The Presidential Library spotlighted the history of the Naval Knowledge Day

The traditional conference Naval Knowledge Day at the Presidential Library was held on September 2, 2021. The event participants considered the history and achievements of the Russian Navy, which turns 325 this year.

The Naval Knowledge Day at the Presidential Library brought together cadets, servicemen and specialists in the field of studying, preserving and promoting the historical and cultural heritage of the Russian Navy. The conference was held in person and online. The event was broadcast live in Live broadcasts section on the Presidential Library's portal and on the institution's YouTube channel.

Acting Director General of the Presidential Library Pavel Tereshchenko addressed the conference participants with a welcoming speech. He noted that the geography of the participants of Naval Knowledge Day is extensive: from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok, and for everyone in the Presidential Library, subordinate to the Administrative Directorate of the President of the Russian Federation, they provide free access to unique materials on the history, theory and practice of Russian statehood, the Russian language.

“We invite everyone to visit the exhibition, which in October, through the joint efforts of a large number of organizations, will be opened at the Presidential Library. It will be dedicated to the 325th anniversary of the Russian Navy. On September 3, marking memorable date of the end of World War II, more than 3.5 thousand digitized archival documents, film and photo materials starting September 1, 1939 - June 22, 1941 entered the Collection World War II in Archival Documents. According to the List of Instructions for the implementation of Presidential Address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation dated January 15, 2020, the Collection is organized by the Federal Archival Agency with the participation of archival services of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation, the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation", - Pavel Tereshchenko stressed.

At the conference, a greeting was made on behalf of the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, in which he expressed gratitude to the specialists of the Presidential Library for many years of fruitful work in preserving the history and heroic traditions of the Russian fleet, promoting naval knowledge and orienting young people to the choice of maritime professions.

“The reports and speeches are designed not only to broaden the horizons and knowledge of the national history of the participants, but also to foster a sense of pride in belonging to the Navy, without which it is unthinkable to preserve the traditions of courage, selfless devotion to the Fatherland, and loyalty to professional duty. And the new knowledge which the Presidential Library gives access to will undoubtedly become the basis for the successful future professional development of cadets and pupils", - Nikolai Evmenov noted.

Chairman of the Regional Public Organization of Admirals and Generals of the Russian Navy "Club of Admirals" Admiral of the Fleet Vladimir Kuroyedov in his welcoming address expressed confidence that the conference Naval Knowledge Day in the Presidential Library is a necessary event that allows the older generation of representatives of the Military Russian Navy to share their experience with the young defenders of the Fatherland.

The conference was hosted by Rear Admiral Vsevolod Khmyrov, Hero of the Russian Federation and Assistant to the Chairman of the Regional Public Organization of Admirals and Generals of the Russian Navy “Club of Admirals”, Adviser to the Director of the Sevastopol Military History Museum-Reserve, Captain 1st Rank (Ret.) Anatoly Razdolgin.

The event spotlighted the merits of Russian naval commanders and memorable dates in the history of the country: the 320th anniversary of the creation of the first secular higher naval educational institution in Russia; 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Nystadt; the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the beginning of the siege of Leningrad and the transition of ships of the Baltic Fleet from Tallinn to Kronstadt; 20th anniversary of the canonization of the saint of the Russian Orthodox Church, the righteous warrior Fyodor Ushakov.

The event participants learned about why Peter I created the fleet, as well as about the declassified chronicles of the military operations of the USSR Navy in the Great Patriotic War.

The Presidential Library’s specialists told about unique materials and archival documents on the history of the Russian Navy which are available in the electronic collections of the institution. For example, everyone has opportunity to learn about the issues of the Morskoy Sbornik - the world's oldest monthly magazine on naval topics, the official organ of the naval department, published since March 1848 without interruption or change of name.

The library’s collections also contain materials about the course of the Northern War, which lasted from 1700 to 1721 between Russia and Sweden for domination in the Baltic. Russia entered the war as part of the Northern Alliance - a coalition with the Danish-Norwegian kingdom and Saxony. The details of the confrontation, which became a significant stage in our history, the development of the Russian army and navy and contributed to the strengthening and expansion of the borders of the state, are presented in the copies of the decrees of Peter I on fees for the fleet (1720), Collection of military historical materials. Northern War: Documents of 1705–1708, Materials for the History of the Gangut Operation, the publication Gangut Victory and Other Feats of Seamen and Ships of the Native Fleet, the documentary film Battle for the Baltic and others.

The Presidential Library’s electronic collections are publicly available in remote electronic reading rooms opened in all 85 constituent entities of the Russian Federation based on libraries, government agencies, museums, archives, educational institutions. 44 access centers are located abroad at Russian centers of science and culture and other organizations in 30 countries. Information about the remote access centers is available on the Presidential Library’s portal in the Remote access centers on the map section.

More details about the history of the Russian Navy are available in the Presidential Library’s materials on the institution's portal. Among them are rarities about the birth of the fleet and the role of Peter the Great in its creation, included in the collection Peter I (1672-1725).