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The Peasant Reform of 1861 became a "finest hour" for figures from the liberal camp, both Westerners and Slavophiles, who were given the opportunity to put their ideas into practice.
■ The liberal movement in the 1860s and 1870s, led by university professors K. D. Kavelin and B. N. Chicherin, put forward a rather moderate program on the whole, did not demand the convocation of parliament, considered it untimely and pinned all hopes on continuing and the development of liberal reforms "from above", at the behest of the emperor. The liberals actively participated in the implementation of the zemstvo, city and judicial reform, in the activities of the new court and new local governments.
■1861 - the first revolutionary organization "Land and Freedom" appears, headed by N. G. Chernyshevsky, editor of the Sovremennik magazine. The name of the organization contained its main ideas - the transfer to the peasants without redemption of all landowners' land and the liquidation of the autocracy, replacing it with a democratic republic. The leaders of the "Land and Freedom" were quickly arrested (Chernyshevsky - in 1862), not having time to deploy vigorous activity, and by 1864 the organization ceased to exist.
■1866 - DV Karakozov, a member of the Ishutin circle, makes an unsuccessful attempt on the tsar's life as a sign of protest against the "fraudulent" peasant reform. Karakozov was hanged, his assassination attempt led to a tightening of the political regime.
■1874 - the beginning of "going to the people" and the formation of the populist movement among the revolutionaries. Based on the ideas of A. I. Herzen and N. G. Chernyshevsky, the Narodniks were convinced that the basis of socialism in Russia was the peasant community.
Many of them went to live and work in the countryside, finding jobs as zemstvo teachers and doctors. Among the populists, three directions stood out:
propaganda (P. L. Lavrov) - they believed that it was necessary to go to the people to propagate socialist ideas, that the revolution required a long preparation;
rebellious, or anarchist (MA Bakunin), - they believed that the peasants were ready for a rebellion at any moment, and the task of the revolutionary intelligentsia was to help them organize an uprising;
conspiratorial (P.N. Tkachev) - in their opinion, the most effective way of revolution was the seizure of power by an organized revolutionary party, which, having come to power, would carry out all the transformations necessary for the people.
■ Among the populists, the idea was born of the need to create a centralized, unified, all-Russian organization. 1876 - the Land and Freedom party appears. Its leaders are V. N. Figner, N. A. Morozov, A. D. Mikhailov. The landowners tried to move on to establishing systematic propaganda in the countryside, and also began to establish contacts with urban workers. They began to respond to police persecution with terrorist acts.
■1879 - the split of "Land and Freedom" into "Narodnaya Volya" and "Black Repartition". The Chernoperedeltsy (G.V. Plekhanov) advocated the continuation of the old tactics of working in the countryside and agitation for a "black redistribution", that is, the division of the landlords' land among the peasants. The Narodnaya Volya (A. I. Zhelyabov, S. L. Perovskaya) were supporters of terror and the promotion of political tasks - the destruction of the autocracy and the establishment of political freedoms. "Narodnaya Volya" turned into a strong, conspiratorial organization that had connections among the intelligentsia, workers, officers, and its agents in the ranks of the police. The Narodnaya Volya made a number of assassination attempts on top officials and the emperor himself.
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Social movement.
The Peasant Reform of 1861 became a "finest hour" for figures from the liberal camp, both Westerners and Slavophiles, who were given the opportunity to put their ideas into practice. The liberal movement in the 1860s and 1870s, headed by university professors K. D. Kavelin and B. N. Chicherin, put forward a rather moderate program on the whole, did not demand the convocation of parliament, considered it untimely and pinned all hopes on the continuation and development of liberal reforms "from above", at the will of the emperor. The liberals actively participated in the implementation of the zemstvo, city and judicial reform, in the activities of the new court and new local governments. By the end of the 1870s. a certain radicalization is observed among them, the slogan “crowning the building” is put forward (the creation, in addition to local zemstvos, of an all-Russian zemstvo, that is, a parliament), individual representatives of the liberals (I. I. Petrunkevich) are looking for contacts with the revolutionary movement.
The reforms of the 1860s and 1870s, although they introduced significant changes in the life of Russia, nevertheless had an incomplete and largely inconsistent character, retaining many of the vestiges of the past. The most important of the reforms - the peasant one, giving the peasants personal freedom, further strengthened their economic dependence on both the landowner and the state. The feeling of disappointment, deceived hopes led to the growth of radical sentiments among the intelligentsia and young students, among which the proportion of raznochintsy - people from the middle and lower classes who received an education - increased. The ranks of the raznochintsy were also replenished at the expense of the ruined, impoverished nobles. It was this layer of people, deprived of a certain place in the class structure of society, that became the breeding ground for the revolutionary movement, which gained considerable strength during the reign of Alexander II.
- 1861 - the first revolutionary organization "Land and Freedom" appears, headed by the editor of the journal "Sovremennik" N. G. Chernyshevsky. The name of the organization contained its main ideas - the transfer to the peasants without redemption of all landowners' land and the liquidation of the autocracy, replacing it with a democratic republic. The leaders of the "Land and Freedom" were quickly arrested (Chernyshevsky - in 1862), not having time to deploy vigorous activity, and by 1864 the organization ceased to exist. From the beginning of the 1860s. in many cities of Russia, primarily university ones, youth anti-government circles are springing up. Members of the youth movement, who protested against the noble customs and customs, began to be called nihilists.
- 1866 - a member of the circle of Ishutins D.V. Karakozov makes an unsuccessful attempt on the tsar in protest against the "fraudulent" peasant reform. Karakozov was hanged, his assassination attempt led to a tightening of the political regime and increased police persecution of nihilists.
- 1874 - the beginning of "going to the people" and the formation of the populist trend among the revolutionaries. Based on the ideas of A. I. Herzen and N. G. Chernyshevsky, the Narodniks were convinced that the basis of socialism in Russia was the peasant community.
Many of them went to live and work in the countryside, finding jobs as zemstvo teachers and doctors. Among the populists, three directions stood out:
- propaganda (P. L. Lavrov) - they believed that it was necessary to go to the people to propagate socialist ideas, that the revolution required a long preparation;
- rebellious, or anarchist (M. A. Bakunin), they believed that the peasants were ready for a rebellion at any moment, and the task of the revolutionary intelligentsia was to help them organize an all-Russian uprising;
- conspiratorial (P.N. Tkachev) - in their opinion, the most effective way of revolution was the seizure of power by an organized revolutionary party, which, having come to power, would carry out all the transformations necessary for the people.
At first, representatives of the propagandistic, to a lesser extent rebellious trends prevailed. However, "going to the people" ended in failure - most of the populists were arrested by the police, including at the initiative of the peasants themselves, who were suspicious of urban residents with "lordly" habits. On the lawsuits they were sentenced to long prison terms. Among the populists, the idea was born of the need to create a centralized, unified, all-Russian organization.
- 1876 - the Land and Freedom party appears, taking the name of the first revolutionary organization of the 1860s. Its leaders are V. N. Figner, N. A. Morozov, A. D. Mikhailov. The landowners tried to move on to establishing systematic propaganda in the countryside, and also began to establish contacts with urban workers. They began to respond to police persecution with terrorist acts. In 1878
V. I. Zasulich, who was a member of the "Land and Freedom", seriously wounded the St. Petersburg Governor-General F. F. Trepov in protest against corporal punishment for political prisoners, applied on his orders. The jury acquitted Zasulich.
- 1879 - the split of "Land and Freedom" into "Narodnaya Volya" and "Black Repartition". The Chernoperedeltsy (G.V. Plekhanov) advocated the continuation of the old tactics of working in the countryside and agitation for a "black redistribution", that is, the division of the landlords' land among the peasants. The Narodnaya Volya (A. I. Zhelyabov, S. L. Perovskaya) were supporters of terror and the promotion of political tasks - the destruction of the autocracy and the establishment of political freedoms. "Narodnaya Volya" turned into a strong, conspiratorial, ramified organization that had connections among the intelligentsia, workers, officers, and its agents in the ranks of the police. The Narodnaya Volya made a number of assassination attempts on top officials and the emperor himself. In 1880, Alexander II granted the Minister of Internal Affairs M.T. Loris-Melikov emergency powers to fight terrorists and at the same time entrusted him with the development of a project for further reforms. Loris-Melikov proposed to the tsar to create a legislative body of power from among the representatives of the zemstvos appointed by the emperor. On March 1, 1881, Alexander II approved this project, but on the same day he was killed by the Narodnaya Volya.
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Lecture No. 8. Alexander's reforms 11. Populist movement.
Lecture plan
1. Organizing time. Checking the presence of students at the lecture. Focusing students' attention (5 - 10 min.)
11. Main body:
1. Abolition of serfdom (20 min.)
2. Bourgeois reforms of 1860 - 1870s (20 min.)
3. Economic development of post-reform Russia (15 min.)
4. Social movement 1860 - 1880s. Populism (20 min).
111. Final part. Summarizing. Answers to students' questions. (5 minutes.)
1. Abolition of serfdom.
Alexander II ascended the throne in 1855 after the death of his father Nicholas I. While still heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexander Nikolayevich was the first of the House of Romanovs to visit Siberia in 1837 during a long journey through Russia. This event had a significant impact in the future on a significant mitigation of the fate of the exiled Decembrists and strengthened his conviction in the need for deep socio-economic and political transformations. In this, he became like Alexander I. He began his innovations with a radical solution to the main social problem in Russia - the peasant question.
The peasant reform was born in the course of violent clashes between the liberals and the feudal lords. In the government, the idea of freeing peasants with land for ransom was defended by the leader of the reform with like-minded people. They managed to defend the basis of the project, but the opponents achieved major amendments (an increase in the ransom, a decrease in allotments).
An important indicator of capitalist development was the growth of trade. From the 70s to the 90s. domestic trade increased by more than 3 times, foreign trade - by 4 times. Russia's main trading partner was Germany, followed by England. The first place in exports was firmly occupied by bread, the second place was taken by timber. The export of manufactured goods reached 25% of exports. Imports were cars, cotton, metal, coal, tea, oil.
In the 1890s the first monopoly associations appear in coal and oil production. Since the domestic market of Russia was not very large and there were many foreign manufacturers, the associations acted as sales regulators.
Not only industry and trade were given attention during this period. Alexander III established the Ministry of Agriculture, which was charged with "contributing to the needs of agriculture." He also founded the Peasants' Bank, which issued loans on "non-burdensome conditions for the peasants." In 1891-1892, when Russia suffered a severe crop failure, at the initiative of the emperor, the government allocated 150 million rubles (a very significant amount at that time) to fight hunger.
The successes of industrial development strengthened Russia's position among the great powers, but she could not catch up with the advanced countries.
4. Social movement 1860 - 1880s. Populism
After a long period of reforms, under the pressure of disgruntled retrograde nobles, Alexander II gradually began to curtail the reforms. After the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1863-1864. the reactionary nature of the reign of "Alexander the Liberator" intensified. The progressive part of Russian society feared the return of serfdom, even if in a modified form.
The half-hearted nature of the peasant reform of 1861 was the reason for the further development and spread of the liberation movement in Russia. From the 60s–70s. 19th century the leading role in the liberation movement in Russia is no longer played by nobles, but by raznochintsy (natives of the middle classes, children of officials, priests, petty bourgeois). Populism became the dominant ideology of the Raznochinsk stage of the liberation movement (1861-1895).
Populism - a social movement of the 60-90s. XIX century, propagating and trying to implement in Russia the ideas of peasant utopian socialism, suggesting a transition to socialism through the peasant community, bypassing capitalism. The main ideas of Russian peasant socialism were outlined in the works of and, who were the founders of the ideology of populism.
In the 70s - early 80s. The main trend in populism was revolutionary populism, which considered the peasant revolution to be the main means of achieving social justice. It developed three currents: "rebellious" (ideologist - nobleman, professional revolutionary, one of the founders of anarchism), which put forward the demand for the organization of an immediate and general peasant uprising; "propaganda" (ideologist - publicist and sociologist, son of a landowner), who defended the need for long-term propaganda among the people in order to prepare them for the socialist revolution; and "conspiratorial" (ideologist - publicist, member of the student movement of the 60s), which proposed the idea of seizing supreme power by a narrow group of revolutionaries in order to carry out socialist transformations.
Under the influence of the agitation of the theorists of revolutionary populism in the mid-70s. 19th century spontaneous "going to the people" (1874 - 1879) began - a massive visit by populists, revolutionary-minded youth, to the countryside in order to promote the socialist revolution among the peasants. However, the peasants did not respond to calls for a general revolt and the revolutionary overthrow of the autocracy. The first experiments of "going to the people" were unsuccessful and led to mass arrests of populists.
In the second half of the 70s. 19th century organizations of populists began to be created to coordinate the activities of individual populist circles. The first such organization was the Land and Freedom founded in December 1876 (leaders -, etc.), which continued unsuccessful attempts to conduct socialist propaganda among the peasants. Differences on tactical issues led to a split in this organization in 1879 into "Narodnaya Volya" (leaders -, etc.), which fought against tsarism by the method of individual terror (organization of attempts on the emperor and senior officials), and "Black Redistribution" (leaders -, etc.), whose members remained in propaganda positions and continued the practice of "going to the people" for some time. The assassination of Emperor Alexander II on March 1, 1881, organized by the "Narodnaya Volya", led to the tightening of repressions and the curtailment of the activities of the "Narodnaya Volya" and "Black Redistribution". On April 3, 1881, Petersburg was plastered with government announcements: “Today, April 3, at 9 o’clock, state criminals will be hanged: the noblewoman Sofya Perovskaya, the priest’s son Nikolai Kibalchich, the tradesman Nikolai Rysakov, the peasants Andrey Zhelyabov and Timofey Mikhailov .. ." Narodnaya Volya - the organizers of the assassination of the king were executed. In the early 80s. 19th century most of the leaders of revolutionary populism were arrested or ended up abroad.
liberal movement. The liberal movement that took shape in the first half of the 19th century. and expressed in that period in the movements of Westerners and Slavophiles, in the 60-90s. 19th century continued to develop on the basis of the ideas of Westernism and European liberal ideology. The activities of the Slavophiles also had a certain influence on him. The liberal movement unfolded with particular force during the preparation of the peasant reform and other bourgeois reform projects of the 1960s and 1970s. 19th century Liberals (historians and lawyers, etc.) supported the reforms carried out by the government of Alexander II, advocated freedom of speech, the press, the inviolability of the person, the abolition of class privileges, the independence of the judiciary, and the development of local self-government.
The activities of the liberals were expressed in work in committees for the preparation of the peasant reform, filing petitions with the government for liberal reforms, and appearances in the press. The liberal movement in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. opposed the revolution, putting forward the demand for liberal reforms carried out by the government "from above" with minimal participation of the people.
Of great importance for the development of the liberal movement was the zemstvo movement, which took shape after the zemstvo reform of 1864, which created local self-government bodies - zemstvos, and advocated the expansion of the rights of zemstvos, the creation of all-zemstvo representative bodies, and the adoption of a constitution. In 1879, the first illegal all-zemstvo congress took place, bringing together the most radical representatives of the zemstvo liberal movement. The congress decided on the need to disseminate constitutional ideas in society, discussed the possibility of creating a secret society, but the activities of the congress had no serious practical consequences.
Centers for the formation of the liberal movement of the 60–90s. 19th century in addition to the zemstvos, there were universities, new courts, and the liberal press, one of the most famous publications of which was the monthly moderate-liberal journal Vestnik Evropy (1866–1912).
labor movement appeared in Russia in the 1960s. 19th century in connection with the process of formation of the factory proletariat. Initially, it had a spontaneous and unorganized character. In many cases, the workers limited themselves to passive forms of struggle (submission of petitions to the administration of factories, to the tsarist authorities, flight from the factories). At the initial stage of its development, in the 60-80s, the labor movement put forward mainly economic requirements: increase in wages, limiting the length of the working day, improving working conditions.
The first political organizations of workers that arose under the influence of the populists (the South Russian Union of Workers (1875) and the Northern Union of Russian Workers (1878–1879)) were quickly crushed by the police and did not have a noticeable impact on the development of the ideology of the labor movement.
The defeat of revolutionary populism led to the transition of some of the populists to Marxist positions: in 1883 in Geneva, the leaders of the populist organization "Black Redistribution" and others founded the "Emancipation of Labor" group, which set as its goal the propaganda of Marxism in Russia.
Towards the end of the century, the organized labor movement strengthened. The main form of struggle of the labor movement in the 60-80s. there was a strike. In the 80s. the strike movement begins to take on a mass and organized character. The largest strike of workers in the 60-80s. 19th century there was a Morozov strike in the city of Orekhovo-Zuevo, which took place in 1885 at the Nikolskaya manufactory of the manufacturer. About 8,000 people working at the enterprise were on strike. Morozov manufactory was famous for its sophisticated system of fines, for 1882-1884. her wages were reduced 5 times. From each earned ruble was deducted in the form of fines from 30 to 50 kopecks.
The strike began on January 7 with spontaneous protests by workers who smashed the factory shop, administration apartments, and factory premises. However, its leaders (and others) were able to give the strike an organized character: the workers formulated demands, which they handed to the Vladimir governor who arrived at the factory. The administration did not make concessions - on the personal instructions of Alexander III, arrests began, the troops cordoned off the enterprise, the workers were driven to work with bayonets. However, work at the enterprise was fully resumed only at the end of January. The organizers of the strike were put on trial. However, the jury, having familiarized themselves with the situation of the workers, was forced to acquit them.
The rise of the workers' strike movement in late XIX v. forced the government to make some concessions and led to the creation of labor legislation that limited the use of female and child labor, the amount of fines, which created a state factory inspectorate to which workers could complain about the violation of their rights.
Addition. (If time permits).
Counter-reforms of Alexander 111. After the era of great reforms of the 1860s-1870s. the country entered the next period of its history, called the period of counter-reforms of Alexander III. Under Alexander III, many of the transformations carried out during the reign of his father Alexander II, not only did not receive further development, but were seriously curtailed. Alexander III was convinced of the harmfulness of the system of broad rights and freedoms, considering this to be a provocation of social upheavals. A significant role in this was played by the strengthening of the revolutionary populist movement, which resulted in the assassination of Alexander II.
The new Russian emperor was not the most democratic and enlightened person among the crowned persons. Alexander III did not receive at one time the necessary educational minimum that was due to the heir to the throne, since, being only the second son of Alexander II, he was preparing for military engineering service, and not for reign. With great growth (193 cm) and extraordinary physical strength the emperor was distinguished by amazing restraint and self-control.
The image of Alexander III is interpreted differently by various historians, often ignorance and even outright stupidity were attributed to him, and the king was accused of cowardice. Supporters of this interpretation pointed out that the tsar did not know Russian grammar well, lived all his life on other people's ideas, trusting dignitaries-administrators, after the murder of his father hid for many years in the Mikhailovsky Palace (castle), etc. The other side claimed: the tsar was educated , knew foreign languages, was smart and brave. As a prince, he personally participated in the hostilities during the Russian-Turkish war (in 1877). During the crash of the tsar's train in 1888, Alexander III saved his family by pulling the household out from under the wreckage of the car. The political views of the emperor were dominated by the desire for stability in society, which many researchers define as conservatism.
Alexander III ruled the country for a short time - 13 years (1881-1894), having died early from a long illness - nephritis. The cause of the disease was, apparently, a colossal exercise stress, which he had to endure during the railway incident mentioned above. The roof of the car during the train crash began to fall on the king's family sitting at the dinner table. Alexander was forced to hold her at arm's length. In subsequent years, the disease worsened for a different reason. The head of the emperor's guard left behind diaries, from which it follows that the king constantly and immoderately consumed alcohol.
The age-old problem of Russian politics - the struggle between reforms and counter-reforms - was quite clearly manifested in the reign of Alexander III. The conductors of both political lines were at that time, respectively, and.
was the Minister of Finance of Russia (1892-1903) and the most prominent figure among the reformers at the turn of the two centuries. His main ambition was, in Witte's own words, to give Russia the same "industrial age as the United States of North America is already entering." Under him, Russia had a powerful banking and tax system, was integrated into the world economy, and the ruble became convertible in 1897. The public sector in the economy was quite large (100% of defense plants, 70% of railways, 30% of land). Much of the above took place after the death of Alexander III, but the foundations of this path were laid during his reign. Such shifts in the economic course of the country could not but meet with resistance in the conservative environment of the king. Witte's main opponent was Pobedonostsev.
Under Alexander III, Witte introduced a state wine monopoly, which significantly strengthened the country's budget and provided funds to start other reforms. A skilled diplomat, Witte knew how to find a common language with himself, on whom very much depended in those years.
occupied the chair of civil law at Moscow University and was the tutor, first of Alexander III, and then of Nicholas II (he taught them jurisprudence). From 1868 he was a senator, from 1872 he was a member of the State Council, and from 1880 to 1905 he was Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod. These positions, especially the last one, allowed Pobedonostsev to actively influence the internal and foreign policy country, and the position of the emperor's educator further expanded his opportunities. He used them to the full, especially in the first years of the reign of Alexander III.
Pobedonostsev saw his main task as the elimination of the liberal institutions introduced by Alexander II, the protection of the political course from the penetration of socialist ideas. Witte, paying tribute to the education and talents of this politician, called Pobedonostsev one of the "pillars of conservatism."
Alexander III, who sought to surround himself with devoted and intelligent administrators, gave preference to a courtier well known from his youth and immediately entrusted him with compiling the tsar's manifesto. The manifesto of 01.01.01 proclaimed the program of the new reign - a course towards counter-reforms and the strengthening of autocracy. The political course was based on the ideas of unlimited monarchy, extreme nationalism and militant Orthodoxy.
After writing this document, Pobedonostsev concentrated the administration of the country in his hands, began to slow down and even frankly torpedo liberal reforms, severely persecute freethinking, the liberal press, publicists and writers. It was he who began the persecution of the idea of "God in the soul" or "God without the church", who then expounded in philosophical publications, and achieved the public excommunication of the great writer from the church. The most furious persecutor of the Narodnaya Volya was the same Pobedonostsev.
The "guardian of the throne", as contemporaries called it, was neither a lackey nor a careerist. He served "for the idea" and did so consistently and stubbornly, fighting for the strengthening of the country through the strengthening of the autocracy. In many ways, he prevented Witte from carrying out progressive economic and political reforms under Alexander III and became the ideologist of the main counter-reforms of that time.
Administrative arbitrariness spread in the country, the activities of the political police reached an incredible scale, and the return to feudal serfdom began to be fixed legislatively. Almost immediately after the assassination of Alexander II by the Narodnaya Volya, the new emperor took the first step in counter-reforms - he issued the "Regulations on Measures to Protect State Order and Public Peace" (1881). This document gave the governors the right to declare a state of emergency in the provinces, without trial or investigation and bypassing existing laws, to carry out arrests, close the press, and stop the activities of public organizations. The "Regulation" was extended every three years until 1917.
One of the most important counter-reforms of the 80-90s. was adopted in 1889 the provision on zemstvo district chiefs (peasant counter-reform), which was aimed at restoring the administrative and judicial power of the landowners over the peasantry, which they had lost after the peasant reform of 1861. Zemsky chiefs, appointed by the Minister of the Interior from among the landowners, hereditary nobles, the right to control and supervise the bodies of peasant self-government, the right to make arrests, to apply corporal punishment, to cancel the decisions of village assemblies and elected officials. The functions of magistrates were transferred to the zemstvo chiefs, and the magistrates themselves were henceforth abolished.
In 1890, the "Regulations on provincial and district zemstvo institutions" (zemstvo counter-reform) were issued. According to this document, the system of elections to zemstvo bodies was changed. The first electoral curia began to include only the nobles, the number of vowels from it increased. The number of vowels from the second curia decreased, the property qualification increased. Peasant assemblies now elected only candidates for vowels. The list of candidates was considered at congresses of zemstvo chiefs and in final form approved by the governor.
The “City Regulations”, published in 1892 (city counter-reform), increased the property qualification for voters in elections to city self-government bodies, about half of the voters lost their voting rights, city heads and members of the council were transferred to the category of civil servants and, therefore, fell into under the full control of the administration.
The policy of counter-reforms in the 1980s and 1990s contributed to the slowdown in the socio-political development of the country, but could not completely eliminate the results of the bourgeois transformations of the 60–70s.
Consistently carrying out the counter-reforms prepared by Pobedonostsev, Alexander III increasingly began to understand the need for forward movement in the economic and political fields. He increasingly turns to Witte, and in the bowels of the counter-reformist government, future reforms begin to prepare. Witte writes in "Memoirs" that the tsar began to rush him with the preparation of a law on the responsibility of the manufacturers to the workers. “We must move forward, we must create,” the tsar said, urging us not to succumb to the influence of Pobedonostsev and his supporters. “I have long ceased to take into account their advice.”
Alexander III went down in history as "Alexander the peacemaker", because under him Russia did not wage wars at all. The peacekeeping idea that guided him was expressed in diplomatic efforts to ensure guaranteed peace on the European continent. "By force and war it is impossible to establish strong and lasting alliances," said Alexander III. In the world, Russia's position was appreciated. “Happy is mankind and the Russian people that Emperor Alexander III held fast to the idea of universal peace and considered the implementation of this idea his first and greatest duty,” the London Times wrote at the time. However, in the course of implementing peacekeeping diplomacy, Russia had to give up many things. So, Alexander III destroyed the achievements of the previous reign in the Balkans. In the Far East region, a conflict with Japan was already brewing under him. During the reign of Alexander III, there was a gradual deterioration in Russian-German relations. At the same time, Russia is moving towards rapprochement with France, which ended with the conclusion of the Franco-Russian alliance (1891-1893). Peacekeeping turned into a growing destabilization of Russia's relations with a number of countries, which subsequently led to wars.
In the second half of the XIX century. in Russia, the socio-political movement, oppositional and even radical moods in society became more active. This was largely facilitated by the inconsistency of the internal political course of the government of Alexander II, the departure from the policy of liberal reforms, the high price of the accelerated modernization of the country, the main burden of which fell on the people's shoulders.
Other factors:
transitional nature of the economy and social structure of the 60-80s.
preservation of the rural community, autocracy, large landed estates
the forced development of capitalism, which was stimulated by the state, strengthened its negative aspects
The impoverishment of a part of the peasantry in the conditions of market relations was experienced by the radical intelligentsia as a national disaster, aroused the desire to save the peasantry from the horrors of capitalism, and created the conditions for the spread of socialist ideas.
the influence of theories penetrating the country from the West (ideas socialism and etc.)
AlexanderIII (1845 - 1894) ascended the throne in 1881, thirty-six years old, after the death of his father Alexander II from a terrorist bomb. The reactionary transformations of Alexander III were called counter-reforms.
The tsar's closest adviser was Alexander's former mentor K.P. During the reign of Alexander III, the famous reactionary journalist MN Katkov also enjoyed great influence. In the 1860s Katkov and Pobedonostsev participated in the preparation of the Great Reforms; by the 1880s they became their fierce enemies. Katkov proposed to completely eradicate the principles introduced by the reforms into Russian life, called for administrative and political restructuring. Pobedonostsev pinned more hopes on changes in the minds and souls of people, on strengthening the influence of the church.
In the early 1880s. the autocracy significantly improved its punitive policy, which allowed it to crush the internally weakened "Narodnaya Volya".
In August 1881, it was approved "Regulations on Measures to Preserve State Security and Public Peace". According to him, any locality could be declared in a state of emergency, the head of the province had the right to prohibit meetings, close press organs and educational institutions, arrest and exile objectionable persons without trial. Since 1883, they began to operate security departments(okhrana) - gendarmerie bodies that specialized in undercover activities.
In August 1882 were adopted Temporary rules on the press. From now on, the meeting of four ministers (internal affairs, justice, public education and the chief prosecutor of the synod) received the right to close any publications and prohibit objectionable persons from engaging in journalistic activities. In 1884, a new university charter appeared, which eliminated the election of professors, deans, and the rector, and sharply limited the rights of university self-government.
The government sought to give education a class character: tuition fees at universities were increased, and the Minister of Public Education issued in 1887 the so-called "circular about cook's children", ordering that children from the lower classes not be admitted to the gymnasium.
In the field of primary education, church schools were intensively introduced, to which Pobedonostsev sought to give a strictly protective character.
In 1889 was adopted law on zemstvo chiefs, concerning the local peasant administration. The class isolation of the peasant administration was preserved and consolidated, it was placed under the authority of zemstvo chiefs - special officials from among the local landlords, who combined judicial and administrative power in their hands.
In 1890 a new land position, significantly increased the power of the administration over local self-government. Elections to the zemstvo began to be held strictly on the basis of class, the representation of the nobility increased significantly. In 1892, a new city position, significantly curtailed the independence of city self-government, reducing the number of city voters by three to four times.
Several times the government launched an attack on the judicial institutions, but it was not possible to carry out decisive changes here, it was necessary to confine ourselves to rather minor amendments. In the socio-economic sphere, the government sought to protect the interests of the nobility. For this, the Noble Bank was established, and the Provision on hiring for agricultural work, favorable for landowners, was adopted. The government tried to prevent the social stratification of the peasantry: the family sections of the peasants were limited, measures were taken against the alienation of peasant allotments.
The reactionary policy of the government of Alexander III proclaimed the establishment of national-original principles in the life of Russia. This was reflected in the deterioration of the position of non-Russian peoples, religious and national minorities. A number of restrictive measures were taken against the Jews, and Russification of the Baltic states was carried out. Measures of state coercion often reinforced the activities of Orthodox missionaries in different parts of the Empire - among the Lutherans of the Baltic states and the Uniates of Western Ukraine, Muslims of the Volga region and Buddhists of Transbaikalia, Old Believers and sectarians.
The first underground populist organizations arose in the late 1850s and early 1860s. "Land and freedom" (1861-1864) was the first major organization of Narodniks, numbering several hundred members. Its leaders were A.A. Sleptsov, N.A. Serno-Solov'evich, N.N. Obruchev, V.S. Kurochkin, N.I. Utin. The main goal of the organization was considered to be the creation of conditions for the revolution, which was expected in 1863, when the signing of the statutory letters was to be completed. For this, legal and illegal propaganda was used, leaflets were published.
In 1864, during the period of repression associated with the suppression of the Polish uprising, and as a result of the absence of the expected peasant uprisings, the organization dissolved itself.
Ishutins. In 1863-1866, a revolutionary organization headed by N.A. Ishutin ("Ishutins"). In 1866 a member of the organization D.V. Karakozov made an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Alexander II.
"People's massacre" was created in the late 60s. revolutionary fanatic S.G. Nechaev. Nechaev denied any ethics, believing that the end justifies the means. For the sake of the interests of the revolutionary cause, he even went to the organization of a criminal offense.
"Big Society of Propaganda" ("Chaikovites") existed in 1869-1874. It was headed by M.A. Natanson, N.V. Tchaikovsky, S.L. Perovskaya, S.M. Kravchinsky, P.A. Kropotkin. The Society was engaged in the study of socialist literature.
In 1874, the Chaikovites participated in the preparation of a mass action - the so-called. " going to the people"when hundreds of students, high school students, young intellectuals went to the village, some for agitation, and some for the propaganda of the peasants. But, in the end, they could not be raised either to revolt or propagandized in a socialist spirit.
"Land and Freedom" (1876-1879). The organization was led by M.A. Natanson, A.D. Mikhailov, G.V. Plekhanov, L.A. Tikhomirov. In an effort to rouse the people to the revolution, they considered it necessary:
Agitation in word and deed;
Actions to disorganize the state (i.e., recruiting officers, officials into their ranks, killing the most harmful representatives of power);
The landowners switched from flying agitation to settled propaganda, began to create populist settlements in the countryside. But the new circulation among the people also did not produce results, and in 1879 the party split into supporters of propaganda and the continuation of the struggle for socialist ideals ("villagers"), who united under the leadership of G.V. Plekhanov to the party Black redistribution, and supporters of the political struggle and the achievement of political freedom, as a necessary condition for socialist propaganda, as well as the tactics of individual terror ("politicians"), who formed People's Will.
party "People's Will"(1879-1882) headed the Executive Committee, which included A.I. Zhelyabov, A.D. Mikhailov, S.L. Perovskaya, V.N. Figner, N.A. Morozov and others.
Narodnaya Volya set as their goal:
Revolutionary seizure of power;
Convocation of the Constituent Assembly;
Assertion of political freedoms;
Building, in the future, communal socialism.
The main means was recognized as a political coup with the help of the army and with the support of the people.
To disorganize power, individual terror was also used, which gradually involved all the forces of the party and became the main means of political struggle. Several attempts at regicide were made, in particular, prepared S.N. Khalturin an explosion in the Winter Palace in February 1880. On March 1, 1881, Alexander II was killed, but the revolution or the mass demonstrations of the people expected by the Narodnaya Volya did not happen, and the organization was eventually crushed by the police.
"Black redistribution"(1879-1882). Its leaders are G.V. Plekhanov, P.B. Axelrod, L.G. Deutsch, V.I. Zasulich the purpose of their activities was the preparation of a peasant revolution - a revolt with the help of propaganda in the countryside.
In 1883, disillusioned with populism and finding themselves in exile, the Chernoperedelites, led by Plekhanov, switched to Marxist positions and created a group in Geneva " Emancipation of labor"- the first Russian social-democratic organization.
The assassination of Alexander II on March 1, 1881 - the highest peak of the activities of the populist revolutionaries - was the beginning of their decline: the death of the emperor did not cause, as the populists hoped, neither the destruction of the political system of the autocracy, nor the people's revolution. The police, with the help of persecution and provocation, destroyed the internally weakened "Narodnaya Volya"; by 1884 the main backbone of this organization ceased to exist. An unsuccessful attempt to revive the methods of the People's Will was the attempt by a group of St. Petersburg students under the leadership of A.I. Ulyanov (Lenin's elder brother) on Alexander III on March 1, 1887.
to the fore in the 1880s. liberal populism comes out, the ideologists of which were V.V. Vorontsov. I. I. Kablits and others. Having retained faith in the peasant community as the germ of socialism, the liberal Narodniks focused primarily on cultural, educational measures. Views close to populist were expressed by the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski, led by M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin and N.K. Mikhailovsky, and later by the journal Russkaya Mysl.
Russia's entry onto the path of capitalism was accompanied by an intensification of the working-class movement and the emergence of the labor question. In 1885, at the Nikolskaya manufactory in Orekhovo-Zuev, owned by T.S. Morozov, "Morozov strike". The strikers demanded the establishment of effective state control over the situation of the workers, and the adoption of legislation on the conditions of employment. The government was forced to ban the night work of women and children and to define more clearly the obligations of the manufacturers towards the workers.
An attempt to explain the new socio-economic realities was the activity of Russian Marxists. In 1883, populist emigrants who switched to the positions of Marxism - G.V. Plekhanov, V.I. Zasulich, P.B. Akselrod and others - founded a group "Emancipation of Labor". She launched an active translation and publishing activity. Plekhanov in "Our Differences". "Socialism and the Political Struggle" proved that Russia had already embarked on the path of capitalism and that the Narodniks' hopes of coming to socialism through the peasant community were groundless. The revolutionaries, Plekhanov declared, should be guided not by the peasantry, but by the proletariat - the only consistently revolutionary class.
Marxist circles also arise in Russia: the St. Petersburg groups of D.I. Blagoev (1884-1885) and M.I. Brusnev (1889-1892), the group of N.I. Fedoseev (1888-1889), in whose activities V. I. Lenin.
liberalism in Russian Empire originated in the 18th century. But it acquired special significance and poignancy during the reign of Emperor Alexander II in 1860-1880. after the so-called liberal reforms. Many progressive nobles and liberals were dissatisfied with the half-heartedness of the peasant reform and demanded that the authorities continue it. In addition, a movement of “zemstvo constitutionalism” also arose in Russia, the main requirement of which was the provision civil rights. You will learn more about all this in this lesson.
The word "liberalism" appeared in Europe in the 18th century. It is derived from the word liberalis, which means free. In general, liberals are people whose main goal of political struggle is to ensure human rights and freedoms.
in Russia in the first half of the 19th century. the word "liberal" was almost a dirty word. The fact is that Nicholas I at the beginning of his reign was seriously frightened by the Decembrists, and all revolutions in Europe in the middle of the 19th century. held under the banner of liberalism. Therefore, the authorities were hostile to the liberals.
The peasant reform of 1861, with its half-heartedness, caused discontent not only among the peasants, but also among a significant part of the progressively minded nobles. Many nobles began to turn to the king or speak at local provincial meetings with a request to change the order of the reform. The most famous action of this kind was the performance in December 1864 of the Tver nobles, headed by the former marshal of the nobility A.M. Unkovsky (Fig. 2). For this, he was forbidden to deal with peasant issues, and was also removed from office. 112 nobles of Tver presented to Emperor Alexander II a document called "Loyal Address". However, the provisions of this document were almost revolutionary. The nobles themselves insisted on creating a system absolutely equal for all estates, abolishing the estate privileges of the nobility, creating an independent court, and even allocating land to the peasants.
Rice. 2. A.M. Unkovsky - leader of the Russian nobility, public figure ()
Alexander II, who seemed to be a liberal emperor and a supporter of progress, ordered the repression of these nobles. 13 people were placed for two years in the Peter and Paul Fortress, and Unkovsky was even exiled to Vyatka for his radical ideas. Other liberals, having seen such a reaction from the authorities, were afraid to openly oppose the government, even with the best of intentions. They began to group around a few magazines that began to appear in the 1860s.
The Vestnik Evropy magazine has become a kind of center of political struggle and a mouthpiece for the liberals (Fig. 3). A publication with this name was already published in Russia from 1802 to 1830, but was closed at the request of Nicholas I, who was afraid of any manifestations of opposition. "Bulletin of Europe" from 1866 was published under the editorship of the famous public figure and historian M.M. Stasyulevich (Fig. 4). The magazine published sharp political materials. Such famous scientists as I.M. Sechenov, K.A. Timiryazev; the works of L.N. Tolstoy, A.N. Ostrovsky, I.A. Goncharov, and in the 1880s. even the works of M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin - one of the sharpest and most caustic satirists.
Rice. 3. Journal "Bulletin of Europe" ()
Rice. 4. M.M. Stasyulevich - editor of the journal "Bulletin of Europe" ()
The most influential publication can be considered the newspaper "Voice" (Fig. 5), which was published in Russia for twenty years and also united supporters of the liberal idea. It briefly united even the Slavophiles and Westernizers - representatives of two opposite currents that had been at enmity with each other since the 1830s.
One of the conductors of the liberal idea was the famous Slavophil Yu.F. Samarin (Fig. 6). In the 1870s the Moscow Zemstvo invited him to participate in the development of a tax reform project, in which he actively took part. According to his project, all estates of the Russian Empire were to become taxable, or taxable, that is, the tax burden fell not only on the peasants and philistines, but also on the nobles and the clergy. For Alexander II, all this was too radical. Samarin was not touched only because he went abroad and soon died there.
Rice. 6. Yu.F. Samarin is a Slavophil, a conductor of the ideas of liberalism in Russia ()
The Slavophiles continued to consider Russia an original civilization, but they saw that the changes that were taking place in the country clearly led to a better position for it. From their point of view, perhaps Russia should use the experience Western countries provided that it would lead to good results.
At the end of the 1870s. Liberal sentiments also intensified among the Zemstvos. In liberalism, a current of "zemstvo constitutionalism" arose. Representatives of this direction demanded that Alexander II continue the reforms. They believed that the rights of zemstvos, that is, local governments, should be expanded. Their main demand was "the crowning of the building of the zemstvo reform", which meant the creation of some kind of nationwide elected body (as if crowning the building of regional elected bodies - zemstvo assemblies). At first it was supposed to be deliberative, but in the long run (this was understood by everyone, although not always pronounced) - a legislative body, that is, a parliamentary type body that limits the power of the monarch. And this is constitutionalism - hence the name of the movement. Zemstvo constitutionalists demanded equal status for all estates, and some of their representatives even demanded the adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Empire. The key point in the political program of the zemstvo constitutionalists was the demand for the granting of civil liberties: speech, press, and assembly. However, Alexander II, despite the liberal fervor at the beginning of his reign, was not ready to make such serious concessions. This was also greatly hindered by the revolutionary activity that was taking place in Russia at that time.
A feature of the zemstvo constitutionalists was the hope for cooperation with Emperor Alexander II. At the very end of the emperor's reign, they had some hope. The fact is that right hand Alexandra became M.T. Loris-Melikov (Fig. 7), who was considered an adherent of the ideas of liberalism. But the hopes of the liberals did not come true and the Constitution of Loris-Melikov was never adopted in the Russian Empire.
Rice. 7. M.T. Loris-Melikov - Russian statesman, the closest associate of Alexander II ()
The liberals tried to convince the emperor and his entourage that it was easier to make gradual changes in the country than to wait for a surge of revolutionary sentiment. Some representatives of liberal circles even made contact with the populists, urging them to stop terrorist acts, thereby forcing the authorities to cooperate. But all the efforts of the liberals were useless.
Some liberals wanted to revive at least the Zemsky Sobor, through which one could try to influence the emperor. But such an idea seemed too radical even to Alexander II.
Thus, we can say that the liberal movement of the 1860s - 1870s. in Russia did not fulfill the tasks that it set for itself. To a large extent, the failures of Russian liberalism were connected with the pressure on the authorities of another political trend - conservatism.
Homework
- What is liberalism? How was the liberal movement born in Russia and what contributed to it?
- Describe the liberal nobles from a socio-political point of view. Why did the progressive nobles take the liberal movement as a basis?
- What reasons contributed to the birth of zemstvo constitutionalism and what was it like? Describe the political program of the zemstvo constitutionalists.
- Website Sochineniye.ru ()
- Website Examen.ru ()
- Website School.xvatit.com ()
- Scepsis.net website ()
Bibliography
- Lazukova N.N., Zhuravleva O.N. Russian history. 8th grade. M.: "Ventana-Graf", 2013.
- Lyashenko L.M. Russian history. 8th grade. M.: "Drofa", 2012.
- Leontovich V.V. History of liberalism in Russia (1762-1914). Moscow: Russian way, 1995.
- Liberalism in Russia / RAS. Institute of Philosophy. Rep. Ed.: V.F. Pustarnakov, I.F. Khudushin. M., 1996.
- Tatishchev S.S. Emperor Alexander II. His life and reign. In 2 volumes. M.: Charlie, 1996.
