The culture of Russia in the second half of the 19th century experienced a significant upsurge. The development of new capitalist relations, the abolition of serfdom and the social upsurge led to the fact that new trends, new names began to appear in all areas of art.

However, representatives of the intelligentsia had a variety of views on the changes taking place in the country, which led to the emergence of three camps - liberals, conservatives and democrats. Each movement had its own characteristics both in political thought and in ways of expressing itself in art.

In general, the industrial revolution and the growth of the economy led to the fact that the culture became more democratic and open to all segments of the population.

Education

There was an unprecedented increase in the level of education. Numerous schools began to open, education became tiered - primary school and secondary. The middle schools included numerous gymnasiums and colleges, where students not only received general education, but also mastered the knowledge necessary for further work. There were courses for women.

Education remained paid, so libraries and museums began to gain in importance, where those who did not have money for a lyceum or gymnasium could acquire knowledge. The Tretyakov Gallery, the Historical Museum, the Russian Museum and others were created.

Science was also actively developing, several scientific schools were created, which became the foundation for major discoveries. History and philosophy have been greatly developed.

Literature

Literature developed as actively as other branches of culture. Numerous literary magazines began to be published throughout the country, in which writers published their works. The most notable can be called "Russian Bulletin", "Domestic Notes", "Russian Thought". The magazines were of different orientations - liberal, democratic and conservative. In addition to their literary activities, the authors of them led an active political discussion.

Painting

Greater fame was gained by realist artists - E.I. Repin, V.I. Surikov, A.G. Savrasov. Led by I.N. Kramskoy, they formed the “association of the Wanderers”, which set as its main goal the need to “bring art to the masses”. These artists opened small traveling exhibitions in the most remote corners of Russia in order to accustom the people to art.

Music

The Mighty Handful group was formed, headed by M.A. Balakirev. It included many prominent composers of that time - M.P. Mussorgsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A.P. Borodin. At the same time, the great composer P.I. Chaikovsky. In those years, the first conservatories in Russia were opened in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Music also became a national treasure, accessible to all segments of the population.

In the second half of the 50s of the XIX century. (the period of preparation of the peasant reform) in the socio-political life of Russia, there has been a certain convergence of different ideological directions. The whole society understood the need to renew the country. It spurred and stimulated the beginning of the transformational activity of the government. However, the process of implementing the reform and its results aggravated and deepened the ideological and political confrontation in society.

The main thing is the preservation of the old socio-political system and, above all, the autocratic system with its police apparatus, the privileged position of the nobility, and the lack of democratic freedoms. An equally significant reason is the unresolved agrarian-peasant issue, which remained central in the public life of the country. The half-heartedness of the reforms of the 1960s and 1970s and fluctuations in the government's course (either measures towards liberalization, or intensification of repressions) also intensified the social movement. A particular reason was the diversity and severity of social contradictions. To the former - between peasants and landowners - new ones were added, caused by development - between workers and entrepreneurs, the liberal bourgeoisie and the conservative nobility, between the autocracy and the peoples that were part of the Russian Empire.

A distinctive feature of the public life of Russia in the second half of the XIX century. there was a lack of powerful anti-government actions of the broad masses of the people. Peasant unrest that broke out after 1861 quickly subsided, labor movement was in its infancy. The people retained tsarist illusions. The bourgeoisie also showed political inertia. All this provided ground for the triumph of militant conservatism and provided an extremely narrow social basis for the activities of the revolutionaries.

In the post-reform period, three directions in the social movement finally took shape - conservatives, liberals and radicals. They had different political goals, organizational forms and methods of struggle, spiritual and moral-ethical positions.

Conservatives

The social basis of this trend was the reactionary nobility, clergy, petty bourgeoisie, merchants and a significant part of the peasantry.

Conservatism in the second half of the 19th century. remained within the ideological framework of the theory of "official nationality". Autocracy was still declared to be the most important pillar of the state, ensuring the greatness and glory of Russia. Orthodoxy was proclaimed the basis of the spiritual life of the people and actively planted. Nationality meant the unity of the king with the people, which meant the absence of soil for social conflicts. In this, the conservatives saw the peculiarity historical path Russia.

In the domestic political field, the conservatives fought for the inviolability of the autocracy, against the liberal reforms of the 1960s and 1970s, and in subsequent decades sought to limit their results. In the economic sphere, they advocated the inviolability of private property, the preservation of landownership and the community. In the social field, they insisted on strengthening the position of the nobility - the foundation of the state and maintaining the class division of society. In foreign policy, they developed the ideas of pan-Slavism - the unity of the Slavic peoples around Russia. In the spiritual sphere, representatives of the conservative intelligentsia defended the principles of a patriarchal way of life, religiosity, and unconditional submission to power. The main target for their criticism was the theory and practice of nihilists who denied traditional moral principles. (F. M. Dostoevsky in the novel "Demons" exposed the immorality of their activities.)

The ideologists of the conservatives were K. P. Pobedonostsev, D. A. Tolstoy, M. N. Katkov. The spread of their ideas was facilitated by the bureaucracy, the church and the reactionary press. M. N. Katkov in the newspaper "Moskovskie Vedomosti" pushed the government's activities in a reactionary direction, formulated the main ideas of conservatism and shaped the public in this spirit.

The Conservatives were state guards. They had a negative attitude towards any mass social actions, advocating order, calmness and traditionalism.

liberals

The social basis of the liberal direction was made up of bourgeois landlords, part of the bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia (scientists, writers, journalists, doctors, etc.).

They defended the idea of ​​a common path of historical development of Russia with Western Europe.

In the domestic political field, the liberals insisted on the introduction of constitutional principles, democratic freedoms and the continuation of reforms. They advocated the creation of an all-Russian elected body (Zemsky Sobor), the expansion of the rights and functions of local self-government bodies (zemstvos). The political ideal for them was a constitutional monarchy. Liberals advocated the preservation of a strong executive power, considering it a necessary factor of stability, called for measures to promote the formation of a rule of law state and civil society in Russia.

In the socio-economic sphere, they welcomed the development of capitalism and freedom of enterprise, advocated the preservation of private property, lower redemption payments. The requirement to abolish class privileges, the recognition of the inviolability of the individual, her right to free spiritual development were the basis of their moral and ethical views.

The liberals stood for the evolutionary path of development, considering reforms to be the main method of social and political modernization of Russia. They were ready to cooperate with the autocracy. Therefore, their activity mainly consisted in submitting “addresses” to the name of the tsar - petitions with a proposal for a program of transformations. The most "left" liberals sometimes used conspiratorial meetings of their supporters.

The ideologists of the liberals were scientists, publicists, zemstvo figures (K. D. Kavelin, B. N. Chicherin, V. A. Goltsev, D. I. Shakhovskoy, F. I. Rodichev, P. A. Dolgorukov). Zemstvos, magazines (Russian Thought, Vestnik Evropy) and scientific societies were their organizational support. The liberals did not create a stable and institutionalized opposition to the government.

Features of Russian liberalism: its noble character due to the political weakness of the bourgeoisie and readiness for rapprochement with conservatives. They were united by the fear of a popular “rebellion” and the actions of radicals.

Radicals

Representatives of this direction launched active anti-government activities. Unlike conservatives and liberals, they strove for violent methods of transforming Russia and a radical reorganization of society (revolutionary path).

In the second half of the XIX century. the radicals did not have a broad social basis, although objectively they expressed the interests of the working people (peasants and workers). Their movement was attended by people from different strata of society (raznochintsy), who devoted themselves to serving the people.

Radicalism was largely provoked by the reactionary policies of the government and the conditions of Russian reality: police arbitrariness, lack of freedom of speech, meetings and organizations. Therefore, only secret organizations could exist in Russia itself. Radical theorists were generally forced to emigrate and operate abroad. This contributed to the strengthening of ties between the Russian and Western European revolutionary movements.

In the radical direction of the second half of the XIX century. the dominant position was occupied by a current, the ideological basis of which was the theory of a special, non-capitalist development of Russia and "communal socialism".

In the history of the movement of radicals of the second half of the XIX century. three stages are distinguished: 60s - the folding of the revolutionary-democratic ideology and the creation of secret raznochinsk circles; 70s - the formation of the populist doctrine, the special scope of the agitational and terrorist activities of organizations of revolutionary populists; 80-90s - the activation of liberal populists and the beginning of the spread of Marxism, on the basis of which the first social democratic groups were created; in the mid-1990s, the popularity of populism weakened and a short period of widespread enthusiasm for Marxist ideas among the democratically minded intelligentsia.

"Sixties"

The rise of the peasant movement in 1861-1862. was the people's response to the injustice of the February 19 reform. This activated the radicals, who hoped for a peasant uprising.

In the 1960s, two centers of a radical trend emerged. One is around the editorial office of The Bell, published by A. I. Herzen in London. He propagated his theory of "communal socialism" and sharply criticized the predatory conditions for the liberation of the peasants. The second center arose in Russia around the editorial office of the Sovremennik magazine. Its ideologist was N. G. Chernyshevsky, the idol of the raznochinnoy youth of that time. He also criticized the government for the essence of the reform, dreamed of socialism, but unlike A. I. Herzen, he saw the need for Russia to use the experience of the European development model. In 1862 N. G. Chernyshevsky was arrested, sentenced to penal servitude and exile to Siberia.

Therefore, he himself could not take an active part in the public struggle, but on the basis of his ideas, several secret organizations were formed in the early 60s. They included N. A. and A. A. Serno-Solov'evichi, G. E. Blagosvetlov, N. I. Utin, and others. In the proclamations “Bow to the lordly peasants from their well-wishers”, “To the younger generation”, “Young Russia”, “What should the army do?” and others, they explained to the people the tasks of the upcoming revolution, substantiated the need for the liquidation of the autocracy, the democratic transformation of Russia, and a fair solution to the agrarian question.

"Land and freedom" (1861-1864)

The landowners considered the article by N. P. Ogarev “What do the people need?”, Published in June 1861 in the Bell, as their program document. She warned the people against premature unprepared speeches, called for the unification of all revolutionary forces. The main requirements were the transfer of land to the peasants, the development of local self-government and preparation for future active actions to transform the country.

Land and Freedom was the first major revolutionary-democratic organization. It included several hundred members from different social strata: officials, officers, writers, students.

The organization was headed by the Russian Central People's Committee. Branches of the society were created in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Tver, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Kharkov and other cities. At the end of 1862, a Russian military-revolutionary organization, created in the Kingdom of Poland, joined the Land and Freedom.

The first secret organizations did not last long

The decline of the peasant movement, the defeat of the uprising in the Kingdom of Poland (1863), the strengthening of the police regime - all this led to their self-dissolution or defeat. Some members of the organizations were arrested, others emigrated. The government succeeded in repulsing the attack of the radicals of the first half of the 60s. There was a sharp turn in public opinion against the radicals and their revolutionary aspirations. Many public figures who previously held democratic or liberal positions moved to the camp of conservatives (M. N. Katkov and others).

In the second half of the 1960s, secret circles reappeared. Their members preserved the ideological heritage of N. G. Chernyshevsky, but, having lost faith in the possibility of a people's revolution in Russia, they switched to narrowly conspiratorial and terrorist tactics. They tried to embody their high moral ideals by immoral means. In 1866, a member of the circle of N. A. Ishutin D. V. Karakozov made an unsuccessful attempt on the life of Tsar Alexander II.

In 1869, the teacher S. G. Nechaev and the journalist P. N. Tkachev created an organization in St. Petersburg that called on student youth to prepare an uprising and use any means in the fight against the government. After the defeat of the circle, S. G. Nechaev left the border for a while, but in the autumn of 1869 he returned and founded the organization "People's Reprisal" in Moscow. He was distinguished by extreme political adventurism, demanded unquestioning obedience from the participants. For disagreeing with the methods of S. G. Nechaev, student I. I. Ivanov was falsely accused of treason and killed. The police destroyed the organization. S. G. Nechaev fled to Switzerland, he was extradited as a criminal. The government used the lawsuit against him to discredit the revolutionaries. "Nechaevshchina" for some time became a serious lesson for the next generations of revolutionaries, warning them against unlimited centralism.

At the turn of the 60-70s, largely on the basis of the ideas of A. I. Herzen and N. G. Chernyshevsky, the populist ideology took shape. It became very popular among the democratically minded intellectuals of the last third of the 19th century, who considered it their duty to serve the people. Among the populists there were two trends: revolutionary and liberal.

Revolutionary Populists

The main ideas of the revolutionary Narodniks are: capitalism in Russia is implanted "from above" and has no social roots on Russian soil; the future of the country is in communal socialism, since the peasants can accept socialist ideas; transformations must be carried out by a revolutionary method, by the forces of the peasantry, led by an organization of revolutionaries. Their ideologists - M. A. Bakunin, P. L. Lavrov and P. N. Tkachev - developed theoretical basis three currents of revolutionary populism - rebellious (anarchist), propaganda and conspiratorial.

M. A. Bakunin believed that the Russian peasant was a rebel by nature and was ready for revolution. Therefore, the task of the intelligentsia is to go to the people and kindle an all-Russian revolt. Viewing the state as an instrument of injustice and oppression, he called for its destruction and the creation of a federation of self-governing free communities. This idea became the basis of the theory of anarchism.

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.

P. N. Tkachev, like P. L. Lavrov, did not consider the peasant to be ready for revolution. At the same time, he called the Russian people "a communist by instinct", which does not need to be taught socialism. In his opinion, a narrow group of conspirators (professional revolutionaries), having seized state power, will quickly draw the people into socialist reorganization.

In 1874, relying on the ideas of M. A. Bakunin, more than 1,000 young revolutionaries undertook 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.

"Land and freedom" (1876-1879)

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 by overthrowing 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 G. V. Plekhanov, A. D. Mikhailov, S. M. Kravchinsky, N. A. Morozov, V. N. Figner and others.

A second "going to the people" was carried out - with the aim of long-term agitation among the peasants. The landowners also engaged in agitation of workers and soldiers, helped to organize several strikes. By 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 the participants were injured. Those arrested were sentenced to hard labor or exile. GV Plekhanov managed to escape from the police.

In 1878, V. I. Zasulich made an attempt on the life of the St. Petersburg mayor F. F. Trepov and wounded him. However, the mood of society and the circumstances of the case were such that the jury acquitted her, and F. F. Trepov was forced to resign.

Some of the Narodniks again returned to the idea of ​​the necessity of a terrorist struggle. They were motivated to do so by government repressions and a thirst for active work. Disputes over tactical and program issues led to a split in the Land and Freedom.

"Black redistribution"

In 1879, part of the landowners (G. V. Plekhanov, V. I. Zasulich, L. G. Deich, P. B. Axelrod) formed the Black Redistribution organization (1879-1881). They remained faithful to the main program principles of "Earth and Ashes" and agitation and propaganda methods of activity.

"People's Will"

In the same year, another part of the landowners created the organization "Narodnaya Volya" (1879-1881). It was headed by A. I. Zhelyabov, A. D. Mikhailov, S. L. Perovskaya, N. A. Morozov, V. N. Figner and others. They were members of the Executive Committee - the center and headquarters of the organization.

The Narodnaya Volya program reflected their disappointment in the revolutionary potential of the peasant masses. They believed that the people were crushed and brought to a slave state by the tsarist government. Therefore, their main task was to fight the state. The program requirements of the Narodnaya Volya included: preparing a political coup and overthrowing the autocracy; the convocation of the Constituent Assembly and the establishment of a democratic system in the country; the destruction of private property, the transfer of land to the peasants, factories - to the workers. (Many program provisions of the Narodnaya Volya were adopted at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries by their followers - the party of socialist revolutionaries.)

The Narodnaya Volya carried out a number of terrorist actions against representatives of the tsarist administration, but considered the assassination of the tsar to be their main goal. They assumed that this would cause a political crisis in the country and a popular uprising. However, in response to the terror, the government stepped up its repression. Most of the Narodnaya Volya were arrested. S. L. Perovskaya, who remained at large, organized an assassination attempt on the tsar. March 1, 1881 Alexander II was mortally wounded and died a few hours later.

This act did not live up to the expectations of the populists. He once again confirmed the ineffectiveness of terrorist methods of struggle, led to an increase in the reaction and police arbitrariness in the country. In general, the activities of the Narodnaya Volya to a large extent slowed down the possibility of the evolutionary transformation of Russia.

Liberal Populists

This trend, while sharing the idea of ​​the revolutionary populists about a special, non-capitalist path of development of Russia, differed from them in its rejection of violent methods of struggle. The liberal populists did not play a prominent role in the social movement of the 1970s. In the 1980s and 1990s, their influence increased. This was due to the loss of authority of the revolutionary populists in radical circles due to disappointment in the terrorist methods of struggle. The liberal populists expressed the interests of the peasants, demanded the abolition of the remnants of serfdom, the abolition of landownership, and the prevention of the "ulcers" of capitalism in Russia. They called for reforms to gradually improve the lives of the people. They chose cultural and educational work among the population (the theory of "small deeds") as the main direction of their activity. For this purpose, they used the printed organs (the magazine "Russian Wealth"), zemstvos and various public organizations. The ideologists of the liberal populists were N. K. Mikhailovsky, N. F. Danielson, and V. P. Vorontsov.

Radicals in the 80-90s of the XIX century. During this period, radical changes took place in the radical movement. The revolutionary populists lost their role as the main anti-government force. Powerful repression fell upon them, from which they could not recover. Many active participants in the movement of the 1970s became disillusioned with the revolutionary potential of the peasantry. In this regard, the radical movement split into two opposing and even hostile camps. The former remained committed to the idea of ​​peasant socialism, the latter saw in the proletariat the main force of social progress.

Emancipation of Labor Group

Former active participants in the "Black Redistribution" G. V. Plekhanov, V. I. Zasulich, L. G. Deich and V. N. Ignatov turned to Marxism. In this Western European theory, created by K. Marx and F. Engels in the middle of the 19th century, they were attracted by the idea of ​​achieving socialism through the proletarian revolution.

In 1883, the Emancipation of Labor group was formed in Geneva. Its program: a complete break with populism and populist ideology; propaganda of Marxism; struggle against autocracy; creation of a workers' party. They considered the bourgeois-democratic revolution to be the most important condition for social progress in Russia. driving force which will be the urban bourgeoisie and the proletariat. They regarded the peasantry as a reactionary force in society, as a political antipode to the proletariat.

Propaganda of Marxism in the Russian revolutionary environment, they launched a sharp criticism of the populist theory about a special non-capitalist path of development of Russia. The Emancipation of Labor group operated abroad and was not associated with the labor movement that was emerging in Russia.

In Russia itself in 1883-1892. several Marxist circles were formed (D. I. Blagoeva, N. E. Fedoseeva, M. I. Brusneva, and others). They saw their task in studying Marxism and propagating it among workers, students and petty employees. However, they were cut off from the labor movement.

The ideological and theoretical activities of the Emancipation of Labor group abroad and the Marxist circles in Russia prepared the ground for the emergence of a Russian political party of the working class.

Workers' organizations

The labor movement in the 1970s and 1980s developed spontaneously and unorganized. The workers put forward only economic demands - higher wages, shorter working hours, abolition of fines. Unlike Western Europe, the Russian workers had neither their own political organizations nor trade unions. The "South Russian Workers' Union" (1875) and the "Northern Union of Russian Workers" (1878-1880) failed to lead the struggle of the proletariat and give it a political character.

The largest event was the strike at the Nikolskaya manufactory of the manufacturer T. S. Morozov in Orekhovo-Zuyevo in 1885 (Morozov strike). The workers for the first time demanded state intervention in their relations with the factory owners.

As a result, a law was issued in 1886 on the procedure for hiring and firing, streamlining fines and paying wages. The institute of factory inspectors was introduced, who were obliged to monitor the implementation of the law. At the same time, the law increased the criminal liability of workers for participating in strikes. From now on, the government could not but take into account the so-called labor question, which gradually acquired the same acuteness as the agrarian-peasant one.

"Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class"

In the 90s of the XIX century. in Russia there has been an industrial boom. This helped to increase the size of the working class and create more favorable conditions for its struggle. Strikes began for workers employed in various industries: textile workers, miners, foundry workers, railway workers. The strikes in St. Petersburg, Moscow, the Urals, and other regions of the country retained an economic and spontaneous character, but became more massive in terms of the number of participants.

In 1895, scattered Marxist circles in St. Petersburg united in a new organization - the Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class. Its founders were V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin), Yu. O. Zederbaum (L. Martov) and others. Similar organizations were created in Moscow, Yekaterinoslav, Ivanovo-Voznesensk and Kiev. They tried to lead the strike movement, published leaflets and sent propagandists to workers' circles to spread Marxism among the proletariat. Under the influence of the Union of Struggle, strikes of textile workers, metal workers, workers of a stationery factory, sugar and other factories began in St. Petersburg. The strikers demanded that the working day be reduced to 10.5 hours, wages be raised, and wages paid on time. The stubborn struggle of the workers in the summer of 1896 and in the winter of 1897, on the one hand, forced the government to make concessions: a law was issued to reduce the working day to 11.5 hours. On the other hand, it brought down repressions on Marxist and workers' organizations, some of whose members were exiled to Siberia.

Among the Social Democrats who remained at liberty in the second half of the 1990s, "legal Marxism" began to spread. P. B. Struve, M. I. Tugan-Baranovsky, and others, while recognizing certain provisions of Marxism, defended the thesis of the historical inevitability of the inviolability of capitalism, criticized the liberal Narodniks, and proved the regularity and progressiveness of the development of capitalism in Russia. They advocated a reformist way of transforming the country in a democratic direction.

Under the influence of the "legal Marxists", a part of the Social Democrats in Russia switched to the position of "Economism". The "economists" saw the main task of the labor movement in improving working and living conditions. They put forward only economic demands and believed that the workers should not waste their energy on political struggle, since the bourgeoisie would take advantage of its fruits.

In general, among Russian Marxists at the end of the 19th century. there was no unity. Some (led by V. I. Ulyanov-Lenin) advocated the meeting of a political party that would lead the workers to carry out the socialist revolution and establish the dictatorship of the proletariat (the political power of the workers), while others, denying the revolutionary path of development, proposed limiting themselves to the struggle for better conditions life and labor of the working people of Russia.

Social movement in the second half of the XIX century. unlike the previous time, it became an important factor in the political life of the country. The variety of directions and currents, views on ideological, theoretical and tactical issues reflected the complexity of the social structure and the acuteness of social contradictions characteristic of the transitional period of post-reform Russia. In the social movement of the second half of the XIX century. there was no direction capable of carrying out the evolutionary modernization of the country. However, socio-political forces were identified that played a major role in the revolutionary events of the early 20th century, and the foundations were laid for the formation of political parties in the future.

The second half of the 19th century occupies a special place in the history of Russia. In terms of significance, the period can only be compared with the era of Petrine reforms. This is the time of the abolition of centuries-old serfdom in Russia and a whole series of reforms affecting all aspects of public life.

February 18, 1855 on Russian throne 37-year-old Alexander II entered. On February 19, 1861, the emperor signed the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom. The abolition of serfdom was accompanied by the reform of all aspects of the life of Russian society.

Land reform. The main issue in Russia during the XVIII-XIX centuries was the land-peasant. Catherine II raised this issue in the work of the Free Economic Society, which considered several dozen programs for the abolition of serfdom, both Russian and foreign authors. Alexander I issued a decree "On free cultivators", allowing landowners to free their peasants from serfdom along with land for ransom. During the years of his reign, Nicholas I created 11 secret committees on the peasant issue, whose task was the abolition of serfdom, the solution of the land issue in Russia.

In 1857, by decree of Alexander II, a secret committee on the peasant question began to work, the main task of which was the abolition of serfdom with the obligatory allocation of land to the peasants. Then such committees were created for the provinces. As a result of their work (and the wishes and orders of both landowners and peasants were taken into account), a reform was developed to abolish serfdom for all regions of the country, taking into account local specifics. For various regions, the maximum and minimum values ​​of the allotment transferred to the peasant were determined.

On February 19, 1861, the emperor signed a number of laws. Here was the Manifesto and the Regulations on granting freedom to the peasants, documents on the entry into force of the Regulations, on the management of rural communities, etc. The abolition of serfdom was not a one-time event. First, the landlord peasants were released, then the specific and assigned to the factories. The peasants received personal freedom, but the land remained the property of the landowners, and while allotments were allotted, the peasants in the position of “temporarily liable” carried obligations in favor of the landowners, who in essence did not differ from the former serfs. The plots handed over to the peasants were, on average, 1/5 less than those that they cultivated before. Redemption agreements were concluded on these lands, after which the “temporarily obligated” state ceased, the treasury paid for the land with the landowners, the peasants with the treasury for 49 years at the rate of 6% per annum (redemption payments).

The use of land, relationships with the authorities were built through the community. It was preserved as a guarantor of peasant payments. The peasants were attached to society (the world).

As a result of the reforms, serfdom was abolished - that “obvious and tangible evil for everyone”, which in Europe was directly called “Russian slavery”. However, the land problem was not resolved, since the peasants, when dividing the land, were forced to give the landlords a fifth of their allotments. At the beginning of the 20th century, the first Russian revolution, peasant in many respects in terms of the composition of the driving forces and the tasks that confronted her. This is what made P.A. Stolypin to implement land reform, allowing the peasants to leave the community. The essence of the reform was to resolve the land issue, but not through the confiscation of land from the landlords, as the peasants demanded, but through the redistribution of the land of the peasants themselves.

Zemstvo and city reforms. The principle of the zemstvo reform carried out in 1864 consisted in electivity and lack of estates. In the provinces and districts of Central Russia and part of Ukraine, zemstvos were established as local governments. Elections to zemstvo assemblies were held on the basis of property, age, educational and a number of other qualifications. Women and employees were denied the right to vote. This gave an advantage to the wealthiest segments of the population. The assemblies were elected by the zemstvo councils. Zemstvos were in charge of local affairs, promoted entrepreneurship, education, health care - they carried out work for which the state did not have funds.

The city reform carried out in 1870 was close in character to the Zemstvo reform. In large cities, city dumas were established on the basis of all-class elections. However, the elections were held on a qualification basis, and, for example, in Moscow only 4% of the adult population participated in them. City dumas and the mayor resolved issues of internal self-government, education and medical care. To control the zemstvo and city activities, a presence for city affairs was created.

Judicial reform. New judicial statutes were approved on November 20, 1864. The judicial power was separated from the executive and legislative. A classless and public court was introduced, the principle of the irremovability of judges was affirmed. Two types of court were introduced - general (crown) and world. The General Court handled criminal cases. The trial became open, although in a number of cases cases were heard behind closed doors. The competitiveness of the court was established, the positions of investigators were introduced, and the bar was established. The question of the guilt of the defendant was decided by 12 jurors. The most important principle of the reform was the recognition of the equality of all subjects of the empire before the law.

The institution of magistrates was introduced to deal with civil cases. Courts of appeal were courts of appeal. The position of notary was introduced. Since 1872, major political cases were considered in the Special Presence of the ruling Senate, which at the same time became the highest instance of cassation.

military reform. After his appointment in 1861, D.A. Milyutin as Minister of War begins the reorganization of the command and control of the armed forces. In 1864, 15 military districts were formed, directly subordinate to the Minister of War. In 1867, a military-judicial charter was adopted. In 1874, after a long discussion, the tsar approved the Charter on universal military service. A flexible conscription system was introduced. Recruitment sets were canceled, the entire male population over the age of 21 was subject to conscription. Service life was reduced in the army to 6 years, in the navy to 7 years. Clerics, members of a number of religious sects, the peoples of Kazakhstan and Central Asia, as well as some peoples of the Caucasus and the Far North. The only son, the only breadwinner in the family, was released from service. In peacetime, the need for soldiers was much less than the number of conscripts, so all those fit for service, with the exception of those who received benefits, drew lots. For those who graduated from elementary school, the service was reduced to 3 years, for those who graduated from a gymnasium - up to 1.5 years, a university or institute - up to 6 months.

financial reform. In 1860, the State Bank was established, the farming2 system was abolished, which was replaced by excises3 (1863). Since 1862, the Minister of Finance has become the only responsible manager of budget revenues and expenditures; the budget was made public. An attempt was made to carry out a monetary reform (free exchange of credit notes for gold and silver at a fixed rate).

Education reforms. The “Regulations on Primary Public Schools” dated June 14, 1864, abolished the state-church monopoly on education. Now both public institutions and private individuals were allowed to open and maintain elementary schools under the control of county and provincial school councils and inspectors. The charter of the secondary school introduced the principle of equality of all classes and religions, but introduced tuition fees. Gymnasiums were divided into classical and real. In classical gymnasiums, humanitarian disciplines were mainly taught, in real ones - natural ones. After the resignation of the Minister of Public Education A.V. Golovnin (in 1861 D.A. Tolstoy was appointed instead of him), a new gymnasium charter was adopted, retaining only classical gymnasiums, real gymnasiums were replaced by real schools. Along with male secondary education, a system of female gymnasiums appeared.

The University Charter (1863) granted the universities broad autonomy, and introduced the election of rectors and professors. The leadership of the educational institution was transferred to the Council of Professors, to which the students were subordinate. Universities were opened in Odessa and Tomsk, higher courses for women in St. Petersburg, Kyiv, Moscow, Kazan.

As a result of the publication of a number of laws in Russia, a harmonious system of education was created, which included primary, secondary and higher educational institutions.

Censorship reform. In May 1862, the reform of censorship began, "provisional rules" were introduced, which in 1865 were replaced by a new censorship charter. Under the new charter, preliminary censorship was abolished for books of 10 or more printed sheets (240 pages); editors and publishers could only be prosecuted in court. Periodical publications were also exempted from censorship by special permission and upon payment of a deposit of several thousand rubles, but they could be suspended administratively. Only government and scientific publications, as well as literature translated from a foreign language, could be published without censorship.

The preparation and implementation of reforms were an important factor in the socio-economic development of the country. Administrative reforms were quite well prepared, but public opinion did not always keep pace with the ideas of the reformer tsar. The variety and speed of transformations gave rise to a feeling of uncertainty and confusion in thoughts. People lost their bearings, organizations appeared, professing extremist, sectarian principles.

The economy of post-reform Russia is characterized by the rapid development of commodity-money relations. Acreage and agricultural production increased, but agricultural productivity remained low. Yields and food consumption (except for bread) were 2-4 times lower than in Western Europe. At the same time, in the 1980s compared to the 50s. the average annual grain harvest increased by 38%, and its export increased by 4.6 times.

The development of commodity-money relations led to property differentiation in the countryside, middle-peasant farms were ruined, and the number of poor peasants grew. On the other hand, strong kulak farms appeared, some of which used agricultural machines. All this was part of the plans of the reformers. But quite unexpectedly for them, the traditionally hostile attitude towards trade, towards all new forms of activity: towards the kulak, the merchant, the buyer - towards the successful entrepreneur, intensified in the country.

In Russia, large-scale industry was created and developed as a state industry. The main concern of the government after the failures of the Crimean War were enterprises that produced military equipment. Russia's military budget common calculus inferior to English, French, German, but in the Russian budget it had more significant weight. Special attention turned to the development of heavy industry and transport. It was in these areas that the government directed funds, both Russian and foreign.

The growth of entrepreneurship was controlled by the state on the basis of the issuance of special orders, so the big bourgeoisie was closely connected with the state. The number of industrial workers rapidly increased, but many workers retained economic and psychological ties with the countryside, they carried a charge of discontent among the poor who had lost their land and were forced to seek food in the city.

The reforms laid the foundation for a new credit system. For 1866-1875. 359 joint-stock commercial banks, mutual credit societies and other financial institutions were created. Since 1866, the largest European banks began to actively participate in their work. As a result of state regulation, foreign loans and investments went mainly to railway construction. The railroads ensured the expansion of the economic market in the vast expanses of Russia; they were also important for the operational transfer of military units.

In the second half of the 19th century, the political situation in the country changed several times. During the preparation of the reforms, from 1855 to 1861, the government retained the initiative of action, attracted all the supporters of the reforms - from the highest bureaucracy to the democrats. Subsequently, the difficulties with reforms exacerbated the domestic political situation in the country. The struggle of the government against opponents from the "left" acquired a cruel character: the suppression of peasant uprisings, the arrests of liberals, the defeat of the Polish uprising. The role of the III Security (gendarme) department was strengthened.

In the 1860s, a radical movement, the Populists, entered the political arena. Raznochinny intelligentsia, relying on the revolutionary democratic ideas and nihilism of D.I. Pisarev, created the theory of revolutionary populism. The Narodniks believed in the possibility of achieving socialism, bypassing capitalism, through the liberation of the peasant community - the rural "peace". "Rebel" M.A. Bakunin predicted a peasant revolution, the fuse of which was to be lit by the revolutionary intelligentsia. P.N. Tkachev was the theorist of a coup d'etat, after which the intelligentsia, having carried out the necessary transformations, would liberate the community. P.L. Lavrov substantiated the idea of ​​thorough preparation of the peasants for revolutionary struggle. In 1874, a mass "going to the people" began, but the agitation of the populists could not ignite the flame of a peasant uprising.

In 1876, the organization "Land and Freedom" arose, which in 1879 split into two groups. The Black Redistribution group, headed by G.V. Plekhanov paid the main attention to propaganda; "Narodnaya Volya" led by

A.I. Zhelyabov, N.A. Morozov, S.L. Perovskoy brought to the fore the political struggle. The main means of struggle, in the opinion of the "Narodnaya Volya", was individual terror, regicide, which was supposed to serve as a signal for a popular uprising. In 1879-1881. Narodnaya Volya carried out a series of assassination attempts on Alexander II.

In a situation of acute political confrontation, the authorities embarked on the path of self-defense. On February 12, 1880, the “Supreme Administrative Commission for the Protection public order and public peace” headed by M.P. Loris-Melikov. Having received unlimited rights, Loris-Melikov achieved a suspension of the terrorist activities of the revolutionaries and some stabilization of the situation. In April 1880 the commission was liquidated; Loris-Melikov was appointed Minister of the Interior and began to prepare the completion of the "great work of state reforms." The drafting of the final reform laws was entrusted to the "people" - temporary preparatory commissions with a wide representation of zemstvos and cities.

On February 5, 1881, the submitted bill was approved by Emperor Alexander II. The "Constitution of Loris-Melikov" provided for the election of "representatives from public institutions ..." to the highest bodies of state power. On the morning of March 1, 1881, the emperor appointed a meeting of the Council of Ministers to approve the bill; literally a few hours later, Alexander II was killed by members of the Narodnaya Volya organization.

On March 8, 1881, the new Emperor Alexander III held a meeting of the Council of Ministers to discuss the Loris-Melikov project. At the meeting, the Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Synod K.P. Pobedonostsev and head of the State Council S.G. Stroganov. The resignation of Loris-Melikov soon followed.

In May 1883, Alexander III proclaimed a course called "counter-reforms" in historical-materialist literature, and "adjustment of reforms" in liberal-historical literature. He expressed himself as follows.

In 1889, to strengthen supervision over the peasants, the positions of zemstvo chiefs with broad rights were introduced. They were appointed from local landowning nobles. The clerks and small merchants, other poor sections of the city, lost their suffrage. Judicial reform has undergone a change. In the new regulation on the zemstvos of 1890, the representation of estates and nobility was strengthened. In 1882-1884. many publications were closed, the autonomy of universities was abolished. primary schools were transferred to the church department - the Synod.

In these events, the idea of ​​“official nationality” from the time of Nicholas I was manifested - the slogan “Orthodoxy. Autocracy. Spirit of Humility” was in tune with the slogans of a bygone era. The new official ideologists of K.P. Pobedonostsev (Chief Prosecutor of the Synod), M.N. Katkov (editor of Moskovskie Vedomosti), Prince V. Meshchersky (publisher of the newspaper Grazhdanin) omitted the word "people" from the old formula "Orthodoxy, autocracy and the people" as "dangerous"; they preached the humility of his spirit before the autocracy and the church. In practice, the new policy resulted in an attempt to strengthen the state by relying on the nobility traditionally loyal to the throne. Administrative measures were supported by the economic support of the landowners.

On October 20, 1894, 49-year-old Alexander III suddenly died in the Crimea from acute inflammation of the kidneys. Nicholas II ascended the imperial throne.

In January 1895, at the first meeting of representatives of the nobility, the tops of the zemstvos, cities and Cossack troops with the new tsar, Nicholas II declared his readiness to “guard the beginnings of autocracy as firmly and steadily as his father guarded”. During these years, representatives of the royal family often intervened in government, which by the beginning of the 20th century had up to 60 members. Most of the Grand Dukes held important administrative and military posts. The uncles of the tsar, the brothers of Alexander III - Grand Dukes Vladimir, Alexei, Sergei and cousins ​​​​Nikolai Nikolaevich, Alexander Mikhailovich, had a particularly great influence on politics.

After the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War, a new balance of power developed, and political primacy in Europe passed to France. Russia as a Great Power has lost its influence on international affairs and found itself isolated. The interests of economic development, as well as considerations of strategic security, required, first of all, the elimination of restrictions on military navigation on the Black Sea, provided for by the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856. Russia's diplomatic efforts were aimed at separating the participants in the Paris Peace - France, England, Austria.

In the late 50s - early 60s. there was a rapprochement with France, which intended to seize territories on the Apennine Peninsula, using the Italian liberation movement against Austria. But relations with France deteriorated as a result of Russia's brutal suppression of the Polish uprising. In the 60s. strengthened relations between Russia and the United States; pursuing its own interests, the autocracy supported the republican government of A. Lincoln in the civil war. At the same time, an agreement was reached with Prussia on its support for Russia's demands for the abolition of the Treaty of Paris, in return, the tsarist government promised not to interfere with the creation of the North German Union led by Prussia.

In 1870, France suffered a crushing defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. In October 1870, Russia announced its refusal to comply with the humiliating articles of the Treaty of Paris. In 1871, the Russian Declaration was adopted and legalized at the London Conference. Strategic objective foreign policy was resolved not by war, but by diplomatic means.

Russia got the opportunity to more actively influence international affairs and, above all, in the Balkans. In 1875-1876. uprisings against Turkey swept the entire peninsula, the Slavs were waiting for Russia's help.

On April 24, 1877, the tsar signed the Manifesto declaring war on Turkey. A plan for a fleeting campaign was developed. On July 7, the troops crossed the Danube, reached the Balkans, captured the Shipka Pass, but were detained near Plevna. Plevna fell only on November 28, 1877; in winter conditions, the Russian army crossed the Balkans, Sofia was taken on January 4, 1878, and Adrianople on January 8. The Port requested peace, which was concluded on February 19, 1878 at San Stefano. Under the Treaty of San Stefano, Turkey lost almost all of its European possessions; a new independent state appeared on the map of Europe - Bulgaria.

The Western powers refused to recognize the Treaty of San Stefano. In June 1878, the Congress of Berlin opened, which adopted decisions that were much less beneficial for Russia and the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula. In Russia, this was met as an insult to national dignity, a storm of indignation arose, including against the government. Public opinion was still captivated by the "all at once" formula. The war, which ended in victory, turned into a diplomatic defeat, economic disorder, and an aggravation of the internal political situation.

In the first years after the war, there was a "rebalancing" of the interests of the great powers. Germany was inclined towards an alliance with Austria-Hungary, which was concluded in 1879, and in 1882 supplemented by a "tripartite alliance" with Italy. Under these conditions, a natural rapprochement between Russia and France took place, which ended in 1892 with the conclusion of a secret alliance, supplemented by a military convention. For the first time in world history, an economic and military-political confrontation between stable groups of great powers began.

In the "near abroad" the conquest and annexation of new territories continued. Now, in the 19th century, the desire to expand the range was determined primarily by motives of a socio-political nature. Russia actively participated in big politics, sought to neutralize the influence of England in Central Asia, Turkey - in the Caucasus. In the 60s. the US was in the midst of a civil war, and the import of American cotton was hindered. Its natural substitute was "at hand", in Central Asia. And, finally, the formed imperial traditions were pushing for the seizure of territories.

In 1858 and 1860 China was forced to cede lands along the left bank of the Amur and the Ussuri Territory. In 1859, after half a century of war, the highlanders of the Caucasus were finally "pacified", their military and spiritual leader, Imam Shamil, was taken prisoner in the highland village of Gunib. In 1864, the conquest of the Western Caucasus was completed.

The Russian emperor sought to ensure that the rulers of the states of Central Asia recognized his supreme power, and achieved this: in 1868 the Khiva Khanate, and in 1873 the Emirate of Bukhara recognized vassal dependence on Russia. The Muslims of the Kokand Khanate declared a “holy war”, “ghazavat” to Russia, but were defeated; in 1876 Kokand was annexed to Russia. In the early 80s. Russian troops defeated the nomadic Turkmen tribes and came close to the borders of Afghanistan.

In the Far East, in exchange for the Kuril Islands, the southern part of Sakhalin Island was acquired from Japan. In 1867, Alaska was sold to the United States for $7 million. According to the historian

S.G. Pushkarev, many Americans believed that she was not even worth it.

The Russian Empire, "one and indivisible", stretched "from the Finnish cold rocks to the fiery Taurida", from the Vistula to the Pacific Ocean and occupied a sixth of the earth.

The split in Russian society in the spiritual realm began from the time of Peter the Great and deepened in the 19th century. The monarchy continued the work of "Europeanization of Russia", regardless of the traditions national culture. Outstanding achievements of European science, literature, art were available only to a limited number of Russian people; they had little effect on everyday life common people. A person of a different culture was perceived by the peasants as a gentleman, a "stranger".

The level of education was reflected in the tastes of readers. In the 1860s folklore, fairy tales about knights and pedagogical works accounted for 60% of all publications. During the same time, the popularity of stories about robbers, love, science has grown from 16 to 40%. In the 90s. in folk literature, a rational hero appears, relying on personal initiative. Such a change in subject matter testified to the emergence of liberal values ​​in the mass consciousness.

In folklore, the epic was fading away, the role of ritual poetry was declining, and the significance of the diatribe-satirical genre, directed against the merchant, official, and kulak, grew. In ditties, the theme of family relations was supplemented by socio-political subjects. The folklore of the workers appeared.

In the popular consciousness, along with self-confidence, a mystical belief in the patronage or hostility of supernatural forces coexisted, carelessness coexisted with industriousness, cruelty with kindness, and humility with dignity.

Russian science has reached new level, differentiated into fundamental and applied. Many scientific discoveries and technical innovations have become the property of world science and technology.

The second half of the 19th century was the heyday of Russian literature. A passionate thought about the fate of the motherland, attention to a person are its characteristic features. In the 90s. the "silver age" of Russian poetry began. Contrary to established views, the poets of this time, the Symbolists, did not move away from the problems of our time. They aspired to take the place of teachers and prophets of life. Their talent was manifested not only in the sophistication of form, but also in humanity.

The Russian theme sounded with increasing clarity and purity in culture and gained predominance by the end of the 19th century. At the same time, the social and everyday foundations of ancient Russian life were disintegrating, the Orthodox-people's consciousness was weathered.

Significant changes took place in everyday life. The municipal services developed. The streets were paved (usually with cobblestones), their lighting was improved - kerosene, gas, then electric lamps. In the 60s. a water pipe was built in St. Petersburg (in Moscow, Saratov, Vilna, Stavropol, it existed until 1861) and seven provincial cities (Riga, Yaroslavl, Tver, Voronezh, etc.), until 1900 it appeared in 40 large cities.

In the early 80s. telephone appeared in the cities of Russia; by the end of the 19th century, almost all significant cities had telephone lines. In 1882, the first interurban line St. Petersburg - Gatchina was built. At the end of the 80s. the Moscow-Petersburg line, one of the longest in the world, came into operation.

The growth of the population of large cities caused the construction of railways. The first "konka" was organized in the early 60s. Petersburg, in the 70s she began to work in Moscow and Odessa, in the 80s - in Riga, Kharkov, Revel. In the 90s. the horse-drawn carriages began to be replaced by the tram service. The first tram in Russia went to Kyiv in 1892, the second - in Kazan, the third - in Nizhny Novgorod.

Public utilities usually covered the central part of the cities. The outskirts, even in the capitals, remained unsettled. The semi-rural life of large noble estates was receding into the past. The life of the merchants was Europeanized. The working population of large cities, who used to live in small houses, began to crowd more and more in stone masses, tenement houses, renting closets and beds from the owners of apartments there.

In 1898, the housing stock of Moscow was surveyed. It turned out that out of a million residents of the capital, 200 thousand huddle in the so-called "bed-closet apartments", many in "closets" - rooms with partitions that do not reach the ceiling, many rented separate beds or even "half" ones, on which the workers slept different shifts. With a worker's salary of 12-20 rubles. a closet cost 6 rubles per month. Single bed - 2 rubles, half bed - 1.5 rubles.

In the post-reform period, the planning of rural settlements that has developed over the centuries has not made significant changes. As before, small villages with wooden huts stretched along the rural street prevailed in the non-chernozem zone. As before, the farther north, the smaller the size of the settlements. In the steppe belt, the large size of villages was determined by the conditions of water supply.

Kerosene lighting spread throughout the village. However, kerosene was expensive and the huts were lit by small lamps. In deaf corners they continued to burn a torch. The standard of living of peasants in Novorossia, Samara, Ufa, Orenburg provinces, in Ciscaucasia and Siberia was significantly higher than in the central provinces. In general, the standard of living in Russia was low. This is evidenced by the average life expectancy, lagging behind European countries. In the 70s - 90s. in Russia it was 31 years for men, 33 years for women, and in England 42 and 55, respectively.

THEORIES OF STUDY

FROM THE RULES OF MULTI THEORETICAL STUDY

1. Understanding objective historical facts is subjective.

2. Subjectively, there are three theories of study: religious, world-historical (directions: materialistic, liberal, technological), local-historical.

3. Each theory offers its own understanding of history: it has its own periodization, its own conceptual apparatus, its own literature, its own explanations of historical facts.

LITERATURE OF VARIOUS THEORIES

Buganov V.I., Zyryanov P.N. History of Russia, the end of the XVII-XIX centuries: Proc. for 10 cells. general education institutions / Ed. A.N. Sakharov. 4th ed. M., 1998 (universal). Vernadsky G.V. Russian History: Textbook. M., 1997 (local). Ionov I.N. Russian civilization, IX - early XX centuries: Textbook. book. for 10-11 cells. general education institutions. M., 1995; Kornilov A.A. History of Russia in the 19th century. M., 1993 (liberal). History of the USSR XIX - early XX century. Textbook. /Under. ed. I. A. Fedosova. M., 1981; Munchaev Sh. M., Ustinov V. V. History of Russia. M., 2000; Markova A.N., Skvortsova E.M., Andreeva I.A. History of Russia. M., 2001 (materialistic).

1. Monographs: Great reforms in Russia 1856-1874. M., 1992 (liberal). Power and reforms. From autocracy to Soviet Russia. SPb., 1996 (liberal). Path choice. History of Russia 1861-1938 / Ed. O.A. Vaskovsky, A.T. Tertyshny. Yekaterinburg, 1995 (liberal). Kartashov A.V. History of the Russian Church: In 2 vols. M., 1992-1993 (religious). Litvak B.G. The coup of 1861 in Russia: why the reformist alternative did not materialize. M., 1991 (liberal). Lyashenko L.M. King Liberator. Life and work of Alexander II. M., 1994 (liberal). Medushevsky A.M. Democracy and Authoritarianism: Russian Constitutionalism in a Comparative Perspective. M., 1997 (liberal). Shulgin V.S., Koshman L.V., Zezina M.R. Culture of Russia IX - XX centuries. M., 1996 (liberal). Eidelman N.Ya. Revolution from above in Russia. M., 1989 (liberal). Pipes R. Russia under the old regime. M., 1993 (liberal). Modernization: foreign experience and Russia / Ed. ed. Krasilshchikov V. A. M., 1994 (technological).

2. Articles: Zakharova L.S. Russia at the turning point (Autocracy and reforms of 1861-1874) // History of the Fatherland: people, ideas, decisions. Essays on the history of Russia in the 9th - early 20th century. Comp. S.V. Mironenko. M., 1991 (liberal). Litvak B.G. Reforms and revolutions in Russia // History of the USSR, 1991, No. 2 (liberal). Potkina I.V., Selunskaya N.B. Russia and modernization // History of the USSR, 1990, No. 4 (liberal).

EXPLANATIONS OF HISTORICAL FACTS

IN VARIOUS THEORIES OF STUDY

Each theory selects its own facts from a variety of historical facts, builds its own causal relationship, has its own explanations in the literature, historiography, studies its historical experience, draws its own conclusions and forecasts for the future.

REASONS FOR ABOLISHING serfdom

Religious-historical theory studies the movement of man towards God.

Orthodox historians (A.V. Kartashov and others) interpret the abolition of serfdom and subsequent reforms positively, as “the will of God”. At the same time, supporters of the theory of official nationality, based on the principles of “Autocracy. Orthodoxy. Nationality”, the events of the second half of the century were perceived as an attack on the traditional foundations of the state. The main ideologist of the autocracy K.P. Pobedonostsev, who controlled power for 24 years, was an ardent opponent of all reforms, including the abolition of serfdom, calling them a "criminal mistake."

Historians of world-historical theory, based on unilinear progress, positively assess the processes of the second half of the 19th century. However, the accents in the explanation of events are placed differently.

Materialist historians (I. A. Fedosov and others) define the period of the abolition of serfdom as a sharp transition from a feudal socio-economic formation to a capitalist one. They believe that the abolition of serfdom in Russia was late, and the reforms that followed it were carried out slowly and incompletely. Half-heartedness in carrying out reforms caused indignation of the advanced part of society - the intelligentsia, which then resulted in terror against the tsar. The Marxist-revolutionaries believed that the country was “led” along the wrong path of development - “slow cutting off the rotting parts”, but it was necessary to “lead” along the path of a radical solution of problems - the confiscation and nationalization of landowners' lands, the destruction of the autocracy, etc.

Historians-liberals, contemporaries of events, V.O. Klyuchevsky (1841-1911), S.F. Platonov (1860-1933) and others, welcomed both the abolition of serfdom and subsequent reforms. The defeat in the Crimean War, they believed, revealed Russia's technical lag behind the West and undermined the country's international prestige.

Later, liberal historians (I. N. Ionov, R. Pipes, and others) began to note that in the middle of the nineteenth century, serfdom reached the highest point of economic efficiency. The reasons for the abolition of serfdom are political. The defeat of Russia in the Crimean War dispelled the myth of the military power of the Empire, caused irritation in society and a threat to the stability of the country. The interpretation focuses on the price of reforms. Thus, the people were not historically prepared for drastic socio-economic changes and "painfully" perceived the changes in their lives. The government did not have the right to abolish serfdom and carry out reforms without comprehensive social and moral preparation of the entire people, especially nobles and peasants. According to liberals, the centuries-old way of Russian life cannot be changed by force.

ON THE. Nekrasov in the poem “To whom it is good to live in Rus'” writes:

The great chain is broken

broke and hit:

one end along the master,

others - like a man! ...

Historians of the technological direction (V. A. Krasilshchikov, S. A. Nefedov and others) believe that the abolition of serfdom and subsequent reforms are due to the stage of Russia's modernization transition from a traditional (agrarian) society to an industrial one. The transition from traditional to industrial society in Russia was carried out by the state during the period of influence from the 17th-18th centuries. European cultural and technological circle (modernization - westernization) and acquired the form of Europeanization, that is, a conscious change in traditional national forms according to the European model.

“Machine” progress in Western Europe “forced” tsarism to actively impose industrial orders. And this determined the specifics of modernization in Russia. The Russian state, while selectively borrowing technical and organizational elements from the West, simultaneously conserved traditional structures. As a result, a situation of “overlapping of historical epochs” (industrial - agrarian) developed in the country, which later led to social upheavals.

Industrial society, introduced by the state at the expense of the peasants, came into sharp conflict with all the fundamental conditions of Russian life and was bound to give rise to protest both against the autocracy, which did not give the desired freedom to the peasant, and against the private owner, a figure previously alien to Russian life. The industrial workers who appeared in Russia as a result of industrial development inherited the hatred of the entire Russian peasantry, with its centuries-old communal psychology, for private property.

Tsarism is interpreted as a regime that was forced to begin industrialization, but failed to cope with its consequences.

Local-historical theory studies the unity of man and territory, which constitutes the concept of local civilization.

The theory is represented by the works of Slavophiles and Narodniks. Historians believed that Russia, unlike the countries of the West, follows its own, special path of development. They substantiated the possibility in Russia of a non-capitalist path of development to socialism through the peasant community.

Comparative-theoretical scheme

subject matter + historical fact = theoretical interpretation

Reasons for the abolition of serfdom

and reforms of Alexander II

Name	Item study	Fact Interpretations
Religious-historical (Christian)	The movement of mankind towards God	The official church welcomed the abolition of serfdom and subsequent reforms. And supporters of the theory “Orthodoxy. Autocracy. Nationality" was considered a "criminal mistake"
World-historical:	Global development, human progress	Positive attitude towards the abolition of serfdom
materialistic direction	The development of society, social relations associated with forms of ownership. Class struggle	The abolition of serfdom and subsequent reforms were economically mature and marked the transition from feudalism to capitalism. Unlike Western Europe, in Russia this transition came too late.
liberal direction	Personal development and ensuring its individual freedoms	Russia's defeat in the Crimean War dispelled the myth of the empire's military power, irritated society and destabilized the country. But serfdom itself reached the highest point of economic efficiency. The abolition of serfdom and reforms are caused not by economic, but by political motives. The price of violent transformations is high, since the people were not ready for social about economic changes. Lessons -no need to force the socio-economic development of the country
Technological direction	Technological development, scientific discoveries	The abolition of serfdom and subsequent reforms are due to Russia's transition from a traditional society to an industrial one. Russia was in the second echelon of countries that embarked on the path of industrial modernization
Local-historical	Unity of humanity and territory	He welcomes the abolition of serfdom, but he considers the focus of reforms on the development of entrepreneurship to be erroneous. The Narodniks considered it possible in Russia to develop a non-capitalist path through the peasant community.

Despite the factors hindering scientific progress and technology, the second half of the XIX century. - this is a period of outstanding achievements in science and technology, which allowed Russian research activities to be introduced into world science. Russian science developed in close connection with European and American science. Russian scientists took part in experimental and laboratory research in scientific centers in Europe and North America, made scientific reports, published articles in scientific journals.

Capitalism, with its increased technical potential and the scope of industrial production, which required an increase in the raw material base, led to profound shifts in the field of domestic science and technology. The general ideological atmosphere of the first post-reform decades, the democratic upsurge that stirred up the whole country, the ideas of revolutionary democrats about the enormous social role of science also contributed to the “extraordinary success of the intellectual movement” (K.A. Timiryazev).

The Academy of Sciences, universities, scientific societies retained the importance of the main scientific centers. In the post-reform period, the authority of university science grew. Large scientific schools arose here, and the works of some university professors received worldwide recognition. In the mid-1960s, Sovremennik noted that "in many branches of science, representatives of our university scholarship are not only not inferior, but even surpass the representatives of academic scholarship in their merits."

New scientific centers arose in the country: the Society of Lovers of Natural Science, Anthropology and Ethnography (1863), the Society of Russian Doctors, and the Russian Technical Society (1866). A serious contribution to the development of the natural and social sciences was made by scientific societies that, as a rule, existed at universities. In 1872, there were more than 20 such societies in Russia, the majority of which arose in the second half of the 19th century. (Russian Mathematical Society; Russian Chemical Society, later transformed into a physical and chemical society; Russian Technical Society; Russian Historical Society, etc.).

St. Petersburg became a major center of mathematical research, where a mathematical school was formed, associated with the name of the outstanding mathematician P.L. Chebyshev (1831-1894). His discoveries, which still influence the development of science, relate to the theory of approximation of functions, number theory and probability theory.

In the second half of the XIX century. domestic science, based on materialistic and scientific traditions, has achieved unprecedented success. The achievements of Russian science, connected with the development of world science, have greatly raised its international prestige. “Take any book from a foreign scientific journal,” wrote K.A. Timiryazev in the mid-90s - and you will almost certainly meet Russian name. Russian science has declared its equality, and sometimes even superiority.

A.M. Lyapunov (1857-1918) created the theory of equilibrium stability and motion of mechanical systems with a finite number of parameters, which influenced the further development of world science.

It is also worth mentioning the first female professor of mathematics S.V. Kovalevskaya (1850-1891), who discovered the classical case of the solvability of the problem of rotation of a rigid body around a fixed point.

The brilliant scientist-chemist who created the periodic system of chemical elements was D.I. Mendeleev (1834-1907). (Appendix 2.) He proved the inner strength between several kinds of chemicals. The periodic system was the foundation in the study of inorganic chemistry and advanced science far ahead. The work of D.I. Mendeleev "Fundamentals of Chemistry" was translated into many European languages, and in Russia it was only published seven times during his lifetime.

Scientists N.N. Zinin (1812-1888) and A.M. Butlerov (1828-1886) - the founders of organic chemistry. Butlerov developed the theory chemical structure and was the founder of the largest Kazan School of Russian Organic Chemists.

The founder of the Russian physical school A.G. Stoletov (1839-1896) made a number of important discoveries in the field of magnetism and photoelectric phenomena, in the theory of gas discharge, which was recognized throughout the world.

From the inventions and discoveries of P.N. Yablochkov (1847-1894), the most famous is the so-called "Yablochkov candle" - practically the first electric lamp suitable for use without a regulator. Seven years before the invention of the American engineer Edison A.N. Lodygin (1847-1923) created an incandescent lamp using tungsten for incandescence.

The discoveries of A.S. Popov (1859-1905), on April 25, 1895, at a meeting of the Russian Physico-Chemical Society, he announced his invention of a device for receiving and recording electromagnetic signals, and then demonstrated the operation of a "lightning detector" - a radio receiver, which soon found practical application.

Major scientific and technical discoveries were made by the physicist P.N. Lebedev (1866-1912), who proved and measured the pressure of light.

The founder of modern aerodynamics was N.E. Zhukovsky (1847-1921). He owns numerous works on the theory of aviation. The first studies in the field of aero- and rocket dynamics by K.E. Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935), a gymnasium teacher in Kaluga, the founder of modern astronautics.

The works of K.E. Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935), one of the pioneers of astronautics. A teacher at a gymnasium in Kaluga, Tsiolkovsky was a scientist on a wide scale, he was the first to indicate the development of rocket science and astronautics, and found solutions for the design of rockets and rocket diesel engines.

A.F. Mozhaisky (1825-1890) explored the possibilities of creating aircraft. In 1876, a flight demonstration of his models was a success. In the 80s. he worked on the creation of the aircraft.

The biological sciences have made great strides. Russian scientists have discovered a number of laws of development of organisms. The largest discoveries were made by Russian scientists in physiology.

In 1863, I.M. Sechenov (1829-1905) "Reflexes of the brain", which laid the foundations of materialistic physiology and psychology, which was of great importance for the development of the doctrine of higher nervous activity. The largest researcher, propagandist and popularizer of scientific knowledge, Sechenov created the physiological school, from which I.P. Pavlov (1849-1936). In the 1970s, he began his career as a physiologist.

I.P. Pavlov (1894-1936) - scientist, physiologist, creator of the science of higher nervous activity and ideas about the processes of digestion regulation; the founder of the largest Russian physiological school made a huge contribution to the development of world science.

Russian natural scientists were staunch propagandists and continuers of Charles Darwin's teachings. A Russian translation of his main work, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, appeared in Russia six years after its publication in England, in 1865.

Among the first Russian Darwinists was the founder of the evolutionary morphology of plants A.N. Beketov (1825-1902). The development of evolutionary teaching in Russia is associated with the name of I.I. Mechnikov (1845-1916) and A.O. Kovalevsky (1840-1901), who convened comparative embryology. Mechnikov also worked in the field of comparative pathology, laid the foundations of the doctrine of immunity, discovering in 1883 the phenomenon of phagocytosis, the ability of the body's protective properties. Mechnikov's works were world famous. He was elected an honorary doctor of the University of Cambridge, worked at the Louis Pasteur Institute in France.

In the development of Darwinism and natural-science materialism in Russia, the merits of K.A. Timiryazev (1843-1920), one of the founders of the Russian scientific school of plant physiology. He was a brilliant popularizer of science and did much to promote Darwinism. Timiryazev considered the evolutionary doctrine of Darwin as the greatest achievement of science in the 19th century, which affirmed the materialistic worldview in biology.

V.V. Dokuchaev (1846-1903) - the creator of modern genetic soil science, studied the soil cover of Russia. His work "Russian Chernozem", recognized in world science, contains a scientific classification of soils and a system of their natural types.

The expeditions organized by the Russian Geographical Society for the study of Central and Central Asia and Siberia by P.P. Semenov-Tyan-Shansky (1827-1914), N.M. Przhevalsky (1839-1888), Ch.Ch. Valikhanov (1835-1865). With the name of N.N. Miklouho-Maclay (1846-1888) are connected with discoveries of world significance in the field of geography and ethnography, which he made while traveling in Southeast Asia, Australia, Oceania.

In the second half of the XIX century. In Russia, humanities scholars fruitfully worked in the field of history, linguistics, literary criticism, and economics, creating important scientific research.

In the field of philology and linguistics, I.I. Sreznevsky (1812-1880) - the founder of the St. Petersburg school of Slavists. He wrote valuable works on the history of the Russian Old Slavonic language, the history of Old Russian literature. A prominent linguist, the founder of the Moscow linguistic school was F.F. Fortunatov (1848-1914). In the post-reform period, a foundation was laid for the study of A.S. Pushkin. The first scientific edition of the works of the great poet was prepared by P.V. Annenkov (1813-1887). He also wrote a number of studies on his life and work.

Intensive work was carried out in the field of Russian folklore, the collection and study of oral folk art was expanding. The published works were extremely valuable for the rich factual material contained in them. Vast work on collecting and studying folk art was done by V.I. Dahl (1801-1872), who published in the 60s the Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, which has not lost its scientific value and to this day. In Soviet times, the dictionary of V.I. Dahl has been reprinted several times. (Appendix 3.)

Russian scientists paid special attention to the study of national history. In the 50-70s. the talented Russian historian S.M. Solovyov (1820-1879). On the basis of vast factual material, he showed the transition from tribal relations to statehood, the role of autocracy in the history of Russia.

Of great importance for Russian historiography was the emergence of a Marxist trend associated with the name of G.V. Plekhanov (1856-1918), theorist and propagandist of the ideas of Marxism in Russia. By 1883, his first Marxist work, Socialism and the Political Struggle, dates back.

IN. Klyuchevsky (1841-1911) taught the Course of Russian History, which organically combined the ideas of the state school with an economic and geographical approach, studied the history of the peasantry, serfdom and the role of the state in the development of Russian society. In the works of N.I. Kostomarov (1817-1885) paid great attention to the history of the liberation war of Russia and Ukraine against the Polish invaders, the history of medieval Novgorod and Pskov. He is the author of "Russian history and biographies of its main figures." Thus, in the field of science, the 19th century represents the stunning successes of Russian science, bringing it to a leading position in the world. There are two lines in the development of Russian philosophical thought: Slavophiles and Westernizers, who, despite a fundamental divergence of philosophical views on the past and future of Russia, converge in relation to the existing regime of tsarism and its policies.

One of the central themes of Russian social and philosophical thought in the 19th century was the theme of choosing the path of development, the theme of the future of Russia. The clash of the historical views of the Westerners (V.G. Belinsky, A.I. Herzen, T.T. Granovsky, I.S. Turgenev) and the Slavophiles (A.S. Khomyakov, brothers Kireevsky, Aksakov, Yu.F. Samarin) over time, it developed into an irreconcilable ideological conflict.

Westerners believed in the unity of human civilization and argued that Western Europe goes at the head of this civilization, most fully implementing the principles of parliamentarism, humanity, freedom and progress, and points the way to the rest of humanity.

The Slavophiles argued that there is no single universal civilization, and, consequently, a single path of development for all peoples. Each nation lives its own independent original life, which is based on a deeply ideological principle, the “folk spirit”, penetrating all aspects of collective life.

Despite all the ideological differences, the Slavophiles and the Westernizers unexpectedly agreed on the practical issues of Russian life: both trends had a negative attitude towards serfdom and the contemporary police-bureaucratic regime, both demanded freedom of the press, speech, and therefore were unreliable in the eyes of the tsarist government.

A distinctive feature of the scientific life of the post-reform period was the extensive social and educational activities of scientists, the popularization of scientific knowledge through public lectures, and the publication of popular science literature. At this time, the number of scientific and special periodicals increased (from about 60 in 1855 to 500 by the end of the century), and this growth primarily affected the provinces (instead of 7, about 180 began to be published). scientific journals) .

The development of science, achievements in the field of natural sciences had a huge impact on social and cultural life. This was reflected in the literature, left an imprint on the state of the school, influenced to some extent on the way of thinking, the level of public consciousness.

Russia in the second half of the 19th century

On February 18, 1855, after the death of Nicholas I, his son Alexander II ascended the throne. His reign (1855-1881) passed under the sign of a deep modernization of Russian society. February 19, 1861 was made public Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom and approved legislative acts that compiled the "Regulations on the peasants who came out of serfdom." Zemstvo self-government was introduced in 1864 (gradually, in 34 provinces of European Russia), jury trials and advocacy, in 1870 - city self-government, in 1874 - universal military service.

In 1863 an uprising broke out in Poland. It was suppressed. In 1864, Russia managed to end the Caucasian War, which had lasted 47 years. Accession to Russia in 1865-1876 significant territories of Central Asia put the tsarist administration in front of the need to organize the management of a remote foreign cultural outskirts.
Reforms of 1860-1870s led to a sharp growth of the economy and especially industry. The most noticeable aspect of this growth was the “railway boom” of the second half of the 1860s and early 1870s, during which the most important highways were built: Moscow-Kursk (1868), Kursk-Kiev (1870), Moscow -Brest (1871).
In the middle of the XIX century. Russia was an agricultural country, the largest producer and supplier of agricultural products. Under the terms of the abolition of serfdom, the peasants had to redeem their land plots. "Redemption payments" placed a heavy burden on rural communities and often dragged on for many years, which caused more than 1,300 mass actions of peasants, of which more than 500 were suppressed with the use of force. Communal land use (the inability to dispose of their allotments) and lack of land caused dissatisfaction among the peasants and held back the growth of the working class, and the lack of social guarantees from the state led to increased exploitation of workers.

The ideas of V. G. Belinsky (1811-1848), A. I. Herzen (1812-1870) and N. G. Chernyshevsky (1828-1889), who believed that that the ideal state structure can be established only on the principles of extending the communal orders familiar to the Russian countryside to the whole of society. They saw a general peasant uprising as a means of reorganizing public life. To prepare for this all-Russian peasant revolt, the revolutionary youth tried to organize the propaganda of their ideas among the peasants (“going to the people” in 1874-1875), but among the peasants, naive-monarchist sentiments were still very strong. Some of the youth mistakenly believed that the assassination of the tsar would automatically cause the collapse of the state apparatus, which would facilitate the revolution. Already in 1866, the first attempt on the life of Alexander II took place, and in 1879, the secret organization Narodnaya Volya arose, which set as its task terror against prominent members of the tsarist administration, and regicide as its highest goal. On March 1, 1881, Alexander II was killed by the "populists", but the peasant revolution did not take place.

The son of Alexander II, Alexander III, became king. His reign (1881-1894) was characterized by protective tendencies. The new monarch sought in every possible way to strengthen the state apparatus and increase the manageability of the country. To do this, he went to a partial curtailment of the transformations that were carried out by Alexander II. In historiography, this period is called "period of counter-reforms". Zemstvo chiefs (nobles) appeared in the counties, managing peasant affairs; security departments were established in the provinces to combat the revolutionary movement. The rights of zemstvo self-government were significantly limited, and the electoral system was changed in order to ensure the predominance of delegates from landlords in zemstvo bodies. Reactionary changes were made to judicial and censorship matters. On the other hand, the administration of Alexander III sought to act as a social arbiter. The government was forced to pass laws restricting the exploitation of workers. In 1883 the poll tax was abolished.

Alexander III died in 1894. His son Nicholas II ascended the throne, who, like his father, fought against liberal tendencies and was a consistent supporter of absolute monarchy, which, however, did not prevent him from favoring certain innovations and transformations, if they were tactical in nature and did not affect the foundations of autocracy. In particular, during the reign of Nicholas II (1894-1917), the gold backing of the ruble and the state wine monopoly were introduced, which significantly improved the country's finances. The Trans-Siberian Railway, the construction of which was completed in those years, connected the Far Eastern borders with the central regions of Russia. In 1897, a First All-Russian population census.
The liberation of the peasants from serfdom contributed to the rapid development of capitalism: the emergence of a large number of industrial and commercial enterprises, banks, the construction of railways, and the development of agricultural production. By the end of the XIX century. The number of workers has doubled and reached 1.5 million people. In 1879-1900. specific gravity large enterprises grew from 4 to 16%, i.e., 4 times, workers at them - from 67 to 76%.

The growth of the proletariat was accompanied by the appearance of the first revolutionary workers' organizations. In 1883, G. V. Plekhanov (1856-1918) and his associates in Geneva united in the Emancipation of Labor group, which marked the beginning of the spread Marxism in Russia. The group developed a program of Russian social democracy, the ultimate goal of which was proclaimed the creation of a workers' party, the overthrow of the autocracy, the seizure of political power by the working class, the transfer of means and instruments of production to public ownership, the elimination of market relations and the organization of planned production. The publications of this group were distributed in Russia in more than 30 provincial centers and industrial cities.
Marxist circles began to appear in Russia (by the end of the 19th century there were about 30 of them). In 1892, V. I. Lenin (Ulyanov, 1870-1924) began revolutionary activity in Samara. In 1895, together with members of the Marxist circle of students-technologists (S. I. Radchenko, M. A. Silvin, G. M. Krzhizhanovsky and others) and St. Petersburg workers (I. V. Babushkin, V. A. Shelgunov, B. I. Zinoviev and others) Lenin created an organization in St. Petersburg "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class", which was soon defeated by the police, and Lenin had to emigrate.

In 1898, a congress of representatives of the St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv, Yekaterinoslav "unions of struggle" and the Bund (the party of the Jewish proletariat) was held in Minsk. The congress proclaimed the creation Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) and elected the Central Committee (CC). On behalf of the Congress of the Central Committee issued Manifesto of the RSDLP, in which the democratic and socialist tasks of the Russian proletariat and its party were briefly set. However, the party did not yet have a program and rules, its local committees were in a state of ideological and organizational confusion.
In 1855 the Kuril Islands were officially incorporated into Russia. The accession of the Amur and Primorye was formalized Aigunsky(1858) and Beijing(1860) treaties with China. Under the Aigun Treaty, the undemarcated lands along the left bank of the Amur were recognized as the possession of Russia, and under the Beijing Treaty, Primorye (Ussuri Territory) was ceded to it. In 1875, Sakhalin Island passed to Russia, and the Kuril Islands - to Japan.
In 1867, the Turkestan Governor General was formed from the annexed possessions of the Kokand Khanate and the Emirate of Bukhara. In 1868, the Samarkand and Kata-Kurgan districts of the Emirate of Bukhara were annexed to Russia, which recognized the protectorate of Russia. In 1869, the Trans-Caspian military department was formed with its center in Krasnovodsk. After 1881, the Trans-Caspian region was formed with the Center in Askhabad. By agreement with Great Britain (England), on September 10, 1885, the border of Russia with Afghanistan was established, and in 1895 - the border in the Pamirs.
In the spring of 1875, an uprising broke out in the Turkish possessions of Russia in the Balkans. The Serbs turned to the Russian government for help, which demanded that Turkey conclude a truce with the Serbs. The refusal of the Turks caused the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. In the summer of 1877, Russian troops crossed the Danube and entered Bulgaria.

However, the forces for a decisive offensive were not enough. The detachment of General Gurko, advanced to the south, occupied the Shipka Pass on the Balkan Range, but could not advance further. On the other hand, numerous attempts by the Turks to knock the Russians off the pass also failed. The delay of the Russians with the occupation of Plevna on the western face of the Transdanubian bridgehead became especially dangerous. Turkish troops were the first to reach this strategically important point and gain a foothold in it. Three extremely bloody assaults on July 8 (20), July 18 (30) and August 30-31 (September 11-12), 1877 were unsuccessful. In autumn, the Russians occupied the fortifications of Telish and Gorny Dubnyak, finally blocking Plevna. Trying to support the encircled fortress, the Turks launched a counteroffensive immediately from Sofia and on the eastern face of the bridgehead. In the Sofia direction, the Turkish counteroffensive was repelled, and the Eastern Front of the Russian location was broken through, and only a desperate counterattack by the Russian troops, which crushed the Turkish orders near Zlataritsa, stabilized the front. Having exhausted the possibilities for resistance, after an unsuccessful attempt to break through, the Pleven garrison capitulated on November 28 (December 10), 1877. In the winter of 1877-1878. in incredibly difficult weather conditions, Russian troops crossed the Balkan Range and inflicted a decisive defeat on the Turks at Sheinovo. On January 3-5 (15-17), 1878, the last Turkish army was defeated in the battle near Philippopolis (Plovdiv), and on January 8 (20) Russian troops occupied Adrianople without any resistance. According to the Berlin Treaty on July 13, 1878, South Bessarabia, Batum, Kars and Ardagan were annexed to Russia.
The trends in literature and art that developed in the first half of the 19th century were further developed and in the second half of the 19th century. - early XX century.
Reforms of 1860-1870s represented a real revolution, the consequence of which were cardinal changes in social, state and all people's life, which could not but affect the development of culture. There was not only social, but also spiritual emancipation of the people, which had new cultural needs and opportunities to satisfy them. The circle of people of intelligent labor and bearers of culture has also expanded significantly. Of no small importance was also scientific and technological progress, which served both as factors and as an indicator of the development of culture.

Early 20th century - this is the "Silver Age" of Russian culture especially in the field of literature and art. Russia has firmly entered the system of world powers closely linked by economic, political and cultural ties. In Russia, the novelties of the scientific and technological progress of the advanced countries (telephone, cinema, gramophone, automobile, etc.), the achievements of the exact sciences, were widely used; have become widespread in literature and art in various directions. And global culture has been significantly enriched by the achievements of Russian science, literature and art. Performances by Russian composers, opera singers, ballet masters were held in famous theaters in Italy, France, Germany, England, and the USA.
IN Russian literature second half of the 19th century the themes of folk life, various socio-political currents received a particularly vivid image. At this time, the flourishing of the work of outstanding Russian writers L. N. Tolstoy, I. S. Turgenev, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, N. A. Nekrasov, A. N. Ostrovsky, F. M. Dostoevsky. In the 1880-1890s. A. P. Chekhov, V. G. Korolenko, D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak, and N. G. Garin-Mikhailovsky stand out in Russian literature. The traditions of critical realism inherent in these writers found their continuation and development in the work of those who came to literature at the beginning of the 20th century. writers of a new generation - A. M. Gorky, A. I. Kuprin, I. A. Bunin.
Along with this direction, especially in the pre-revolutionary decade and mainly in the poetic environment, various literary circles and associations arose, seeking to move away from traditional aesthetic norms and ideas. Symbolist associations (the creators and theoretician of Russian symbolism was the poet V. Ya. Bryusov) included K. D. Balmont, F. K. Sologub, D. S. Merezhkovsky, Z. N. Gippius, A. Bely, A. A. Block. The direction opposite to symbolism, acmeism, arose in Russian poetry in 1910 (N. S. Gumilyov, A. A. Akhmatova, O. E. Mandelstam). Representatives of another modernist trend in Russian literature and art - futurism - denied traditional culture, its moral and artistic values ​​(V. V. Khlebnikov, Igor Severyanin, early V. V. Mayakovsky, N. Aseev, B. Pasternak).
The Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and the Maly Theater in Moscow remained the main centers of Russian theater culture in the second half of the 19th century. - the beginning of the 20th century. The plays by A. N. Ostrovsky occupied the leading place in the repertoire of the Maly Theatre. Prov Sadovsky, Sergei Shumsky, Maria Yermolova, Alexander Sumbatov-Yuzhin and others stood out among the actors of the Maly Theater. Maria Savina, Vladimir Davydov, Polina Strepetova shone on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater.
In the 1860-1870s. private theaters and theater circles began to emerge. In 1898, K. S. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko founded the Art Theater in Moscow, and in 1904, V. F. Komissarzhevskaya created the Drama Theater in St. Petersburg.
Second half of the 19th century - flourishing time Russian musical art. An important role in the development and organization of music education was played by Anton and Nikolai Rubinstein. N. G. Rubinshtein became the initiator of the creation of the Moscow Conservatory (1866).
In 1862, the “Balakirev Circle” (or, according to V. Stasov, “The Mighty Handful”) was formed in St. Petersburg, which included M. A. Balakirev, Ts. A. Cui, A. P. Borodin, M. P. Mussorgsky and N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. Mussorgsky's operas Khovanshchina and Boris Godunov, Rimsky-Korsakov's Sadko, The Maid of Pskov and The Tsar's Bride are masterpieces of Russian and world musical classics. The greatest composer of the era was P. I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), whose creativity flourished in the 1870-1880s. P. I. Tchaikovsky is the largest creator of symphonic, ballet and opera music (ballets Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty; operas Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades, Mazepa, Iolanta, etc. .). Tchaikovsky wrote over a hundred romances, mostly based on the works of Russian poets.
At the end of the XIX-beginning of the XX centuries. A galaxy of talented composers appeared in Russian music: A. K. Glazunov, S. I. Taneev, A. S. Arensky, A. K. Lyadov, I. F. Stravinsky, A. N. Skryabin. With the help of wealthy patrons, private operas appear, among which the private opera of S. I. Mamontov in Moscow has become widely known. On her stage, the talent of F.I. Chaliapin was fully revealed.

IN Russian painting the dominant position was occupied by critical realism, the main theme of which was the image of the life of the common people, especially the peasantry. First of all, this theme was embodied in the work of the Wanderers (I. N. Kramskoy, N. N. Ge, V. N. Surikov, V. G. Perov, V. E. Makovsky, G. G. Myasodoev, A. K. Savrasov, I. I. Shishkin, I. E. Repin, A. I. Kuindzhi, I. I. Levitan). An outstanding representative of Russian battle painting was V. V. Vereshchagin, the largest marine painter was I. K. Aivazovsky. In 1898, the creative association of artists "World of Art" arose, which included A. N. Benois, D. S. Bakst, M. V. Dobuzhinsky, E. E. Lansere, B. M. Kustodiev, K. A. Korovin, N. K. Roerich, I. E. Grabar.
Implementation into architecture achievements of industrial progress and technical innovations contributed to the construction of structures characteristic of the industrial development of the country: factory buildings, railway stations, banks, shopping centers. Art Nouveau becomes the leading style, along with which buildings of the Old Russian and Byzantine styles were erected: the Upper Trading Rows (now GUM, architect A.N. Pomerantsev), the buildings of the Historical Museum in Moscow (architect V.O. Sherwood) and the Moscow City Duma ( architect D.N. Chichagov) and others.
A significant event in social and cultural life was the opening of the monument to A. S. Pushkin in Moscow (1880, sculptor A. M. Opekushin). Among the outstanding sculptors of this time are: M. M. Antakolsky, A. S. Golubkina, S. T. Konenkov.

Successfully developed the science. The name of the great scientist D. I. Mendeleev (1834-1907) is associated with the discovery of the Periodic Table of Elements; I. M. Sechenov’s research in the field of physiology and higher nervous activity was continued by I. P. Pavlov; II Mechnikov created the doctrine of the protective factors of the body, which formed the basis of modern microbiology and pathology.
The "father of Russian aviation" E. N. Zhukovsky laid the foundations of modern aerodynamics, invented the wind tunnel, and in 1904 founded the Aerodynamic Institute; K. E. Tsiolkovsky laid the foundation for the theory of the movement of rockets and jet instruments. Academician V. I. Vernadsky gave rise to many scientific directions in geochemistry, biochemistry, radiology, and ecology with his work. K. A. Timiryazev founded the Russian school of plant physiology.
Technical discoveries and inventions are associated with the development of the natural sciences: the creation of an electric incandescent bulb (A. N. Lodygin), an arc lamp (P. N. Yablochkov), and radio communications (A. S. Popov).
The outstanding scientist S. M. Solovyov developed the fundamental work "History of Russia from ancient times", in which he substantiated a new concept that explained national history natural and ethnic features of the Russian people.

The abolition of serfdom, despite its incompleteness, created the conditions for the rapid development of capitalism. In 1861-1900. Russia has turned from an agricultural into an agrarian-industrial capitalist country, one of the great world powers. At the end of the XIX century. in industrial production, it took the fifth place, after the USA, England, Germany and France.
As a result of imperial policy, Russia annexed a huge space in Central Asia, stopping the expansion of England in this area and obtaining a raw material base for the textile industry. In the Far East, the Amur Region and Ussuri Primorye were annexed, and possession of Sakhalin was secured (in exchange for the cession of the Kuril Islands). Political rapprochement with France began.

The emerging revolutionary movement of the populists was unable to raise the peasants to revolt, the terror against the tsar and senior officials turned out to be untenable. In the 1880s the spread of Marxism began, in 1892 - the revolutionary activity of Lenin, in 1898 the RSDLP was created.