Abstract: Life and customs of the 19th century. Life and customs of the 19th century Report on life and customs of the 19th century

How did people live when there was no Internet, television, microwave oven or refrigerator? What kind of housing did they have, how was it arranged and decorated? What clothes did peasants and nobles wear? And what did people of the lower and upper classes prepare for breakfast, lunch and dinner? And finally, what was it like, the family of the first half of the 19th century? What family traditions were observed then? You will learn the answers to these and other questions when you study the lesson “Life and customs of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century.”

Rice. 2. Window with a bull bubble instead of glass ()

Rice. 3. Mica window ()

The city houses of the nobility were more like palaces(Fig. 4). Such houses were built of stone, were most often multi-story and decorated with bas-reliefs, columns, statues, and cornices. Russian nobles even tried to copy stone houses on their country estates, covering their wooden buildings with a special layer of plaster.

Rice. 4. Noble house of the first half of the 19th century. ()

The interior decoration also varied greatly. In peasant and bourgeois houses, the most important place was near the stove (Fig. 5). Food was prepared there, and you could also warm up by the stove on cold days. For nobles, one room was not enough, and the main role in their houses was played by the second floor, where receptions and balls were held (Fig. 6).

Rice. 5. Russian stove ()

Rice. 6. The nobleman’s living room, where balls were held ()

In clothing, the Russian population followed traditions that had developed back inXVIIIV. Working people, burghers, commoners wore common European clothes, but with features of Russian folk costume. Thus, blouse shirts were in use, worn untucked, belted with a belt or a wide belt (Fig. 7). In winter they wore sheepskin coats and sheepskin coats. Winter hats consisted mainly of dried wool: the so-called. sinners, which had a cylindrical shape (Fig. 8). Instead of boots and bast shoes, traditional Russian felt boots were worn in winter.

Rice. 7. Peasant in a shirt-shirt ()

Rice. 8. Sinner - peasant’s hat ()

The attire of the aristocracy and high society has changed more. If for the second half of the 18th century. The clothing of the nobles was characterized by lush outfits, then in the first half of the 19th century. they became more modest (Fig. 9). Increasingly, people in military uniforms began to appear at court. Nicholas I introduced a special suit for officials.

Rice. 9. Noble clothing of the first half of the 19th century ()

The main food item in the first halfXIXV. the peasants still had bread. People often cooked jelly and porridge from millet, peas, and buckwheat. We ate a lot of vegetables: beets, cabbage, carrots, turnips, radishes and other vegetables. Finally, potato dishes were held in high esteem by the peasants. The poor consumed meat very rarely. This was explained not only by the poor income of the peasant population, but also by the abundance of church posts. But people ate fish in abundance. You could also find eggs and dairy products on the tables. The main drinks were bread and beet kvass, beer, and sbiten (a hot drink made with honey and spices). The culture of tea drinking gradually developed. Thus, the presence of a samovar or tea utensils in the house was considered a sign of the wealth of the owners (Fig. 10). For dessert, or “snacks,” they ate berries and fruits, and less often jam.

Rice. 10. Painting “At the samovar” (V.F. Stozharov) ()

The upper strata of the population preferred not traditional Russian cuisine, but European(especially French). In the diet of the Russian nobility of the first half of the 19th century. included products such as chocolate, biscuits, and oriental sweets. A self-respecting nobleman tried to start a wine cellar in his house.

The family at this time was a fairly large group. It was considered normal to have at least five children (Fig. 11). And if more than half of the children were male, then the family was rich, since it had more workers. Among the main family rituals, weddings, baptisms and funerals stood out. Young people usually got married between the ages of 20 and 25, and girls got married between the ages of 18 and 22. The blessing of the church was mandatory; without this, the marriage was considered invalid.

Rice. 11. Painting “Peasant Family” ()

In general, the first half of the 19th century. in Russia, this is a time when Western European traditions and customs are increasingly penetrating the life of society. At the same time, Russian traditions and customs are preserved. All this led to the creation of a new, distinctive tradition of the Russian Empire.

Bibliography

1. Anisimov E.V., Kamensky A.B. Russia in the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries: History. Document. - M., 1994.

2. Lazukova N.N., Zhuravleva O.N. Russian history. 8th grade. - M.: “Ventana-Graf”, 2013.

3. Lotman Yu. Conversations about Russian culture. Life and traditions of the Russian nobility (XVIII - early XIX centuries). - St. Petersburg: 1994.

4. Lyashenko L.M. Russian history. 8th grade. - M.: “Drofa”, 2012.

Homework

1. Tell us about peasant and noble architecture of the first half of the 19th century. How did the external and internal decoration of the lower and upper classes differ?

2. Why do you think the clothing style of the aristocracy changed more during this period than that of the poor?

3. Why were weddings, baptisms and funerals so important for peasants?

LIFE AND CUSTOMS OF RUSSIA 19TH CENTURY

PREPARED BY AN 8TH CLASS STUDENT:

BARINOV ALEXEY

• The house consisted of several rooms: an upper room, a light room (usually in the houses of wealthy peasants and townspeople) - with many windows.
• Depending on the wealth of the owners, the houses were decorated with carvings, had drainpipes, shutters, etc. Since glass was very expensive, instead of glass windows in the huts of the peasants, they stretched a bull bladder.

• Class differences were most clearly manifested in clothing. True, Catherine’s times with the precious clothes of the courtiers protruding into the past were becoming a thing of the past.

• Since ancient times, our ancestors have used a rich range of plant and animal foods: rye bread, porridge and jelly made from millet, buckwheat, and oats. They ate cabbage, beets, onions, garlic, and potatoes became increasingly common. They made cabbage soup and made jacket potatoes.
• The upper strata of society preferred European cuisine. Coffee, cocoa, oriental sweets, biscuits, French, German, and Spanish wines became integral food products.

LEISURE AND CUSTOMS

• The only things common to the entire population are church holidays with their rituals and traditions that are common to everyone. But here, too, the differences were obvious. At Christmas, Christmas trees with gifts, masquerades, and balls were obligatory. For the poor, folk festivals and caroling were a common thing these days - the performance of songs and poems, followed by refreshments or gifts to the participants in the carols.

FAMILY AND FAMILY RITES

• The family united, as a rule, representatives of two generations - parents and children. Such a family usually represented a large group. Often there were 7-9 children in a family. If more than half of the children were boys, then such families were considered wealthy - they had many workers.
• Among the new rituals is a wedding. Boys usually got married at the age of 24 - 25 years, and girls at the age of 18 - 22 years. A marriage must receive a blessing during a church wedding.

costume, jewelry, everyday life, customs, life

Annotation:

Russia 19th century In terms of social composition, it presents a motley picture. The capital's bourgeoisie, large factory owners, financiers, whose way of life and customs were subject to reformation back in the days of Peter I and Catherine II, join the noble aristocracy. Provincial merchants and townspeople differ from the aristocracy in their taste and costume.

Article text:

The daily life of Russians at the beginning and first half of the 19th century was very different. Residents of cities and industrialized areas of the country could talk about serious and noticeable changes. Life in the remote province, in the village in particular, went on basically as before. Much depended on the class and property status of people, their place of residence, religion, habits and traditions.

At the end of the 18th century, romanticism arose, and, especially after the works of J.-J. Rousseau, it becomes accepted to strive for nature, for the “naturalness” of morals and behavior. “Unnatural” fashions begin to evoke a negative attitude, and “naturalness” becomes the ideal, examples of which were sought in the female figures of antiquity or in the “theatricalized” peasant life. The clothes are now simple: there are no more luxurious skirts with hoops, no corsets, no heavy brocade. Women's clothing is made from lightweight fabric. A shirt with a very high waist seems “natural” to defenders of the cult of Nature.

The first gesture of rebellion, as often happened in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, was made by a woman. In the portraits of this time we see how a new style of dressing was combined with naturalness, simplicity of movements, and a lively facial expression. Thus, in V. Borovikovsky’s portrait of M.I. Lopukhina, it is by no means accidental that the background, instead of the then usual bust of the empress or a magnificent architectural structure, became ears of rye and cornflowers. The girl and nature are correlated in their naturalness. Dresses appeared that later became known as Onegin dresses, although they came into fashion long before the publication of Eugene Onegin.

Along with the change in clothing style, hairstyles also change: women (like men) refuse wigs - here, too, “naturalness” wins. The change in tastes also affected cosmetics (as well as everything in general that changed a woman’s appearance). The Enlightenment ideal of simplicity sharply reduces the use of paints. Paleness (if not natural, then created with great skill!) has become an obligatory element of female attractiveness.

The beauty of the 18th century is full of health and is valued for her corpulence. People of that time thought that a plump woman was a beautiful woman. It is a large, plump woman who is considered the ideal of beauty - and portrait painters, often sinning against the truth, bring those being treated closer to the ideal. Giving preference to curvaceous shapes, one treats appetite accordingly. A woman of that time eats a lot and is not ashamed of it. With the approach of the era of romanticism, the fashion for health ends. Now she seems beautiful and begins to like her pallor - a sign of the depth of her heartfelt feelings. Health seems to be something vulgar... A woman of the era of romanticism should be pale, dreamy, sadness suits her. The romantic combination of the “angelic” and the “devilish” is also part of the norm of female behavior.

In Russia since the 19th century. Fashion magazines begin to be published regularly (Moscow Mercury, Modny Vestnik, General Fashion Magazine, Fashion Store), as well as art and literary magazines Library for Reading, Sovremennik, featuring French models. Luxurious toilets of the Russian aristocracy are still brought from Paris or sewn according to European fashion patterns. The famous St. Petersburg and Moscow sewing workshops “Lomanov”, “Mrs. Olga”, “Brizak”, “Ivanova”, “Shanso” were operating successfully during this period. The paintings of Russian artists of the 19th century and fashion magazines indicate that the costume of the Russian aristocracy strictly followed the general European development in time and form.

In the 30s further pomp and pomp of Russian court etiquette and costume is established. It is a kind of echo of the brutal reaction in the public life of Russia after the massacre of the Decembrists in 1825. Tsar Nicholas I, by decree of February 27, 1834, established a special form of Russian court costume. Fashionable French forms are mechanically combined with Russian ornaments of gold and silver embroidery and decoration with jewelry. The purpose of this pseudo-Russian style is to present the tsarist autocracy as an exponent of popular interests. Gold embroidery workshops were opened in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where ceremonial palace toilets were embroidered, the cost of which exceeded 20-25 thousand gold rubles.

Never has any fashion been as sophisticated in terms of jewelry as the fashion of the 19th century: tiaras, combs, ferronnieres, earrings, necklaces, brooches, bracelets, rings - all this is not a complete list of items necessary when creating a costume. The costume is designed to create a certain figurative impression, and jewelry plays a significant role in this. Like the entire costume, jewelry changed depending on fashion, and the manner of its use was consistent with the purpose of the costume. Their number and shape are always clearly visible in portraits, for jewelry was the class, family, and personal pride of rich people and the subject of careful reproduction by artists.

Jewelry was divided into ceremonial, which always had more stones (hair parures, combs, earrings, necklaces, tiaras, chokers, bracelets, rings, buckles), ordinary ones - for visits and small receptions at home (earrings, brooches, bracelets, chains, rings), and, finally, such everyday jewelry as brooches with Florentine mosaics, earrings with semi-precious stones, and other inexpensive items were worn every day.

Eclecticism, a mixture of different artistic styles, which begins in the 40-60s, especially emphasizes the return to Rococo. Blue, white, lemon satin fabrics, woven with bouquets of flowers and embroidered with rocaille patterns, fluffy crinoline skirts, headdresses and hairstyles are reminiscent of the brilliant marquises of the times of Louis XV. The Art Nouveau style in Russian costume is reflected in the female portraits of Repin and V. Serov. The costumes, curved with rigid corsets and bustles, create a mysterious female appearance, detached from real life.

Russia 19th century In terms of social composition, it presents a motley picture. The capital's bourgeoisie, large factory owners, financiers, whose way of life and customs were subject to reformation back in the days of Peter I and Catherine II, join the noble aristocracy. Provincial merchants and townspeople differ from the aristocracy in their taste and costume. The main feature of the costume of merchants and townspeople is the combination of the forms of Russian folk dress with elements of European fashion, but, as a rule, far behind in time.

The class character of Russian costume of the 19th century. perfectly conveyed in Fedotov’s famous film “The Major’s Matchmaking.” Here is a matchmaker in a bright jacket of a bourgeois woman from the 40s, and a father - a merchant in a long frock coat, and a mother - a merchant in a rich bright silk dress with an invariable shawl on her shoulders, and a maid in the clothes of a city commoner, and the bride herself in a crinoline dress made of French silk, also with a lace shawl.

Nobility. In the first half of the 19th century, the theme of the wealth of the nobles turned out to be closely connected with the theme of their ruin. The debts of the capital's nobility reached astronomical figures. One of the reasons was the idea that had taken root since the time of Catherine II: true noble behavior presupposes a willingness to live beyond one’s means. The desire to “reduce income with expenses” became characteristic only in the mid-30s. But even then, many remembered with sadness about the fun times of the past.

The debts of the nobility grew for another reason. It had a strong need for free money. The income of the landowners consisted mainly of the products of peasant labor. Life in the capital required hard cash. Landowners for the most part did not know how to sell agricultural products, and were often simply ashamed to do so. It was much easier to go to a bank or lender to borrow or mortgage an estate. It was assumed that for the money received, the nobleman would acquire new estates or increase the profitability of old ones. However, as a rule, the money was spent on building houses, balls, and expensive outfits.

In the first half of the century, noble children received home education. Usually it consisted of studying two or three foreign languages ​​and the initial mastery of basic sciences. Teachers most often hired foreigners, who in their homeland served as coachmen, drummers, actors, and hairdressers.

Private boarding schools and state schools contrasted home education. Most Russian nobles traditionally prepared their children for the military field. From the age of 7-8, children were enrolled in military schools, and upon completion they entered the higher cadet corps in St. Petersburg. The government considered evasion of service reprehensible. In addition, service was a component of noble honor and was associated with the concept of patriotism.

The home of the average nobleman in the city was decorated at the beginning of the 19th century with Persian carpets, paintings, mirrors in gilded frames, and expensive mahogany furniture. In the summer, the nobles who retained their estates left the stuffy cities. Village manor houses were of the same type and consisted of a wooden building with three or four columns at the front porch and a pediment triangle above them. In winter, usually before Christmas, the landowners returned to the city. Convoys of 15-20 carts were sent to the cities in advance and carried supplies: geese, chickens, pork hams, dried fish, corned beef, flour, cereals, butter.

The first half of the 19th century was a time of searching for “European” alternatives to ancient morals. They were not always successful. The interweaving of “Europeanism” and customary ideas gave the life of the nobility features of bright originality and attractiveness.

The clothing of the nobility acquired features of austerity and was freed from the obsessive complexity of details. At the beginning of the 19th century, light ball gowns and “Danque” hairstyles came into fashion. Dresses were worn over a cambric shirt or pink tights so that the figure was visible through the fabric.

In Russia, such dresses were in use until the War of 1812. Fashionistas wore anklets with translucent dresses, one on the ankle and the other above the knee. “Moscow Mercury” wrote in 1803 that the main thing in a suit is the outline of the body. If a woman’s legs are not clearly shaped from her shoes to her torso, then we can assume that she doesn’t know how to dress or wants to be distinguished by her strangeness. The most typical and integral accessory of a woman's toilet of that time was a shawl, which was sometimes pinned with a brooch. The brooch, which came into fashion in Russia back in the 18th century, became the most common decoration in the 19th century. The desire to give a woman the appearance of an antique statue that served as the ideal of beauty did not allow for a large amount of decoration. In the very first years of the 19th century, it was considered bad form to wear a lot of jewelry even to balls. At this time, diamond-cut steel jewelry came into fashion - buckles, buttons, brooches, bracelets.

From 1806 to 1809, women of the world were especially fond of jewelry. They wore rings on all fingers, for several hours at a time, with colorful enamel caps. Heavy pendants of earrings weighed down the ears, and a mass of bracelets of various shapes covered the hands. Hairstyles, as required by the style of the dresses, were decorated with tiaras, gold hoops, wreaths of artificial flowers and gold ears, and gold and silver oak or laurel leaves. But the neck and bare shoulders remained unadorned. One of the most striking manifestations of fashion of this time was the fascination with carved gemstones. It passed through many European countries and captured Russia, where artistic stone carving became an independent type of applied art. Miniature sculpture in stone conquered Russian society. Cameos—relief gems—were created by the capital's best jewelers; many cameos were brought from abroad. Among the imported items were not only works by modern masters, but also unique antique finds. Cameos for some time eclipsed diamonds and expensive gems. They were collected and used to decorate tiaras, necklaces, pins, buckles, and brooches. Cameos were used to make bracelets and entire sets of jewelry. To create cameos, stones of different colors and transparency were used. Layered agates and onyxes were very popular, in which the artist combined sculptural and pictorial means of representation. In small jewelry such as tie pins, cameos were the main and only detail of the artistic design. A thin gold or silver frame served an essentially utilitarian function, helping to secure the stone and connect it to the hairpin.

Since the middle of the 19th century. In Russia, a critical attitude of a certain part of society towards blind imitation of Western customs and fashion appears. It covered wide circles of the nobility and intelligentsia.

Slavophiles, who rejected everything European, widely promoted a return to pre-Petrine Russian clothing. Many of them are in the 40s and 50s. They put on Russian kosovorotka shirts, undershirts, and tucked their trousers into their boots. This thoughtless imitation of the external forms of antiquity gave birth to the fashion for the “Russian style” in clothing.

Officers and bureaucracy. The problem of material support became the most important one for officers in the first half of the 19th century. Officer salaries generally grew, but at a slower rate than for food and services.

At the beginning of the 19th century, most of the officers owned land and other property. His salary was therefore not his only source of income. By the middle of the century the situation had changed. Elements of social protection appeared: pensions, provision for fallen officers, etc.

The officers satisfied cultural needs without incurring additional expenses. The officers' meeting occupied the most important place in his daily life. Here the officers spent most of their free time, got to know each other, and celebrated holidays. The regiment commander regularly gave balls and dinner parties. On other days, officers stationed in a town or city were invited to balls at the local noble assembly.

Camping life, service in conditions unsuitable for normal life, in remote areas, frequent moving from city to city were not conducive to starting a family. Having decided to get married, the officer most often retired “due to domestic circumstances.”

The financial situation of the bureaucrats was even more difficult.

The Institute of Clerical Servants was the initial stage of the official service, through which the bulk of future officials had to pass. At the same time, the length of stay in it was determined by origin and education.

Entry into service in a civil department was determined by three conditions: class origin, age, and level of knowledge.

By “right of origin” the following were allowed to enter the civil service: children of hereditary and personal nobles, children of priests and deacons of both Orthodox and Uniate faiths, as well as children of Protestant pastors and merchants of the first guild. In addition to these categories, children of clerks who did not have a rank, as well as children of court servants, postmen and other lower postal servants, foremen and apprentices of factories and factories, were allowed to enter the service.

The situation of people who were on salary was aggravated by the continuous fall in the exchange rate of banknotes: less and less paper money in silver was given for the ruble. The working day of a clerical employee exceeded ten or more hours. The work was usually purely mechanical. They had to rewrite papers in the mornings and evenings by candlelight, on which the authorities mercilessly skimped. Loss of vision was a common illness for most employees. Malnutrition, stuffy offices, fear of superiors led to tuberculosis (consumption) and nervous diseases.

The bureaucrats tried in their own way to make up for the lack of funds, robbing petitioners, extorting bribes, committing forgery and other crimes. The entertainment of the overwhelming majority of officials was very unpretentious.

At the beginning of the 19th century, civil service among the nobles was not considered honorable. Thus, the author of a book dedicated to the centenary of the state chancellery wrote about this: “In the concepts of that time, the civil service did not enjoy much sympathy at all, the nicknames “prikazny”, “ink soul”, “nettle seed”, etc., were in common use since the times of Sumarokov and Fonvizin, clearly evidenced a disdainful attitude towards people, who, however, were entrusted with important state affairs. For a nobleman, joining the ranks of officials was considered inappropriate, and this view was sometimes supported by instructions from senior government officials.”

Merchants. Merchants were slower than other segments of the urban population to embrace innovations in everyday life, partly due to the traditional hostility of the “aristocracy of blood.”

The bulk of the merchants still followed the traditional way of life and methods of doing business. In the houses, strict subordination was maintained, similar to the requirements of Domostroy. In order to increase and preserve capital, merchants preferred to personally control the progress of affairs, not trusting assistants and clerks too much. They sat in their barns and shops for 8-10 hours a day. An ordinary merchant family lived on a common household, purchasing material for clothing “in pieces,” for everyone. For a long time, the cash register of an enterprise or establishment was also general, and at the end of the year the total amount of cash was withdrawn. In his private life, the merchant gravitated towards peace and comfort, surrounding himself not so much with European novelties, but with durable and conveniently crafted items of traditional everyday life.

The picture of the life of the privileged classes of Russia clearly reflects both the changes that have occurred and the inconsistency and slowness of these changes. The everyday demands and living conditions of the nobility, officers, bureaucrats, and merchants gradually became closer. But the borders, erected and artificially maintained, remained inviolable.

Peasantry and workers. Contemporary about changes in the peasant environment in the 40s. wrote this: “... rural huts are being made cleaner and tidier, peasants are no longer keeping pets in their living quarters.” These observations relate primarily to the houses of wealthy peasants. There were significant differences in clothing: the rich peasants exchanged bast shoes for boots, an army coat and rough trousers for a caftan, and corduroy pants, a felted hat for a cap.

The peasants ate mainly vegetables grown in their own gardens. In the first half of the 19th century, a peasant consumed three pounds of bread a day. Potatoes had not yet become one of the most important crops; only 1.5% of the sown area was allocated to it. Not many of the peasants could enjoy pies, jellies or noodles. Kalach was considered a delicacy, gingerbread was considered a real gift.

Under the influence of the townspeople among the villagers he received in the first half of the 19th century. widespread tea drinking. In cities at this time, tea drinking developed in various forms: drinking tea in taverns, homemade treats for guests, and, finally, a favorite family meal, without which they did not start the day or go to bed. The tea drinking procedure itself developed in Russia according to Western European, and not according to Eastern, model. They drank tea from samovars and cups at an ordinary dinner table, mostly black, not green, without various additives so characteristic of eastern peoples. Coffee is also gaining popularity in some places.

Widespread consumption of potatoes has become a new phenomenon in the everyday life of Russians. By the middle of the 19th century. it has taken a prominent place among other everyday foods.

The development of otkhodnichestvo influenced the life of the village. The otkhodniks, albeit in a distorted form at times, introduced their fellow villagers to urban customs and way of life. Rural youth were especially quick to pick up on innovations. Interest in dancing increased; On holidays, simple carousels were installed in villages and booths were erected for puppet shows.

The lifestyle of the factory people of Russia was just taking shape. It was a homeless, camp life, unsettled, creepy. The workers were subject to strict instructions from their bosses, who tried to regulate not only their working hours, but also their daily lives. The workers lived in multi-story barracks, in small rooms on the sides of a through corridor.

The workers' table was poor; porridge and bread helped out. The mortality rate was twice the national average. The literate were as rare among them as among the peasants; of all the entertainments, only the tavern and the tavern were available to them. There was no factory labor legislation. The manufacturer and local authorities were all-powerful in dealing with the working people.

In the last third of the 19th century. The costume of factory workers is also formed. For men - dark blouses, surrounded by a belt or sash, vests, jackets, trousers tucked into boots. For women, pairs: a sundress and a jacket made of the same fabric, a head scarf, a shoulder scarf, and an apron. Festive clothing followed the generally accepted fashion, but was without bustles and drapes on the skirt.

Chintz and other factory-made cotton fabrics were used for everyday clothing, and inexpensive silk, half-silk and half-woolen fabrics were used for festive clothing.

European-style utensils, in particular porcelain and earthenware, are increasingly penetrating the everyday life of the ordinary population of towns and villages. Wooden spoons in cities are being largely replaced by metal ones, and in everyday life there were spoons of different sizes and purposes: tea spoons, dessert spoons, table spoons. Special table knives and forks appeared. True, the fork even in the middle of the 19th century. was not a very familiar and somewhat aristocratic subject. All noted innovations were a consequence of the socio-economic and cultural processes that took place during the period under review.

Life in cities. Noticeable changes took place in the first half of the 19th century. in the everyday life of the Russian population, especially city dwellers. City streets quickly began to be lined with large stone houses. According to F.F. Vigel, in the center of St. Petersburg, “philistine three- and four-story houses on all the streets grew by leaps and bounds.” The vast Zaryadye area in the central part of Moscow, which burned to the ground in 1812, was quickly built up with two- and three-story stone houses. The formerly wooden merchant Zamoskvorechye began to be dressed in stone. By the middle of the 19th century. There were stone residential buildings in most cities. A new type of housing is becoming widespread (mainly in large cities) - an apartment building, which usually included many similar apartments in several rooms with separate entrances; they were rented out. The number of individual outbuildings in cities is decreasing: stables, sheds, bathhouses, drying sheds, etc., which was associated with the development of trade, transport, and urban management.

City streets became busier. The nature of folk festivals and mass entertainment changed. Crowded celebrations in gardens and parks, squares and boulevards became more frequent. In Moscow, for example, in the 20s. XIX century Neskuchny Garden and Petrovsky Park became popular vacation spots. In Neskuchny Garden, in the “air theatre”, the predecessor of the later “green theatres”, performances were staged. Petrovsky Park was famous for its “voxal”, where concerts were given. Noisy Easter festivities brought together representatives of different classes in a vast wasteland, where Novinsky Boulevard was later laid out. The residents of St. Petersburg also loved the noisy “gulbischas”. Here they were usually held on Sennaya Square, on Tsaritsyn Meadow or in Yekateringof. The festive crowd amazed observers with the pomp and diversity of their outfits. This diversity “was generated in particular by the mixture of traditional and new clothes.

LITERATURE

1. L.M. Lyashenko History of Russia XIX century: ed. DROFA, M., 2002
2. Eroshkin E.P. History of state institutions of pre-revolutionary Russia. Ed. 2nd., -M., 1976. 346 p.
3. History of Russia from ancient times to the second half of the 19th century Course of lectures. Part 1. Ed. Academician Lichman B.V. Ural State those. un - t, Ekaterinburg, 1995.
4. Klyuchevsky V. O. Op. in 9 volumes. M., 1989. T. V.
5. Poznansky V.V. Essay on the formation of Russian national culture. First half of the 19th century M., 1975.
6. Shepelev L.E. The hat must have galloon // Rodina. 1996. No. 7. pp. 49-52.
7. Troitsky S.M. Russian absolutism and nobility in the 18th-19th centuries. Formation of bureaucracy, M., 1974.

1. FEATURES OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF RUSSIAN CULTURE

Culture is the most important component of social life. Like any historical phenomenon, it reflects the changes that occur in society in a certain era - in social relations, ideological views, aesthetic ideas, moral concepts. At the same time, culture also preserves national traditions; it most fully reflects the national character and national self-awareness of the people.

The main figures of Russian culture of the first half of the 19th century. were representatives of the noble intelligentsia. She was greatly influenced by the socio-political thought of the Age of Enlightenment both in Russia and abroad. Especially great is the merit in this of Russian writers D.I. Fonvizin, A.N. Radishchev, N.I. Novikov, educators at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries. and the Decembrists. In serf Russia, access for the working masses to knowledge and exposure to high cultural values ​​was difficult. The most favorable material and social conditions for obtaining education and cultural development were enjoyed by the privileged classes, primarily the nobility. This largely explains the fact that most of the outstanding Russian writers, poets, composers and scientists of that time belonged to the nobility. But the class origin and position of a figure in literature, science and art is not yet a determining factor in the content and direction of his work. Advanced Russian culture, although represented predominantly by nobles, opposed class inequality, serfdom of the peasantry, autocratic tyranny and bureaucratic bureaucracy. Even writers who adhered to conservative political views, with their deep, realistic depiction of life, exposed the vices of the contemporary socio-political order and called for their change.

Undoubtedly, serfdom, which kept the peasantry in darkness and downtroddenness, autocratic tyranny and censorship persecution, which suppressed any living, free thought, and finally, the general economic lag of serf Russia from Western European countries stood in the way of social and cultural progress. And yet Russia in the 19th century. made a truly giant leap in its cultural development. The 19th century was rightly called the “golden age” of Russian culture, which occupied an outstanding place in global culture. How can we explain this phenomenon?

An important factor that contributed to the development of Russian national culture was its close communication and interaction with the culture of many countries and peoples. For the first half of the 19th century. characterized by a significant expansion of cultural ties between Russia and other countries. Personal contacts between representatives of Russian culture and foreign writers, scientists, artists, and thinkers have also increased significantly. Many Russian writers lived abroad for a long time; As a rule, most Russian scientists and artists went on internships to Germany, Italy and other Western European countries. Russian culture accepted the achievements of the culture of other countries and peoples (including the peoples that were part of the multinational Russian Empire), without losing its originality and, in turn, exerting a great influence on the development of the culture of other peoples.

Finally, the most important factor that gave a strong impetus to the development of Russian culture was the “thunderstorm of the twelfth year.” The rise of patriotism in connection with the Patriotic War of 1812 contributed not only to the growth of national self-awareness and the formation of Decembrism, but also to the development of Russian national culture, which was emphasized by V. G. Belinsky, who wrote: “The year 1812, which shook all of Russia, aroused the people’s consciousness and people's pride." The very theme of the War of 1812 occupied a prominent place in works of literature, painting, and architecture.

Cultural and historical process in Russia in the first half of the 19th century. has its own characteristics. There is a noticeable acceleration in its pace, due to the factors noted above. At the same time, on the one hand, there was a differentiation (or specialization) of various spheres of cultural activity (especially in science), and on the other, a complication of the cultural process itself, i.e., greater mutual influence of various areas of culture, for example, philosophy and literature, drama and music, painting and architecture, the latest scientific and technical achievements were used in various spheres of the cultural process.

On the peculiarities of the cultural development of Russia in the first half of the 19th century. can be attributed to the process of democratization of culture. It manifested itself in the fact that not only representatives of the nobility gradually became cultural figures (although they continue to occupy a leading position), but also people from unprivileged classes, including from among the serf peasantry, but mainly from commoners. The democratization of culture was also manifested in a change in the themes of works of literature, painting, and music: from about the 30s to the 40s of the 19th century. They already contain stronger themes related to the depiction of the life of ordinary people, “poor people.” The democratically minded raznochinsky intelligentsia acts as a representative of the interests of the common people and focuses its work on the general reader and viewer from the unprivileged sections of the population. Of course, the degree of “democratization” of culture even for the 30s and 40s of the 19th century. should not be exaggerated. We are talking only about the very beginning of this process, which will receive significant development already in the post-reform period, when the raznochinets will become a leading figure in the socio-political and cultural life of Russia, and the theme of the “peasant” and the life of the village will be especially widely represented in literature and art. In the first half of the 19th century. and the expansion of the circle of “consumers” of cultural values ​​occurred mainly at the expense of commoners, because the bulk of the working people remained illiterate.

2. LITERATURE AND ART

In the 19th century Literature becomes the leading area of ​​Russian culture. Many of its representatives were closely associated with the liberation movement or were themselves its leaders, propagating in their uncensored works, which were distributed in many handwritten lists (poems, pamphlets, epigrams, etc.), the ideas of the struggle against serfdom, tyranny and tyranny. The spirit of opposition and critical spirit was also inherent in censored literature, especially the literature of critical realism, which thus became one of the active social forces.

For Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century. characterized by a rapid change of different aesthetic trends: classicism of the 18th century. for a short time it is replaced by sentimentalism, which then gives way to romanticism, and realism replaces romanticism. The change in these literary trends occurred within one or two generations, so that some writers paid tribute to different trends in their work.

Sentimentalism in Russian literature became widespread at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries. The works of writers of this movement contrasted wealth and poverty, urban civilization and the idyll of rural life; sometimes anti-serfdom motifs were also heard. The most prominent representative of sentimentalism in Russian literature was N. M. Karamzin. Karamzin the writer became widely famous thanks to his story “Poor Liza” (1790). In it and his other works of the 90s of the 18th century. Karamzin lovingly depicted rural life, the way of life and customs of ordinary “villagers”, and painted an idyllic picture of the relationship between landowners and peasants. The literary and social magazine “Bulletin of Europe”, published by Karamzin since 1802, gained great popularity. Karamzin's merits are significant in the development of the Russian literary language, in liberating it from the archaism characteristic of classicism, in bringing it closer to living, colloquial speech.

The “Thunderstorm of the Twelfth Year” and subsequent events of global significance contributed to the establishment of a new literary movement of romanticism in Russia. The formation and development of Russian romanticism was significantly influenced by Western European romanticism, especially German, English and French. An outstanding representative of romanticism in Russian literature was the poet V. A. Zhukovsky, who in his early works also paid tribute to sentimentalism. Representatives of romanticism included the Decembrist poets K. F. Ryleev, V. K. Kuchelbecker, A. A. Bestuzhev (Marlinsky), A. I. Odoevsky. The early works of Pushkin and Lermontov were imbued with romanticism. Romanticism wore different colors. If in Zhukovsky it was full of melancholy dreams, avoidance of acute life problems, even a certain touch of mysticism, then the romanticism of the Decembrists, Pushkin and Lermontov is characterized by deep optimism, heroism, a call to fight for the ideals of freedom and the dignity of the human person, and ardent patriotism. It was this direction that prevailed in Russian romanticism in the first third of the 19th century.

In the 30s - 40s of the XIX century. Realism is established in Russian literature. Critical realism will take a dominant position in the second half of the 19th century. The formation of realism in Russian literature at the turn of the 30s - 40s of the 19th century. is associated with the names of A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, M. Yu. Lermontov, V. G. Belinsky, A. I. Herzen, and its further development in the 40s - 50s - with the beginning of the creative path of N A. Nekrasov, F. M. Dostoevsky, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, I. A. Goncharov, A. N. Ostrovsky, L. N. Tolstoy. Pushkin is rightfully considered the founder of Russian realism. His novel "Eugene Onegin", which Belinsky called "an encyclopedia of Russian life", was the highest expression of realism in the work of the great poet. Outstanding examples of realistic literature are his historical drama "Boris Godunov", the stories "The Captain's Daughter", "Dubrovsky", "Belkin's Tales", the study "The History of the Pugachev Rebellion". Pushkin’s traditions were continued by his younger contemporary and successor M. Yu. Lermontov. Lermontov's novel "A Hero of Our Time" is rightfully considered the pinnacle of Lermontov's realism, in many ways consonant with Pushkin's novel in verse "Eugene Onegin".

The accusatory tendency manifested itself with particular force in the work of N.V. Gogol, who gave Russian realism a pronounced critical orientation. Gogol is considered the founder of the so-called “natural” school in Russian literature (this term then denoted the literary direction of critical realism). 30s - 40s of the 19th century. N.G. Chernyshevsky called the “Gogol period” of Russian literature. “We all came out of Gogol’s “The Overcoat,” ” F. M. Dostoevsky figuratively remarked, referring to Gogol’s story “The Overcoat,” which had a great influence on the development of literature in this direction. The principles of critical realism found expression in the works of Herzen the fiction writer. In the novel “Who is to Blame?”, in the stories “Doctor Krupov” and “The Thieving Magpie”, he showed in a censored form how the serf system destroys talents and humiliates human dignity. In the deeply realistic plays of the great playwright A. N. Ostrovsky, who entered Russian literature in the early 50s, the “dark kingdom” of the merchants with its ignorance, tyranny and hypocrisy, the downtroddenness and hopelessness of poor people were exposed. Ostrovsky's plays also depict types of self-satisfied nobility with great accusatory and satirical force. With constant sympathy, the playwright portrays peasants, artisans, poor townspeople, and the intelligentsia.

In essence, the founder of Russian literary criticism was V. G. Belinsky, who defended the social purpose of Russian literature and advocated in his articles the establishment of the principles of realism, democracy and true nationality in it.

In the 40s and 50s, the theme of the serf village, its life and customs occupied a prominent place in Russian literature. The poverty of the dark and downtrodden serf peasant is depicted in the stories of D. V. Grigorovich “The Village” and “Anton the Miserable”, in the story “Bobyl”. A major event in Russian literature was the appearance in 1847 - 1852. cycle "Notes of a Hunter" by I. S. Turgenev. In them, Turgenev denounced the arbitrariness, cruelty and hypocrisy of the landowners. They are contrasted with serf peasants depicted with great sympathy. The sleepy and idle life of a provincial landowner is shown in I. A. Goncharov’s novel “Oblomov” (1859). “Oblomovism” has become a common noun for everything inert and immovable.

The establishment of realism was associated with the struggle for true nationality in literature as opposed to the “official nationality.” In the understanding of leading cultural figures, true nationality meant a faithful depiction of pictures of Russian life, a reflection of the characteristics of the character and destinies of the Russian people. Realist writers turned primarily to folk sources, to the treasures of folk art. From here they drew plots, even techniques for artistic depiction of reality; in their works they reflected people's aspirations and ideals. Vivid examples of this are “Ruslan and Lyudmila” and “Rusalka” by Pushkin.

The nationality of literature was also expressed in the formation of a literary language based on folk speech. First half of the 19th century is considered the time of the formation of the modern Russian literary language. To replace the ponderous language of the 18th century. a literary language came, which was formed in the struggle between supporters of the “old” and “new” style. The development of norms for the Russian literary language was associated with the increased interest of Russian writers in Russian history, folklore, and folk traditions. A huge role here was played by the classics of Russian literature I. A. Krylov, N. M. Karamzin, V. A. Zhukovsky, N. V. Gogol, but first of all A. S. Pushkin.

The formation of the principles of realism and nationality also occurred in the theater, music, and fine arts. This was largely influenced by literature.

2. LITERATURE AND ART (b)

In the history of Russian theater, as in literature, there was a change in various ideological and aesthetic ideas. For a long time, the Russian stage was dominated by the canons of classicism with its external imposingness, pomp and rhetoric, with the predominance of ancient mythological subjects in the repertoire. But already in the 20s - 30s of the 19th century. classicism in the theater was pushed aside by the romantic school, which was characterized by heroic-tragic themes, and in the performance of actors attention was paid to the inner experiences of the hero. Vivid dramatic images were created by the actor of the Maly Theater (in Moscow), the son of a serf, P. S. Mochalov. His heroes are passionate rebels who enter into a struggle with the surrounding world of lawlessness, vulgarity, slavish humiliation, for freedom and justice. The process of “moral liberation of man” of the 30s of the 19th century was clearly reflected in Mochalov’s work. Mochalov's performing style was distinguished by intense emotionality and expression. An outstanding tragic artist was V. A. Karatygin, who played at the Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. Performing roles in the tragedies of Shakespeare and Schiller, thanks to his high acting technique, practicing every gesture and intonation, he achieved a brilliant performance effect and expressiveness. Unlike Mochalov, he adhered to the traditions of classicism. V. A. Karatygin belonged to the famous artistic family of the Karatygins. His father, mother, wife and brother performed on the stage of St. Petersburg theaters.

The development of the realistic trend in Russian drama is associated with the names of Pushkin, Griboyedov, and Gogol. The Moscow Maly and St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky theaters especially contributed to its success. The Maly Theater, according to Herzen, “created truth on the Russian stage.” It was called "the second Moscow University." An outstanding Russian actor who played on the stage of the Maly Theater was the son of a serf, M. S. Shchepkin. He created his best stage images in works of Russian satirical and accusatory drama (in the plays of A. S. Griboyedov, N. V. Gogol, I. P. Kotlyarevsky, I. S. Turgenev, A. V. Sukhovo-Kobylin, A. N. Ostrovsky). In the III department, Shchepkin was considered politically unreliable because, by clearly revealing with his play the inertia, corruption and covetousness of the bureaucracy, he “undermined” the prestige of the then administrative system.

A recognized master of the realistic stage at the St. Petersburg Alexandrinsky Theater was A. E. Martynov, who played mainly in the plays of A. N. Ostrovsky and I. S. Turgenev. Martynov was an unsurpassed master of facial expressions and movement, and had a virtuosic ability to transform. With amazing skill, he conveyed the dramatic fate of the “little man” oppressed by the regime (serf servants, petty officials, apprentices), revealing their spiritual world.

A change in ideological and aesthetic directions also occurred in music. In the first half of the 19th century. There was an intensive process of introducing folk melody and Russian national themes into music. In the works of famous Russian composers of the first half of the 19th century. A. N. Verstovsky, A. A. Alyabyev, A. L. Gurilev, A. E. Varlamov (who composed more than 200 songs and romances) and especially M. I. Glinka, folk melodies are clearly heard, and songs composed by these composers and romances became deeply popular. The words of M.I. Glinka are well known: “The people create music, and we, artists, only arrange it.” Glinka established the principles of realism and nationality in Russian music. It was especially firmly established in his opera “A Life for the Tsar” (1836), in which he glorified the patriotic feat of the Kostroma peasant Ivan Susanin, who saved Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, who was elected to the kingdom. Glinka showed the greatness of Susanin’s character, his courage and fortitude.

Composers wrote songs, romances, and operas mainly based on the plots of works by Russian writers. Glinka's second opera "Ruslan and Lyudmila" (1842) was written based on the poem of the same name by A. S. Pushkin. Pushkin's "Rusalka" was the theme for the opera of the same name by another outstanding Russian composer - A. S. Dargomyzhsky. This opera, which was an example of folk musical drama, revealed the social orientation of the composer's work.

In painting there was a departure from academicism, the stronghold of which was the Imperial Academy of Arts. Academicism is characterized by biblical and mythological themes and admiration for the canons of ancient art. At the same time, it should be noted that Russian artists created many outstanding works of painting and sculpture in the spirit of academicism, and the Academy of Arts provided solid professional training. She usually sent her best students for further training in Italy. A prominent representative of the academic school in Russian painting was A. F. Bruni. His famous painting “The Brass Serpent,” which he worked on for 15 years, depicted a biblical scene - the punishment of the Jews who grumbled during their wanderings after the Egyptian captivity to God, for which God sent myriads of poisonous snakes to them. In dark tones and with great dynamism, the film conveys the horror, suffering and death of people, their despair and hopelessness.

New trends in Russian painting, which marked a departure from academicism, developed outside the walls of the Academy of Arts. The merchant's son A.G. Venetsianov, turning to the everyday genre, created at the beginning of the 19th century. a series of paintings depicting the rural life of peasants. Venetsianov is called the “father of the Russian genre.” However, in Venetsianov’s interpretation of everyday scenes, the influence of sentimentalism and the idealization of rural life are felt. These are his famous paintings “The Threshing Barn”, “On the Plowed Field”, “At the Harvest”, “The Sleeping Shepherd”, a portrait gallery of peasants. A significant role in the establishment of the “village” genre in Russian painting was played by the “Venetianov school”, a group of Venetsianov’s students, whom he taught painting on his estate Safonkovo, Vyshnevolotsk district, Tver province.

The desire to break away from the traditional forms and techniques of academicism was also demonstrated by artists who belonged to the Academy of Arts and who remained, in principle, faithful to academic art. These include the outstanding Russian artist of the first half of the 19th century. K. P. Bryullov, student and then professor at the Academy of Arts. His paintings and especially portraits reflect the artist's inclination towards realism. After graduating from the Academy of Arts in 1821, Bryullov lived and worked in Italy until 1835. The nature and art of this country inspired the artist to create many wonderful paintings (among them his painting “Italian Afternoon” is famous). There, in 1830 - 1833, Bryullov created his main work - the grandiose canvas “The Last Day of Pompeii”, which was an outstanding event in Russian fine art of that time. In it, the artist conveyed the dignity, humanism and greatness of people in conditions of a natural disaster. The picture made a tremendous impression on his contemporaries. “And the “Last Day of Pompeii” became the first day for the Russian brush,” wrote the poet E. A. Baratynsky. Bryullov created many portraits of his contemporaries. In this genre, he moved from the ceremonial to the realistic, deeply psychological portrait. A remarkable example of realistic painting in the portrait genre is Bryullov’s “Self-Portrait” (1848).

Outstanding portrait artists of the first half of the 19th century. there were O. A. Kiprensky and V. A. Tropinin. Kiprensky lived in Italy for a long time. The best portraits were painted by him at the beginning of the 19th century. In Kiprensky's portraits one can see the influence of the romantic school. Kiprensky looked for the sublime principle in a person, conveying his complex inner world of moods and experiences. His portrait of A. S. Pushkin (1827) is well known. V. A. Tropinin was the son of a serf peasant; he received freedom only at the age of 45. Tropinin's portraiture is characterized by the highest skill and spontaneity of the image, the connection between the person depicted on the canvas and the environment that surrounds him. These are his genre portraits: “Lacemaker”, “Gold Seamstress”, “Guitar Player”, etc.

A significant place in Russian painting is occupied by the work of A. A. Ivanov, a friend of N. V. Gogol. In 1831 - 1858 Ivanov lived in Italy. Ivanov’s painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People,” to which he devoted 20 years of hard work, became his life’s work. The main idea of ​​this monumental canvas is the artist’s conviction in the need for the spiritual and moral revival of humanity. Contemporaries perceived this picture as an expectation of the imminent liberation of the people. In the crowd depicted in the picture, many saw people thirsting for truth and freedom.

We find a decisive turn of Russian painting towards critical realism in the work of P. A. Fedotov, who is often called “Gogol in painting.” In small genre paintings and large canvases, Fedotov ridiculed the “dark kingdom” of the merchants, the army life of officers, the stupid arrogance and cynicism of the noble-bureaucratic world. The pinnacle of Fedotov’s realistic creativity are the paintings “Fresh Cavalier”, “Major’s Matchmaking”, “Players”, “Anchor, More Anchor!”, “Widow”. Fedotov was the predecessor of the Itinerant artists, on whom he had a great influence.

In architecture, classicism occupied a stronger position, the dominance of which continued until the 40s of the 19th century. It established itself in Russia at the end of the 18th century, replacing Baroque. A type of classicism was the Empire style, which became widespread in the first third of the 19th century. Empire style was based on the artistic heritage of imperial Rome (hence the name of this style). It is characterized by ceremonial monumentality, harmony and severity of lines. Sculpture played an important role in it, complementing the architectural design of the buildings. At that time, luxurious mansions of the nobility were erected in the Empire style, but mainly buildings for public purposes: higher government institutions, government offices, noble meetings and clubs, theaters, and churches. During these years, intensive development took place in Moscow and St. Petersburg, as well as the largest provincial cities, estates of wealthy nobles were erected, and large architectural ensembles were created. It was then that Palace, Admiralteyskaya and Senate squares in St. Petersburg, Teatralnaya in Moscow were finally formed; The construction of the central parts of Yaroslavl, Tver, Vladimir, Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod, Smolensk and other cities has been completed.

The most famous representatives of classicism in Russian architecture were A. N. Voronikhin, A. D. Zakharov, K. I. Rossi, V. P. Stasov, D. I. Gilardi. The main architectural structures of Voronikhin are the Mining Institute and the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg (completed in 1811), which are characterized by strict monumentalism. Zakharov created the famous Admiralty building (1806 - 1823), which became an important urban planning center of St. Petersburg, and the Cathedral in Kronstadt (1806 - 1817). He also built hospitals, food warehouses and shops. His work is considered the highest point in the development of the architectural style of late classicism. An outstanding master of late classicism is Carl Rossi. According to his projects in St. Petersburg in 1819 - 1834. new buildings of the Senate and Synod were erected, which completed the layout of Senate Square, the General Staff with the famous arch, which completed the design of Palace Square, the Mikhailovsky Palace (now the Russian Museum) and the Alexandrinsky Theater with the adjacent street (now the street of the architect Rossi). The architectural structures of K. Rossi are characterized by classical severity combined with pomp and lightness. Rossi's work seems to complete the dominance of classicism in Russian architecture of the first half of the 19th century.

After the fire of 1812, Moscow was intensively rebuilt. O. I. Bove, appointed in 1813 as the chief architect of the Moscow Building Commission, erects complete city ensembles in the spirit of the “Moscow Empire style”. He built the first shopping arcades on Red Square (1815), the buildings of the Bolshoi and Maly theaters (1821 - 1824). Domenico Gilardi in 1817 1819 rebuilds Moscow University, destroyed by fire. According to his design, the magnificent Lunin house was built (1823). A. A. Betancourt, together with O. I. Bove, erected the Manege building in 1817, the design of which symbolizes the feat of the Russian people in the Patriotic War of 1812.

30 - 50s of the XIX century. mark the decline of classicism in Russian architecture. Pseudo-Russian and pseudo-Gothic styles are becoming fashionable, and interest is being shown in the Byzantine style and Baroque. The creator of the eclectic Russian-Byzantine style was K. A. Ton, according to whose designs the Grand Palace (1839 - 1849) and the Armory Chamber (1844 - 1851) were erected in the Moscow Kremlin, the building of the Nikolaevskaya Railway stations in Moscow and St. Petersburg, in 1838 . construction of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow began (completed in 1883). A. P. Bryullov (brother of the artist K. P. Bryullov) cultivated pseudo-Gothic forms in architecture, A. I. Stackenschneider cultivated Baroque forms. Stackenschneider built the Grand Duke's Mariinsky (1838 - 1844) and Nikolaevsky (1853 - 1861) palaces in St. Petersburg, where the architect used different historical and architectural styles. Eclectic forms of classicism and baroque found their expression in the architecture of A. A. Montferrand. Its main buildings are St. Isaac's Cathedral (1818 1858) and the Alexander Column (1830 - 1834) in St. Petersburg.

The masses made a significant contribution to the development of material and spiritual culture. Folklore and even works of folk applied art were of a highly social nature. In caustic and satirical popular prints and small sculptural scenes, in proverbs, sayings, jokes and songs, fairy tales and parables, drunken and greedy priests, voluptuous monks, stupid and cruel bar, covetous judges were ridiculed, the intelligence and ingenuity of the common people were sung, and together with This expressed his protest against his hard lot - oppression, poverty, lack of rights. Historical songs and tales reflected the traditions of popular uprisings, their heroes Razin and Nalivaiko were sung, and folk ideas about “freedom,” universal equality and social justice were embodied. Oral folk art is an important source for studying the social psychology of the oppressed masses, their social consciousness, and popular ideas about “good and truth.”

Folk art is embodied in works of various types of artistic crafts. Miniatures of Palekh, Kholuy and Mstera, Gorodets and Khokhloma wood painting, Rostov enamel, Vologda lace, Gzhel majolica, works by Kostroma jewelers (the villages of Krasnoye and Sidorovskoye on the Volga), Arkhangelsk bone cutters, foundries and lapidaries of the Urals decorate museums even today.

A peculiar social and cultural phenomenon in Russia during the era of late feudalism is the so-called serf intelligentsia. These are serfs who have mastered special knowledge in the field of science, technology, literature and art, which became for them professional occupations that satisfied the “cultural needs” of their master. Rich nobles sent their talented boys-serfs to the Academy of Arts to train, girls to a ballet school, and started their own “serf” theaters, such as the Sheremetevs in Kuskovo and Ostankino or the Yusupovs in Arkhangelskoye near Moscow. This category of talented but disenfranchised actors, artists, architects, musicians, and poets made a significant contribution to the development of Russian culture. A prominent place in the history of Russian theatrical art was occupied by the serf actresses of the Sheremetev counts P.I. Zhemchugova and T.V. Shlykova-Granatova, and in painting and architecture by the serfs of the same landowners the Argunovs.

3. ENLIGHTENMENT. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

By the beginning of the 19th century. The general education school was represented by two-class and four-class public schools. All of them were located exclusively in cities. There were only three general education gymnasiums - in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kazan. There were also special educational institutions: soldiers' schools, for nobles - cadet and gentry corps, for children of the clergy - various types of theological schools and seminaries. By the beginning of the 19th century. higher educational institutions were Moscow University, the Mining Institute in St. Petersburg, the Moscow, St. Petersburg and Kiev Theological Academies.

The needs of the country's economic development and the increasing administrative apparatus posed the task of expanding the network of both general education and special educational institutions. In 1802, Dorpatsky was founded, in 1803, on the basis of the Main Vilna Gymnasium, Vilensky, in 1804 - 1805. on the basis of gymnasiums - Kazan and Kharkov universities. Founded in 1804, the St. Petersburg Pedagogical Institute was transformed into a university in 1819. Under Nicholas I, a new Pedagogical Institute was established in St. Petersburg. At the beginning of the 19th century. Privileged secondary educational institutions of the humanitarian direction arose - lyceums: in 1803 Demidovsky in Yaroslavl, in 1811 Tsarskoselsky (under Nicholas I, transferred to St. Petersburg and named Alexandrovsky), in 1817 Rishelievsky in Odessa and in 1820 Nezhinsky (in Nezhin, Chernigov province).

Under Nicholas I, the network of lower and secondary educational institutions was reorganized and expanded, new universities, technical schools and institutes were established. In 1832 (after the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1830 - 1831) Vilna University was closed, but in 1834 the University of St. Prince Vladimir was founded in Kyiv. At first, due to the lack of teaching staff, foreign scientists, mainly professors from German universities, were invited to universities. Most of them were devoted to science and honestly served Russia, which for some became a second homeland. They also contributed to the training of Russian university teachers. Universities had four departments (faculties): moral and political sciences (law, political economy, philosophy and theology), literature (philology, history, statistics, geography), physics and mathematics and medicine. At St. Petersburg University, instead of a medical one, there was an eastern department. Boarding houses were established at universities to prepare persons who had received home education or had graduated from district schools to enter the university.

Military education expanded, mainly in the form of closed educational institutions for nobles - cadet corps. At the beginning of the 19th century. there were 5 of them in the middle of the 19th century. - 20. In 1832, the Imperial Military Academy was founded, training officers of the General Staff, and in 1855, the Artillery and Engineering Academies.

Under Nicholas I, the foundation was actually laid for special secondary and higher technical education: the Technological Institute was opened in 1828, the Architectural School in 1830, and the School of Civil Engineers in 1842 (in 1842 both of them merged into the Construction School) , in 1835 the Land Survey Institute was founded in Moscow, and in 1842 in Belarus - the Gorygoretsk Agricultural School, transformed in 1854 into the Agricultural Institute.

At the beginning of the 19th century. the number of students in lower and secondary educational institutions was 130 thousand people, in the 30s - 245 thousand, in 1856 - 450 thousand. However, the level of education of the population still continued to remain low. At the beginning of the 19th century. there was one student for every 330 inhabitants, in the 30s - for 208, in 1856 - for 143. The village was especially lagging behind in this regard, although in the 40s rural schools began to be established in state and appanage villages, and some rich landowners set up schools on their estates. By 1854, there were 2,565 schools with 113 thousand students in the state village, and 204 schools with 7.5 thousand students in the specific village. There is no data on the landowner village. But even in the state and appanage villages, there were no more than 5 - 7% of literate peasants; judging by the descriptions of landowners' estates compiled by landowners using a questionnaire sent out in 1858, literacy among serfs did not exceed 1%. Literacy came down to mastering reading, writing and the four rules of arithmetic.

However, the level of education of the wealthy segments of the population also remained low. Merchants and townsfolk often received home training - usually from a local sexton or clerk, whose main “educational aids” were the psalter and the book of hours. But even among the nobles, only a small part graduated from universities, lyceums, gymnasiums, and cadet corps. The majority were content with home education, which varied widely in level. Although only children of nobles studied in military educational institutions and the officer corps was predominantly noble, there were no more than 15% of officers in the army who had a special military education during the Crimean War.

In the first two decades of the 19th century. noticeable progress has been made in book publishing and the development of periodicals. And subsequently, despite the harsh censorship conditions, the closure by the authorities of a number of newspapers and magazines as “seditious” in the late 1930s, book publishing and periodicals continued to develop, and the circulation of books and magazines increased. From the beginning of the 19th century. until 1850, the number of periodicals increased from 44 to 56, the titles of published books - from 143 to 700. But the growth of the press was especially noticeable in the last pre-reform decade (1850 - 1860), during which the number of periodicals increased to 2 30, and book titles - up to 2100.

Those published in the first decades of the 19th century became widely known. socio-political and literary magazines "Bulletin of Europe" (since 1802) N. M. Karamzina, "Northern Bulletin" (since 1804) N. S. Glinka, "Son of the Fatherland" (since 1812) N. I. Grecha, “The Spirit of Magazines” (since 1815), in which the Decembrists also published; later - “Telescope” by N. I. Nadezhdin, “Moscow Telegraph” by N. A. Polevoy, “Notes of the Fatherland” by A. A. Kraevsky, “Contemporary” by A. S. Pushkin. The publication of departmental and special scientific journals expanded. Newspapers were predominantly of an official departmental nature. Since 1838, “Gubernskie Gazette” began to be published in the provinces. In addition to the “official part,” they also had special “appendices,” which contained economic and ethnographic descriptions, historical essays, texts of ancient documents, and literary works. In 1830 - 1831 In St. Petersburg, the Literary Newspaper by A. A. Delvig was published, in which A. S. Pushkin, N. V. Gogol, A. V. Koltsov collaborated. In 1840 its publication was resumed. Its employees were V. G. Belinsky and young N. A. Nekrasov.

3. ENLIGHTENMENT. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (b)

In the first half of the 19th century. Russian science has achieved significant success: in mathematics, physics, chemistry, medicine, agronomy, biology, astronomy, geography, and in the field of humanities research. Science developed not only and not even so much within the walls of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The most important scientific centers were universities.

Moscow University occupied a leading place in the development of Russian science. Such prominent scientists as the founder of the first scientific school of zoologists-evolutionists K. F. Roulier, physicians E. I. Dyadkovsky, I. E. Gruzinov and A. M. Filomafitsky, and the outstanding geologist G. E. Shchurovsky taught and conducted scientific work here , agrobiologist and physicist, “father of Russian agronomy” M. G. Pavlov, astronomer D. M. Perevoshchikov - founder of the university astronomical observatory, philologist and art critic F. I. Buslaev, historians M. T. Kachenovsky, M. P. Pogodin, O. M. Bodyansky, T. N. Granovsky, S. M. Solovyov.

The great Russian mathematician P. L. Chebyshev, lawyers A. P. Kunitsyn and M. A. Balugyansky (the first rector of the university), botanist A. N. Beketov and his brother, founder of the Russian school of physical chemists N. N. worked at St. Petersburg University Beketov, economists and statisticians K.F. German and K.I. Arsenyev, historian and ethnographer V.I. Lamansky, philologist-Slavist I.I. Sreznevsky. With the founding of the Faculty of Oriental Languages ​​in 1854, St. Petersburg University became the largest center of Oriental studies.

The activities of the famous Russian astronomer V. Ya. Struve and the famous surgeon N. I. Pirogov were associated with the University of Dorpat. Scientists from the University of Dorpat contributed to the organization of geological and botanical expeditions to study the natural resources of Russia.

Kazan University was a major scientific center. The great Russian mathematician, creator of “non-Euclidean geometry” N. I. Lobachevsky (university rector), and outstanding chemists N. N. Zinin and A. M. Butlerov, who made important discoveries in the field of organic chemistry, worked here. The role of Kazan University in the spread of education among the peoples of the Volga region was great.

Significant contribution to the development of Russian science in the first half of the 19th century. Scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences also contributed. Academicians M. V. Ostrogradsky and V. Ya. Bunyakovsky made a number of major discoveries in mathematical physics and in the field of integral calculus, V. V. Petrov, E. H. Lenz and B. S. Jacobi in the doctrine of electricity, K. M .Ber - in the field of embryology. The research of Ostrogradsky and Bunyakovsky received practical application in astronomy, mechanics, and optics. The new form of transition of electrical energy into thermal energy discovered by Petrov and his invention of the electric arc, as well as Lenz's invention of the galvanometer, Jacobi's model of the electric motor and the first telegraph recording apparatus, which operated since 1832 on the telegraph line between St. Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo, were widely used in technology. In 1839, Academician V. Ya. Struve founded the Pulkovo Observatory near St. Petersburg.

On the initiative and with the participation of the Academy of Sciences at the beginning of the 19th century. numerous scientific expeditions were organized, the results of which were important geographical discoveries in the Arctic and Pacific oceans, geological, biological and ethnographic research was carried out in Siberia, the Urals, the Far East, Central Asia, the Altai and the Sayan Mountains. In 1803 - 1806 Yu. F. Lisyansky and I. F. Kruzenshtern carried out the first Russian circumnavigation, during which many new islands were discovered in the Pacific and Arctic oceans, and valuable scientific collections were collected. In 1819 - 1821 An expedition was carried out on the ships "Vostok" and "Mirny" under the command of M.P. Lazarev and F.F. Bellingshausen to the South Pole. During this voyage in 1820, Antarctica was discovered and many previously unknown islands were mapped. Marine expeditions of O. E. Kotzebue in 1815 - 1818 and 1823 - 1826, V. M. Golovnin in 1817 - 1819, F. P. Litke in 1821 - 1829, F. P. Wrangel and F. F. Matyushkina in 1820 - 1827. in the Arctic and North Pacific Oceans, the exact outlines of the coasts of North Asia and North America were established.

The center of geographical research was the Russian Geographical Society, founded in 1845, which organized a number of scientific expeditions, conducted ethnographic research in Russia and neighboring countries and peoples, had its own scientific journal "News of the Russian Imperial Geographical Society" and published many valuable geographical, ethnographic and statistical collections . In 1851, the Caucasian and Siberian departments of the Russian Geographical Society were opened, which did a lot for the economic-geographical and ethnographic study of the regions and peoples of Siberia, the Caucasus, Transcaucasia and Central Asia.

The development of the humanities, mainly historical, and the growing interest in history are a characteristic phenomenon in the cultural life of Russia and Western European countries in the first half of the 19th century. Historical science is acquiring great socio-political significance: in the study of the past, answers to pressing questions of the present were sought. The development of historical science in Russia caused the emergence of various scientific schools and directions in the interpretation of the historical process, the past and destinies of Russia, the emergence of auxiliary historical disciplines - archaeology, archaeography, paleography, numismatics, heraldry, genealogy. Historical disciplines have taken a strong place in university teaching. Historians have published numerous special studies based on the identification of new, largely archival, sources, and generalizing multi-volume works on the history of Russia and other countries, and textbooks. Widespread scientific publication of historical sources began - chronicles, historical material, memoirs, etc. The Archaeographic Commission created in 1834 under the leadership of P. M. Stroev, which conducted archaeographic expeditions to the archives and libraries of ancient Russian cities, did especially much, identified and published many thousands of the most valuable historical monuments in the series “Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles”, “Historical Acts”, “Collection of State Charters and Treaties”, etc. It was in the first half of the 19th century. a significant part of the main body of written sources on Russian history of the 11th - 16th centuries was published.

3. ENLIGHTENMENT. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (c)

Great cultural and political significance at the beginning of the 19th century. had the 12-volume “History of the Russian State” by N. M. Karamzin. In 1803, Karamzin received the official position of historiographer, which gave him the right to access state archives. The first 8 volumes of his “History” were published in 1816 - 1817, in 1818 - 1819. their publication was repeated, corrected and expanded, in 1821 - 1824. The next 9 - 11 volumes appeared, the last 12 volume, bringing the narrative up to 1611, was published in 1829, after the death of the historian. The work of Karamzin, nicknamed "Columbus of Russian History", was created on the basis of rich and varied sources, numerous works of ancient and medieval authors. The extensive documentary appendices, which are of great scientific importance, are especially valuable, since many of the original documents published by Karamzin have not survived.

Karamzin's "History" was addressed to a wide range of readers. Convinced of the instructive, moral and edifying purpose of history, Karamzin sought to influence the reader’s feelings with emotional stories about the heroic past of the Russian people, about the valor of its heroes. Karamzin's "History", written in brilliant literary language, promoted the idea of ​​the necessity and "beneficence" of autocracy in Russia. Autocracy, according to Karamzin, is the driving force of the Russian historical process: Russian great princes and tsars united Rus', gathered Russian lands into a single whole, and thereby contributed to the power of the Russian state. “Russia has always been saved by the autocracy” - this is Karamzin’s main conclusion. But at the same time, he sharply opposed despotism and severely condemned the tyranny of Ivan the Terrible.

Russian historians after Karamzin considered his historical views as outdated, and his “History” itself as having lost scientific significance, although in fact many of Karamzin’s assessments of a number of historical events were dominant in Russian historiography for a long time. Nevertheless, Karamzin’s “History” in the 19th century. remained the most widely read by the general public. Volumes of Karamzin's "History" could be found in many home libraries.

20 - 30s of the XIX century. marked by the emergence of various schools and trends in historical science. Prominent representatives of noble historiography were professors of Moscow University M. P. Pogodin and St. Petersburg University - N. G. Ustryalov. Pogodin, the son of a serf peasant, who in his youth criticized Karamzin’s historical views, in the 30s became one of the prominent adherents of the theory of “official nationality.” His main historical works are contained in the seven-volume publication “Research, Notes and Lectures on Russian History” (1846 - 1857). In the spirit of “Orthodoxy, autocracy and nationality,” Pogodin also defined the role of historical science “to become the guardian and guardian of public peace.” And yet, one cannot deny the positive significance of his works on specific issues of Russian history, especially its ancient period, and his contribution to the publication of documentary monuments. He collected a rich documentary heritage, which is still used by specialists in ancient and medieval Russian history. This historian was widely known in his time both as a publisher and publicist.

Professor N. G. Ustryalov was the author of the officially recommended textbooks “Russian History” (1836) and “Historical Review of the Reign of Emperor Nicholas I” (1842), in which he also promoted the ideas of “official nationality” and contrasted Russian history with Western European history. Ustryalov is known for his main work “The History of the Reign of Peter the Great” in ten volumes (1859 - 1863), a five-volume publication of diaries and memoirs of foreigners about Russia in the early 17th century, and other important publications.

The study of general history was represented by the works of professors at Moscow University - medievalist T. N. Granovsky and the founder of Slavic studies in Russia O. M. Bodyansky.

An important role in the development of Russian science and the promotion of scientific knowledge was played by numerous scientific societies created at universities and the Academy of Sciences: Mathematical, Mineralogical, Naturalists, Lovers of Russian Literature, History of Russian Antiquities, Archaeological Society, etc. They united scientists based on scientific interests. Scientific societies in the humanities attracted writers, poets, artists, publicists and a generally wide range of educated people. Public lectures given by university professors in the social, humanities and natural sciences and attracting a large audience were of great scientific, educational and social significance.

The increased interest in Russian culture and history gave rise to private collecting of cultural and antique objects: ancient manuscripts, early printed books, paintings, engravings, coins, archaeological finds, etc. Valuable private collections were created, which later formed the basis of many museum collections. The activities of the major philanthropist N.P. Rumyantsev, whose collection served as the basis of the Rumyantsev Museum and its library (now the Russian State Library in Moscow), Count A.I. Musin-Pushkin, whose collection contained the only ancient copy of “Tales of the Regiment”, are well known. Igor". The private art galleries of wealthy patrons N.B. Yusupov, A.S. Stroganov, writer P.P. Svinin, director of the Postal Department F.I. Pryanishnikov, and merchant K.T. Soldatenkov were well known. Their collections contained the most valuable works of Russian and foreign art, which later entered the Rumyantsev and Russian museums.

By the 30s - 40s of the 19th century. refers to the beginning of a systematic study of folk art. The Slavophiles S. T., K. S. and I. S. Aksakov, but especially P. V. Kireevsky, did a lot in the collection and study of folklore. However, due to the censorship conditions of the Nikolaev time, the publication of the “Songs” collected by Kireevsky could appear only in the 60s and 70s of the 19th century. The long-term activity of V. I. Dahl, which began back in the 20s of the 19th century, is well known in compiling the “Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language,” which was published already in the 60s in 4 volumes, which contained over 200 thousand words. Dahl also collected and published valuable collections of proverbs, sayings and riddles of the Russian people.

The Russian Geographical Society has done a lot to systematically describe the culture and life of the people, which developed and sent detailed questionnaires with questions to various parts of the country. He collected over 5 thousand manuscripts from the field about the life, morals, and customs of different regions of Russia. It systematically published the most interesting descriptions in its periodicals and separate collections.

4. CHANGES IN YOUR LIFE

New phenomena in the socio-economic and cultural development of Russia in the first half of the 19th century. had an impact on everyday life. The most significant changes in the everyday life of the population took place in the cities and large commercial and industrial villages of the industrialized regions of the country. Least of all, new trends in everyday life affected the remote province with the dominant patriarchal way of life. The degree of changes in everyday life also largely depended on the class and property status of different segments of the population. The “tops of society” were more susceptible to various innovations than the oppressed masses of the working people. However, here too much depended on the social status and property status of a particular class. For example, the life of the capital's nobility was strikingly different from the lifestyle of the provincial Oblomovs, Korobochki and Sobakevichs; The life of the “capitalist” peasant otkhodnik, merchant, entrepreneur differed sharply from the life of the mass of the dark and downtrodden peasantry of remote villages. In addition, differences in everyday life were largely dictated by historical traditions, national and religious characteristics of their life.

With the growth of commercial and industrial activity, the appearance of the Russian city changed, although the structure of urban life in Russia in the first half of the 19th century. still bore many feudal features. While still maintaining their administrative and political significance as the center of a province or district, cities, especially large ones, are gradually becoming centers of concentration of industry and trade. Because of this, the demographics and social structure of the city changed. The bulk of its inhabitants were no longer the former “townsman” people, but mostly those who came from the village and gradually became “urban” residents of the artisan workshop, shopkeeper, contractor or “handyman” employed in the service sector. Factories and factories arose on the outskirts of large cities, and workers' barracks appeared next to the factory buildings. The appearance of large cities also changed, in which, along with commercial and industrial buildings, multi-storey “apartment” buildings were erected. Many old noble mansions, rented out to a new owner-entrepreneur, were also turned into “income” houses.

The comparatively comfortable center of the city, where the nobility, bureaucrats, and merchants predominantly lived, began to differ even more sharply from the undeveloped outskirts, where working people huddled in overcrowded barracks, barracks, and even “in the very factories and institutions where they work,” as noted in the then city ​​surveys. Thus, in a survey of the life of workers in the capital St. Petersburg in the 40s, it was noted that right in factories or workshops “either some dark, stuffy corner is fenced off for beds, or workers sleep on the floor and workbenches, even on tables... With ordinary bedding They serve only crappy thin felt or, more often, simple matting; often there is not even any bedding at all: they sleep right on the boards.” The conditions in the barracks and “hired” premises were no better - the surveys noted extraordinary “crowding, stuffiness and dampness, in a word, everything that only destroys human health.”

Small provincial, mostly district and provincial towns with a population of no more than 5 thousand people (and this is over 80% of urban settlements at that time) for the most part did not differ much from large villages in their appearance. A dozen or two unpaved streets lined with one- and two-story wooden houses; several churches, government buildings, and shopping arcades are the only stone structures in small provincial towns.

The top of the privileged classes usually lived in Moscow, St. Petersburg and large provincial cities. The scientific, literary and theatrical life of the country was concentrated in them, high-society receptions, balls, and literary evenings were held. Literary salons were an important cultural and everyday phenomenon. The salons of Z. A. Volkonskaya, E. A. Sverbeeva and A. P. Elagina in Moscow, A. P. Khvostova and A. O. Smirnova-Rosset in St. Petersburg, which were visited by Pushkin, Gogol, Zhukovsky, Chaadaev, became widely known. Herzen, Belinsky.

Among the capital's nobility and the upper classes of the emerging bourgeoisie, the latest European fashions in clothing, home interiors, and the very way of life spread widely. New trends also penetrated among the wealthy provincial nobility, but had little effect on small-scale owners who did not have the means to “follow fashion,” living on small incomes from their estates or on meager official salaries. Among the merchants and clergy there was more adherence to the old, traditional way of life. The patriarchal life and customs of these class groups are vividly depicted in Russian fiction.

The economic and everyday way of life of the bulk of the peasantry has not undergone significant changes. The same cycle of peasant agricultural work, traditional family relationships and community orders remained unchanged as in the previous era. The patriarchal foundations of the peasant family, supported in every possible way by the community, were still strong. The marriage of their children, the working day schedule, the distribution of work among family members, and leave to earn money entirely depended on the will of the father or the eldest in the family (“bolshaka”). Guided by the traditional routine, the community assigned public works, “judged and ordered”, established guardianship over orphans and the elderly, intervened in family routines, permitted or prohibited divisions of families, and monitored the order in serving conscription duties. There was patriarchal collective responsibility for the actions of each member of the community, its own system of rewards and punishments, the organization of common village holidays and collective “help” without any payment, with the exception of “treats”, to families in the construction of a hut, some urgent field work, etc.

Feudal-serf oppression was the main reason for the difficult material and living situation of the peasantry. Contemporaries were struck by the extreme poverty of Russian landowner villages, especially where there were infertile lands and there was no possibility of “outside” earnings: miserable huts under straw, often heated in black, the poverty of the interior: unpainted wooden tables, benches and beds, meager wooden and clay utensils dishes, homespun clothes, traditional bast shoes.

The level of medical care in rural areas was extremely low. Throughout Russia there were no more than 10 thousand medical personnel. Almost all of them were concentrated in cities. Peasants, as a rule, were treated with “home remedies” or resorted to the services of healers, healers, and chiropractors. It was especially difficult for children and women with infants in the village. A pregnant woman performed heavy physical work almost until the very moment of childbirth. Due to backbreaking physical labor during the lean summer season, a nursing mother often lost milk. It was replaced by a “horn”, a rag with chewed rye bread. Hard, exhausting work starting from childhood, poor nutrition and unsatisfactory medical care led to an unusually high infant mortality rate: more than half of the children born died before reaching the age of five. Only thanks to the high birth rate in the countryside was population growth ensured.

Despite the difficult material and living conditions, innovations penetrated into the villages, primarily into the villages of the central industrial provinces. Here, smoking huts almost everywhere have already given way to “white” huts, that is, the smoke during the fire came out of the hut not through the portico window, but through the chimney. The interior decoration of the huts became more diverse: chairs, chests of drawers, mirrors, wall clocks, and popular prints appeared in rich peasant houses. But even among middle-income peasants, homespun clothing was replaced by purchased cotton clothing; women changed their sundresses to a skirt, girls began to use perfumes purchased in the city or from peddlers - perfumes, blush, whitewash, lipstick, toilet soap. For men, the felted hat was replaced by a cap “with a shiny visor”; red shirts and boots instead of bast shoes came into fashion. Young people brought guitars and harmonicas from the city, and also adopted the mores and habits of the city.

Libraries, significant for that time, appeared in the houses of individual wealthy peasants. For example, the Yaroslavl peasant Savva Purlevsky recalls that in his father’s house there was a “decent” library; he himself “sat all night long reading books.” Another peasant from the same province, Nikolai Polushin, recalled his grandfather as a “bookish man” who left a home library of 2 thousand volumes. Peasants subscribed to newspapers and sometimes thick magazines, and some themselves wrote articles in magazines. Some of them were authors of books about their region and left interesting memoirs. Such are the peasants of the village of Ugodichi, Yaroslavl province, A. Artynov and E. Grachev, the settlement of Mstera, Vladimir province, A. I. Golyshev, the village of Pavlova, N. P. Sorokin, and the village of Bolshoye Murashkino, Nizhny Novgorod province, M. Byakin.

Contemporaries noted the influence of industrial migration to cities on raising the cultural level of peasants. “Visiting cities develops the mental abilities of peasants and little by little eradicates some prejudices and beliefs,” it was said, for example, in “Description of the Moscow Province” (1849). It was also noted that fishing trips to the cities developed independence and a spirit of “disobedience” in the peasant. Thus, in the “Statistical Review of the Yaroslavl Province for 1815” it was said: “The city teaches him (the peasant) to think freely and judge things too easily. He does not want to respect the authority placed over him, and is even impolite towards his superiors.”

In large industrial villages, such as Ivanovo, Vichuga, Mstera of the Vladimir province, Pavlovo and Bogorodskoye of Nizhny Novgorod, Kimry of Tverskaya, Gzhel of Moscow and many others, where peasants lived mainly from crafts and trade, and not from agriculture, the breakdown of patriarchal life was especially noticeable already in the serf era. Such villages, by the nature of the inhabitants’ occupations and even by their appearance, were urban-type settlements. But it was in them that particularly noticeable property differences were observed, which were also reflected in the material and living conditions of their residents. The observant senator G.H. Kapger, who inspected the Vladimir province in 1861, wrote: “The Vladimir province, not without reason, is considered the most industrial and trading area in the empire, but it would be very wrong to conclude from this that all peasants in general are prosperous in it... Industrial and commercial villages, such as the village of Ivanovo, the settlement of Mstera and the village of Vacha, are distinguished by the poverty of the mass of the working population, with the often enormous wealth of private individuals." From this he concludes that “the existence of any kind of craft among peasants does not always serve as a measure of their well-being.”

The working and living conditions of peasant artisans in fishing villages were far from easy. Ruthlessly exploited by moneylenders, intermediaries, “grippers”, in severe competition with fellow craftsmen, they were forced to strain all their strength, increasing their working hours and limiting their needs. For example, the knifemakers and locksmiths of the village of Pavlova worked 18 hours a day in dirty, musty shacks. “Many of them work in damp dungeons,” wrote a contemporary. It is no coincidence that occupational pulmonary diseases were common among them. Vladimir fur coat makers and sheepskin workers worked in stinking and stuffy huts, the air of which was saturated with alum, which was extremely harmful to health. A. Zabelin, who studied the then life of the shoemakers Korcheva and Kimr, wrote: “You will not meet any of these workers with a healthy complexion: they are all hunched over people, pale, thin, as if they had just left the hospital after a serious illness.”

Culture of the peoples of Russia in the first half of the 19th century. - an important part of the global cultural process. During this time, outstanding masterpieces of literature, music, painting, and architecture were created in Russia, scientific discoveries of fundamental importance were made, and solid foundations were laid for the flourishing of Russian culture in the subsequent period of its “golden age.”

In the old days, solitude was understood very differently than it is today. Even in the 19th century, sharing a bed with a stranger in a hotel was common, and diarists often wrote of how disappointed they were when a late-arriving stranger climbed into their bed. In 1776, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams were forced to share a bed in a hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and they quarreled all night over whether or not to open the window.
Servants often slept at the foot of the master's bed so that any request of the master could be easily fulfilled. It is clear from written sources that King Henry V's chamberlain and master of the horse were present in the bedroom when the king slept with Catherine of Valois. The diaries of Samuel Pepys say that a maid slept on the floor of his matrimonial bedroom as a living alarm in case of robbery. In such circumstances, the bedside curtain did not provide the necessary privacy; In addition, it was a refuge for dust and insects, and drafts easily blew it up.

Among other things, the bedside canopy could be a fire hazard, as could the entire house, from the reed flooring to the thatched roof. Almost every home economics reference book warned against reading by candlelight in bed, but many ignored this advice.
In one of his works, John Aubrey, a historian of the 17th century, tells a funny story concerning the wedding of Thomas More's daughter Margaret and a certain William Roper. Roper came to More one morning and said that he wanted to marry one of his daughters - no matter which one. Then More led Roper to his bedroom, where the daughters slept in a low bed pulled out from under their father's. Bending down, More deftly grabbed “the corner of the sheet and suddenly pulled it off the bed.” The girls slept completely naked. Sleepily expressing their displeasure at being disturbed, they rolled over onto their stomachs and went back to sleep. Sir William, admiring the view, announced that he had examined the “product” from all sides, and lightly tapped sixteen-year-old Margaret’s bottom with his cane. “And no hassle with courtship!” - Aubrey writes enthusiastically.
Whether all this is true is unknown: Aubrey described what happened a century later. It is clear, however, that in his time no one was surprised by the fact that More's adult daughters slept next to his bed.

The big problem with beds, especially in the Victorian period, was that they were inseparable from the era's most problematic activity: sex. In marriage, sex is, of course, sometimes necessary. Mary Wood-Allen, in her popular and influential book What a Young Woman Needs to Know, assures her young readers that it is permissible to have physical intimacy with a husband, provided that it is done “in the complete absence of sexual desire.” It was believed that the mother's moods and thoughts at the time of conception and throughout pregnancy profoundly and irreparably affected the fetus. Partners were advised to have sex only if there was mutual sympathy, so as not to give birth to a defective child.

To avoid agitation, women were encouraged to spend more time in the fresh air, not to do anything stimulating, including reading or playing cards, and above all, not to tax their brains beyond what was necessary. It was believed that education for a woman was just a waste of time; in addition, it is extremely dangerous for their fragile organisms.

In 1865, John Ruskin wrote in an essay that women should be trained until they were “practically useful” to their husbands and no more. Even the American Catherine Beecher, who was, by the standards of that time, a radical feminist, ardently defended the right of women to a full education, but asked not to forget: they still need time to put their hair in order.

For men, the main task was not to drop a drop of sperm outside the sacred bonds of marriage, but they also had to observe moderation in marriage. As one respected specialist explained, seminal fluid, remaining in the body, enriches the blood and strengthens the brain. Anyone who thoughtlessly consumes this natural elixir becomes weak both spiritually and physically. Therefore, even in marriage, it is necessary to take care of your sperm, since due to frequent sex, sperm becomes diluted and the result is sluggish, apathetic offspring. Sexual intercourse with a frequency of no more than once a month was considered the best option.

Masturbation, of course, was categorically excluded. The consequences of masturbation were well known: almost every disease known to medicine, including madness and premature death. Onanists - "poor, trembling, pale creatures on skinny legs, crawling on the ground," as one journalist described them - evoked contempt and pity. “Every act of masturbation is like an earthquake, an explosion, a fatal paralytic stroke,” declared another. Practical studies have clearly proven the harm of masturbation. Physician Samuel Tissot described how one of his patients drooled constantly, had ichor running from his nose, and “defecated in bed without noticing it.” The last three words made a particularly strong impression.

Moreover, the habit of masturbation was automatically passed on to children and weakened the health of the unborn offspring in advance. The most thorough analysis of the dangers associated with sex was offered by Sir William Acton in his work "The Functions and Diseases of the Reproductive Organs in Children, Youth, Adults and Old People, Considered from the Point of View of Their Physiological, Social and Moral Relations", first published in 1857 . It was he who decided that masturbation leads to blindness. It was Acton who came up with the oft-quoted phrase: “I must say that sexual experiences are practically inaccessible to most women.”

Such ideas dominated society for a surprisingly long time. “Many of my patients have told me that their first act of masturbation was while watching a musical show,” Dr. William Robinson reported grimly, and perhaps with some exaggeration, in his 1916 work on sexual dysfunction.

Science was always ready to come to the rescue. Mary Roach's book Curious Parallels in Science and Sex describes one of the anti-lust remedies developed in the 1850s - a spiked ring worn on the penis before bed (or at any other time); its metal points pricked the penis if it swelled unholy. Other devices used electric current, which unpleasantly but effectively sobered up the lustful man.

It is worth noting that not everyone shared these conservative views. As early as 1836, respected French physician Claude François Lallemand published a three-volume study linking frequent sex to good health. This impressed the Scottish physician George Drysdale so much that he formulated a philosophy of free love and unrestrained sex in his work “Physical, Sexual and Natural Religion.” The book was published in 1855 in a circulation of 90,000 copies and translated into eleven languages, “including Hungarian,” specially notes the Dictionary of National Biography, which loves to focus on trifles. It is clear that society longed for greater sexual freedom. Unfortunately, society as a whole only accepted this freedom a century later.
It is perhaps not surprising that in such a tense atmosphere, successful sex was an unattainable dream for many people - for example, for the same John Ruskin. In 1848, the great art critic married nineteen-year-old Euphemia Chalmers Gray, and things did not work out for them from the very beginning. They never entered into a marriage relationship. Euphemia later said that, according to Ruskin, he imagined women not at all as they really were, and that on the very first evening she made a repulsive impression on him, and therefore he did not make her his wife.

Not getting what she wanted, Effie sued Ruskin (the details of her application to have the marriage declared invalid became the property of the tabloid press in many countries), and then ran away with the artist John Everett Millais, with whom she lived happily and with whom she gave birth to eight children.
True, her escape was completely inappropriate, because Millet was painting Ruskin’s portrait at that time. Ruskin, as a man of honor, continued to pose for Millais, but the two men never spoke to each other again.

Ruskin's sympathizers, of whom there were many, pretended that there was no trace of any scandal. By 1900, the whole story had been successfully forgotten, and W. G. Collingwood was able, without blushing with shame, to write his book “The Life of John Ruskin,” in which there is not even a hint that Ruskin was once married and that he ran out of the bedroom in panic when he saw hair on a woman's womb.
Ruskin never overcame his sanctimonious prejudices; he didn't seem to be trying very hard. After the death of William Turner in 1851, Ruskin was tasked with sorting out the works left by the great artist, and among them were several naughty watercolors with erotic content. Horrified, Ruskin decided that Turner painted them in a “state of madness,” and for the good of the nation, he destroyed almost all the watercolors, depriving posterity of several priceless works.

Meanwhile, Effie Ruskin, having escaped the shackles of an unhappy marriage, lived happily. This was unusual because in the 19th century, divorce cases were always decided in favor of the husbands. In order to get a divorce in Victorian England, a man simply had to declare that his wife had cheated on him with someone else. However, a woman in a similar situation had to prove that her husband had committed incest, indulged in bestiality or some other grave sin, the list of which was very short.
Until 1857, all property and, as a rule, children were taken away from a divorced wife. According to the law, such a woman was completely powerless; the degree of her freedom and non-freedom was determined by her husband. In the words of the great legal theorist William Blackstone, a divorced woman gives up “herself and her own individuality.”

Some countries were a little more liberal. In France, for example, a woman could divorce her husband if there was adultery, but only if the adultery took place in the matrimonial home.
English legislation was characterized by extreme injustice. There is a known case where a certain woman named Martha Robinson was beaten for years by a cruel, mentally unstable husband. In the end, he infected her with gonorrhea, and then seriously poisoned her with drugs for sexually transmitted diseases, without his wife's knowledge, putting powders in her food. Broken both physically and mentally, Martha filed for divorce. The judge listened carefully to all the arguments and then dismissed the case, sending Mrs. Robinson home and advising her to be more patient.

Being female was automatically considered a pathological condition. Men almost universally thought that women became ill when they reached puberty. The development of the mammary glands, uterus and other reproductive organs “takes up energy that is available to each person in limited quantities,” according to one authority. Menstruation was described in medical texts as a monthly act of willful neglect. “If a woman experiences pain at any point during the menstrual period, it is due to disturbances in clothing, diet, personal or social habits,” wrote one reviewer (a man, of course).

Ironically, women did get sick often because common decency prevented them from getting the medical care they needed. In 1856, when a young Boston housewife from a respectable family tearfully confessed to her doctor that she sometimes found herself thinking about men other than her husband, the doctor prescribed her a series of harsh treatments, including cold baths, enemas, and thorough douching with borax, recommending to exclude everything stimulating - spicy food, light reading, and so on.

It was believed that because of light reading, a woman developed unhealthy thoughts and a tendency to hysterics. As one author darkly concluded, “Young girls who read romance novels experience arousal and premature development of the genitals. The child physically becomes a woman several months or even years before the time prescribed by nature.”

In 1892, Judith Flanders writes about a man who took his wife to have her eyes checked; the doctor said that the problem was a prolapsed uterus and that she needed to have this organ removed, otherwise her vision would continue to deteriorate.

Sweeping generalizations did not always turn out to be correct, since not a single doctor knew how to conduct a correct gynecological examination. As a last resort, he would carefully probe the patient under the covers in a dark room, but this did not happen often. In most cases, women who had complaints about the organs located between the neck and knees shyly showed their sore spots on mannequins.

In 1852, one American physician proudly wrote that “women prefer to suffer from dangerous diseases, out of scrupulosity refusing a full medical examination.” Some doctors refused to use forceps during childbirth, explaining that women with a narrow pelvis should not give birth to children, because such inferiority could be passed on to their daughters.
The inevitable consequence of all this was an almost medieval neglect of female anatomy and physiology on the part of male doctors. In the annals of medicine there is no better example of professional gullibility than the famous case of Mary Toft, an ignorant female rabbit breeder from Godalming, Surrey, who for many weeks in the autumn of 1726 fooled medical authorities, including two royal physicians, by assuring everyone that she could give birth to rabbits.
It became a sensation. Several doctors were present at the birth and expressed complete surprise. It was only when another royal physician, a German named Kyriakus Ahlers, carefully examined the woman and declared that it was all just a hoax that Toft finally admitted to the deception. She was sent briefly to prison for fraud and then home to Godalming; No one heard from her again.
Understanding female anatomy and physiology was still a long way off. In 1878, the British Medical Journal engaged in a lively, lengthy debate with its readers on the topic: Could the touch of a menstruating cook spoil a ham?

According to Judith Flanders, one British doctor was removed from the medical register for something he noticed in his published work: a change in the color of the mucous membrane around the vagina shortly after conception is a reliable indicator of pregnancy. This conclusion was completely fair, but extremely indecent, because in order to determine the degree of color change, one had to first see it. The doctor was banned from practicing. Meanwhile, in America, the respected gynecologist James Platt White was expelled from the American Medical Association for allowing his students to be present at births (with the permission of the women in labor, of course).

Against this background, the actions of surgeon Isaac Baker Brown seem even more extraordinary. Brown became the first gynecological surgeon. Unfortunately, he was guided by obviously false ideas. In particular, he was convinced that almost all female ailments are the result of “peripheral stimulation of the nerve in the external genitalia, centered in the clitoris.”

Simply put, he believed that women masturbate and this leads to insanity, epilepsy, catalepsy, hysteria, insomnia and many other nervous disorders. To solve the problem, it was proposed to remove the clitoris surgically, thereby eliminating the very possibility of uncontrollable arousal.
Baker Brown was also convinced that the ovaries had a bad effect on the female body and should also be removed. No one had tried to remove the ovaries before him; it was an extremely difficult and risky operation. Brown's first three patients died on the operating table. However, he did not stop and operated on the fourth woman - his own sister, who, fortunately, survived.

When it was discovered that Baker Brown had been cutting out women's clitorises for years without their knowledge or consent, the medical community reacted violently and violently. In 1867 Baker Brown was expelled from the Society of Midwives of London, ending his practice. Doctors have finally accepted how important a scientific approach to the intimate organs of patients is. The irony is that, being a bad doctor and, apparently, a very bad person, Baker Brown, more than anyone else, helped advance women's medicine.