in exile and our grand children may die in exile, but something will come of it at last. "

Kennan devoted much of the next twenty years to promoting the cause of Russian revolution, mainly through lecturing. In addition to Catherine Breshkovskaia, he befriended other émigrés such as Peter Kropotkin and Sergei Kravchinskii. Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out" but often carries a connotation of politico-social self- Exile. Sergius Michaelovitch Kravchinski, known in 19th century London Revolutionary circles as Stepniak or Sergius Stepniak was the Russian who He became the most prominent member of the Society of American Friends of Russian Freedom – whose membership included Mark Twain and Julia Ward Howe – and also helped found Free Russia, the first English-language journal to oppose Tsarist Russia. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30 1835 – April 21 1910 better known by the Pen name Mark Twain, was an American Humorist, satirist Julia Ward Howe (May 27 1819 &ndash October 17 1910 was a prominent American abolitionist, social activist, and Poet most famous as In 1891 the Russian government responded by banishing him from Russia. Year 1891 ( MDCCCXCI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common

Kennan's campaigning on behalf of Russian political prisoners was later expanded to include persecuted minorities in the Russian empire, in particular the Jews and, following the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese. A political prisoner is someone held in Prison or otherwise detained perhaps under House arrest, for his or her involvement in political activity PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ The Russo-Japanese War (日露戦争 Romaji: Nichi-Ro Sensō Русско-японская война Russko-Yaponskaya Voyna;, 10 February 1904 – 5 September The are the dominant Ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent of these approximately 127 million are residents of Japan Kennan also assisted a little-known campaign to educate and politically motivate Russian POWs held in Japan. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics.

Kennan was one of the most prolific lecturers of the late nineteenth century. He spoke before a million or so people during the 1890s, including two hundred consecutive evening appearances in 1890-91 (excepting Sundays) before crowds of as many as two thousand people. The 1890s were sometimes referred to as the " Mauve Decade" because William Henry Perkin 's aniline dye allowed the widespread use of that

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Bolshevik Revolution

Kennan was vehemently against the October Revolution, because he felt the Soviet government lacked the "knowledge, experience, or education to deal successfully with the tremendous problems that have come up for solutions since the overthrow of the Tsar. " Kennan criticized Woodrow Wilson for being too timid in intervening against Bolshevism.

The Russian leopard has not changed its spots. . . The new Bolshevik constitution . . . leaves all power just where it has been for the last five years--in the hands of a small group of self-appointed bureaucrats which the people can neither remove nor control. --Kennan's last criticism of Bolshevism written in the Medina Tribune (a small-town newspaper), July 1923

Criticisms

Despite questions on the accuracy of his journalism, his authority was unchallenged in the United States. Kennan presented a picture of Russia that was more a projection of characteristic American hopes, fantasies, and fears in an era of exuberant self-confidence than the product of hard-earned knowledge. His authority was based on firsthand observations, though they were largely focused on the exotic. He was sympathetic chiefly to political prisoners, who represented a minute fraction of those in Russia's vast penal and exile system. As far as we know, he never visited any prison outside Russia for comparative purposes. He confused political exiles in East Siberia with administrative exiles in West Siberia. At times he misled his audiences in other ways to dramatize his cause. Kennan never probed deeply into the views of Russians working within the system, who he could have helped and from whom he could have learned.

What must be remembered is that his observations of native life, climate and language were based on personal observation, such as his descriptions of marriage ceremonies of the Koryats in 'Tent Life'. He was not a professional ethnographer. In fact, at the time, there were no professional ethnographers, nor was he a historian by trade, his work was completed under the most extreme conditions and thus bears the stamp of his own personal appraisal, much as found in work of his contemporaries such as Mark Twain.

Further reading

References

External links

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