The accession to the throne of Alexander II, the weakening of censorship, some liberalization of the government course compared to the time of Nicholas II, rumors about the upcoming transformations and, first of all, preparations for the abolition of serfdom - all this had an exciting effect on Russian society, especially on young people.

From nihilism to populism

At the end of the 50s. nihilism is spreading among the democratic noble and raznochinsk youth. Rejecting noble prejudices and official ideology, denying generally accepted values ​​(ideals, moral norms, culture), nihilists studied natural Sciences so that, becoming a doctor, agronomist, engineer, to bring concrete benefits to people. The type of nihilist is captured by I. Turgenev in the image of Bazarov (the novel "Fathers and Sons").

Student unrest in the early 1960s, caused by higher tuition fees and the prohibition of student organizations, led to mass expulsions from universities. Those who were expelled, as a rule, were deported under the supervision of the police. At this time, in the minds of the youth opposed to the government, wide use the idea of ​​"returning the debt to the people." Young men and women left the cities and rushed to the village. There they became rural teachers, doctors, paramedics, volost clerks.

At the same time, the youth tried to conduct propaganda work among the peasants. But, having heard about the revolution or socialism, they often betrayed the "troublemakers" to the local authorities.

Essence of populism

In the first half of the 70s. Populism developed into a powerful movement with its own ideology. Its founders were A. Herzen and N. Chernyshevsky. They formulated the main theoretical positions populism. The Narodniks believed that in Russia the main social force was not the proletariat, as in the West, but the peasantry. The Russian peasant community, on the other hand, is the ready-made germ of socialism. Therefore, Russia can go directly to socialism, bypassing capitalism.

There were three main trends in revolutionary populism: rebellious, propagandist and conspiratorial. Mikhail Bakunin was a rebellious theorist, Pyotr Lavrov was a propaganda theorist, Pyotr Tkachev was a conspiratorial one. They developed the ideas of the social reorganization of Russia and the tactics of the revolutionary struggle in each of these directions.

Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin, revolutionary, theorist of anarchism, one of the ideologists revolutionary populism

Petr Lavrovich Lavrov, philosopher, sociologist and publicist. He made a great contribution to the ideology of revolutionary populism. Participant freedom movement 60s

Pyotr Nikitich Tkachev, publicist, one of the founders of the ideology of revolutionary populism. Participant revolutionary movement 60s

M. Bakunin believed that the Russian peasant is a "revolutionary by instinct" and a "born socialist." Therefore, the main goal of the revolutionaries is to "revolt" the people. In the second half of the 70s. Bakunin's ideas were developed in the works of P. Kropotkin, who argued that a revolution required serious preparation both revolutionaries and the people.

In this, P. Lavrov was in solidarity with him, who believed that neither the people nor the intelligentsia were ready for an immediate revolution. This requires a long preparatory work to educate the people. Lavrov combined faith in the special role of the intelligentsia with faith in the possibility of a peasant " socialist revolution».

P. Tkachev did not believe in the revolutionary nature of the people, in their ability to carry out a social revolution. He argued that the main thing is to capture political power. To do this, you need to create a confidential political organization revolutionaries and start fighting with the government in order to master the system of government. Only after the seizure of power should one proceed to social transformations.

Despite the difference in the proposed forms of struggle, all these directions were united by the recognition of the revolution as the only way to liberate the people.

Until the end of the 70s. Bakunin's supporters concentrated all their efforts on preparing a peasant revolution. The mass "going to the people" undertaken in the spring of 1874, in which up to 3,000 people participated, ended in failure. It was not possible to raise an uprising anywhere, and the preaching of socialist ideas was not successful. The police staged a real "hunt" for propagandists. In 37 provinces, 770 people were arrested and brought to the inquiry.

Earth and will

The failure did not cool the Narodniks. In 1876, they created a secret revolutionary organization "Land and Freedom", distinguished by solidarity, discipline and reliable conspiracy. Members of the organization carried out propaganda of socialist ideas among the workers and intelligentsia, as well as among the peasants, settling in villages on long time. But the peasants remained deaf to populist propaganda. This caused the disappointment of the "propagandists". By the autumn of 1877, there were almost no populist settlements left in the villages. A serious crisis was brewing in Land and Freedom. The failure of propaganda among the peasant masses and the repressions of the authorities pushed the most active and impatient Narodniks into a terrorist struggle against tsarism.

In 1879, the "Land and Freedom" split into "villagers", who defended the old methods of working in the countryside, and "politicians" - supporters of terrorist activities. Accordingly, two new organizations arose: "Black Repartition" and " People's Will". If the Chernoperedel people organized long-term populist settlements in the countryside, the Narodnaya Volya people took a different path. Narodnaya Volya considered its main task political coup and the seizure of power.

Regicide

Putting forward the slogan of the struggle for political freedoms, convening Constituent Assembly, the Narodnaya Volya gave all their strength to the preparation and conduct of terrorist acts against the tsar. Five attempts were organized, but they all ended in failure. During the sixth assassination attempt, March 1, 1881, Alexander II was killed.

But the hopes of the revolutionaries for the rise of the mass liberation struggle were not justified. The leaders of the "Narodnaya Volya" and active participants in the assassination attempt (Andrey Zhelyabov, Sofya Perovskaya, Nikolai Kibalchich and others) were arrested and executed. Beginning in the 1980s, revolutionary populism entered a period of crisis.

Alexander III

political reaction. After the assassination of Alexander II, his second son Alexander came to the throne. He immediately came out with the Manifesto on strengthening the autocracy, which meant a transition to reaction. However, this transition was carried out gradually. In the first months of his reign, the tsar was forced to maneuver between liberals and reactionaries. Fearing attempts on his life, Alexander III did not dare to move to the Winter Palace, but sat out in the Gatchina Palace near St. Petersburg (for which he received the ironic nickname "the Gatchina prisoner"). And only when he was convinced of the weakness of the revolutionary forces and that Russia was not in danger of an immediate revolution, did he switch to an openly reactionary policy.

Counter-reforms

The autocracy dealt harshly with the Narodnaya Volya. With the help of espionage and provocations, most of the revolutionary populist circles and organizations were crushed.

The first adviser to the new tsar was Chief Procurator of the Synod K. Pobedonostsev, his former teacher, who did not approve of the transformations of Alexander II, considering them a "criminal mistake."

The transition to overt reaction was accompanied by the expansion of the rights of the administration and the intensification of police arbitrariness. The rights of governors were significantly expanded. Constitutional projects were no longer considered. The most progressive magazines and newspapers were closed, the power of the nobles over the peasants increased, and individual reforms of the 60-70s were revised. The rights of zemstvo and city self-government bodies, judicial institutions turned out to be significantly curtailed, the autonomy (independence) of universities was limited. Tuition fees have increased. Since 1887, the gymnasium stopped accepting children not from the nobility.

Bright poetic image era of the 80s. gave Alexander Blok in the poem "Retribution":

"In those years, distant, deaf
Sleep and darkness reigned in the hearts:
Victorious over Russia
Spread out owl wings,
And there was neither day nor night
But only the shadow of huge wings:
He outlined in a wondrous circle
Russia..."

The counter-reforms were an attempt to restore the power of the state over the emerging civil society.

References:
V. S. Koshelev, I. V. Orzhehovsky, V. I. Sinitsa / The World History New time XIX - early. XX century., 1998.

Chronology

• 1861 - 1864 Activities of the first organization "Land and Freedom".
• 1874 The first mass “going to the people”.
• 1875 Establishment of the South Russian Union of Workers.
• 1876 ​​- 1879 The activities of the populist organization "Land and Freedom".
• 1878 Creation of the "Northern Union of Russian Workers".
• 1879 Formation of the organizations "Narodnaya Volya" and "Black Repartition"
• 1883 Creation of the Emancipation of Labor group.
• 1885 Morozov strike.
• 1895 Establishment of the "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class"
• 1898 I Congress of the RSDLP.
• 1903 II Congress of the RSDLP.

Populism. Its main currents

AT 1861. a secret revolutionary society of raznochintsy was created " Earth and will” (existed until 1864), uniting various circles. Land and Freedom considered propaganda to be the main means of influencing the peasants.

The fall of serfdom and the intensification of the class struggle in the post-reform period contributed to the rise of the revolutionary movement, which brought to the fore revolutionary populists. The populists were followers of the ideas of Herzen and Chernyshevsky, ideologists of the peasantry. The Narodniks solved the main socio-political question of the nature of the post-reform development of Russia from the standpoint of utopian socialism, seeing in the Russian peasant a socialist by nature, and in the rural community - the "embryo" of socialism. The populists denied the progressivity of the capitalist development of the country, considering it a decline, regression, an accidental, superficial phenomenon imposed from above by the government; they opposed it with "originality", a feature of the Russian economy - people's production. The Narodniks did not understand the role of the proletariat, they considered it a part of the peasantry. Unlike Chernyshevsky, who considered the main driving force progress of the masses, the populists of the 70s. played a decisive role heroes”, “critical thinkers”, individuals who direct the masses, the “crowd”, the course of history at their own discretion. They considered the Raznochinskaya intelligentsia to be such “critical thinking” individuals, who would lead Russia and the Russian people to freedom and socialism. The populists had a negative attitude towards the political struggle, they did not connect the struggle for a constitution, democratic freedoms with the interests of the people. They underestimated the power of the autocracy, did not see the connections of the state with the interests of the classes, and concluded that the social revolution in Russia was an extremely easy matter.

The ideological leaders of the revolutionary populism of the 70s. were M.A. Bakunin, P.L. Lavrov, P.N. Tkachev. Their names represented three main directions in the populist movement: rebellious (anarchist), propaganda, conspiratorial. The differences were in the definition of the main driving force revolution, its readiness for revolutionary struggle, methods of struggle against the autocracy.

Anarchist (rebellious) direction

The ideological positions of populism were significantly influenced by anarchist views of M.A. Bakunin, who believed that any state hinders the development of the individual, oppresses it. Therefore, Bakunin opposed any power, considering the state as a historically inevitable evil. M.A. Bakunin argued that the peasantry was ready for revolution, so the task of heroes from the intelligentsia, critically thinking individuals, is to go to the people and call them to rebellion, rebellion. All individual outbreaks of peasant uprisings, Bakunin believed, “must be merged into the general all-consuming flame of the peasant revolution, in the fire of which the state must perish” and a federation of free self-governing peasant communities and workers' artels was created.

Propaganda direction

The ideologist of the second direction in populism - propaganda, - was P.L. Lavrov. He outlined his theory in Historical Letters, published in 1868-1869. He considered the intelligentsia capable of critical thinking to be the leading force of historical progress. Lavrov argued that the peasantry was not ready for revolution, therefore it is necessary to train propagandists from educated “critical-minded individuals”, whose task is to go to the people not with the aim of organizing an immediate revolt, but in order to prepare the peasants for revolution through long-term propaganda of socialism.

conspiratorial direction

P.N. Tkachev - ideologist conspiratorial direction did not believe in the possibility of carrying out the revolution by the forces of the people, he placed his hopes on the revolutionary minority. Tkachev believed that the autocracy has no class support in society, so it is possible for a group of revolutionaries to seize power and move on to socialist transformations.

spring 1874. began " going to the people”, the purpose of which is to cover as many villages as possible and raise the peasants to revolt, as Bakunin suggested. However, going to the people ended in failure. Mass arrests followed, and the movement was crushed.

AT 1876 newly created populist underground organization " Earth and will”, the prominent participants of which were S.M. Kravchinsky, A.D. Mikhailov, G.V. Plekhanov, S.L. Perovskaya, A.I. Zhelyabov, V.I. Zasulich, V.N. Figner and others. Its program was reduced to the demand for the transfer and equal distribution of all land among the peasants. During this period, the populists, according to Lavrov's idea, moved to the organization of a "settlement in the city", as teachers, clerks, paramedics, artisans. The populists thus sought to establish strong ties with the peasants in order to prepare for a popular revolution. However, this attempt of the populists also ended in failure and led to mass repressions. "Land and Freedom" was built on the principles of strict discipline, centralism and conspiracy. Gradually, a faction of supporters of the transition to political struggle was formed in the organization by using the method of individual terror. In August 1879, “Land and Freedom” broke up into two organizations: “ People's Will” (1879 - 1882) and “ Black redistribution” (1879 - 1884). Chernoperedeltsy(among the most active members are G.V. Plekhanov, P.B. Axelrod, L.G. Deich, V.I. Zasulich and others) opposed the tactics of terror, for conducting a wide advocacy work among the masses of peasants. In the future, part of the Black Peredelites, headed by G.V. Plekhanov moved away from populism and took the position of Marxism.

Narodnaya Volya(the Executive Committee of the "Narodnaya Volya" included A.D. Mikhailov, N.A. Morozov, A.I. Zhelyabov, S.M. Perovskaya and others) adopted terrorist fight. They believed that the assassination of the tsar and the most influential members of the government should lead to the seizure of power by the revolutionaries and the implementation of democratic reforms. "Narodnaya Volya" prepared 7 assassination attempts on Tsar Alexander II. March 1 1881 Alexander II was killed. However, the expected overthrow of tsarism did not happen. The main organizers and perpetrators of the murder were hanged by a court verdict. The reaction intensified in the country, reforms were curtailed. The revolutionary trend of populism itself entered a period of prolonged crisis.

In the 80s - 90s. 19th century the reformist wing in populism is being strengthened, and liberal populism is gaining significant influence. This direction was focused on the reorganization of society by peaceful, non-violent means.

At the end of the XIX century. the polemic between the populists and the Marxists acquired a very sharp character. The populists considered Marxist teaching unacceptable for Russia. The successor of the populist ideology was the illegal party created from scattered populist groups in 1901 socialist revolutionaries(Socialist-Revolutionaries).

The party had a left-wing radical bourgeois-democratic character. Its main goals: the destruction of autocracy, the creation democratic republic, political freedoms, socialization of the land, destruction private property to the land, turning it into public property, transferring land to the peasants according to equalizing norms. The Socialist-Revolutionaries worked among the peasants and workers, widely used tactics individual terror against government officials.

The labor movement in Russia in the late XIX - early XX centuries.

In the second half of the XIX century. to the arena political life Russia enters proletariat. The labor movement is exerting an ever greater influence on the social and political life of the country. This was a completely new phenomenon in the socio-political and social life of post-reform Russia. In the 60s. 19th century the struggle of the proletariat was just beginning, and its actions differed little from peasant unrest. But in the 70s. workers' riots began to develop into strikes, the number of which was constantly growing. The largest strikes were at the Neva paper-spinning factory (1870) and the Krenholm manufactory (1872). During these years on labor movement populists had a great influence. They carried out agitation cultural and explanatory work among the workers.

An important role in the development of the popular movement was played by the first two workers' unions, in ideological positions whose populist views were still strong, but the influence of the ideas of the First International was already evident.

First working organization became originated in 1875“South Russian Union of Workers". It was founded in Odessa by the revolutionary intellectual E.O. Zaslavsky. The union consisted of about 250 people in a number of cities in the South of Russia (Odessa, Kherson, Rostov-on-Don).

AT 1878. in St. Petersburg, on the basis of disparate working circles, a “ Northern Union of Russian Workers". The "Union" consisted of over 250 people. He had his offices behind the Neva and Narva outposts, on Vasilyevsky Island, Vyborg and Petersburg sides, Obvodny canal. The backbone of the "Union" were metalworkers. Its leaders were revolutionary workers - locksmith V.P. Obnorsky and carpenter S.N. Khalturin.

Obnorsky, while still abroad, managed to get acquainted with the workers' movement in Western Europe, with the activities of the First International. He prepared the program documents of the Union. Khalturin knew illegal literature well and was associated with populist organizations.

In the 80s - 90s. the strike movement becomes more organized and mass. The main centers of the strike movement are the Petersburg and Central industrial regions. The biggest event of those years was Morozov strike (1885) at the Morozov textile factory near Orekhovo-Zuev, Vladimir province. The strike was distinguished by its unprecedented scope, organization, and the steadfastness of the strikers. Troops were called in to put down the strike, and 33 workers were put on trial. The facts of serious oppression of workers, cruelty and arbitrariness at the factory were revealed at the trial. As a result, the jury was forced to deliver a verdict of not guilty. All in all, during the 1980s. there were about 450 strikes and unrest of workers.

The growth of the strike movement necessitated labor legislation”- the publication of a series of laws regulating the relations between workers and manufacturers. Among them: laws prohibiting children under 12 from working, laws prohibiting night work for women and adolescents, and a law on fines. Workers have the right to complain about the owner. Factory inspection was introduced. Although the labor legislation in Russia was very imperfect, its adoption was evidence of the strength of the growing labor movement.

Since the mid 90s. in Russia there is an increase in the strike movement. The labor movement begins to play an ever greater role in the socio-political struggle, which makes it possible to speak of the beginning proletarian stage in the liberation movement in Russia. In 1895 - 1900. 850 workers' strikes were registered. Part of the strikes was not only economic but also political in nature. Characteristics the liberation movement in Russia in the years under review — the spread of Marxism, the formation of revolutionary parties.

The wide spread of Marxism in Russia is associated with the name of G.V. Plekhanov and with the group " Emancipation of labor”.

The group arose in 1883 in Geneva as part of P.B. Axelrod, L.G. Deycha, V.I. Zasulich, V.I. Ignatov. The group was headed by G.V. Plekhanov. All of them were "Chernoperedeltsy". Their transition to Marxism was associated with a serious crisis in populist doctrine. The goal of the Emancipation of Labor group is to spread the ideas of scientific socialism by translating into Russian the works of K. Marx and F. Engels.

G.V. Plekhanov was the first Russian Marxist to criticize the erroneous views of the Narodniks. In his works “Socialism and the Political Struggle” (1883) and “Our Differences” (1885), he revealed the untenability of the populist idea of ​​a direct transition to socialism through the peasant community.

G.V. Plekhanov showed that in Russia capitalism was already being established, while the peasant community was disintegrating, that the transition to socialism would take place not through the peasant community, but through the conquest of political power by the proletariat. He substantiated the leading role of the proletariat, put forward the task of creating an independent party of the working class, which was to lead the revolutionary struggle against the autocracy. During the years of the upsurge of the labor movement, the Social Democrats sought to lead the labor movement, to create a party of the working class.

In solving this problem huge role played by V.I. Lenin.

He and his associates created from scattered social-democratic circles of St. Petersburg " Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class". The "Union" consisted of a central group and working groups. Among the leaders were Yu.Yu. Zederbaum (Martov), ​​V.V. Starkov, G.M. Krzhizhanovsky and others. Ulyanov (Lenin) was the leader.

The main merit of the “Union” was that for the first time in the revolutionary movement in Russia it united the theory of the Marxist movement with the practice of the labor movement. The "Union" conducted propaganda in factories and factories, led the strike movement. Active activity The Union and the growth of the mass labor movement faced severe government repression. In December 1895 V.I. Lenin and others were arrested. However, the revolutionary struggle did not stop. "Unions" arose in Moscow, Kyiv, Vladimir, Samara and other cities. Their activities contributed to the emergence of the Russian Social Democratic Party in the multinational Russian Empire.

The Russian Social Democratic Party was founded in Minsk in March 1898. 9 delegates from the St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv, Ekaterinoslav Unions, the Rabochaya Gazeta group and the Public Workers Union in Russia and Poland (Bund) attended the 1st Congress .

The congress elected the Central Committee and proclaimed the creation of the RSDLP. After the congress, the Manifesto of the Russian Social Democratic Party was published. The Manifesto noted that the Russian working class was “completely deprived of what its foreign comrades freely and calmly use: participation in the government of the state, freedom of speech and print, freedom of association and assembly”, it was emphasized that these freedoms are a necessary condition in the struggle of the worker class "for their final emancipation, against private property and capitalism - for socialism." The manifesto was not a party program; it did not formulate specific tasks. The congress did not adopt the party's rules either.

An important role in the preparations for the Second Congress of the RSDLP, at which the party of the working class was to be constituted, was played by newspaper "Iskra". Her first issue came out in 1900.

The editorial staff of Iskra included G.V. Plekhanov, V.I. Zasulich, L.B. Axelrod, V.I. Lenin, Yu.O. Martov and others. The editorial staff of the newspaper carried out organizational work to convene the II Congress of the RSDLP.

In 1903 on the II Congress in London were accepted Program and the Charter, which formalized the formation of the RSDLP. The program provided for two stages of the revolution. Minimum program included bourgeois-democratic demands: the elimination of the autocracy, the introduction of an eight-hour working day, universal, direct, equal and secret suffrage, the abolition of redemption payments. The maximum program is the implementation of the socialist revolution and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Ideological and organizational differences split the party into Bolsheviks (supporters of Lenin) and Mensheviks (supporters of Martov).

The Bolsheviks sought to turn the party into an organization of professional revolutionaries. Mensheviks they did not consider Russia ready for a socialist revolution, opposed the dictatorship of the proletariat and considered it possible to cooperate with all opposition forces.

The contradictions revealed at the Second Congress of the RSDLP subsequently manifested themselves in practice during the years of the Russian revolutions of 1905-1907, 1917 (February, October).

Populism is an ideological trend of a radical nature that opposed serfdom, for the overthrow of the autocracy or for the global reform of the Russian Empire. As a result of the actions of populism, Alexander 2 was killed, after which the organization actually collapsed. Neopopulism was restored in the late 1890s in the form of the activities of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party.

Main dates:

• 1874-1875 - "the movement of populism to the people."
• 1876 ​​- creation of "Land and Freedom".
• 1879 - "Land and Freedom" splits into "Narodnaya Volya" and "Black Repartition".
• March 1, 1881 - the assassination of Alexander 2.

Prominent historical figures populism:

1. Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich is one of the key ideologists of populism in Russia.
2. Lavrov Petr Lavrovich - scientist. He also acted as an ideologue of populism.
3. Chernyshevsky Nikolai Gavrilovich - writer and public figure. Ideologist of populism and informer of its main ideas.
4. Zhelyabov Andrei Ivanovich - was a member of the Narodnaya Volya administration, one of the organizers of the assassination attempt on Alexander 2.
5. Nechaev Sergey Gennadievich - the author of the Catechism of a Revolutionary, an active revolutionary.
6. Tkachev Petr Nikolaevich - an active revolutionary, one of the ideologists of the movement.

The ideology of revolutionary populism

Revolutionary populism in Russia originated in the 60s of the 19th century. Initially, it was called not "populism", but "public socialism". The author of this theory was A.I. Herzen N.G. Chernyshevsky.

Russia has a unique chance to move to socialism, bypassing capitalism. The main element of the transition should be the peasant community with its elements of collective land use. In this sense, Russia should become an example for the rest of the world.

Herzen A.I.

Why is Narodism called revolutionary? Because it called for the overthrow of the autocracy by any means, including the way of terror. Today, some historians say that this was the innovation of the populists, but this is not so. The same Herzen in his idea of ​​"public socialism" said that terror and revolution is one of the methods to achieve the goal (albeit an extreme method).

The ideological currents of populism in the 70s

In the 70s, populism entered a new stage, when the organization was actually divided into 3 different ideological currents. These currents had a common goal - the overthrow of the autocracy, but the methods for achieving this goal differed.

The ideological currents of populism:

• Propaganda. Ideologist - P.L. Lavrov. Main idea - historical processes thinking people should lead. Therefore, populism must go to the people and enlighten them.
• Rebellious. Ideologist - M.A. Bakunin. The main idea was that propagandistic ideas were supported. The difference is that Bakunin spoke not simply of enlightening the people, but of calling them to take up arms against the oppressors.
• Conspiratorial. Ideologist - P.N. Tkachev. The main idea is that the monarchy in Russia is weak. Therefore, it is not necessary to work with the people, but to create secret organization which will carry out a coup and seize power.

All directions developed in parallel.

Entry into the People is a mass movement that began in 1874, in which thousands of young people of Russia took part. In fact, they implemented the ideology of the populism of Lavrov and Bakunin, conducting propaganda with the villagers. They moved from one village to another, handed out propaganda materials to people, talked with people, calling them to active actions, explaining that it was impossible to live like this any longer. For greater persuasiveness, entry into the people involved the use of peasant clothing and conversation in a language understandable to the peasants. But this ideology was met with suspicion by the peasants. They were wary of strangers speaking "terrible speeches", and also thought quite differently from representatives of populism. Here is an example of one of the documented conversations:

- Who owns the land? Is she God's? - says Morozov, one of the active participants in joining the people.

- “God she is where no one lives. And where people live, there is human land,” was the answer of the peasants.

Obviously, populism had difficulty imagining the way of thinking ordinary people, which means that their propaganda was extremely ineffective. Largely because of this, by the autumn of 1874, "entry into the people" began to fade away. By the same time, the repressions of the Russian government against those who "walked" began.

In 1876, the organization "Land and Freedom" was created. It was a secret organization that pursued one goal - the establishment of the Republic. Peasants' war was chosen as the achievement of this goal. Therefore, starting from 1876, the main efforts of Narodism were directed towards preparing for this war. The following areas were chosen as training:

• Propaganda. Again the members of "Land and Freedom" appealed to the people. They got jobs as teachers, doctors, paramedics, petty officials. In these positions, they agitated the people for war, following the example of Razin and Pugachev. But once again, the propaganda of populism among the peasants did not give any effect. The peasants did not trust these people.
• individual terror. Actually we are talking about disorganization work, in which terror was carried out against prominent and capable statesmen. By the spring of 1879, as a result of terror, the head of the gendarmes, N.V. Mezentsev and Kharkov Governor D.N. Kropotkin. In addition, an unsuccessful attempt was made on Alexander 2.

By the summer of 1879, "Land and Freedom" split into 2 organizations: "Black Repartition" and "Narodnaya Volya". This was preceded by a congress of populists in St. Petersburg, Voronezh and Lipetsk.

Black redistribution

"Black redistribution" was headed by G.V. Plekhanov. He called for the abandonment of terror and a return to propaganda. The idea was that the peasants were simply not yet ready for the information that populism brought down on them, but soon the peasants would begin to understand everything and "take up the pitchfork" themselves.

People's Will

"Narodnaya Volya" was controlled by A.I. Zhelyabov, A.D. Mikhailov, S.L. Petrovskaya. They also called for the active use of terror as a method political struggle. Their goal was clear - the Russian tsar, whom they began to hunt from 1879 to 1881 (8 assassination attempts). For example, this led to the assassination attempt on Alexander 2 in Ukraine. The king survived, but 60 people died.

The end of the activities of populism and brief results

As a result of attempts on the emperor, unrest began among the people. Alexander 2 in this situation created a special commission, headed by M.T. Loris-Melikov. This man intensified the fight against populism and its terror, and also proposed a draft law, when certain elements of local government could be transferred under the control of "electors". In fact, this was what the peasants demanded, which means that this step significantly strengthened the monarchy. This project The law was to be signed by Alexander II on March 4, 1881. But on March 1, the populists committed another terrorist act, killing the emperor.

Alexander 3 came to power. "Narodnaya Volya" was closed, the entire leadership was arrested and shot by a court verdict. The terror unleashed by the Narodnaya Volya was not perceived by the population as an element of the struggle for the liberation of the peasants. In fact, we are talking about the meanness of this organization, which set high and correct goals, but chose the meanest and meanest opportunities to achieve them.

Introduction………………………………………………………………………….. 3

1. "Russian socialism" A.I. Herzen as the basis of populism………… 5

2.1. Liberal-revolutionary direction (propaganda)………. 7

2.2. Social-revolutionary trend (conspiratorial or Blanquist)………………………………………………………………………………9

2.3. Anarchist direction (rebellious)………………………………. ten

3. Populist organizations and their activities…………………………. 12

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………. fifteen

References…………………………………………………………… 16

Introduction

In the late 40s - early 50s of the XIX century. a revolutionary-democratic direction of Russian social thought is taking shape, whose representatives are V.G. Belinsky, A.I. Herzen and N.P. Ogarev. The ideas of communal socialism of Herzen and Chernyshevsky became the basis of the political trend of the radical intelligentsia - populism.

Populism is the ideology of the intelligentsia in the Russian Empire in the 1860s-1910s, focused on "rapprochement" with the people in search of their roots, their place in the world. The populist movement was connected with the intelligentsia's sense of losing their connection with folk wisdom, folk truth. AT Soviet historiography populism was considered the second, revolutionary-democratic (“raznochinsk”) stage of the revolutionary movement in Russia, which replaced the “noble” (Decembrists) and preceded the “proletarian” (Marxist) stage.

The Narodniks regarded the people, the peasantry, as a real political power, wanted to raise him to the revolution. Their main goal was Russia's transition to a new, just system - socialism, bypassing capitalism.

An original theory of "Russian socialism" is taking shape. Its founder was A.I. Herzen, who outlined its main ideas in the works written by him in 1849-1853: “The Russian people and socialism”, “The Old World and Russia”, “On the development revolutionary ideas in Russia” and others. He proceeded from the idea of ​​an “original” path of development for Russia, which, bypassing capitalism, would come to socialism through the peasant community.

The idea of ​​communal socialism, formulated by Herzen, was developed by N. G. Chernyshevsky. But unlike Herzen, Chernyshevsky looked at the community differently. For him, the community is a patriarchal institution of Russian life, which is called upon first to fulfill the role of a "comradely form of production" in parallel with capitalist production. Then it will oust the capitalist economy and finally establish collective production and consumption. After that, the community will disappear as a form of industrial association.

Originating in the 1870s, the term is used in relation to different currents social movement. So, in the early 1880s, when there was a fierce controversy between "liberal" journalism and street patriotism, the word "populists" sometimes denoted representatives of crude chauvinism and unbridling the instincts of the crowd. The concept of "populism" was often used as a synonym for democracy and general interest in the common people.

The purpose of this work: consideration of populism in the 1870s.

Relevance of the topic: Herzen's socialism attracts the attention of historians today as well. the idea of ​​building a world without violence, a society of equal rights and social guarantees is relevant to this day.

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1. "Russian socialism" A.I. Herzen as the basis of populism.

The ideology of populism was based on a system of views about a special, "original" path of Russia's development to socialism, bypassing capitalism. The objective conditions for the emergence of such an idea in Russia were the weak development of capitalism and the existence of a peasant land community. The foundations of this “Russian socialism” were formulated at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s by A. I. Herzen. The defeat of the revolutions of 1848-1849 in the countries of Western Europe made a deep impression on Herzen, gave rise to his disbelief in European socialism, disappointment in it. Comparing the fate of Russia and the West, Herzen came to the conclusion that socialism must first be established in Russia and the peasant land community would become its main "cell". Peasant communal landownership, the peasant idea of ​​the right to land and worldly self-government will, according to Herzen, be the basis for building a socialist society. This is how Herzen's "Russian (communal) socialism" arose.

Herzen's "Russian socialism" was focused on the peasantry as its social base, therefore it also received the name "peasant socialism". Its main goals were to liberate the peasants with land without any redemption, liquidate landownership, the introduction of peasant communal self-government, independent of local authorities the democratization of the country. “To preserve the community and liberate the individual, to extend rural and volost self-government to cities, to the state as a whole, while maintaining national unity, to develop private rights and preserve the indivisibility of the land - this is the main issue of the revolution,” Herzen wrote. These provisions of Herzen were subsequently accepted by the populists, therefore he is called the founder, "forerunner" of populism. However, the program of transformations put forward by Herzen and subsequently adopted by the populists, in reality would not lead to socialism, but would create the most favorable conditions, free from any fetters of serfdom, for the development of capitalism.

The main ideological principles of populism were:

- denial historical significance capitalism and the desire to prevent its development in Russia;

- the desire to create a socialist society, as a system of social relations based on justice and collectivism;

- only in a solidary and just society there are conditions that ensure the comprehensive development of the individual;

— idealization peasant community and hopes through it to come to socialism;

- the idea of ​​the Russian peasant as a man of the future, "a socialist by nature";

- criticism or even denial of statehood as a form of public administration, denial until the end of the 1870s. the significance of the political struggle for the freedoms and rights of the individual.

Within the framework of the populist movement, there were two main currents - moderate (liberal) and radical (revolutionary). Representatives of the moderate movement sought non-violent social, political and economic transformation. Representatives of the radical movement, who considered themselves followers of Chernyshevsky, strove for the rapid violent overthrow of the existing regime and the immediate implementation of the ideals of socialism.

In populism, various trends took shape and developed, which had common goal struggle - socialism, and recognizing the need for a revolution to achieve this goal. Their ideological features each had. According to the degree of radicalism in populism, the following directions can be distinguished:

1. Liberal-revolutionary.

2. Social revolutionary.

3. Anarchist.

2.1. Liberal-revolutionary direction (propaganda).

The liberal-revolutionary (centrist) wing in the 1860s-1870s was represented by G.Z. Eliseev, N.N. Zlatovratsky, L.E. Obolensky, N.K. Mikhailovsky, V.G.Korolenko, S.N.Krivenko, S.N.Yuzhakov, V.P.Vorontsov, N.F.Danielson, V.V.Lesevich, G.I.Uspensky, A.P.Shchapov.

The leading ideologists of this trend in populism (which was called “propaganda” in Soviet historiography and “moderate” in post-Soviet historiography) were P.L. Lavrov and N.K. Mikhailovsky. The development of the contours of the society of the future is most fully represented in the socialist theory of P.L. Lavrov. He expounded his theory in Historical Letters, published in 1868-1869; P.L. Lavrov did not consider the people ready for revolution. Therefore, he focused on propaganda with the aim of preparing the peasantry. "Wake up" the peasants were supposed to be "critically thinking individuals" - the advanced part of the intelligentsia. Therefore, it is necessary to train propagandists from educated "critical-thinking" personalities, whose task is to go to the people not with the aim of organizing an immediate revolt, but in order to prepare the peasants for revolution by means of a long propaganda of socialism. Lavrov spoke about the need to create a revolutionary organization, expressed the idea of ​​a mass party based on the principles of democratic centralism. Lavrov paid great attention to the moral character of a revolutionary, believing that party members should be devoted to the idea, to be people of crystal purity. Lavrov considered it necessary for the party to polemic on fundamental issues, the rejection of any attempts to create a cult of infallibility. His views contained the following ideas:

- the intelligentsia was able to develop mentally, because it was freed from physical labor which was carried out by the downtrodden and uneducated people. The intelligentsia must repay this debt to the people;

— the people, the peasantry, are not ready for a social revolution. So the main task intelligentsia - long-term propaganda of the idea of ​​socialism among the people, because without it, the actions of the masses will take extremely violent, rebellious forms and can only lead to changes in the forms of property and power, and not to the establishment of humane socialist relations;

- the introduction of socialist consciousness into the masses should ensure the socialist character of the coming revolution, minimize its inevitable violent forms;

- for propaganda and organization popular forces it is necessary to create a party that unites in its ranks the intelligentsia and the most developed representatives of the people, and continues to lead the construction of socialism after the revolution;

- after the victory of the people, it is necessary to preserve the "state element", the role of which will decrease as socialist relations are established;

- A socialist society can develop only if the freedom of the individual is ensured, and his interests are synthesized with the interests of the collective.

2.2. Social-revolutionary trend (conspiratorial or Blanquist).

In Soviet historiography, this direction was called "conspiratorial" or "Blanquist". The main theorists of the social-revolutionary trend of Russian populism are P.N. Tkachev and, to a certain extent, N.A. Morozov. P.N. Tkachev did not believe in the possibility of carrying out the revolution by the forces of the people, he placed his hopes on the revolutionary minority. Tkachev believed that the autocracy has no class support in society. Therefore, the seizure of power by a group of revolutionaries and the transition to socialist transformations is possible. P.N. Tkachev suggested that:

- the peasantry is not ready either for the revolution or for the independent construction of a socialist society;

- therefore, there is no point either in the propaganda of socialism, or in agitation, a call to revolt;

- autocracy has no social support in any class of Russian society. It "hangs in the air";

- therefore, the intelligentsia must create a conspiratorial party that will seize power and lead the socialist reorganization of society;

- to achieve the goal, it is necessary to use all means, including illegal and immoral.

The conspiratorial policy led to the appearance in the ranks of populism of figures like S.G. Nechaev. S.G. Nechaev was the organizer of the secret society "People's Reprisal", the author of the "Revolutionary Catechism", which stated that the revolutionary goal justifies the means. Nechaev used methods of mystification and provocation in his activities.

The influence of the lumpen element, generated by the collapse of traditional structures, which led to the emergence of leaders of a politically criminal type, manifested itself in the Nechaevshchina. Nechaevshchina was condemned by the First International and rejected by the Russian revolutionaries.

2.3. Anarchist direction (rebellious).

If P.N. Tkachev and his followers believed in the political unification of like-minded people in the name of creating a new type of state, while the anarchists disputed the need for transformations within the state. Their ideologists were M.A. Bakunin and P.A. Kropotkin. Both of them were skeptical about any power, considering it to suppress the freedom of the individual and enslave her.

Bakunin considered the Russian man a rebel "by instinct, by vocation", and the people as a whole, he believed, had already developed the ideal of freedom for many centuries. Therefore, he believed that the only thing left for the revolutionaries was to move on to organizing a nationwide revolt (hence the name in Marxist historiography of the wing of populism headed by him "rebellious"). The purpose of the rebellion according to Bakunin is not only the liquidation of the existing state, but also the prevention of the creation of a new one.

Kropotkin emphasized the decisive role of the masses in the reorganization of society, called on the "collective mind" of the people to create communes, autonomies, federations.

M.A. Bakunin believed that:

- the main injustice - social inequality, and the state is the main bearer and guarantor of injustice;

- therefore, the goal of the struggle is not only the elimination of the existing state, but also the prevention of the creation of a new one. The proletarian state, Bakunin considered, is the worst form of the state in which the proletarians are reborn, and it cannot be created;

- the main means of struggle is the revolutionary revolt of the people. At the same time, the peasantry is constantly ready for rebellion and what is required is not lengthy propaganda, explanation, but agitation, a call to rebellion;

- after the revolutionary elimination of statehood and inequality, the people organize themselves in a federation of communities of counties, provinces of Russia, the Slavic world. Eventually an anarchist United States of Europe and the world will be created.

In 1874, based on the ideas of M.A. Bakunin, more than 1,000 young revolutionaries organized a mass “going to the people”, hoping to raise the peasants to revolt. The results were negligible. The populists faced tsarist illusions and the possessive psychology of the peasants. The movement was crushed, the agitators were arrested.

In 1876, the surviving participants in the “going to the people” formed a new secret organization, which in 1878 took the name “Land and Freedom”. Its program provided for the implementation of the socialist revolution through the overthrow of the autocracy, the transfer of all land to the peasants and the introduction of "secular self-government" in the countryside and cities. The organization was headed by GV Plekhanov, A.D. Mikhailov, S.M. Kravchinsky, N.A. Morozov, V.N. Figner and others.

A second "going to the people" was undertaken - for a long agitation of the peasants. The landowners also engaged in agitation among the workers and soldiers, helped to organize several strikes. In 1876, with the participation of "Earth and Freedom" in St. Petersburg, the first political demonstration in Russia was held on the square in front of the Kazan Cathedral. G. V. Plekhanov addressed the audience, calling on them to fight for land and freedom for the peasants and workers. The police dispersed the demonstration, many of its participants were injured. Those arrested were sentenced to penal servitude or exile. G.V. Plekhanov managed to escape from the police.

3. Populist organizations and their activities.

1. First underground organizations Populists arose in the late 1850s and early 1860s. arose student circle at Kharkov University (1856-1858), then a circle of propagandists in Moscow headed by P.E. Argiropulo and P.G. Zaichnevsky (1861)

2. "Land and Freedom" (1861-1864) was the first large Narodnik organization, 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 Polish uprising, and as a result of the absence of the much anticipated peasant uprisings, the organization self-disbanded.

3. "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.

4. "People's Punishment" 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.

5. The "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 propaganda of the peasants. But, in the end, it was not possible to raise them either to rebellion or propagandize in the socialist spirit.

6. "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 “going to 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 (“village workers”), who united under the leadership of G.V. Plekhanov to the Black Redistribution party, and supporters of the political struggle and the achievement of political freedom, as necessary condition for socialist propaganda, as well as the tactics of individual terror (“politicians”) who formed the “Narodnaya Volya”.

7. The party "Narodnaya Volya" (1879-1882) was headed by the Executive Committee, which included A.I. Zhelyabov, A.D. Mikhailov, S.L. Perovskaya, V.N. Figner, N.A. Morozov and others.

The People's Volunteers 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 by 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 occur, and the organization, as a result, was crushed by the police.

8. "Black redistribution" (1879-1882). Its leaders are G.V. Plekhanov, P.B. Axelrod, L.G. Deutsch, V.I. Zasulich considered the preparation of a peasant revolution - a revolt with the help of propaganda in the countryside - as the goal of their activities. In 1883, disillusioned with populism and ending up in exile, the "Chernoperedelites" led by Plekhanov switched to Marxist positions and created the Emancipation of Labor group in Geneva, the first Russian Social Democratic organization.

Conclusion

In this paper, we examined the ideology of populism, the main directions and currents, populist organizations and their activities. From which we conclude that the goal of the populists was not the overthrow of the autocracy, but the unification of the people, the rapprochement of cultures, the struggle for equal rights for all strata of society, regardless of estates.

The common views for the populists were:

1. Understanding the socialist ideal in relation to Russia, an ideal that is based on the peasant community;

2. Criticism of capitalism, and the recognition of capitalist development as a regression in relation to Russia;

3. Understanding the social revolution as a peasant revolution;

4. Tasks for the destruction of the monarchy and feudal relations.

Differences between them began when they proceeded to interpret not only the essence of the revolution that should lead Russia to socialism, but also the ways and means of its implementation. For the first time in the history of utopian socialism in Russia, the problems of revolution and socialism were developed in unity, comprehensively.

Many of the populists strove for own example show the possibility of creating a new type of culture with special treatment to work, family, science, art, morality, religion. They wanted to personally change social development country, ennobling it.

The merit of Herzen and the Narodniks is that they fought for the liberation of the Russian people from oppression, for their unwillingness to live and work in the existing conditions, for establishing a better future for Russia, which they saw in socialism.

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