Sofya Anisimova is an RHS Centenary Fellow, 2022-23, held jointly with the Institute of Research, University of London. Sofya’s six-month fellowship will run from October 2022 to March 2023.

Sofya is a fourth-year PhD student at the University of St Andrews. Her thesis titled ‘Russia’s Military Strategy and the Entente, 1914-1917’ looks at how the participation in a coalition with Britain and France affected the strategic planning of the Russian high command during the First World War.

Studying the inter-Allied relations in detail and finally bringing Russia into the analysis of the Entente strategy helps us better grasp the challenges faced by coalitions in general. It also broadens our understanding of the geography of the Entente engagement during the war, and brings us closer to a more balanced view of the 1914-1918 conflict that includes not only the Western front but also Eastern, Balkan and Ottoman theatres of war.