Jonathan Smele

Jonathan Smele
Name	Jonathan Smele
Birth date	1961
Occupation	Historian, author, academic
Alma mater	University of Cambridge; University of Oxford
Notable works	The "Russian" Civil Wars, 1916–1926
Awards	Fellowships (see honors)

Jonathan Smele is a British historian and academic specializing in modern Russian and Eurasian history, particularly revolutionary movements, civil conflict, and state formation in the late Imperial and early Soviet periods. He has contributed to scholarship on the Russian Revolution, the Russian Civil War, and comparative revolutionary studies through monographs, edited volumes, and articles. His work engages with archival sources from Russian Empire, Soviet Union, Ottoman Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, and related Eurasian contexts, situating events within international frameworks involving actors such as the Allies of World War I, Central Powers, and neighboring states.

Early life and education

Born in 1961, he pursued undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. His doctoral research drew on archives in Russia, Ukraine, and Georgia, incorporating materials from repositories connected to institutions such as the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History and regional archives in Saint Petersburg and Moscow. During his formative years he studied contemporaneous historiography by figures such as E. H. Carr, Isaac Deutscher, Orlando Figes, Sheila Fitzpatrick, and Richard Pipes.

Academic career

He has held academic posts at universities in the United Kingdom and engaged with research centers including the School of Slavonic and East European Studies and the European University Institute. His career includes appointments that connected him to interdisciplinary programs intersecting with scholars of German Empire history, French Revolution studies, and comparative analyses involving the Chinese Civil War and revolutionary movements in Spain. He supervised research on topics linked to archives in Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Poland and collaborated with historians working on the Baltic States and Finland.

Research and major works

His major monograph, a comprehensive study of the Russian Civil Wars covering 1916–1926, synthesizes political, military, and social dimensions involving actors such as the Bolsheviks, Mensheviks, White movement, Green forces, and nationalist movements in Ukraine and the Caucasus. Smele's comparative approach places the Russian experience alongside revolutions and civil conflicts in Germany, Hungary, Turkey, and Iran, engaging debates advanced by scholars like Eric Hobsbawm, Timothy Snyder, and Sheila Fitzpatrick. He makes extensive use of primary sources from military headquarters, revolutionary committees, and diplomatic missions including the British Expeditionary Force archives and foreign ministries of the United Kingdom and France. The work analyzes interactions with foreign interventions by the United States, Japan, and the Allied powers while addressing socioeconomic consequences for peasants and workers represented by organizations such as the All-Russian Congress of Soviets.

Honors and fellowships

He has been awarded fellowships and grants from institutions including the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust, and research councils connected to the Arts and Humanities Research Council. His scholarship received recognition in reviews in journals associated with the Royal Historical Society, the Slavonic and East European Review, and the American Historical Review. He has been affiliated with research programs at the Institute of Historical Research and undertaken visiting fellowships at centers such as the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and the Center for European Studies (Harvard).

Teaching and mentorship

As a university lecturer and supervisor, he has directed doctoral dissertations on subjects involving the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Polish–Soviet War, the Turkish War of Independence, and regional studies of the Caucasus. His pedagogical work included seminars on archival methods drawing from collections in Moscow, Tbilisi, and Warsaw, and courses that engaged primary sources like diary collections of figures connected to the Provisional Government (Russia) and the Soviet government.

Public engagement and media contributions

He has contributed to public debates and media discussions concerning centenary commemorations of the World War I and the Russian Revolution of 1917, offering commentary for outlets and events organized by institutions such as the British Library, the Tate Modern (public history initiatives), and university public lecture series linked to the Royal United Services Institute and the Chatham House. His interviews and op-eds have addressed the legacy of revolutionary violence and state-building in relation to contemporary politics in the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and the Baltic States.

Selected publications and bibliography

- The "Russian" Civil Wars, 1916–1926: Ten Years That Shook the World (monograph). - Edited volumes and special journal issues on the Russian Revolution of 1917, comparative revolutions, and civil wars involving contributions about the Polish–Soviet War, Finnish Civil War, and conflicts in the Caucasus. - Articles in journals including the Slavonic and East European Review, the English Historical Review, the Journal of Modern History, and the American Historical Review.

Category:Living people Category:British historians Category:Historians of Russia Category:20th-century historians Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford