Reception of the Seven Years’ War in the Pages of A. P. Sumarokov’s “The Laboring Bee” (1759): The First Pacifist Pathos of Russian Journalism

Abstract

The Seven Years’ War (1756–1763), in which the Russian army fought together with Austria, France, Spain, Saxony and Sweden against the armies of Prussia, Great Britain and Portugal, is considered by some researchers to be the first world war of the New Age by its time and scale of fighting. The reflection of the war in the pages of a periodical has an implicit character and needs to be interpreted. The theme of the war is cross-cutting for all 12 issues of the magazine. All military-related fragments from the magazine are imbued with the spirit of humanism and pacifism. For Sumarokov, war is the apocalypse, the destruction of the universe and all things. The author reflects on the price of victory, the terrible bloodshed, and the ruthlessness of death. Man is like God observing the life of another – a key phrase expressing the pacifist position of the editors of “Laboring Bee”.