The article examines the notion of Czech (Czechoslovak) 'osmichki' in the novels of a famous writer Milan Kundera. The Czech (Czechoslovak) history (inclusive of 'osmichki' of 1968) is shown in the author's literary work not only as a historical and political but an ethical category. It is connected with the problem of national identity and forms the inner world of the characters in Kundera's novels and that of the author himself (the interpenetration of the character's life story and real history). The author views the world and man in this world through the realm of existential and post-modern philosophy trying to understand the drama of a nation along with a man's daily drama in history. The 'past-present-future' triad is interpreted by the writer though the Past as the starting and the turning point. In this view the motif of memory and forgetting gains a particular impact in the early works by Kundera. The choice between memory and forgetting determines the evaluation of both fictional and real historical character as well as the author's view. It provides a peculiar interpretation of history, man in history, national and personal identity through the history of daily routine.

The article analyzes in detail how the Czechoslovak legionary literature of the 1920-1930s evaluated the influence of the Russian February Revolution on the formation of Czechoslovak military units in 1917. The first historians of Czechoslovak Corps greeted the revolution from the viewpoint of their political views and from the viewpoint of its influence on the Czechoslovak national liberation movement in Russia. The general evaluation of this influence was positive because the revolution stimulated recruiting in Czechoslovak military units; but there were also negative factors (A. F. Kerensky’s position, the danger of being involved into the civil war in Russia).

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The article provides the comprehensive analysis of the motives for the negative assessment in the Czechoslovak legionary literature of the 1920-1930s of the influence of October revolution of 1917 on the Czechoslovak corps in Russia. The basic reason for such an assessment lies in the fact that the actions of the Soviet authorities ruined the legion’s integrity and endangered its key mission - to promote the creation of an independent Czechoslovak state. The other reason was the disapproval of October revolution because of political motives. Against the background of “two revolutions meeting” the leader of the Czechoslovak national liberation movement T. G. Masaryk asked the Czechoslovak legionnaires to stick to neutrality. It was a way to preserve the integrity and identity of the Czechoslovak national liberation movement.

In modern Russian historiography, there are controversial opinions about some problems (for example, who initiated the interaction: power or society). The materials of the article can be helpful for historians, university professors, teachers, who deal with problems of history of Russian historical science and Russian history of early XX century.