EntranceHerzen as a representative of the radical movement. Revolutionary populism in Russia
Chronology
- 1861 - 1864 Activities of the first organization “Land and Freedom”.
- 1874 The first mass “going to the people.”
- 1875 Creation of the South Russian Workers' Union.
- 1876 - 1879 Activities of the populist organization “Land and Freedom”.
- 1878 Creation of the “Northern Union of Russian Workers”.
- 1879 Formation of the organizations “People's Will” and “Black Redistribution”
- 1883 Creation of the “Emancipation of Labor” group.
- 1885 Morozov strike.
- 1895 Creation of the “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class”
- 1898 I Congress of the RSDLP.
- 1903 II Congress of the RSDLP.
Populism. Its main currents
IN 1861. a secret revolutionary society of commoners was created “ Land and freedom” (existed until 1864), uniting various circles. “Land and Freedom” considered propaganda to be the main means of influencing peasants.
The fall of serfdom and the intensification of the class struggle in the post-reform period contributed to the rise of the revolutionary movement, which brought to the fore revolutionary populists. The populists were followers of the ideas of Herzen and Chernyshevsky, ideologists of the peasantry. The populists resolved the main socio-political question about the nature of the post-reform development of Russia from the standpoint of utopian socialism, seeing in the Russian peasant a socialist by nature, and in the rural community the “embryo” of socialism. The populists denied the progressiveness of the capitalist development of the country, considering it a decline, regression, an accidental, superficial phenomenon imposed from above by the government, and contrasted it with “originality,” a feature of the Russian economy - popular production. The populists did not understand the role of the proletariat; they considered it part of the peasantry. Unlike Chernyshevsky, who considered the masses to be the main driving force of progress, the populists of the 70s. the decisive role was assigned to “ heroes”, “critical thinkers”, individuals who direct the masses, the “crowd”, the course of history at their own discretion. They considered the common intelligentsia to be such “critically thinking” individuals, who would lead Russia and the Russian people to freedom and socialism. The populists had a negative attitude towards the political struggle and did not connect the struggle for the constitution and democratic freedoms with the interests of the people. They underestimated the power of autocracy, did not see the connections of the state with the interests of classes, and concluded that social revolution in Russia was an extremely easy matter.
The ideological leaders of revolutionary populism in the 70s. were M.A. Bakunin, P.L. Lavrov, P.N. Tkachev. Their names personified three main directions in the populist movement: rebellious (anarchic), propaganda, conspiratorial. The differences lay in the definition of the main driving force of the revolution, its readiness for revolutionary struggle, and methods of struggle against autocracy.
Anarchic (rebellious) direction
The ideological positions of populism were significantly influenced by anarchic views of M.A. Bakunin, who believed that any state hinders the development of the individual, oppresses her. Therefore, Bakunin opposed all power, viewing the state as a historically inevitable evil. M.A. Bakunin argued that the peasantry is ready for revolution, therefore the task of heroes from the intelligentsia, critically thinking individuals, is to go to the people and call them to rebellion, rebellion. All individual outbreaks of peasant uprisings, Bakunin believed, “need to be merged into the general all-consuming flame of the peasant revolution, in the fire of which the state must perish,” and a federation of free self-governing peasant communities and workers’ artels was created.
Propaganda direction
The ideologist of the second direction in populism - propaganda, - was P.L. Lavrov. He outlined his theory in “Historical Letters”, published in 1868 - 1869. He considered the intelligentsia capable of critical thinking to be the leading force of historical progress. Lavrov argued that the peasantry is not ready for revolution, therefore it is necessary to prepare propagandists from educated “critically thinking individuals,” whose task is to go to the people not with the goal of organizing an immediate rebellion, but in order to prepare the peasants for the revolution through long-term propaganda of socialism.
Conspiratorial direction
P.N. Tkachev is an ideologist conspiratorial direction did not believe in the possibility of carrying out a revolution by the forces of the people; he pinned his hopes on the revolutionary minority. Tkachev believed that autocracy has no class support in society, therefore it is possible for a group of revolutionaries to seize power and transition to socialist transformations.
in spring 1874. began " going to the people”, the goal of which is to cover as many villages as possible and raise the peasants to revolt, as Bakunin proposed. However, going to the people ended in failure. Mass arrests followed and the movement was crushed.
IN 1876 The populist underground organization was re-established Land and freedom”, the prominent participants of which were S.M. Kravchinsky, A.D. Mikhailov, G.V. Plekhanov, S.L. Perovskaya, A.I. Zhelyabov, V.I. Zasulich, V.N. Figner and others. Its program boiled down to the demand for the transfer and equal distribution of all land among the peasants. During this period, the populists, according to Lavrov’s idea, moved to organizing “settlements in the city”, as teachers, clerks, paramedics, and artisans. The populists thus sought to establish strong ties with the peasants in order to prepare a popular revolution. However, this attempt by the populists ended in failure and led to mass repressions. “Land and Freedom” was built on the principles of strict discipline, centralism and conspiracy. Gradually, a faction formed in the organization that supported the transition to political struggle through the use of the method of individual terror. In August 1879, “Land and Freedom” split into two organizations: “ People's will” (1879 - 1882) and “ Black redistribution” (1879 - 1884). Chernoperedel'tsy(among the most active members are G.V. Plekhanov, P.B. Akselrod, L.G. Deych, V.I. Zasulich, etc.) opposed terror tactics and advocated a broad propaganda work among the masses of peasants. Subsequently, part of the Black Peredelites led by G.V. Plekhanov moved away from populism and took the position of Marxism.
Narodnaya Volya(the Executive Committee of “Narodnaya Volya” included A.D. Mikhailov, N.A. Morozov, A.I. Zhelyabov, S.M. Perovskaya and others) adopted terrorist struggle. They believed that the murder of the Tsar and the most influential members of the government should lead to the seizure of power by the revolutionaries and the implementation of democratic changes. “Narodnaya Volya” prepared 7 attempts on the life of Tsar Alexander II. March 1 1881 Alexander II was killed. However, the expected overthrow of tsarism did not happen. The main organizers and perpetrators of the murder were hanged by court verdict. The reaction intensified in the country, reforms were curtailed. The revolutionary trend of populism itself entered a period of prolonged crisis.
In the 80s - 90s. XIX century The reformist wing of populism is strengthening, and liberal populism is gaining significant influence. This direction was focused on the reconstruction of society through peaceful, non-violent means.
At the end of the 19th century. The polemic between populists and Marxists became very acute. The populists considered Marxist teaching unacceptable for Russia. The heir to the populist ideology was the illegal party created from disparate populist groups in 1901 socialist revolutionaries(Socialist Revolutionaries).
The party had a left-radical bourgeois-democratic character. Its main goals: the destruction of autocracy, the creation of a democratic republic, political freedoms, the socialization of land, the destruction of private ownership of land, its transformation into public property, the transfer of land to peasants according to equalizing standards. The Social Revolutionaries carried out work among peasants and workers and widely used tactics individual terror against government officials.
The labor movement in Russia at the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries.
In the second half of the 19th century. enters the arena of Russian political life proletariat. The labor movement is exerting an increasing influence on the socio-political life of the country. This was a completely new phenomenon in the socio-political and social life of post-reform Russia. In the 60s XIX century The struggle of the proletariat was just beginning and its actions were not much different from the peasant unrest. But in the 70s. workers' riots began to develop into strikes, the number of which was constantly growing. The largest strikes were at the Nevskaya paper spinning mill (1870) and the Krenholm manufactory (1872). During these years, the populists had a great influence on the labor movement. They carried out cultural and explanatory work among the workers.
An important role in the development of the popular movement was played by the first two workers' unions, in whose ideological positions populist views were still strong, but the influence of the ideas of the First International was already felt.
The first workers' organization was the one that arose in 1875“South Russian Workers' Union" It was founded in Odessa by the revolutionary intellectual E.O. Zaslavsky. The union consisted of about 250 people in a number of cities in the South of Russia (Odessa, Kherson, Rostov-on-Don).
IN 1878. in St. Petersburg, on the basis of scattered workers’ circles, “ Northern Union of Russian Workers" The “Union” consisted of over 250 people. It had its branches behind the Nevskaya and Narvskaya outposts, on Vasilyevskaya Island, the Vyborg and Petersburg sides, and the Obvodny Canal. The backbone of the “Union” was made up of metal workers. Its leaders were revolutionary workers - mechanic V.P. Obnorsky and carpenter S.N. Khalturin.
Obnorsky, while still abroad, managed to get acquainted with the labor movement of Western Europe, with the activities of the First International. He prepared the program documents of the Union. Khalturin knew illegal literature well and was associated with populist organizations.
In the 80s - 90s. the strike movement becomes more organized and widespread. The main centers of the strike movement are the St. Petersburg and Central industrial regions. The biggest event of those years was Morozov strike (1885) at the Morozov textile factory near Orekhovo-Zuev, Vladimir province. The strike was distinguished by its unprecedented scope, organization, and tenacity of the strikers. Troops were called in to suppress the strike, and 33 workers were put on trial. The trial revealed facts of serious oppression of workers, cruelty and arbitrariness at the factory. As a result, the jury was forced to return a not guilty verdict. In total, during the 80s. There were about 450 strikes and labor unrest.
The growth of the strike movement necessitated “ labor legislation” - publication of a series of laws regulating relations between workers and factory owners. Among them: laws prohibiting children under 12 from working, laws prohibiting night work for women and teenagers, and a law on fines. Workers received the right to complain about the owner. Factory inspection was introduced. Although labor legislation in Russia was very imperfect, its adoption was evidence of the strength of the growing labor movement.
Since the mid-90s. In Russia there is an intensification of the strike movement. The labor movement is beginning to play an increasingly important role in the socio-political struggle, which makes it possible to talk about the beginning proletarian stage in the liberation movement of Russia. In 1895 - 1900 850 workers' strikes were registered. Some of the strikes were not only economic, but also political in nature. Characteristic features of the liberation movement in Russia in the years under review were the spread of Marxism and the formation of revolutionary parties.
The wide spread of Marxism in Russia is associated with the name of G.V. Plekhanov and with the group “ Liberation of labor”.
The group originated in 1883 in Geneva as part of P.B. Axelrod, L.G. Deycha, V.I. Zasulich, V.I. Ignatova. The group was headed by G.V. Plekhanov. All of them were “Black Peredelites”. Their transition to Marxism was associated with a serious crisis in the populist doctrine. The goal of the “Emancipation of Labor” group is to spread the ideas of scientific socialism by translating the works of K. Marx and F. Engels into Russian.
G.V. Plekhanov was the first Russian Marxist to criticize the erroneous views of the Narodniks. In his works “Socialism and Political Struggle” (1883) and “Our Disagreements” (1885), he revealed the inconsistency of the populist idea of a direct transition to socialism through the peasant community.
G.V. Plekhanov showed that in Russia capitalism is already being established, and the peasant community is disintegrating, and that the transition to socialism will occur not through the peasant community, but through the conquest of political power by the proletariat. He substantiated the leading role of the proletariat and put forward the task of creating an independent party of the working class, which was supposed to lead the revolutionary struggle against the autocracy. During the years of the rise of the labor movement, the Social Democrats sought to lead the labor movement and create a party of the working class.
V.I. played a huge role in solving this problem. Lenin.
He and his associates created from disparate social democratic circles in St. Petersburg “ Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class" The “Union” consisted of a central group and working groups. Among the leaders were Yu.Yu. Tsederbaum (Martov), V.V. Starkov, G.M. Krzhizhanovsky and others. The leader was Ulyanov (Lenin).
The main merit of the “Union” was that for the first time in the revolutionary movement of Russia it united theory of the Marxist movement with the practice of the labor movement. The “Union” carried out propaganda in factories and factories and led the strike movement. The active work of the “Union” and the growth of the mass labor movement faced serious government repression. In December 1895 V.I. Lenin and others were arrested. However, the revolutionary struggle did not stop. “Unions” arose in Moscow, Kyiv, Vladimir, Samara and other cities. Their activities contributed to the emergence of the Russian Social Democratic Party in the multinational Russian Empire.
The Russian Social Democratic Party was founded in Minsk in March 1898. The 1st Congress was attended by 9 delegates from the St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Ekaterinoslav “Unions”, the “Workers’ Newspaper” group and the “Public Labor Union in Russia and Poland” (Bund) .
The congress elected a Central Committee and proclaimed the creation of the RSDLP. After the congress, the Manifesto of the Russian Social Democratic Party was published. The Manifesto noted that the Russian working class is “completely deprived of what its foreign comrades freely and calmly enjoy: participation in government, freedom of oral and printed speech, freedom of unions and meetings,” emphasizing that these freedoms are a necessary condition in the workers’ struggle class “for its ultimate liberation, against private property and capitalism - for socialism.” The manifesto was not a party program; it did not formulate specific tasks. The congress did not adopt the party charter either.
A major role in the preparation of the Second Congress of the RSDLP, at which the party of the working class was to be constituted, was played by newspaper “Iskra”. Its first issue was published in 1900 g.
The editorial staff of Iskra included G.V. Plekhanov, V.I. Zasulich, L.B. Axelrod, V.I. Lenin, Yu.O. Martov and others. The newspaper's editors carried out organizational work to convene the Second Congress of the RSDLP.
In 1903 on II Congress in London were accepted Program and the Charter, which formalized the formation of the RSDLP. The program provided for two stages of the revolution. Minimum program included bourgeois-democratic demands: the elimination of autocracy, the introduction of an eight-hour working day, universal, direct, equal and secret voting, and the abolition of redemption payments. The maximum program is the implementation of the socialist revolution and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat. Ideological and organizational differences split the party into Bolsheviks (Lenin's supporters) and Mensheviks (Martov's supporters).
The Bolsheviks sought to transform the party into an organization of professional revolutionaries. Mensheviks did not consider Russia ready for a socialist revolution, opposed the dictatorship of the proletariat and considered cooperation with all opposition forces possible.
The contradictions that emerged at the Second Congress of the RSDLP subsequently manifested themselves in practice during the years of the Russian revolutions of 1905 - 1907, 1917 (February, October).
Populism is an ideological movement of a radical nature that opposed serfdom, for the overthrow of the autocracy or for the global reform of the Russian Empire. As a result of the actions of populism, Alexander 2 was killed, after which the organization actually disintegrated. Neo-populism was restored in the late 1890s in the form of the activities of the Socialist Revolutionary Party.
Main dates:
- 1874-1875 – “the movement of populism among the people.”
- 1876 – creation of “Land and Freedom”.
- 1879 – “Land and Freedom” splits into “People’s Will” and “Black Redistribution”.
- March 1, 1881 – murder of Alexander 2.
Prominent historical figures of populism:
- Bakunin Mikhail Aleksandrovich is one of the key ideologists of populism in Russia.
- Lavrov Petr Lavrovich - scientist. He also acted as an ideologist of populism.
- Chernyshevsky Nikolai Gavrilovich - writer and public figure. The ideologist of populism and the speaker of its basic ideas.
- Zhelyabov Andrey Ivanovich - was part of the management of “Narodnaya Volya”, one of the organizers of the assassination attempt on Alexander 2.
- Nechaev Sergei Gennadievich - author of the "Catechism of a Revolutionary", an active revolutionary.
- Tkachev Petr Nikolaevich is an active revolutionary, one of the ideologists of the movement.
The ideology of revolutionary populism
Revolutionary populism in Russia originated in the 60s of the 19th century. Initially it was called not “populism”, but “public socialism”. The author of this theory was A.I. Herzen N.G. Chernyshevsky.
Russia has a unique chance to transition to socialism, bypassing capitalism. The main element of the transition should be the peasant community with its elements of collective land use. In this sense, Russia should become an example for the rest of the world.
Herzen A.I.
Why is Populism called revolutionary? Because it called for the overthrow of the autocracy by any means, including through terror. Today, some historians say that this was the innovation of the populists, but this is not so. The same Herzen, in his idea of “public socialism,” said that terror and revolution are one of the methods of achieving the goal (albeit an extreme method).
Ideological trends of populism in the 70s
In the 70s, populism entered a new stage, when the organization was actually divided into 3 different ideological movements. These movements had a common goal - the overthrow of the autocracy, but the methods of achieving this goal differed.
Ideological currents of populism:
- Propaganda. Ideologist – P.L. Lavrov. The main idea is that historical processes should be led by thinking people. Therefore, populism must go to the people and enlighten them.
- Rebellious. Ideologist – M.A. Bakunin. The main idea was that propaganda ideas were supported. The difference is that Bakunin was not just talking about enlightening the people, but about calling them to take up arms against their oppressors.
- Conspiratorial. Ideologist – P.N. Tkachev. The main idea is that the monarchy in Russia is weak. Therefore, there is no need to work with the people, but to create a secret organization that will carry out a coup and seize power.
All directions developed in parallel.
Joining the People is a mass movement that began in 1874, in which thousands of young people in Russia took part. In fact, they implemented the ideology of Lavrov and Bakunin’s populism, conducting propaganda with village residents. They moved from one village to another, distributed propaganda materials to people, talked with people, calling them to take active action, explaining that they could not continue to live like this. For greater persuasiveness, entering the people presupposed the use of peasant clothing and conversation in a language understandable to the peasants. But this ideology was greeted with suspicion by the peasants. They were wary of strangers who spoke “terrible speeches,” and also thought completely differently from the representatives of populism. Here, for example, is one of the documented conversations:
- “Who owns the land? Isn’t she God’s?” - says Morozov, one of the active participants in joining the people.
- “It’s God’s where no one lives. And where people live is human land,” was the peasants’ answer.
It is obvious that populism had difficulty imagining the way of thinking of ordinary people, and therefore their propaganda was extremely ineffective. Largely because of this, by the fall of 1874, “entering the people” began to fade away. By this time, repressions by the Russian government began against those who “walked.”
In 1876, the organization “Land and Freedom” was created. It was a secret organization that pursued one goal - the establishment of the Republic. The peasant war was chosen to achieve this goal. Therefore, starting from 1876, the main efforts of populism were directed towards preparing for this war. The following areas were chosen for preparation:
- Propaganda. Again the members of “Land and Freedom” addressed the people. They found jobs as teachers, doctors, paramedics, and minor officials. In these positions, they agitated the people for war, following the example of Razin and Pugachev. But once again, the propaganda of populism among the peasants did not produce any effect. The peasants did not believe these people.
- Individual terror. In fact, we are talking about disorganization work, in which terror was carried out against prominent and capable statesmen. By the spring of 1879, as a result of terror, the head of the gendarmes N.V. Mezentsev and Governor of Kharkov D.N. Kropotkin. In addition, an unsuccessful attempt was made on Alexander 2.
By the summer of 1879, “Land and Freedom” split into two organizations: “Black Redistribution” and “People’s Will”. This was preceded by a congress of populists in St. Petersburg, Voronezh and Lipetsk.
Black redistribution
The “black redistribution” was headed by G.V. Plekhanov. He called for an abandonment of terror and a return to propaganda. The idea was that the peasants were simply not yet ready for the information that populism brought upon them, but soon the peasants would begin to understand everything and “take up their pitchforks” themselves.
People's will
“Narodnaya Volya” was controlled by A.I. Zhelyabov, A.D. Mikhailov, S.L. Petrovskaya. They also called for the active use of terror as a method of political struggle. Their goal was clear - the Russian Tsar, who began to be hunted from 1879 to 1881 (8 attempts). For example, this led to the assassination attempt on Alexander 2 in Ukraine. The king survived, but 60 people died.
The end of the activities of populism and brief results
As a result of the assassination attempts on the emperor, unrest began among the people. In this situation, Alexander 2 created a special commission, headed by M.T. Loris-Melikov. This man intensified the fight against populism and its terror, and also proposed a draft law whereby certain elements of local government could be transferred under the control of “electors.” In fact, this was what the peasants demanded, which means this step significantly strengthened the monarchy. This draft law was to be signed by Alexander 2 on March 4, 1881. But on March 1, the populists committed another terrorist act, killing the emperor.
Alexander 3 came to power. “Narodnaya Volya” was closed, the entire leadership was arrested and executed by court verdict. The terror that the Narodnaya Volya unleashed was not perceived by the population as an element of the struggle for the liberation of the peasants. In fact, we are talking about the meanness of this organization, which set itself high and correct goals, but to achieve them chose the most vile and base opportunities.
Conservative, liberal and radical movements in the Russian social movement in the second half of the 19th century
In the second half of the nineteenth century. Three directions in the social movement finally took shape: conservatives, liberals and radicals.
The social basis of the conservative movement was made up of reactionary nobles, clergy, townspeople, merchants and a significant part of the peasants. Conservatism of the second half of the nineteenth century. remained true to the theory of “official nationality”.
Autocracy was declared the foundation of the state, and Orthodoxy the basis of the spiritual life of the people. Nationality meant the unity of the king with the people. In this, conservatives saw the uniqueness of Russia's historical path.
In the domestic political sphere, conservatives fought for the inviolability of autocracy and against the liberal reforms of the 60s and 70s. In the economic sphere, they advocated the inviolability of private property, landownership and the community.
In the social field, they called for the unity of the Slavic peoples around Russia.
The ideologists of the conservatives were K.P. Pobedonostsev, D.A. Tolstoy, M.N. Katkov.
Conservatives were statist guardians and had a negative attitude towards any mass social action, advocating order.
The social basis of the liberal trend was made up of bourgeois landowners, part of the bourgeoisie and the intelligentsia.
They defended the idea of a common path of historical development for Russia with Western Europe.
In the domestic political sphere, liberals insisted on introducing constitutional principles and continuing reforms.
Their political ideal was a constitutional monarchy.
In the socio-economic sphere, they welcomed the development of capitalism and freedom of enterprise. They demanded the elimination of class privileges.
Liberals stood for an evolutionary path of development, considering reforms to be the main method of modernizing Russia.
They were ready to cooperate with the autocracy. Therefore, their activity mainly consisted of submitting “addresses” to the tsar - petitions proposing a program of reforms.
The ideologists of the liberals were scientists and publicists: K.D. Kavelin, B.N. Chicherin, V.A. Goltsev et al.
Features of Russian liberalism: its noble character due to the political weakness of the bourgeoisie and its readiness for rapprochement with conservatives.
Representatives of the radical movement sought violent methods of transforming Russia and a radical reorganization of society (the revolutionary path).
The radical movement involved people from different walks of life (raznochintsy), who devoted themselves to serving the people.
In the history of the radical movement of the second half of the 19th century. Three stages are distinguished: 60s. - the formation of revolutionary democratic ideology and the creation of secret raznochinsky circles; 70s - formalization of populism, the special scope of agitation and terrorist activities of revolutionary populists; 80 - 90s - weakening of the popularity of populism and the beginning of the spread of Marxism.
In the 60s There were two centers of radical movement. One is around the editorial office of Kolokol, published by A.I. Herzen in London. He promoted the theory of “communal socialism” and sharply criticized the conditions for the liberation of peasants. The second center arose in Russia around the editorial office of the Sovremennik magazine. Its ideologist was N.G. Chernyshevsky, who was arrested and exiled to Siberia in 1862.
The first major revolutionary democratic organization was “Land and Freedom” (1861), which included several hundred members from different strata: officials, officers, students.
In the 70s There were two trends among the populists: revolutionary and liberal.
The main ideas of the revolutionary populists: capitalism in Russia is being imposed “from above”, the future of the country lies in communal socialism, transformations must be carried out by the revolutionary method by the forces of the peasants.
Three currents emerged in revolutionary populism: rebellious, propaganda and conspiratorial.
Ideologist of the rebellious movement M.A. Bakunin believed that the Russian peasant was by nature a rebel and ready for revolution. Therefore, the task of the intelligentsia is to go to the people and incite an all-Russian revolt. He called for the creation of a federation of self-government of free communities.
P.L. Lavrov, the ideologist of the propaganda movement, did not consider the people ready for revolution. Therefore, he paid most attention to propaganda with the aim of preparing the peasantry.
P.N. Tkachev, the ideologist of the conspiratorial movement, believed that the peasants did not need to be taught socialism. In his opinion, a group of conspirators, having seized power, will quickly draw the people into socialism.
In 1874, based on the ideas of M.A. Bakunin, more than 1,000 young revolutionaries undertook a massive “walk among the people,” hoping to rouse the peasants to revolt. However, the movement was crushed by tsarism.
In 1876, the surviving participants in the “walking among the people” formed the secret organization “Land and Freedom,” headed by G.V. Plekhanov, A.D. Mikhailov and others. The second “going to the people” was carried out - with the aim of long-term agitation among the peasants.
After the split of "Land and Freedom", two organizations were formed - "Black Redistribution" (G.V. Plekhanov, V.I. Zasulich, etc.) and "People's Will" (A.I. Zhelyabov, A.D. Mikhailov, S. L. Perovskaya). The Narodnaya Volya considered their goal to kill the Tsar, assuming that this would cause a nationwide uprising.
In the 80s - 90s. The populist movement is weakening. Former participants of the “Black Redistribution” G.V. Plekhanov, V.I. Zasulich, V.N. Ignatov turned to Marxism. In 1883, the Liberation of Labor group was formed in Geneva. In 1883 - 1892 In Russia itself, several Marxist circles were formed, which saw their task as studying Marxism and promoting it among workers and students.
In 1895, in St. Petersburg, Marxist circles united into the “Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class.”
30-40s XIX century - the time of the beginning of the formation of revolutionary democratic ideology in Russian socio-political life. Its founders were V.G. Belinsky and A.I. Herzen. They sharply opposed the theory of “official nationality”, against the views of the Slavophiles, argued for the common historical development of Western Europe and Russia, spoke out for the development of economic and cultural ties with the West, and called for the use of the latest achievements of science, technology, and culture in Russia. Belinsky and Herzen become supporters of socialism. After the suppression of the revolutionary movement in 1848, Herzen became disillusioned with Western Europe. At this time, he came to the idea that the Russian village community and artel contained the rudiments of socialism, which would find its realization in Russia sooner than in any other country. Herzen and Belinsky considered the class struggle and peasant revolution to be the main means of transforming society. Herzen was the first in the Russian social movement to embrace the ideas of utopian socialism, which at that time became widespread in Western Europe. Herzen's theory of Russian communal socialism gave a powerful impetus to the development of socialist thought in Russia. The ideas of the communal structure of society were further developed in the views of N.G. Chernyshevsky, who in many ways anticipated the appearance of commoners in the social movement of Russia. If before the 60s. In the social movement, the main role was played by the noble intelligentsia, then by the 60s. in Russia, a diverse intelligentsia emerges (raznochintsy - people from various classes, clergy, merchants, philistines, petty officials, etc.). In the works of Herzen and Chernyshevsky, a program of social transformations in Russia was essentially formed. Chernyshevsky was a supporter of the peasant revolution, the overthrow of the autocracy and the establishment of a republic. It provided for the liberation of peasants from serfdom and the abolition of landownership. The confiscated land was to be transferred to peasant communities for its distribution among the peasants according to justice (equalization principle). In 1861, a secret revolutionary society of commoners “Land and Freedom” was created (existed until 1864), uniting various circles. Land and Freedom considered propaganda to be the main means of influencing peasants. The rather moderate program of "Land and Freedom" did not find a response among the radically minded part of the youth. The populists were followers of the ideas of Herzen and Chernyshevsky, ideologists of the peasantry. The populists resolved the main socio-political question about the nature of the post-reform development of Russia from the position of utopian socialism, seeing in the Russian peasant a socialist by nature, and in the rural community - the “embryo” of socialism. The populists denied the progressiveness of the country's capitalist development, considering it a decline, regression, an accidental, superficial phenomenon imposed from above by the government. Unlike Chernyshevsky, who considered the masses to be the main driving force of progress, the populists of the 70s. The decisive role was assigned to “heroes,” “critically thinking” individuals who directed the masses, the “crowd,” and the course of history at their own discretion. They considered the common intelligentsia to be such “critically thinking” individuals, who would lead Russia and the Russian people to freedom and socialism. The populists had a negative attitude towards the political struggle and did not connect the struggle for the constitution and democratic freedoms with the interests of the people. They underestimated the power of autocracy, did not see the connections of the state with the interests of classes, and concluded that social revolution in Russia was an extremely easy matter. The ideological leaders of revolutionary populism in the 70s. were M.A. Bakunin, P.L. Lavrov, N.K. Mikhailovsky, P.N. Tkachev. Their names personified three main directions in the populist movement: rebellious (anarchist), propaganda, conspiratorial. The differences lay in determining the main driving force of the revolution, its readiness for revolutionary struggle, and methods of struggle against the autocracy. The ideological positions of populism were significantly influenced by the anarchist views of M.A. Bakunin, who believed that any state hinders the development of the individual, oppresses her. Therefore, Bakunin opposed all power, viewing the state as a historically inevitable evil. M.A. Bakunin argued that the peasantry was ready for revolution. The ideologist of the second direction in populism - propaganda - was P.L. Lavrov. He outlined his theory in “Historical Letters,” published in 1868 - 1869; He considered the intelligentsia capable of critical thinking to be the leading force of historical progress. Lavrov argued that the peasantry was not ready for revolution. Therefore, it is necessary to prepare propagandists from educated “critically thinking” individuals, whose task is to go to the people not with the goal of organizing an immediate rebellion, but in order to prepare the peasants for revolution through long-term propaganda of socialism. Lavrov spoke about the need to create a revolutionary organization and expressed the idea of a mass party based on the principles of democratic centralism. Lavrov paid great attention to the moral character of the revolutionary, believing that party members should be devoted to the idea, to be people of crystal purity. Lavrov considered it necessary for the party to engage in polemics on fundamental issues and reject any attempts to create a cult of infallibility. P.N. Tkachev, an ideologist of the conspiratorial trend, did not believe in the possibility of carrying out a revolution by the forces of the people, and pinned his hopes on the revolutionary minority. Tkachev believed that autocracy has no class support in society. Therefore, it is possible for a group of revolutionaries to seize power and transition to socialist transformations.
The practical activities of the populists began in the 70s. the creation of circles of student youth and intellectuals throughout the country. In the spring of 1874, the “going to the people” began, the goal of which was to cover as many villages as possible and rouse the peasants to revolt, as Bakunin proposed. However, going to the people ended in failure. Mass arrests followed and the movement was crushed. In 1876, the populist underground organization “Land and Freedom” was created, the prominent participants of which were S.M. Kravchinsky, A.D. Mikhailov, G.V. Plekhanov, S.L. Perovskaya, A.I. Zhelyabov, V.I. Zasulich, B.H. Figner and others. Its program boiled down to the demand for the transfer and equal distribution of all land among the peasants. During this period, the populists, according to Lavrov’s idea, moved to organizing “settlements among the people” as teachers, clerks, paramedics, and artisans. The populists thus sought to establish strong ties with the peasants in order to prepare a popular revolution. But this attempt by the populists ended in failure and led to mass repressions. “Land and Freedom” was built on the principles of strict discipline, centralism and conspiracy. Gradually, a faction formed in the organization that supported the transition to political struggle through the use of the method of individual terror. In August 1879, "Land and Freedom" split into two organizations: "People's Will" (1879-1882) and "Black Redistribution" (1879-1884). The Black Frontiers (among the most active members are G.V. Plekhanov, P.B. Axelrod, L.G. Deich, V.I. Zasulich and others) opposed terror tactics, for carrying out extensive propaganda work among the masses of peasants. Subsequently, part of the Black Peredelites, led by Plekhanov, moved away from populism and took the position of Marxism. People's Will (the Executive Committee of the People's Will included A.D. Mikhailov, N.A. Morozov, A.I. Zhelyabov, S.L. Perovskaya and others) took up the terrorist struggle. "People's Will" prepared seven attempts on the life of Tsar Alexander II, and on March 1, 1881, Alexander II was killed. However, the expected overthrow of tsarism did not happen. The reaction intensified in the country, reforms were curtailed. The revolutionary trend of populism itself entered a period of prolonged crisis. The Narodniks defended their concept of Russia's transition to socialism on the basis of "people's production." They assigned the main role in this to the peasantry and believed in the possibility of using the village community for the transition to socialism. The populists believed that it was impossible to focus on the labor movement, since the working class is a product of capitalism, and capitalism in the country is artificially implanted. At the end of the 19th century. The polemic between populists and Marxists became very acute. The populists considered Marxist teaching unacceptable for Russia. The heir to the populist ideology was the illegal party of socialist revolutionaries, created in 1901 from disparate populist groups. The party had a left-radical bourgeois-democratic character. Its main goals were: the destruction of the autocracy, the creation of a democratic republic, political freedoms, the socialization of the land, the destruction of private ownership of land, its transformation into public property, the transfer of land to peasants according to equalizing standards.
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| V.G. Belinsky |
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| A.I. Herzen |
| N.P. Ogarev |
| N.G. Chernyshevsky |
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D.V. Karakozov before execution |
The most significant among them was the Ishutin circle, which operated in 1863-66. in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Its founder was a volunteer student of Moscow University N.A. Ishutin. The “Ishutinians” considered themselves students of N.G. Chernyshevsky and following the example of the heroes of his novel “What is to be done?” tried to organize various kinds of production and household artels. However, in 1865, the “Ishutinites” came to the idea of the need for more active activity. In February 1866, they formed a secret society called the “Organization,” and one of the founders of the circle, D.V. Karakozov, on his own initiative, made an attempt on the life of Alexander II, after the failure of which Karakozov was executed, other members of the circle were sent to hard labor or exiled.
The assassination attempt on the Tsar served as a pretext for a noticeable turn towards political reaction. By decree of May 13, 1866, the power of governors was strengthened, censorship persecution of the democratic press began - the magazines Sovremennik and Russian Word were closed. Retreats from the reforms followed, in particular, the rights of zemstvos were limited and the preparation of the City Reform was delayed. However, the reaction could not stop the development of the revolutionary democratic movement. In the autumn of 1868-1869. There was a wave of student unrest in higher educational institutions of St. Petersburg and Moscow. New student circles have emerged. One of them was organized in the capital of S.P. Nechaev, who subsequently created the secret organization “People’s Retribution”, which planned to use large-scale terror in its activities. Nechaev's activities attracted the attention of the police, and the organization was discovered. In order to discredit the revolutionary movement, in 1871 the government organized a show trial of the “Nechaevites.”
Representatives of the revolutionary underground for the most part condemned the methods of “Nechaevism”; circles were created that practiced other methods of struggle (propaganda and education among workers and intelligentsia). The most famous of these circles was the Tchaikovsky circle, named after St. Petersburg University student N.V. Tchaikovsky, one of the founders. The organization was engaged in propaganda of socialist ideas and planned the creation of a “unified workers’ organization.” In 1874, it was discovered by the police and destroyed; some members of the circle subsequently joined the populist organizations “Land and Freedom” and “People’s Will”.
Since the beginning of the 70s. In the 19th century, populism became the main direction in the liberation movement. As a social trend, it began to take shape at the turn of the 60s and 70s. XIX century, when its founders set themselves the task of transitioning to the struggle for the interests of the people, while they were convinced that a radical solution to all social problems could be achieved in a revolutionary way and by the forces of the masses, led by a revolutionary (populist) organization.
Populism- the main ideological direction in the liberation movement of post-reform Russia, the revolutionary movement of the common intelligentsia of the 1870-80s.
It was based on a system of views about a special, original path of development of Russia towards socialism, bypassing capitalism. The objective conditions for the emergence of such an idea in Russia were the weak development of capitalism and the presence of a peasant land community. The foundations of this “Russian socialism” were formulated at the turn of the 40-50s. XIX century A.I. Herzen - the “forerunner” of Russian populism. Subsequently, the idea of “community socialism”, formulated by Herzen, was developed by N. G. Chernyshevsky. Russian populism represented a wide range of different movements - from revolutionary-democratic to moderate-liberal and even conservative. In the 70s Revolutionary (or, as it was called, “effective”) populism was of predominant importance.
The term “populist” itself appeared in literature in the mid-1860s, but then it did not yet denote a specific socio-political trend. At that time, populism was usually understood as a desire to study people's life and a desire to alleviate the hardships of the masses, primarily the peasantry. As a social movement, populism began to take shape in the late 60s and early 70s, when its founders set themselves the task of moving to the struggle for the interests of the people, while they were convinced that a radical solution to all social problems could be achieved through revolutionary means and by the forces of the popular masses, led by a revolutionary (populist) organization.
At the turn of the 60-70s. The doctrine of populism also developed, the main ideologists of which were M.A. Bakunin (“rebellious” trend in populism), P.L. Lavrov (“propaganda” direction) and P.N. Tkachev (“conspiratorial” direction). The first major action of revolutionary populism was the mass "going to the people" in the summer of 1874 - a mass movement of revolutionary youth into the countryside with the aim of agitating for an uprising and promoting the ideas of socialism among the peasantry.
The failure of this action, as well as the weak results of the propaganda of socialist ideas in the countryside, brought forward the need to create a centralized revolutionary organization with a clear structure and a developed program of action. Such an organization was created in 1876 - "Land and Freedom". The organization tried to organize political demonstrations, it had several branches and up to 200 members. In 1879, a significant group of supporters of political struggle and recognition of terror tactics emerged in this organization. This led to the split of the organization into two - "People's Will"(supporters of terrorist actions) and "Black redistribution"(took the position of propaganda work) (see diagram “Revolutionary movement in Russia in the 60s - 70s of the 19th century”). "People's Will" was crushed after the assassination of Emperor Alexander II, and the "Black Redistribution" soon also disintegrated into small independent groups. This completed the stage of “effective” populism.
In the 80s - 90s. The ideas of liberal (“legal”) populism became widespread. Its representatives advocated social and political reforms, preached the theory of “small deeds” - painstaking daily work in the field of education and in the name of improving the financial situation of the masses. At the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries. Neo-populist organizations and circles arise that set as their goal to continue the work of the populists of the seventies. It was on the basis of revolutionary populist organizations that the Socialist Revolutionary Party took shape.
"People's Will"(1879-1887) - a revolutionary populist organization (1879-1887), formed in August 1879 as a result of the split of “Land and Freedom” (see diagram “Revolutionary movement in Russia in the 60s - 70s of the 19th century.” ").
The organization's program contained demands for democratic reforms, the introduction of universal suffrage, permanent popular representation, freedom of speech, press, conscience, replacement of the army with a militia, and transfer of land to the peasants. At the head of “People's Will” was the Executive Committee, which included: A.D. Mikhailov, N.A. Morozov, A.I. Zhelyabov, A. A. Kvyatkovsky, S. L. Perovskaya, V. N. Figner, M. F. Frolenko, L. A. Tikhomirov, M. N. Oshanina, A. V. Yakimova and others. Many circles were subordinate to him and groups located in fifty cities. In 1879 - 1881 the organization united up to 250 circles (over 2000 people) and had 10 underground printing houses. "Narodnaya Volya" was a well-conspiracy organization, had its own printed organ - the newspaper "Narodnaya Volya", published from October 1, 1879 to October 1885.
The Narodnaya Volya distinguished between an “organization” - a disciplined community of revolutionaries, subject to a program and charter, it included about 500 people - and a party - a circle of like-minded people not bound by obligations to the “organization”, there were up to 2 thousand people. In the conditions of the democratic upsurge of the late 70s of the 19th century, the organization actively became involved in the political struggle. The program provisions of the organization included the seizure of power by the revolutionary party and the implementation of democratic changes in the country. According to the Narodnaya Volya members, the Russian government had no support and could easily be disorganized as a result of a series of terrorist attacks. In 1880-1881 Narodnaya Volya carried out a number of attempts on the life of Alexander II (on February 5, 1880, S. Khalturin carried out an explosion in the Winter Palace). In total, 8 unsuccessful attempts were made on the emperor’s life.
The struggle of the People's Will against the Russian autocracy, which ended with the assassination of Alexander II (March 1, 1881), was of great political significance, but led to the opposite results - the autocracy's refusal to attempt to reform society and the transition to reaction. The expected popular protests did not follow. Soon most of the Executive Committee was arrested, only a few were able to escape abroad. In April 1881, participants in the preparation of the regicide were executed. Repressions in the Narodnaya Volya case continued in 1882; in total, up to 6,000 people were subjected to various types of repression. Despite this, Narodnaya Volya continued its struggle until 1887; the last act of its terrorist activities was an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Alexander III, after which new repressions completed its defeat. Members of the organization who managed to escape repression in the 1890s. played a prominent role in the formation of the Socialist Revolutionary Party.
"People's Massacre"(1869) - a secret society formed among St. Petersburg students by S. Nechaev in 1869. He was supported in organizing the society by M. A. Bakunin, together with Nechaev they released “The Catechism of a Revolutionary” - a unique presentation of the ideology of revolutionary extremism. Nechaev managed to attract several dozen people to his organization in a short time. Its members were divided into fives, each of them acted independently, not knowing about the existence of the other, and was subordinate to the “Center,” that is, in fact, to Nechaev. He acted like a dictator, demanding unquestioning obedience. By the summer of 1870, Nechaev planned to launch “destructive activities”: create combat detachments, attracting “robber” elements into them, destroy government officials through terror, and confiscate “private capital.” However, the development of the organization’s activities was prevented by the murder in November 1869 of student Ivanov, an active member of the “Passacre”, who did not want to submit to Nechaev’s demands and was committed on the orders of S. Nechaev. As a result of the investigation, the organization was discovered by the police in the winter of 1869 -1870, 80 people were involved in the case. Nechaev managed to escape abroad. In order to discredit the revolutionary movement, a show trial was organized against the “Nechaevites” in 1871, its materials were widely published in the government press. The Nechaev “case” served as the plot for the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky "Demons".
Workers' organizations
"South Russian Workers' Union"(1875) - a workers' organization created in 1875 in Odessa by a former student, professional revolutionary E. Zaslavsky.
The first workers' organizations were formed in the 70s. XIX century The core of the organization consisted of 50-60 workers, divided into 5-7 circles. They were joined by up to 200 workers. The organization's charter was adopted. It envisaged the idea of liberating workers from the yoke of capital, the need to “unite the workers of the South Russian Territory” (see the article “Charter of the South Russian Union of Workers” in the anthology). Revolution was actually declared as a means of achieving these goals. The union existed for less than a year; already in December 1875 it was identified by the police and all its leaders were arrested; after a trial, 15 of its leaders were sentenced to hard labor.
"Northern Union of Russian Workers"(1878 - 1880) - an illegal socialist workers' organization that arose at the end of 1878 by uniting several scattered workers' circles in St. Petersburg. Leaders – V. Obnorsky and S. Khalturin. There were up to 200 members. In January 1879, his program document was published from the illegal press, which emphasized the importance of winning political freedom for the proletarians. The ultimate goal was declared to be “the overthrow of the existing political and economic system of the state as extremely unjust.” Among the demands were freedom of speech, press, assembly, the abolition of class differences, etc. It was also envisaged “the establishment of a free people's federation of communities on the basis of Russian customary law” and the replacement of land ownership with communal land ownership. In 1880, the Union published the only issue of the illegal newspaper Rabochaya Zarya, which led to the arrest of the organization’s members and the cessation of its existence.
In workers' circles and "unions" in the 70-80s. a very small circle of workers was still involved. The strike movement had not yet gone beyond the demands of an economic nature. However, both entrepreneurs and the government were already forced to reckon with such a phenomenon in the life of the country as the labor movement.
"Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class"(1893 – 1902) - the largest Russian social democratic organization that emerged in the mid-90s. XIX century In Petersburg.
V.I. played a decisive role in the creation of the Union. Lenin, who, after moving to St. Petersburg in August 1893, joined the circle of technology students (A.A. Vaneev, P.K. Zaporozhets, L.B. Krasin, G.M. Krzhizhanovsky, S.I. Radchenko, M .A. Silvin, V.V. Starkov, etc.) survived after the defeat of Brusnev’s group, and soon headed it. St. Petersburg Marxists established contacts with revolutionary workers (I.V. Babushkin, V.A. Knyazev, V.A. Shelgunov, I.I. Yakovlev, etc.), conducted classes in workers’ circles, and used evening and Sunday evenings for revolutionary propaganda schools for workers, gradually expanding the circle of working activists. During 1895, a new social democratic organization was formed, called the Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class, which united the Marxists of St. Petersburg. The Social Democratic organization acted in close contact with the Narodnaya Volya group. The Union was headed by the Central Group (Lenin, Vaneev, Zaporozhets, Krzhizhanovsky, Krupskaya, Radchenko, Starkov, later L. Martov and others joined), which coordinated the activities of 3 regional groups. The central and district groups were connected with 20-30 workers' Social Democratic circles, and through district organizers - with 70 of the largest industrial enterprises in St. Petersburg. The Union established contacts with Social Democrats in other cities.
On the night of December 9, 1895, Lenin and other members of the Central Group were arrested and captured by the police, prepared by No. 1 of the Rabocheye Delo newspaper. Despite the arrests, the Union led the strikes of 1895 and the St. Petersburg Industrial War of 1896. Mass arrests of 1896-97. (in total, 251 people were arrested and brought into question in the Union case, of which 170 were workers) weakened the organization. Many of those arrested after pre-trial detention were administratively exiled to Siberia and other remote provinces. In July 1902, in pursuance of the decisions of the first congress RSDLP The Union was transformed into the St. Petersburg Committee of this party.
"Liberation of Labor"(1883 – 1903) - the first Russian Marxist group founded in 1883 in Geneva by G.V. Plekhanov and other former members of the “Black Redistribution” (P.B. Axelrod, V.I. Zasulich, L.G. Deich), who fled abroad.
They announced their attempt to publish the “Library of Contemporary Socialism.” The group was engaged in the translation, publication and dissemination of the works of Marx and Engels in Russia (see the diagram “The Labor Movement in Russia and the Beginning of the Spread of Marxism”). She also published especially for workers the “Workers' Library” - a series of popular brochures on pressing special issues, introducing them to the labor movement in the West. Over the 20 years of the group's existence, it published 250 translations, as well as original Marxist works by Plekhanov himself. In Russia, where Marxism was brought from the West without sufficient consideration of the uniqueness of its socio-economic and ethnocultural situation, there was a problem of finalizing this teaching and conveying its main provisions to Russian social democrats. This is precisely the merit of the “Emancipation of Labor” group, and, first of all, of Plekhanov himself. It is also important to note the consistent struggle of this Marxist group with the ideology of populism.
The works of G.V. are most widely known in Russia. Plekhanov’s “Socialism and Political Struggle” (1883), “Our Differences” (1885), which promoted the ideas of Marxism with extensive criticism of populist views. Criticizing the populists, Plekhanov argued that the peasants were incapable of revolution. Many Russian Social Democrats learned Marxism from his works. At the same time, the group did not play a decisive organizational role in the formation of the Social Democratic Party in Russia; it only prepared the ground for broader Social Democratic associations.
RSDLP – Russian Social Democratic Labor Party(see diagrams “Formation of political parties in Russia” and “Social Democrats”). Formally, the creation of the party was proclaimed at the founding congress in Minsk in 1898. The congress was attended by 9 delegates from the St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Ekaterinoslav branches of the Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class, the Workers' Newspaper group and the Pan-European Workers' Union in Russia and Poland "(After the congress, eight of the nine congress participants were arrested).
The Congress elected a Central Committee and proclaimed the creation of the RSDLP. After the congress, the Manifesto of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party was released. The “Manifesto” noted that the Russian working class “is completely deprived of what its foreign comrades freely and calmly enjoy: participation in government, freedom of oral and printed speech, freedom of unions and meetings,” it was emphasized that these freedoms are a necessary condition in the struggle of the working class "for its ultimate liberation, against private property and capitalism for socialism." The Manifesto clearly expressed the idea of the need for two stages of the revolution - bourgeois-democratic and socialist.
The party took shape organizationally at the Second Congress in Brussels (summer 1903). At the congress, the Party Program and Charter were adopted (see the article “The RSDLP Program”). The theoretical part of the program began with the Marxist thesis that production relations had reached such a level of development when capitalism became a brake on the path of further progress. The ultimate goal of social democracy (the maximum program) was proclaimed to be a social revolution, the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat for the socialist reconstruction of society. The dictatorship of the proletariat was defined as “the conquest of political power by the proletariat,” a necessary condition for social revolution. The immediate political task (minimum program) was a bourgeois-democratic revolution, which was supposed to overthrow the autocracy and establish a republic. Its tasks were divided into three groups:
1. Political demands (equal and universal suffrage, freedom of speech, conscience, press, assembly and association, election of judges, separation of church and state, full equality of all citizens, regardless of nationality and the right of nations to self-determination, abolition of estates)
2. Economic demands of workers (8-hour working day, a number of measures to improve the economic and housing situation of workers);
3. Demands on the agrarian issue (cancellation of redemption and quitrent payments and return of amounts received on them, return of plots taken from peasants during the reform of 1861, establishment of peasant committees).
The program of the RSDLP was fundamentally different from the programs of Western social democratic parties; it included the issue of the dictatorship of the proletariat. At the second congress of the RSDLP, a charter was also adopted, which established the organizational structure of the party, the rights and responsibilities of its members. The adoption of the Charter was accompanied by serious controversy and discussion, especially on the issue of party membership.
However, in general, the Charter corresponded to Lenin’s idea of the party as a centralized and disciplined organization built on the principles of “democratic centralism.” Further divisions at the congress occurred during elections to the central bodies of the party, to the editorial board of Iskra and on other issues, which subsequently led to the split of the Russian Social Democrats into the Bolsheviks led by V.I. Lenin and the Mensheviks, their main ideologist became L. Martov. However, formally, until March 1917, both continued to be considered members of the same party.
The second part of the RSDLP program (the “maximum program”) provided for the socialist reconstruction of society after the victory of the proletarian revolution. However, the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks imagined the implementation of this program differently. The Bolsheviks focused on the immediate construction of socialism after the victory of the proletarian revolution, even envisaging the possibility of the immediate “development of the bourgeois-democratic revolution into a socialist one,” without any transition period. The Mensheviks considered the imposition of socialism in an economically and culturally backward country a utopia. They believed that after the bourgeois-democratic revolution, a certain period of bourgeois development should pass, which would transform Russia from a backward to a developed capitalist country with bourgeois-democratic freedoms and institutions.
In 1906, the agrarian program of the RSDLP was revised. Now a demand was being put forward for the complete confiscation of all landowners', state, appanage, church and monastic lands. This demand was stated by the peasants themselves at two congresses of the All-Russian Peasant Union and forced a change in the agrarian program of the RSDLP at its IV congress in April 1906. However, if the peasants considered all land, including their allotment, as a national property, then the agrarian program of the RSDLP provided for the nationalization of all lands - i.e. transferring it into state ownership.
The agrarian program of the Mensheviks was proposed by the prominent agricultural economist P.P. Maslov. He was supported by G.V. Plekhanov. This was a program for the municipalization of land. Its essence was that confiscated landowners', appanage, monastic and church lands were placed at the disposal of local governments (municipalities), which then distributed it among the peasants. It was envisaged that peasants would retain their ownership of their allotment land. It was also allowed to transfer part of the land into the hands of the state to create a resettlement fund. The Menshevik program was aimed against the overbearing intervention of the state in agrarian relations. In addition, the Mensheviks pointed out that the nationalization of land “will enormously strengthen the state, turning it into the sole land owner, and the ruling bureaucracy will also strengthen.” In Soviet literature, the land municipalization program was viewed as “reactionary and utopian.” In fact, it was progressive and realistic, because it most fully reflected peasant interests.
The third congress of the RSDLP was held in London from April 12 to 27, 1905. His decisions outlined the party's strategic plan. It consisted in the fact that the proletariat, exercising its hegemony, must lead the revolutionary movement of the masses and, at the first stage of the revolution, in alliance with the entire peasantry, fight for the victory of the bourgeois-democratic revolution - for the overthrow of the autocracy and the establishment of a democratic republic, the elimination of all remnants of serfdom. The congress believed that the victory of the revolution that had begun would give the proletariat the opportunity to organize, rise politically, and acquire experience and skills in comprehensive leadership of the working people. All this ensured the transition from the bourgeois revolution to the socialist revolution. The congress recognized the organization of a nationwide armed uprising as the main task of the party and the working class.
During the revolution of 1905-1907. The number of the RSDLP increased significantly. If before the revolution there were 2.5 thousand members in the ranks of the RSDLP (according to other sources 8.6 thousand), then by the end of the revolution there were already 70 thousand. At the same time, the Mensheviks made up the majority (45 thousand). The party played a prominent role in the first Russian revolution - its representatives carried out propaganda in the army and navy, created fighting squads, and were members of workers' councils. With the decline of the revolutionary movement, the party changes tactics, legalizing methods of struggle. In connection with the establishment of the State Duma, a sharp struggle developed between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks. The tactical line of the Mensheviks was to participate in the Duma elections. They saw in parliament the path that leads to the victory of the revolution and the convening of the Constituent Assembly. The Bolsheviks put forward the tactics of an active boycott of the Duma, called for a fight against the constitutional-monarchical plans of the reaction, mobilization of all the revolutionary forces of the people and bringing the revolution to victory - to the overthrow of the autocracy. Justifying the Bolshevik tactics, V.I. Lenin wrote: “We must fight revolutionaryly for parliament, and not parliamentarily for the revolution.”
However, after the dissolution of the First Duma and the decline of the revolutionary movement, the Bolsheviks changed their attitude towards the parliamentary struggle. Of the 54 Social Democratic deputies of the State Duma of the 2nd convocation with a casting vote, there were 36 Mensheviks and 18 Bolsheviks. This was explained by the fact that a significant part of the Mensheviks, including a group of Caucasian deputies led by faction leader I.G. Tsereteli, passed with the votes of the petty bourgeoisie. Having abandoned the boycott of the State Duma, the Bolsheviks decided to use the Duma tribune in the interests of the revolution. In the Duma, they defended the tactics of the “left bloc” with the Trudoviks, while the Mensheviks advocated cooperation with the Cadets.
In the Duma of the third convocation, the Social Democrats were practically not represented; during the government repressions of 1906-1907. Some of their leaders were imprisoned, others managed to go abroad, as a result of which they did not play a decisive role in the national liberation movement until February 1917.
“History of Russia from ancient times to 1917.”
The staff of the Department of National History and Culture of Ivanovo State Energy University consisting of: Doctor of Philology. Bobrova S.P. (topics 6,7); Associate Professor of the Department of OIC Bogorodskaya O.E. (topic. 5); Doctor of History Budnik G.A. (topics 2,4,8); Doctor of History Kotlova T.B., Ph.D. Koroleva T.V. (topic 1); Candidate of Historical Sciences Koroleva T.V. (topic 3), Ph.D. Sirotkin A.S. (topics 9,10).