How does the socialist doctrine of populism differ from others? Populism: political doctrines and revolutionary activities. How did the spread of Marxism go in Russia?

Chronology

1861 - 1864 Activities of the first organization “Land and Freedom”.
1874 The first mass “going to the people.”
1875 Creation of the South Russian Workers' Union.
1876 - 1879 Activities of the populist organization “Land and Freedom”.
1878 Creation of the “Northern Union of Russian Workers”.
1879 Formation of the organizations “People's Will” and “Black Redistribution”
1883 Creation of the “Emancipation of Labor” group.
1885 Morozov strike.
1895 Creation of the “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class”
1898 I Congress of the RSDLP.
1903 II Congress of the RSDLP.

Populism. Its main currents

IN 1861. a secret revolutionary society of commoners was created “ Land and freedom” (existed until 1864), uniting various circles. “Land and Freedom” considered propaganda to be the main means of influencing 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 populists resolved the main socio-political question about 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 progressiveness of the capitalist development of the country, considering it a decline, regression, an accidental, superficial phenomenon imposed from above by the government, and contrasted it with “originality,” a feature of the Russian economy - popular production. The populists did not understand the role of the proletariat; they considered it part of the peasantry. Unlike Chernyshevsky, who considered the masses to be the main driving force of progress, the populists of the 70s. the decisive role was assigned to “ heroes”, “critical thinkers”, individuals who direct the masses, the “crowd”, the course of history at their own discretion. They considered the common intelligentsia to be such “critically thinking” individuals, who would lead Russia and the Russian people to freedom and socialism. The populists had a negative attitude towards the political struggle and did not connect the struggle for the constitution and democratic freedoms with the interests of the people. They underestimated the power of autocracy, did not see the connections of the state with the interests of classes, and concluded that social revolution in Russia was an extremely easy matter.

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

Anarchic (rebellious) direction

The ideological positions of populism were significantly influenced by anarchic views of M.A. Bakunin, who believed that any state hinders the development of the individual, oppresses her. Therefore, Bakunin opposed all power, viewing the state as a historically inevitable evil. M.A. Bakunin argued that the peasantry is ready for revolution, therefore 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, “need to 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 is not ready for revolution, therefore it is necessary to prepare propagandists from educated “critically thinking individuals,” whose task is to go to the people not with the goal of organizing an immediate rebellion, but in order to prepare the peasants for the revolution through long-term propaganda of socialism.

Conspiratorial direction

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

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

IN 1876 The populist underground organization was re-established Land and freedom”, 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 boiled down 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 organizing “settlements in the city”, as teachers, clerks, paramedics, and artisans. The populists thus sought to establish strong connections with the peasants in order to prepare a people's revolution. However, this attempt by the populists 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 formed in the organization that supported the transition to political struggle through the use of the method of individual terror. In August 1879, “Land and Freedom” split into two organizations: “ People's will” (1879 - 1882) and “ Black redistribution” (1879 - 1884). Chernoperedel'tsy(among the most active members are G.V. Plekhanov, P.B. Akselrod, L.G. Deych, V.I. Zasulich, etc.) opposed terror tactics and advocated a broad propaganda work among the masses of peasants. Subsequently, part of the Black Peredelites led by G.V. Plekhanov moved away from populism and took the position of Marxism.

Narodnaya Volya(the Executive Committee of “Narodnaya Volya” included A.D. Mikhailov, N.A. Morozov, A.I. Zhelyabov, S.M. Perovskaya and others) adopted terrorist struggle. They believed that the murder 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 changes. “Narodnaya Volya” prepared 7 attempts on the life of 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 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. XIX century The reformist wing of populism is strengthening, and liberal populism is gaining significant influence. This direction was focused on the reconstruction of society through peaceful, non-violent means.

IN late XIX V. The polemic between populists and Marxists became very acute. The populists considered Marxist teaching unacceptable for Russia. The heir to the populist ideology was the illegal party created from disparate populist groups in 1901 socialist revolutionaries(Socialist Revolutionaries).

The party had a left-radical bourgeois-democratic character. Its main goals: the destruction of autocracy, the creation of a democratic republic, political freedoms, the socialization of land, the destruction of private ownership of land, its transformation into public property, the transfer of land to peasants according to equalizing standards. The Social Revolutionaries carried out work among peasants and workers and widely used tactics individual terror against government officials.

The labor movement in Russia at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries.

In the second half of the 19th century. to the arena political life Russia enters proletariat. The labor movement is exerting an increasing influence on the socio-political life of the country. This was a completely new phenomenon in socio-political and social life post-reform Russia. In the 60s XIX century The struggle of the proletariat was just beginning and its actions were not much different from the 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 Nevskaya paper spinning mill (1870) and the Krenholm manufactory (1872). During these years, the populists had a great influence on the labor movement. They carried out 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 whose ideological positions populist views were still strong, but the influence of the ideas of the First International was already felt.

First labor organization became arose in 1875“South Russian Workers' Union" 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).

IN 1878. in St. Petersburg, on the basis of scattered workers’ circles, “ Northern Union of Russian Workers" The “Union” consisted of over 250 people. It had its branches behind the Nevskaya and Narvskaya outposts, on Vasilyevskaya Island, the Vyborg and Petersburg sides, and the Obvodny Canal. The backbone of the “Union” was made up of metal workers. Its leaders were revolutionary workers - mechanic V.P. Obnorsky and carpenter S.N. Khalturin.

Obnorsky, while still abroad, managed to get acquainted with the labor movement 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 widespread. The main centers of the strike movement are the St. 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 tenacity of the strikers. Troops were called in to suppress the strike, and 33 workers were put on trial. The trial revealed facts of serious oppression of workers, cruelty and arbitrariness at the factory. As a result, the jury was forced to return a not guilty verdict. In total, during the 80s. There were about 450 strikes and labor unrest.

The growth of the strike movement necessitated “ labor legislation” - publication of a series of laws regulating relations between workers and factory owners. Among them: laws prohibiting children under 12 from working, laws prohibiting night work for women and teenagers, and a law on fines. Workers received the right to complain about the owner. Factory inspection was introduced. Although 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 intensification of the strike movement. The labor movement is beginning to play an increasingly important role in the socio-political struggle, which makes it possible to talk about the beginning proletarian stage in the liberation movement of Russia. In 1895 - 1900 850 workers' strikes were registered. Some of the strikes were not only economic, but also political in nature. Characteristic features of the liberation movement in Russia in the years under review were the spread of Marxism and 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 “ Liberation of labor”.

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

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

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

V.I. played a huge role in solving this problem. Lenin.

He and his associates created from disparate social democratic circles in 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. Tsederbaum (Martov), V.V. Starkov, G.M. Krzhizhanovsky and others. The leader was Ulyanov (Lenin).

The main merit of the “Union” was that for the first time in the revolutionary movement of Russia it united theory of the Marxist movement with the practice of the labor movement. The “Union” carried out propaganda in factories and factories and led the strike movement. The active work of the “Union” and the growth of the mass labor movement faced serious 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. The 1st Congress was attended by 9 delegates from the St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Ekaterinoslav “Unions”, the “Workers’ Newspaper” group and the “Public Labor Union in Russia and Poland” (Bund) .

The congress elected a 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 “is completely deprived of what its foreign comrades freely and calmly enjoy: participation in government, freedom of oral and printed speech, freedom of unions and meetings,” it was emphasized that these freedoms are a necessary condition in the struggle of the working class “for its ultimate liberation, 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 charter either.

A major role in the preparation of the Second Congress of the RSDLP, at which the party of the working class was to be constituted, was played by newspaper “Iskra”. Its first issue was published in 1900 g.

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

In 1903 on 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 autocracy, the introduction of an eight-hour working day, universal, direct, equal and secret voting, and 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 (Lenin's supporters) and Mensheviks (Martov's supporters).

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

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

Samara State Technical University

Populism: political doctrines and revolutionary activities

I've done the work:

student 1-AIT-2

Frolova E.N.

Samara 2010

Introduction

Classical populism, which arose in the 60s of the 19th century, reached its culmination in the 70s. The first political organization to officially call itself a party was, as you know, “People's Will” (1879). Previously, parties were called, in imitation of the West, court groups or circles of guards officers. The mass movement of the various intelligentsia into the “people” took the most various shapes(oral propaganda, resettlement in the countryside, individual terror) and was characterized by high organization. The most severe secrecy and strict discipline distinguished the populist organizations “Land and Freedom” (1876), “Black Redistribution” (1878), and “People’s Will” (1879). The highest point, which was also the collapse of classical populism, was the assassination of Tsar Alexander II by members of Narodnaya Volya in 1881 (the killer was A. Grinevetsky).

The historical merits of classical populism include the search for a grounded, original path of development of Russia, the desire to make the people the subject of historical creativity. The populists, as you know, sought to solve the problem of involving the people (“soil”) in active work by various means: “going to the people”, creating peasant settlements, propagating their ideas, immediate rebellion, etc. The populists were able to create political organizations capable of resisting the tsarist secret services (“Land and Freedom”, and especially “People’s Will”, which, thanks to high discipline, secrecy, carried out its activities for three years).

However, the doctrine of populism was erroneous primarily because it absolutized the archaic forms of economic and spiritual life of the Russian people. Its main ideologists - N. Chernyshevsky and A. Herzen - considered the peasant community to be the main unit of the future just socialist system. Terror occupied a significant place in the activities of the populists at all stages of the movement. The main reasons for the increased activity of terrorists were, firstly, unsuccessful attempts to “awaken society”, and secondly, the repressive, harsh policies of the autocracy. For example, in the winter of 1878-1879 alone, over two thousand people were arrested in St. Petersburg; Odessa Governor-General E. Gotleben sent populists into exile by train. Between 1877 and 1882, 30 revolutionaries were executed. There were cases when people were hanged simply because proclamations of “Narodnaya Volya” were found during a search. And yet, the Narodniks’ commitment to terrorism could not but cause condemnation of their activities by society, and, ultimately, led the movement to historical collapse. Populist organizations emerged from time to time in the 1980s. In the 90s, the ideas of the populists were adopted by new parties who called themselves socialist-revolutionaries. The largest of them are the "Union of Socialists-Revolutionaries", "Party of Socialists-Revolutionaries", "Workers' Party for the Political Liberation of Russia".

“Populism,” wrote V.I. Lenin, “is the ideology (system of views) of peasant democracy in Russia.” Populism combined the ideas of utopian socialism with the demand of the peasantry, interested in the destruction of landowners' estates. He opposed both serfdom and the bourgeois development of society. Since its inception, two currents have emerged in populism - revolutionary and liberal. Revolutionaries main goal were seen in the organization of the peasant revolution during the 60-80s. strived for it in various ways. Liberal populists, operating legally, sought peaceful forms of transition to socialism. Liberal populism did not play a significant role until the 80s, when it became the dominant trend. Representatives of many nationalities of Russia took part in the populist movement. Populist ideology was uniquely refracted in the conditions of Ukraine, the Caucasus, the Baltic states, Poland and other regions. Populism was not a purely Russian phenomenon. A similar form of ideology was also characteristic of other countries that took the path of capitalist development late.

Ideology

Populism represents a special type of utopian socialism, characteristic of countries with a predominance of agricultural production and a peasant population, with weak industrial development. By the time populism arose in the advanced countries of Europe, capitalism had already reached the stage of development when the fundamental socio-political contradictions of bourgeois society were revealed. The bourgeois-democratic revolutions in these countries, which did not improve the situation of the masses, caused disappointment among the advanced Russian intelligentsia. In this situation, the search began for “special ways” of social reconstruction in Russia, allowing for non-capitalist development for Russia. The belief in the possibility of a direct transition - bypassing capitalism - to the socialist system through the peasant community, which was assigned a special role, constituted the main content of the theory of Russian utopian socialism. Its founders were A.I. Herzen and N.G. Chernyshevsky. “Peasant socialism” was actively promoted by N.P. Ogarev.

Herzen believed that Russia would not repeat all phases of development of European countries. It will move to socialism in an “original” way thanks to the rural community, the liberation of peasants with land, peasant self-government, and the traditional rights of peasants to land. “The man of the future in Russia,” Herzen believed, “is a man, just like a worker in France.” Herzen also noted some negative aspects of the community, but considered them surmountable in the process of establishing socialist ideas among the people. Herzen's theory of communal socialism was developed by Chernyshevsky. He associated the preservation of the Russian community with the slowness of development and backwardness of the country, but at the same time assigned the community a greater positive role subject to radical social transformations: the people’s overthrow of the autocracy, the gratuitous transfer of all land to the peasants, and the combination of communal land ownership with communal industrial production. Thus, the theory of Russian peasant socialism was an attempt to use the community in order, on the one hand, to rouse the peasantry to revolution, and on the other, to preserve the egalitarian principles that existed in the community until the establishment of socialist principles.

60s were the first stage in the development of revolutionary democratic ideology, when the general theoretical principles of peasant socialism were translated into specific programs. Since the late 60s. in the revolutionary movement there was a turn towards “effectiveness”. The question of non-capitalist development moved from the realm of theory to revolutionary practice. The peasant socialist revolution is proclaimed as the immediate goal of the populist movement. The largest ideologists of N. in the 70s. were M.A. Bakunin, P.L. Lavrov, P.N. Tkachev, N.K. Mikhailovsky. Bakunin had a significant influence on the Russian revolutionary movement. Considering the Russian peasant to be a “born” socialist, Bakunin called on young people to immediately prepare a popular uprising against the three main enemies: private property, the state, and the church. Under his direct influence, a rebellious Bakuninist trend emerged in populism. The role of the people in the revolution was recognized as decisive.

The program of the revolutionary populists of the 70s. distinguished by her belief not in a conspiracy, but in a broad popular movement, in a peasant socialist revolution. The struggle for political freedoms was denied, and an indifferent attitude towards forms of state power was promoted. The Kazan demonstration of 1876 opened a series of political acts. In 1878, the southern populists (V.A. Osinsky, the Ivicevich brothers, etc.) switched to terrorist struggle, speaking on behalf of the “Executive Committee of the Russian Social Revolutionary Party.” In liberal circles they started talking about the constitution.

The Narodnaya Volya, like their predecessors, continued to believe in the socialist features of the Russian community, although they already saw the stratification of the countryside, the strengthening of world-eating kulaks, and the strengthening of the bourgeoisie. But they denied the regularity and organic nature of this process: “...In our country the state is not the creation of the bourgeoisie, as in Europe, but on the contrary, the bourgeoisie is created by the state.” The Narodnaya Volya hoped to stop the development of capitalist relations in the country by seizing power and move through the community to a socialist system. A major merit of the Narodnaya Volya members was their struggle to win political freedoms in Russia: demands for a constitution, universal suffrage, freedom of speech, press, gatherings, etc. The Narodnaya Volya members considered their immediate goal to be the overthrow of the tsarist autocracy and the establishment of a democratic republic based on the “will of the people.” Lenin considered the “great historical merit” of the Narodnaya Volya members to be their desire to “... attract all the dissatisfied to their organization and direct this organization to a decisive struggle against the autocracy.” At the same time, Lenin pointed out that the Narodnaya Volya members “...narrowed politics to only conspiratorial struggle,” and that the experience of the history of the revolutionary movement in Russia warns against such methods of struggle as terrorism.

K con. 80s - with the development of capitalism and the growth of the working class in Russia, with the beginning of the spread of Marxism in the country, the unfoundedness of faith in the “communist instincts” of the peasant, in the peasant socialist revolution, in the success of the single combat of the heroic intelligentsia with the autocracy was finally revealed. The ideology of revolutionary populism turned out to be untenable.

Revolutionary activities

During the years of the first revolutionary situation of 1859-61, illegal circles and populist organizations began to emerge. From 1856 to 1862 the Kharkov-Kiev secret society operated, the founders of which were Ya.N. Beckman and M.D. Muravsky. In 1861-62, a circle of P.G. functioned in Moscow. Zaichnevsky and P.E. Argiropulo, who printed illegal publications, began revolutionary propaganda among the people, calling for the overthrow of the autocracy (the “Young Russia” proclamation). In the conditions of the revolutionary situation, the rise of the mass movement and the struggle of the democratic intelligentsia, who were expecting a peasant uprising, the secret society “Land and Freedom” arose in 1861 - the largest revolutionary association of the 60s. and the first attempt to create an all-Russian organization. The ideological inspirer of “Land and Freedom” was Chernyshevsky, the foreign center was represented by Herzen and Ogarev, the most active members were the brothers N.A. and A.A. Serno-Solovievichi, A.A. Sleptsov, N.H. Obruchev, S.S. Rymarenko, V. S. Kurochkin and others.

70s were a new stage in the development of the revolutionary democratic movement: compared to the 60s. The number of participants in the movement, its scope and effectiveness have increased immeasurably. In the spring and summer of 1874, a mass “going to the people” of the democratic intelligentsia began, and the first rapprochement of revolutionary youth with the people took place. Theoretical discussions about duty to the people turned into practical actions aimed at raising the peasant masses to the socialist revolution. “Going among the people” was the first test of the ideology of revolutionary populism. Lenin praised this movement. By the end of 1875, the “going to the people” was crushed by the police, its participants were arrested and convicted in the “trial of the 193s” (1877-78). Among the defendants were major revolutionaries: P.I. Voinaralsky, Volkhovsky, S.F. Kovalik, I.N. Myshkin, D.M. Rogachev and others. “Going to the People” revealed the organizational weakness of the populist movement and determined the need for a single centralized organization of revolutionaries. This task was partly resolved in the activities of the All-Russian Social Revolutionary Organization (a group of Muscovites), which arose in late 1874 - early 1875. In the mid-70s. the problem of concentrating revolutionary forces in a single organization became central. It was discussed at congresses of populists in St. Petersburg, Moscow, in exile, and debated on the pages of the illegal press, among the participants in the “going to the people” brought in through the “trial of the 193s.” The revolutionaries had to choose a centralist or federal principle of organization and determine their attitude towards socialist parties in other countries.

In 1876, a new populist organization arose in St. Petersburg, which in 1878 received the name “Land and Freedom.” Its founders and active participants were: M.A. and O.A. Nathanson, A.D. Mikhailov, A.D. Oboleshev, G.V. Plekhanov, O.V. Aptekman, A.A. Kvyatkovsky, D.A. Lizogub, Osinsky and others. The great merit of the Zemlya Volyas was the creation of a strong and disciplined organization, which Lenin called “excellent” and a “model” for revolutionaries. The Zemlyavoltsy had their own organs: “Earth and Freedom” (1878-79), “Leaf of Earth and Freedom” (1879). In practical work, “Land and Freedom” moved from “wandering” propaganda, characteristic of the 1st stage of “going to the people,” to settled rural settlements. However, the hopes of the landowners to rouse the peasantry to revolution did not materialize. Disappointment in the results of propaganda, increased government repression, on the one hand, and public excitement in the context of the brewing of a second revolutionary situation in the country, on the other, contributed to the aggravation of disagreements within the organization. The majority of landowners were convinced of the need to move to a direct political struggle against the autocracy. Terror is gradually becoming one of the main means of revolutionary struggle. At first these were acts of self-defense and revenge for the atrocities of the tsarist administration. However, gradually the successes of the terrorist struggle, which caused confusion at the top, gave rise to the illusion among the populists of the special effectiveness of this method. In August 1879, as a result of a conflict between “politicians” (A.I. Zhelyabov, A.D. Mikhailov, Kvyatkovsky, etc.) and “villagers” (Plekhanov, M.R. Popov, Aptekman, etc.), a split occurred between the “Earth and will". Two independent organizations were formed - "People's Will" and "Black Redistribution".

"People's Will" further strengthened the principles of centralization and conspiracy developed by "Land and Freedom". The Executive Committee of Narodnaya Volya included outstanding revolutionaries Zhelyabov, A.D. Mikhailov, Perovskaya, V.N. Figner, N.I. Kibalchich and others. The organs of the Narodnaya Volya members were "People's Will" (1879-85, with interruptions), "Bulletin of the People's Will" (1883-86), "Leaflet of the People's Will" (1880-86).

After the murder of Alexander II by revolutionaries and the trial of the First Marchers, failures, betrayals, and arrests began, which bled Narodnaya Volya dry. A series of trials in the 80s. (“Process of 20”, “Process of 17”, “Process of 14”, etc.) completed the destruction of the organization. In 1885, a congress of southern Narodnaya Volya members (B.D. Orzhikh, V.G. Bogoraz, F.I. Yasevich, V.P. Brazhnikov, etc.) met in Yekaterinoslav, which examined the state of the revolutionary forces in the south of Russia and drew attention to the need to expand the struggle for political freedoms and widespread propaganda among the masses.

People's Will and ideologically close organizations continued to operate in the 90s. In 1889-90 in Kostroma, Vladimir and Yaroslavl there was a revolutionary organization led by M.V. Sabunaev. In 1891-94, the “Group of Narodnaya Volya” worked in St. Petersburg under the leadership of M.S. Alexandrov (Olminsky). In 1893, the “People's Law” party arose (M.A. Nathanson, P. Nikolaev, N. Tyutchev, etc.). As Marxism spread in Russia, populist organizations lost their importance.

Their best democratic traditions, in the changed conditions of the class struggle, were continued by a new revolutionary generation that overcame the mistakes and illusions of populism. Some populists, as the proletarian ideology was established, switched to the position of Marxism, and later became members of the social democratic party.

Zhelyabov A.I.

Zhelyabov, Andrei Ivanovich (1851–1881) - Russian revolutionary, figure in the populist movement, member of the Executive Committee of the People's Will. He bore the party nicknames “Boris” and “Taras”.

Born on August 17 (29), 1851 in the village. Nikolaevka Feodosiya district Tauride lips. In the family of a serf serf on the Sultanovka estate in one of the Crimean villages, he was taught to read and write by his grandfather from the psalter. In 1860 he was sent by the landowner to the Kerch district school (later a gymnasium), from which he graduated in 1869 with a silver medal. At the gymnasium I read N.G. Chernyshevsky’s novel What Is To Be Done?, which, according to him, shaped his ideological beliefs. In 1869 he entered Faculty of Law Novorossiysk University in Odessa. Convinced that “history is moving terribly slowly, we need to push it,” he led student protests against one of the conservative teachers (Prof. Bogisich), for which he was expelled from the university in 1871 and expelled from Odessa.

In 1872 he married the daughter of a sugar factory, Yakhnenko, whose enterprises were located in Tiraspol district. Kherson province. They had a son, after which Zhelyabov, probably at the request of his friends, was reinstated at the university, but did not live with his family. Expelled for the second time from the 3rd year, he moved to Kiev in 1872, lived with occasional lessons in the Settlement of the Kiev province, where he established contacts with the revolutionary circles of Kiev and with the leaders of the Ukrainian liberal-bourgeois cultural and educational organization of the Ukrainian intelligentsia “Hromada”.

In 1873 he again ended up in Odessa, where he joined F.V.’s circle. Volkovsky - one of the southern Russian populists who maintained contact with the capital’s circle of “Tchaikovsky” (N.V. Tchaikovsky). Conducted propaganda among workers and intelligentsia. In September 1874 he was arrested, released on bail, and continued his illegal activities (“He lived on funds from the fund for the liberation of the people,” he later said at one of his trials).

In 1873–1874 he took part in the first “walking among the people.” On October 18, 1878, he was arrested again and tried in the “Trial of the 193s.” Acquitted in January 1879, he finally went underground and moved to Podolsk province, where he continued to conduct propaganda among the peasants. According to a comrade in the Narodnik organization, O.S. Lyubatovich, by that time he “had matured mentally and physically... his whole being was imbued with some kind of joyful light and great hope”; This hope was the belief in the need to fight the government using terror methods in the name of “people's happiness.”

In June 1879, Zhelyabov took part in the Voronezh congress of populists, where he was accepted into the organization “Land and Freedom”, actively defended the tactics of terror, which contributed to the split of the organization into supporters of this method of struggle (they formed a little later “People’s Will”) and opponents (they created organization "Black Redistribution"). At the Lipetsk congress of terrorist politicians, held immediately after the Voronezh one, Zhelyabov came to the conclusion that terror is “an exceptional, heroic means, but also the most effective.” Since August 1879, he was the main organizer and ideological inspirer of the St. Petersburg organization “People's Will” (which he personally called the party), a defender of the terrorist direction of its activities. He believed, however, that “it is possible to seize power only in order to transfer it into the hands of the people” (testimony of M.F. Frolenko). At that time, he showed the makings of a people's tribune: “a pleasant and strong voice”, extreme “clarity, fervor, impetuosity of speech.”

With the leadership participation of Zhelyabov, the workers, student and military organizations of “Narodnaya Volya” were founded, and program documents were written. They, in particular, provided for the destruction of the autocracy, the convening of the Constituent Assembly, the introduction of democratic freedoms, the transfer of land to the peasants, the publication of illegal printed publications (the newspaper “Narodnaya Volya”, published 1879–1881, and “Rabochaya Gazeta”, published in the autumn of 1880, 3 numbers, 1000 copies). Zhelyabov also headed the main collegial governing body of “Narodnaya Volya” - the Executive Committee (besides him, it included A.D. Mikhailov, S.L. Perovskaya and others).

Gendarmerie General N.I. Shebeko called Zhelyabov a “terrible” person, but later noted that this “great organizer of assassination attempts had an amazing power of activity and did not belong to the trembling and silent ones; It is impossible to allow even a shadow of repentance to touch his heart in the interval between the organization of the crime and the hour of his atonement..."

It was Zhelyabov who led the “combat group” of terrorists in 1879, whose goal was to prepare the assassination of Tsar Alexander II. He justified the need for attempts on his life by the fact that it was the tsarist government that banned the peaceful propaganda of socialist ideas and brought down repression on their bearers (“our movement was defeated exclusively by the numerous obstacles that it encountered in the form of prisons and exile; peaceful propaganda turned out to be impossible - we had to move away from the word to the point").

He personally participated in the preparation and determination of the tactics of the terrorist attacks. For the first assassination attempt, having learned about the tsar’s intended trip to railway, rented a plot of land under the fictitious surname Cheremisyev near the city of Aleksandrovsky, Ekaterinoslav province, and also selected a place to lay a mine under the rails. This attempt on November 18, 1879 failed: the mine went off after the train passed over it. In total, he prepared 8 assassination attempts on Alexander II.

At the beginning of 1880 he became the de facto leader of the Executive Committee of the People's Will and the organizer of new attempts on the life of the Tsar. He skillfully conducted propaganda work. He was going to go to the Samara province to raise a peasant uprising there, he said that he felt “the strength to do this,” but the Executive Committee found a mass uprising untimely and rejected his intention.

Having entered the so-called “Administrative Commission of the People's Will,” he led new preparations for the assassination attempt on the Tsar (according to L.G. Deitch, Zhelyabov was a man of “indomitable energy, holding in his hands all the threads of the regicide being prepared”).

On February 27, 1881, he was accidentally arrested at the apartment of his friend. Not only did he not try to escape, but he voluntarily surrendered to the police. The preparation of the assassination attempt, planned two days later, was taken over by his common-law wife, S.L. Perovskaya. At her signal, on March 1, 1881, I.I. Grinevitsky threw a bomb at the Tsar and blew himself up. After the arrest of S.L. Perovskaya on Nevsky Prospekt on March 10, 1881, Zhelyabov demanded that he be included in the trial of the regicide on March 1, 1881.

Before the trial, Zhelyabov was placed in the Trubetskoy bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress. At trial he refused to have a lawyer. Repeatedly interrupted by the chairman of the court, he nevertheless managed to use the court hearing as a platform to present the program and principles of the activities of “Narodnaya Volya” (“served the cause of the liberation of the people”). Declaring that he denies the Orthodox faith, at the same time he emphasized that in the teachings of Christ he sees “the struggle for truth, for the rights of the weak and oppressed.” In conclusion, he admitted that he would renounce terror if “the possibility of peaceful propaganda of ideas arose.” According to the verdict of the Supreme Criminal Court, he was hanged along with other “First Marchers” on April 3 (15), 1881 at Semenovsky Parade Ground in St. Petersburg (the last public execution in Russia).

Already in 1882 (a year after the execution), a biography of this revolutionary terrorist was published abroad. His social activities were widely covered in the magazine "Byloe" in 1906–1907. IN AND. Lenin put Zhelyabov on a par with Robespierre and Garibaldi. In 1928, a village in the Ustyuzhensky district of the Vologda region was named after Zhelyabov. In the famous novel by Yu.V. Trifonov Impatience (1973), which tells about the ascetic activities of the Narodnaya Volya members, the figure of Zhelyabov occupies a central place.

QUESTIONS

1. What were the differences between Russian liberalism and Western European liberalism?

Firstly, liberal ideas in Russia began to play a significant role half a century later than in Western Europe (from the mid-1850s under Alexander II);

Secondly, unlike Western Europe, where the bearers of liberal ideology were primarily the bourgeois strata of society, in Russia its adherents were primarily enlightened nobles, including those who were in the public service. Liberal sentiments even gripped some of the top officials;

Thirdly, Russian liberals, without rejecting the achievements of Western European liberalism, were looking for a special path of parliamentarism for Russia, which should come from the autocrat.

2. How is it different? socialist doctrine populism from other socialist teachings?

Populism was an original phenomenon. His theoretical basis laid A.I. Herzen and N.G. Chernyshevsky. Populism arose as one of the socialist doctrines, taking into account the peculiarities historical development Russia and different from Western European socialist doctrines.

Unlike other socialist teachings, the populists believed that the construction of a socialist society should be carried out not by the working class, but by the peasantry. The peasantry, interested in the abolition of serfdom and landownership, will fight for land and freedom. At the same time, it will destroy the existing exploitative system and easily adopt the socialist idea that corresponds to its communal consciousness.

If Marxists saw the prospect of socialism in the development of an industrial society, then the populists considered the peasant community to be the basis for its development in Russia. They made this conclusion based on the fact that collective land ownership and self-government already existed in it. Thanks to the presence of a peasantry organized into rural communities, which makes up the overwhelming majority of the population, Russia, according to the populists, could begin building a socialist society, bypassing capitalism, which brings new forms of exploitation and poverty.

3. How did the spread of Marxism go in Russia?

The spread of Marxism in Russia dates back to 1883, when former populists led by G.V. Plekhanov, who switched to the position of Marxism, created the “Emancipation of Labor” group in Geneva. It was Plekhanov who first raised the question of the need to create a Social Democratic Party in Russia. In 1883, in St. Petersburg, a group of students, organized by the Bulgarian D. Blagoev, adopted the loud name “Party of Russian Social Democrats.”

“Unions of struggle for the liberation of the working class” campaigned, issued proclamations and leaflets. A large social democratic organization was created by V.I. Lenin and Yu.O. Martov St. Petersburg "Union of Struggle".

The Liberation of Labor group, which operated abroad, widely launched propaganda of Marxist theory in Russia. The works of Marx and Engels were translated into Russian, the so-called “Workers' Library” (popular social democratic brochures) was published, and the first drafts of the program of Russian social democracy were developed. All this literature was illegally transported to Russia. Plekhanov and his comrades in the Emancipation of Labor group believed that Russian workers should accept the most Active participation in the political struggle of the entire society against the autocracy. At the same time, the workers, under the leadership of social democracy, will defend their class interests.

In 1898, the First Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party took place in Minsk. It was attended by 9 delegates from various social democratic organizations. The congress adopted a manifesto, which declared the formation of the party and its goals. However, almost all the congress participants were arrested, and it was not possible to create a unified Marxist party. The Social Democrats of Russia were still represented by separate independently operating organizations.

4. What is the essence of the views of Russian conservatives?

Conservatism in Russia defended autocracy and the class system of society. It was an expression of the official state ideology. Prominent representatives of conservative ideology were the publicist and publisher M.N. Katkov, lawyer and chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod K.P. Pobedonostsev.

Katkov, editor of the popular newspaper Moskovskie Vedomosti and the magazine Russkiy Vestnik, considered the radicalism of the populists disastrous for Russia. In his opinion, the country had to preserve its foundations unchanged - autocracy, Orthodoxy and landownership. At the same time, Katkov advocated the liberation of the peasants and the introduction local government. He also condemned the constitutional aspirations of the liberals. Katkov's views influenced government policy.

Pobedonostsev enjoyed even greater influence in government circles. “Course of Civil Law” written by him long time was a reference book for Russian lawyers. Pobedonostsev was one of the inspirers of the conservative policies pursued during the reign of Alexander III. As the leader of the Synod, he was known for organizing persecution of sectarians and Protestants.

TASKS

1. If you lived in Russia in the 19th century, what ideology would you follow? Explain the reasons for your choice.

I would be a supporter of liberalism, since liberal ideas provided for gradual peaceful transformations in the country. Liberals took into account historical features development Russian state and supported the reform of the country from above.

2. What can you say about the views of the Russian liberal based on the answers of V.A. Goltsev to the questionnaire of the magazine “Russian Thought”? Which of his answers do you like and why?

Where would I like to live?

In Russia, but only free.

What do I hate most?

Despotism.

The reform I most admire in history?

Liberation of peasants in Russia.

The reform I want?

The fall of autocracy in Russia.

My motto?

Labor and political freedom.

Based on the answers from V.A. Goltsev, we can say that Russian liberals defended the idea of a Russia free from despotism. This idea must be implemented through reforms.

What I like most is the answer that most of all V.A. Goltsev hates despotism. I support his idea, since this form of government violates all natural human rights and does not allow society to develop.

3. Read a fragment of the program of the terrorist faction of the Narodnaya Volya party: “Recognizing the main importance of terror as a means of forcing concessions from the government through its systematic disorganization, we do not in the least belittle its other useful aspects. He raises the revolutionary spirit of the people; gives continuous proof of the possibility of struggle, undermining the charm of government power; it acts in a strong propaganda way on the masses. Therefore, we consider useful not only the terrorist struggle against the central government, but also local terrorist protests against administrative oppression.”

Do the arguments in favor of terror as a means of fighting power convince you? Why?

No, they are not convinced. Terror will never be effective, because, firstly, it always leads to casualties, and no one has the right to take the life of another person, and secondly, the result of any terrorist actions is the response of the authorities, from which not only the perpetrators suffer, but also innocent people.

Samara State Technical University

Populism: political doctrines and revolutionary activities

I've done the work:

student 1-AIT-2

Frolova E.N.

Samara 2010

Introduction

Classical populism, which arose in the 60s of the 19th century, reached its culmination in the 70s. The first political organization to officially call itself a party was, as you know, “People's Will” (1879). Previously, parties were called, in imitation of the West, court groups or circles of guards officers. The mass movement of the various intelligentsia into the “people” took a variety of forms (oral propaganda, resettlement in the countryside, individual terror) and was characterized by high organization. The most severe secrecy and strict discipline distinguished the populist organizations “Land and Freedom” (1876), “Black Redistribution” (1878), and “People’s Will” (1879). The highest point, which was also the collapse of classical populism, was the assassination of Tsar Alexander II by members of Narodnaya Volya in 1881 (the killer was A. Grinevetsky).

The historical merits of classical populism include the search for a grounded, original path of development of Russia, the desire to make the people the subject of historical creativity. The populists, as we know, sought to solve the problem of involving the people ("soil") in active work by various means: "going to the people", creating peasant settlements, promoting their ideas, immediate rebellion, etc. The populists were able to create political organizations capable of resisting tsarist secret services (“Land and Freedom”, and especially “People’s Will”, which, thanks to high discipline and secrecy, carried out its activities for three years).

“Populism,” wrote V.I. Lenin, “is the ideology (system of views) of peasant democracy in Russia.” Populism combined the ideas of utopian socialism with the demand of the peasantry, interested in the destruction of landowners' estates. He opposed both serfdom and the bourgeois development of society. Since its inception, two currents have emerged in populism - revolutionary and liberal. The revolutionaries saw the main goal in organizing a peasant revolution and during the 60-80s. strived for it in various ways. Liberal populists, operating legally, sought peaceful forms of transition to socialism. Liberal populism did not play a significant role until the 80s, when it became the dominant trend. Representatives of many nationalities of Russia took part in the populist movement. Populist ideology was uniquely refracted in the conditions of Ukraine, the Caucasus, the Baltic states, Poland and other regions. Populism was not a purely Russian phenomenon. A similar form of ideology was also characteristic of other countries that took the path of capitalist development late.

Ideology

K con. 80s - as it develops