Nineteenth-Century Russia: Opposition to Autocracy

This new Seminar Study provides students with a rewarding introduction to nineteenth-century Russia. This period of Russian history is, of course, characterised by the flowering of an enormously rich intellectual and cultural life, the origins of which lie in the intelligentsia¿s opposition to autocratic rule. Here, Professor Offord introduces the reader to the period while focusing particularly on the rise of radicalism. The book opens with two scene-setting chapters: one looking at the political and social structure peculiar to Russia, and the second looking at the cultural and intellectual background. Then, within a chronological framework, the author examines all the great 'events' in the history of Russian radicalism - from the Decembrist Revolt in 1825, to the 'going to the people' in 1874, and the assassination of Alexander II in 1881. However, throughout the text sustained attention is given to the intellectual dimension of nineteenth-century Russian history. Professor Offord examines all the major schools of thought and looks in detail at all the great thinkers of the day, including Chaadaev, Belinsky, Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Bakunin and Tolstoy. This new book will provide essential reading for anyone studying nineteenth-century Russia. Lucid, accessible and immensely readable, it is a formidable achievement.

Table of Contents:
An introduction to the series Vll Note on referencing system Vlll Note on dates, transliteration and use of Russian terms IX Foreword XI Map: Nineteenth-century Russia Xlll PART ONE: THE HISTORICAL SETTING 1 1. THE POLITICAL AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE 1 Autocracy 1 Nobility and service 2 Serfdom and social backwardness 3 2. CULTURAL AND INTELLECTUAL LIFE 7 Westernization 7 The intelligentsia 9 PART TWO: PHASES OF OPPOSITION 12 3. THE AGE OF ALEXANDER I (1801-25) 12 The 'fine beginning of Alexander's days' 12 The Decembrist Revolt 13 4. THE AGE OF NICHOLAS I (1825-55) 20 Russian culture in the age of Nicholas 20 Chaadaev's 'Philosophical Letter' 23 Slavophilism 25 Liberal Westernizers 29 Belinsky 33 Herzen 37 The Petrashevtsy 41 VI Contents 5. INTELLECTUAL REVOLT (1855-c. 1868) 44 The effects and aftermath of the Crimean War 44 Conservative nationalist thought in the 1850s and 1860s 48 Russian liberalism after the Crimean War 50 Radical thought: Chernyshevsky 55 Radical thought: Dobroliubov, Pisarev and the arts 59 Seditious literature and revolutionary groups in the 1860s 62 6. THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT IN THE 1870s 66 Radical literature and thought, 1868-73 66 Lavrov 68 Bakunin 70 Tkachov 72 The 'going to the people' 75 Land and Liberty 78 The People's Will, 1879-81 81 7. OPPOSITION AFTER 1881 85 Tolstoy 85 Plekhanov and the 'Emancipation of Labour' Group 88 Revolutionary groups in the 1880s 92 Political movements in the 1890s 97 PART THREE: ASSESSMENT 102 PART FOUR: DOCUMENTS 106 Bibliography 126 Index