Name of Discord: The Political Use of the Concept of Civil War. 1917–1918

At the beginning of the 21st century, civil wars are increasingly becoming the subject of political debates and scientific analysis. What cultural mechanisms turn individual conflicts into larger fires of civil wars? In search of an answer to this question, a collective of authors attempts to trace how the concept of 'civil war' was used in Russia during 1917–1918. Combining approaches from various schools of intellectual, cultural, and political history, the researchers analyze what meanings were attributed to this term, how various political forces manipulated it, what contexts defined its use, and how these statements were perceived by their recipients.

One of the main tasks of the book is to understand how the preliminary articulation of violence against 'internal enemies' contributes to the actual escalation of conflicts.