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PHJ № 3 (47) 2025 — A. K. Salmin. THE ARAB FACTORS IN THE HISTORY OF THE SAVIRS

The history of the Savirs/Suvars, historical predecessors of the Chuvash, has seen several forced migrations of this people compelled to leave their settlements hastily. Thus, in the North Caucasian period (in 737) they lived through a scary invasion of Arab armed forces and had to move farther north. Goals of the article: to analyse sources and literature; show the drama in the life of the Savirs; get to the root cause of the Arab aggression upon the Turks; describe the stubborn resistance of the native population and the end of the warfare. Among them are the 11th century Persian literary monument “Derbent-name” by Muhammad Avabi Aktashi, and the works of Armenian and Arabic-speaking historians of the early Middle Ages. We got an insight into publications of leading orientalist historians, archeologists, ethnologists, and religion scholars. Those were works of such researchers as A. K. Alikberov, N. I. Ashmarin, O. M. & Sh. O. Davudovs, M. S. Gadzhiev, Anait Khudaverdian, A. K. Shahinyan, Peter Golden, and others. The article has traced and analyzed the advance of Arabs through Caucasus from South to North. The goal of this military campaign was to spread the religion of Islam on the conquered lands and to expand the economic influence of the Umayyads. The Arab-Khazar-Savir war in 737 brought the history of the Country of the Suvars with the capital in Varachan to a close, and people of this country were forced to move North.

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PHJ № 3 (47) 2025 — E. N. Nazemetseva. RUSSIAN DRAFT DODGERS AND DESERTERS IN CHINA DURING WORLD WAR I

Based on archival materials introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, the article analyzes the previously unexplored problem of draft dodgers and deserters from the Russian army in China during the First World War. The entry of the Russian Empire into the First World War caused serious changes in the life of the state. The mobilization of a huge number of subjects into the army had a drastic impact on the economic, political and social life of the empire. Despite the patriotic upsurge of the majority of the population in the first months of the war, a significant part of Russian citizens did not share these sentiments and sought to avoid being sent to the front, fearing involvement in military operations. Among the draft dodgers were representatives of different segments of the population and ethnic groups. Evaders and deserters moved inland to Siberia and the Far East, and subsequently left the empire. The main focus of the escapes was China, which occupied a neutral position in the war until 1917. The lower ranks of the Russian police and border guard service, as well as the Russian and Chinese local populations, helped the dodgers in organizing their escapes abroad. A network of clandestine migration routes from Russia to China gradually developed. Having arrived in China, as a rule, by rail, the fugitives settled in Harbin, Tianjin, Changchun, and Dalny, then received new documents and financial assistance from employees of German concessions, Russian nationals who settled in China, who were opposed to the Russian authorities, as well as from various criminal elements. The latter have gradually established an illegal business selling forged documents. After receiving new documents, the draft dodgers and deserters sought to leave China and followed first to the Philippine Islands, Hong Kong, and then, as a rule, to the United States. Some stayed in China and joined the American army units based here. The problem of Russian draft dodgers and deserters testifies to the serious crisis of the Russian Empire during the First World War, and also demonstrates the important nuances of its relations with neighboring countries of the Far Eastern region.