Russian culture in the second half of the 19th century. In the second half of the 19th century In the second half of the 19th century
The abolition of serfdom, the reforms of the 60s and 70s, the rise of the social movement, the establishment of capitalism - all this contributed to the growth of education and the further development of culture. The leading role in art during the post-reform period belonged to the advanced raznochinny intelligentsia.
In Russia in the second half of the XIX century. the fastest growing primary education. Along with parish and one-class schools of the Ministry of Public Education, zemstvo schools, which were maintained at the expense of local zemstvos, are becoming widespread. By the end of the century, primary education in rural areas was reaching several million students. In many cities there were Sunday schools for adults. But the number of literate people in Russia in 1897 was only 21% of the total population of the country.
By the end of 1914, there were about 124 thousand primary educational institutions in Russia, in which a little more than 30% of children aged 8 to 11 studied (in cities - 46.6%).
After heated debates about the nature of secondary education, it was based on the classical gymnasium, in which up to 40% of the study time was devoted to the study of Latin and Greek. In 1862, the first female gymnasiums were opened. A special ministerial circular ("On the cook's children") restricted the admission of children of needy parents to the gymnasium.
The successes in higher education have consisted of both an increase in the number of higher education institutions and an increase in the number of students. In the post-reform period, along with the opening of new universities (in Odessa, Tomsk, Saratov), other higher educational institutions were opened (the Medical Surgical Academy in St. Petersburg, various institutes in St. Petersburg and Moscow).
In the 1913-14 academic year, there were 63 state higher educational institutions in Russia, in which more than 71 thousand students studied.
Literature
In the post-reform period, literature continues to occupy a leading place in Russian culture. Realism is still the dominant trend in it. A feature of realism was the constant desire to reflect reality as widely as possible, to reveal and expose public untruths. At the same time, the literature of realism asserted positive social ideals. Nationality, patriotism, protection of the rights and interests of the masses and individuals, the struggle for social justice - these are the characteristic features inherent in advanced Russian literature.
The names of I. Turgenev, N. Nekrasov, F. Dostoevsky, I. Goncharov, M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov have forever entered the treasury of world literature. Advanced literature, responding to the most important social and political events of that time, had a significant impact on the development of theater, music and visual arts.
Theatre
Russian theatrical culture of the second half of the 19th century. nationality and humanism, ideological and emotional wealth, deep reproduction of human characters and historical truth were inherent. Continuing the traditions of Fonvizin, Griboyedov, Pushkin, A. Ostrovsky, with his work, completed the creation of Russian national drama (the plays "The Dowry,"
The Maly Theater was rightfully the center of theatrical life in Russia. The leading place in his repertoire was occupied by Ostrovsky's plays. The great actress M. Ermolova has created many memorable female images on the stage of the theater. Among them is the image of Catherine from Ostrovsky's "The Thunderstorm".
Music
From the middle of the XIX century. the musical life of Russia more and more often leaves the walls of salons for the elite. In 1859, the Russian Musical Society was created in St. Petersburg. In the early 60s. M. Balakirev founded a free music school in St. Petersburg. The first Russian conservatories were opened in Moscow and St. Petersburg. At the same time, around the composer Balakirev in St. Petersburg, a circle of composers was formed, known as "The Mighty Handful" (M. Mussorgsky, N. Rimsky Korsakov, A. Borodin, Ts. Cui). The composers of The Mighty Handful included folk songs in their symphonic and operatic compositions. Operas on historical themes occupied an important place in their work: "Boris Godunov" by Mussorgsky, "Prince Igor" by Borodin, "The Tsar's Bride" by Rimsky-Korsakov. The pinnacle of Russian musical art of the second half of the 19th century. was the work of P. Tchaikovsky. His operas (Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades), ballets (Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker), romances have forever entered the history of not only Russian but also world art.
Painting
In the second half of the 19th century. this is the time of the rise and flourishing in Russia of the national realistic and democratic school of painting. In 1863, a group of the most talented students of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, headed by I. Kramskoy, demanded freedom in choosing a subject for their graduation work. Having been refused, they left the Academy and created an artel of free artists. In 1870, on the initiative of I. Kramskoy, G. Myasoedov, N. Ge, V. Perov, the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions was organized in St. Petersburg. The ideological leader of the Itinerants was Kramskoy, who created a whole gallery of portraits of Russian writers, artists, and public figures. The highest achievements of Russian realism in painting are associated with the work of I. Repin ("Barge Haulers on the Volga," Siberia by Ermak ").
The development of art in the second half of the 19th century. in Russia - one of the most remarkable pages in the history of Russian and world culture.
The beginning of the XX century - the "silver age" of Russian culture
Russian culture at the beginning of the new century was a worthy successor to Russian culture of the 19th century, although its development took place in different historical conditions.
The beginning of the 20th century is the time of the creative take-off of Russian science, literature, art, a kind of cultural revival. It seemed to split into several currents: on the one hand, the further development of the best democratic traditions, on the other, doubts, a revision of the old, contradictory and rebellious searches for the new, attempts to maximize self-expression. In many ways, it was a culture for the “elite”, far removed not only from the people, but also from wide circles of the intelligentsia. But it was she who laid the foundation for a new direction in the art of Russia.
New directions in literature. At the beginning of the XX century. literature continued to play an extremely important role in the cultural life of the country. Along with the realistic trend (L. Tolstoy, A. Chekhov, I. Bunin, A. Kuprin, M. Gorky, and others), new trends appear in Russian literature, especially in poetry. This was associated with the names of L. Andreev, A. Blok, V. Bryusov, A. Akhmatova, I. Severyanin, V. Mayakovsky and others. A characteristic feature of the new trends in poetry - decadence, symbolism - was not only a kind of protest and rejection of reality , but also the search for new ways of self-expression.
Music
The development of musical art, as in previous years, was closely associated with the names of composers - members of the "Mighty Handful". However, new names also appear in Russian music. At this time, A. Glazunov, S. Rachmaninov, A. Scriabin, I. Stravinsky, S. Prokofiev began their composing activities. In their work, national traditions are associated with active searches in the field of musical form. The Russian vocal school gave many wonderful singers. Among them, the stars of the first magnitude were F. Chaliapin, L. Sobinov, A. Nezhdanova.
Painting
For Russian painting, however, as well as for all the visual arts of the beginning of the 20th century, two main tendencies are characteristic: the traditional realistic and the modernist. The realistic direction in painting was represented by I. Repin, who wrote in 1909-1916. a number of portraits (P. Stolypin, L. Tolstoy, V. Korolenko, V. Bekhterev, etc.), his student V. Serov, whose portraits are the real psychological characteristics of writers, artists, doctors. The activity of the “poet of Russian nature” I. Levitan also belongs to this period.
Modernism was associated with the departure of a number of artists from the established norms in painting and the search for new artistic solutions. Modernism was not a purely Russian phenomenon in the visual arts. It affected all countries, especially France and Italy. At the beginning of the century, impressionist painting was developing in Russia. Its adherents were K. Korovin, V. Borisov-Musatov and others. M. Vrubel can be considered the founder of modernism in Russia. The theme of the Demon, which for decades was the main one in his work, embodied the dissatisfaction, longing and anger of a restless person.
V. Kandinsky and K. Malevich became the true leaders of abstract art not only in Russia, but also in world painting.
It should be noted that cultural life in Russia was supported by a galaxy of Russian patrons of art (S. Diaghilev, S. Mamontov, S. Morozov, etc.), who played a significant role in the development of Russian culture.
Worldwide recognition of Russian culture. Culture of Russia at the beginning of the XX century. reached amazing heights. She contributed not only to the growth of self-awareness of the peoples of Russia, but also influenced the entire European culture.
Russian art has received wide international recognition. The Russian Seasons in Paris (1906-1912) organized by S. Diaghilev were notable events in European cultural life.
So in 1906 the Parisians were presented with the exhibition "Two Centuries of Russian Painting and Sculpture", which Diaghilev supplemented with a concert of Russian music. The success was amazing. The next year, Parisians could get acquainted with Russian music from Glinka to Scriabin. In 1908, F. Chaliapin performed in Paris with exceptional success, performing the part of Tsar Boris in Musorgsky's opera Boris Godunov. A truly unique phenomenon was the rise of Russian ballet at the beginning of the century. From 1909 to 1912, the Russian Ballet Seasons were held annually in Paris, which became an event on a global scale. The names of Russian dancers - Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Vaclav Nijinsky - flashed on the newspaper pages. An unprecedented success fell to the lot of I. Stravinsky's ballets "The Firebird", "Petrushka", "The Rite of Spring".
IT'S INTERESTING TO KNOW:
I. Repin in the painting "The Cossacks write a letter to the Turkish Sultan" drew one of the Cossacks from the famous Russian writer V. Gilyarovsky, the author of the book "Moscow and Muscovites". The sculptor N. Andreev sculpted Taras Bulba from him for a bas-relief on the monument to N. Gogol in Moscow.
Despite the relatively low level of literacy in Russia (less than 30% by 1913), newspapers, magazines, and books are becoming more widespread. On the eve of World War I, 2,915 magazines and newspapers were published in the country, and in terms of the number of published books, Russia ranked third in the world (after Germany and Japan).
References:
V.S.Koshelev, I.V. Orzhekhovsky, V.I.Sinitsa / World history of modern times XIX - early. XX century, 1998.
The era of liberal reforms and rapid transformations of all aspects of the life of Russian society also affected the sphere of art. Here, the desire for novelty was expressed in the struggle against dead classicist traditions for a new content of art, for its active intrusion into life. The moral side of art, its civic meaning is brought to the fore. “I absolutely cannot write without purpose and hope for the benefit,” said L.N. Tolstoy was just entering literature. These words are very characteristic of the era of transformation. Progressive writers were grouped around the magazines Sovremennik and Otechestvennye zapiski, composers were united by the circle of M.A. Balakirev, who went down in history under the name of “The Mighty Handful”. The common task of the struggle for realism, nationality and national identity gave rise to mutual influence and mutual enrichment of literature, painting and music.
Painting
Leading artists waged an irreconcilable struggle with the official court art, the routine system of the Academy of Arts, which, giving its students high professional skills, categorically opposed all new trends, forever "stuck" in classicism.
The inability to realize oneself within the framework of the Academy led to an event known in the history of culture as the “revolt of the fourteen”. In 1863, all the strongest students (among whom were I.N. Kramskoy, K.E. Makovsky, etc.) refused to participate in the competition for the Great Gold Medal after the Academy Council rejected their desire for a free choice of topic and invited everyone to write a picture either on the plot of the Old Scandinavian sagas - "Feast in Valhalla", or on the theme of "Liberation of the peasants", which was interpreted exclusively loyally. It was the first organized protest against the academic routine, for which the artists were known as unreliable and they were placed under secret police surveillance.
Upon leaving the Academy, the “Protestants” organized an Artel of Artists, began to live and work together, taking as a model the commune described in the novel by N.G. Chernyshevsky "What to do?" This form of organization was in those years extremely popular among student youth. The organizer of the artel was I.N. Kramskoy. The artel did not last long (until 1870), after which it broke up. Soon, all opposition forces in the visual arts were united by the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions.
With the release of "fourteen" the authority of the Academy was greatly undermined. The Moscow School of Painting and Sculpture began to play a significant role in the training of art personnel (since 1865, after the creation of an architectural department, it was called the School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture). In terms of its composition and position, it was much more democratic than the Academy of Arts, which was under the jurisdiction of the royal court. Many people from the lower classes studied here. The school graduated from A.K. Savrasov, I.I. Shishkin, V.G. Perov and other artists who played a huge role in the development of Russian realism.
In general, the 1860s. became the beginning of a new significant stage in the development of Russian art. During these years, Russian realism began to flourish. The main task of the artist is to recreate with all possible persuasiveness a real event-symbol of Russian reality.
One of the most prominent painters of that time was Vasily Grigorievich Perov. Like many other artists of that time, he deliberately drew attention to the shadow sides of society, criticizing the remnants of the serf past. The main content of Perov's work was the image of the life of the common people, the peasantry par excellence. The painting Rural Procession of the Cross for Easter, completed in 1861, received scandalous notoriety. In an effort to show the disgusting peasant existence in the post-reform village, Perov deliberately exaggerates the colors: an emphasized dreary landscape (gloomy sky, naked gnarled tree, mud, puddles), grotesque characters - everything was supposed to work to reveal the author's intention. This picture is typical for Russian painting of the 1860s. For this generation of Russian artists, the most important thing was to give a social assessment of the depicted scene, therefore, as a rule, the deep and multifaceted characteristics of individual characters receded into the background. The scandalous nature of the Rural Easter Procession was so obvious that it was immediately removed from the permanent exhibition of the Society for the Encouragement of Artists (where it was first exhibited) and until 1905 was prohibited from exhibiting and / or reproducing. A similar, albeit significantly less resonance was caused by the next work of Perov - "Tea drinking in Mytishchi".
As a pensioner of the Academy, Perov spent about two years abroad; considered serving his people the most important task. This desire to return to their homeland is also a new feature characteristic of the times of the beginning of the reign of Alexander II (both before and after the artists, on the contrary, tried to stay longer in Europe, seeing this as the only opportunity for free creativity). After his return, he creates his best works: "Seeing the Dead" (1865), "Troika" (1866) and "The Last Tavern at the Outpost" (1868). The specific images in these paintings by Perov develop into broad generalizations of the typical features of Russian life.
In the early 1870s. Perov created a number of portraits. For the most part, he created portraits of writers and artists, realizing the idea of P.M., Tretyakov about perpetuating the images of outstanding figures of Russian culture. Among them, first of all, it is necessary to name the portraits of A.N. Ostrovsky and F.M. Dostoevsky. Unlike previous works by Perov, in portraits, deep psychologism and penetration into the essence of the personality and character of the person depicted come to the fore.
The evolution of Perov's creativity - from social satire ("Rural procession for Easter") to social drama ("Troika"), and then to the creation of positive images of cultural figures or people from the people; from a detailed narration to an emotional artistic image - characteristic of the development of Russian painting in those years.
The flowering of Russian realistic art II half. XIX century. inextricably linked with the activities of the Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions. The charter of the Partnership, approved in 1870, stated that its main goal was “to acquaint Russia with Russian art”. Exhibitions were held in St. Petersburg and Moscow, and then sent to other large cities. "Wandering" was a unique artistic and social phenomenon in its scope and duration. It existed for over 50 years (until 1923), having held 48 exhibitions during this time. The Itinerants were greatly helped by P.M. Tretyakov, who bought all their best works. Later, the terms "itinerant", "itinerant" were often used to designate the entire democratic trend in Russian realistic art in the 1870s - 1880s.
The Wanderers owe much of their program of activity to Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy. The main place in his work was occupied by a portrait. His best works in this genre are considered to be a self-portrait (1867) and a portrait of L.N. Tolstoy (1873). Along with the portrait of Dostoevsky by Perov, the portrait of Tolstoy by Kramskoy is one of the pinnacles of Russian portrait painting, II half. XIX century.
The deep disclosure of the inner world of a person, manifested in the portraits of Kramskoy, is also characteristic of his paintings. One of the most famous is “Christ in the Wilderness” based on the Gospel story. Fighting temptation and overcoming weakness, the transition from painful thoughts to a willingness to act, to go for self-sacrifice - all this is expressed in the image of Christ.
The same moral and philosophical questions worried Nikolai Nikolayevich Ge, whose work is one of the most complex and at the same time significant phenomena in Russian art of the second half. XIX century. Ge was inspired by the idea of the moral improvement of man and mankind, the belief in the moral, educational power of art, characteristic of the sixties. He attached particular importance to working with gospel stories, in which he saw an absolute moral ideal. The painting “The Last Supper” (1863) shows a tragic encounter between Christ, voluntarily condemning himself to suffering and death, and his disciple, Judas, betraying his teacher. The same theme was continued by the paintings "What is Truth?" (1890) and “Golgotha” (1892, not finished), written under the strong influence of L.N. Tolstoy, with whom Ge was friends in those years.
N.N. Ge also paid tribute to the historical genre. One of the best historical pictures of this period was his work "Peter I Interrogates Tsarevich Alexei in Peterhof", which reveals the tragedy of the struggle between civic duty and personal feelings. Among the best portrait works of the artist are the portraits of A.I. Herzen, L.N. Tolstoy, self-portrait.
One of the characteristic phenomena of Russian genre painting of this period was the work of Vladimir Egorovich Makovsky, depicting the life of various strata of Russian society (“The Bank Collapse”, etc.). The best painting of the artist - "On the Boulevard" (1886 - 87) tells about the hard life of the peasants, cut off from their usual life and ended up in a city that is alien to them.
Nikolai Aleksandrovich Yaroshenko ("Fireman" (1878), "Prisoner" (1878), etc.) was a convinced itinerant who transferred ideas of revolutionary struggle into painting. In the early 1880s. Yaroshenko created two canvases ("Student" and "Kursistka"), in which he reflected the typical images of different-class student youth who joined the ranks of the populist revolutionaries. The best of Yaroshenko's portraits is rightfully considered the portrait of P.A. Strepetova (1884).
Vasily Vereshchagin was an innovator in the field of battle painting. His paintings do not look like the ceremonial battle canvases of court painters. The cruel truth of the war, the fate of its ordinary participants, the heroism and suffering of Russian soldiers became the content of his paintings. The pictures of Turkestan (“The Apotheosis of War”, “Triumphant”, “Mortally Wounded”) and Balkan (“Before the attack. Near Plevna.”, “After the attack. Shipka-Sheinovo. Skobelev pod Shipka ") series. Vereshchagin's significance is not limited to innovation in the field of battle painting. The first in Russian art, he laid the foundation for the depiction of the life of the peoples of the East.
The pinnacle of development of realistic art in the 70s - 80s. was the work of I.E. Repin and V.I. Surikov.
The main achievements of Russian painting of the period under consideration were concentrated in his work by Ilya Efimovich Repin. The first work of Repin, opening a new page in the history of Russian realistic art, was the painting "Barge Haulers on the Volga." Rejecting the original (typical for the Itinerants) idea of direct opposition of the elegant crowd of idle rich people to the ragged band of barge haulers, Repin focused on revealing the image of each of the barge haulers.
80s were at times the heyday of Repin's creativity, and his painting "Religious Procession in Kursk Province" again (like "Barge Haulers" in the 70s) became innovative. It is as if the whole of Russia, all its estates and classes, passes before the spectator. Each of the numerous figures is a generalized image and, at the same time, a concrete human character, given in all its vitality. In the Procession of the Cross, the people are shown both as a mass engulfed in a single movement, approaching the viewer, and as a polyphonic choir, where each character, while retaining its unique individuality, is woven into a complex, unique whole. The theme of the revolutionary struggle also occupied an essential place in Repin's work. The paintings “The Arrest of the Propagandist”, “Refusal of Confession”, “They Did Not Expect” are dedicated to her.
Turning to history, Repin dwells on dramatic plots, revealing the struggle of human passions and social forces, somehow echoing with modernity. So, the plot of the painting "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan" was inspired by the events of 1881. Contemporaries perceived this picture as a protest against the despotism of the autocracy. Therefore, it was banned from showing by K.P. Pobedonostsev. On the contrary, the “Zaporozhians” glorify the spirit of freedom, the people's Cossack freemen. There is not a single repetitive image in the picture, the most diverse characters are shown with a few striking features.
Vasily Ivanovich Surikov made a huge contribution to the development of not only Russian, but also world historical painting. He belonged to an old Cossack family that moved to Siberia from the Don back in the 16th century. Surikov could observe ancient Russian customs and way of life from childhood, and these childhood impressions largely influenced his further work. He was attracted by critical epochs, plots that made it possible to reveal the depths of the human personality in extreme situations. In 1881 he created the painting "The Morning of the Streltsy Execution". Surikov depicts not the execution itself, but the last tense moments preceding it. The courageous expectation of death, the behavior of people in the last moments of earthly life - constitute the main content of this picture. In 1883 Surikov painted the painting "Menshikov in Berezovo". The cold and dark coloring, the composition limiting the space, reveal the dramatic collapse of the fate of the temporary worker, the “half-power ruler”, thrown into Siberian exile with his family.
Surikov's largest work was "Boyarynya Morozova" (1887). In the process of working on this picture, he specially traveled to Italy in order to comprehend the laws of composition in monumental painting using the example of the works of the Renaissance masters. The moment is shown when the indomitable opponent of “Nikonianism” Morozova is being taken through Moscow streets into exile. She says goodbye to the people and admonishes them to fight. The heroism and tragedy of a solitary protest, the attitude towards the heroine of the people is the theme of this picture. Of the late works of Surikov, one can name "Taking the Snow Town", "The Conquest of Siberia by Yermak", "Suvorov's Crossing the Alps".
The historical theme, but not in the dramatic, but in the heroic and poetic aspect, sounds in the work of Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov. In his own words, he was a historian "somewhat in a fantastic way." He was especially attracted by epic and fairy tales. The plot of his first large painting "After the Battle of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsy" (1880) was inspired by "The Word of Igor's Regiment". He wanted to convey the poetry of the Russian epic, the beauty and grandeur of a military feat. Hence his desire for monumentality. This was manifested with particular force in the painting “Heroes” (1898), on which he worked with interruptions for about 20 years (!). As in the epics, the appearance and character of each of the heroes is unique and at the same time these are generalized artistic images of folk heroes - strong, courageous, fair, etc. If “Bogatyrs” personify the heroic principle in the folk epic, then “Alyonushka” (1881) is subtle lyrics.
One of the best Russian landscape painters of the late 60s - early 70s. was Alexey Kondratyevich Savrasov. His most famous paintings are "The Rooks Have Arrived" (1871) and "Countryside" (1873). Shown at the first exhibition of the Association of the Itinerants, the painting "The Rooks Have Arrived" marked the beginning of a new stage in the development of Russian landscape. Savrasov was able to see and convey the lyricism of the most ordinary and unassuming landscape. In subsequent years, Savrasov did not create anything equal to these two paintings. But as a teacher (he taught at the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture), he had a significant impact on the further development of Russian landscape painting.
The traditions of lyrical landscape were continued by Vasily Dmitrievich Polenov. It was the landscape that was the main direction in the artist's work. In "Moscow courtyard" (1878), "Overgrown pond" (1879), a special poetry of quiet corners of Russian nature is conveyed. Like Savrasov, Polenov was a great teacher.
The best works of Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin characterize the epic trend in Russian landscape painting. His work reached full maturity by the end of the 1870s. His most characteristic works can be considered "Rye" "Pines illuminated by the sun" and, finally, the most famous - "Morning in a pine forest".
Isaac Ilyich Levitan belonged to the younger generation of the Itinerants. The heyday of his work - the end of the 80s and 90s. In his work, he kind of synthesized two directions of Russian landscape painting - lyrical and epic. The power and at the same time the intimacy of the Russian nature are perfectly conveyed in his paintings. He almost annually traveled to the Volga and this mighty and lyrical river of fat was a kind of symbol of his work (“After the rain. Ples.” (1889), “Fresh wind. Volga.” (1895). the influence of the French impressionists.
Sculpture
In the 1860s - 90s. Russian sculpture, especially monumental sculpture, could not match the level of artistic achievement with the period of the “golden age”.
The decline of monumental sculpture, as well as monumental and decorative sculpture, was closely related to the general artistic decline that it experienced from the 40s to the 50s. architecture, with the collapse of the synthesis of architecture and the visual arts. The main achievements during this time took place in easel sculpture.
The most significant Russian sculptor II half. XIX century. was Mark Matveyevich Antokolsky. During his studies at the Academy of Arts, he was friends with the young I.E. Repin. His work is characterized by special attention to historical themes. In 1870 he finished the statue "Ivan the Terrible" in which he tried to convey all the contradictions of the tsar's spiritual world, his strength and at the same time weakness, fatigue, cruelty and remorse. Soon (1872) he created a new significant work - the statue "Peter the Great" (timed to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the birth of the emperor). The sculptor depicted Peter at the time of the Battle of Poltava - in the Transfiguration uniform, with a cocked hat in his hand. Fluttering hair and windblown clothing add to the emotion and heroism of the look. Subsequently M.M. Antokolsky, on the basis of this sculptural image, created monuments to Peter for several cities of Russia (Arkhangelsk, Taganrog, etc.).
In the field of monumental sculpture, it is necessary to note the activities of two masters - Mikhail Osipovich Mikeshin and Alexander Mikhailovich Opekushin. The first became famous as the author of such famous works as the monument to the Millennium of Russia in Novgorod (1862), the monuments to Catherine II in St. Petersburg (1873) and to Bogdan Khmelnitsky in Kiev (1888). The second is known primarily as the author of the monument to A.S. Pushkin in Moscow (1880) - one of the best monuments in the history of Russian sculpture.
Architecture
By the middle of the XIX century. the decline of architecture was clearly indicated. Eclecticism spreads - the use of elements of a wide variety of styles. Under the onslaught of capitalist expediency, the ensemble of construction is becoming a thing of the past. The high price of land plots in the prestigious districts of the city led to the fact that, in the pursuit of profit, the new "masters of life" did not pay attention to such "trifles" as the architectural unity of style, the historical environment, etc. During this period, many priceless architectural ensembles that had developed in the previous decades were (sometimes irretrievably) damaged.
And yet one cannot fail to notice some of the achievements of the architecture of the middle. - II floor. XIX century. First of all, they are due to the progress of technology. There is a need for a new type of buildings - railway stations, huge retail premises (passages), apartment buildings, etc. New building materials (eg metal structures, reinforced concrete, etc.) appear that provide architects with greater scope for creativity.
In the 1850s - 60s. the predominant style in architecture was “retrospective stylization”, ie. reproduction of external forms of certain architectural styles of the past. The virtuoso of this trend was Andrei Ivanovich Shtakenshneider, whose work mainly falls on the end of the Nikolaev reign. His earliest work was the Mariinsky Palace in St. Petersburg. Here the author used elements of classicism. The Beloselsky-Belozersky palace in St. Petersburg was remarkably stylized by Stakenschneider in the spirit of the Rastrelli baroque. Konstantin Mikhailovich Bykovsky (Zoological Museum in Moscow (1896) belongs to the late representatives of the stylistic trend).
Since the 1870s, thanks to the rise of national consciousness under the influence of events in the Balkans and, in part, due to the emergence of populist ideas, the search for a certain national, original Russian style begins. Retrospectivism in "Western" forms is no longer satisfied, and neither is the official Russian-Byzantine style. A “Russian” (or, in Soviet terminology, pseudo-Russian) style emerged. An idea of the peculiarities of this style is given by such buildings as the Historical Museum (1875 - 1881, architect V.O. Sherwood), the Upper Trading Rows (now - GUM) (1889 - 1893, architect A.N. Pomerantsev ) and the Moscow City Duma (1890 - 1892, architect D.N. Chichagov). Among the St. Petersburg monuments of this direction, it is necessary to note the Church of the Resurrection of Christ ("Savior on Blood") (1883 - 1907, architects IV Makarov, AA Parland).
The “Russian” style did not last long. At the end of the century, it was replaced by a completely unusual, innovative style - modern.
Music
The business of creating national Russian music, begun by M.I. Glinka, in the middle of the 19th century. it was far from over. On the opera stages, the Italian artists were still setting the tone; in the concert halls, almost no Russian music was heard.
In 1862 a small group of composers rallied in St. Petersburg, aiming to continue the work of M.I. Glinka. Subsequently, this group was named "The Mighty Handful". Its organizer and theorist was Miliy Alekseevich Balakirev. In 1866, after painstaking work, he published the Collection of Russian Folk Songs. The “Mighty Handful” included M.P. Mussorgsky, N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov, A.P. Borodin.
In 1873 The Woman of Pskov was staged, the first opera by Nikolai Andreevich Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908). She occupies a special place in his work. In strength and depth of musical drama "Pskovityanka" surpasses almost all of his other operas. In terms of fidelity and consistency in the implementation of the national flavor, it has become on a par with Glinka's operas. All the music of "The Pskovite Woman" is permeated with folk song melodies, with special force they sound in the second act, which depicts the Pskov veche. Many other operas by Rimsky-Korsakov are based on fairy tales. The music of "The Snow Maiden", a sad fairy tale about spring and first love, is distinguished by a watercolor transparency.
Musical drama occupied the main place in the work of Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (1839-1881). He felt a taste for music from the age of six. But the profession of a musician was considered unworthy of a nobleman. Mussorgsky was sent to the School of Guard Ensigns. However, he did not forget about music, took private lessons, and after meeting Dargomyzhsky and Balakirev, he retired and devoted himself to his beloved work. In 1869, he proposed the opera Boris Godunov (based on the drama by Pushkin) to the Directorate of the Imperial Theaters. In 1874 it was staged at the St. Petersburg Mariinsky Theater.
The production was not successful. The audience was not ready for the perception of Russian musical drama. Critics ridiculed Mussorgsky's creation, exaggerating the shortcomings and hushing up the merits. The composer suffered a prolonged depression associated with non-recognition of his work, loneliness, and poverty. He died in a soldier's hospital.
Mussorgsky left unfinished musical drama "Khovanshchina" (from the era of the Streltsy riots), Rimsky-Korsakov put in order Mussorgsky's manuscripts and, if possible, finalized his work. "Boris Godunov" and "Khovanshchina" still do not leave the opera stage in our country and abroad, being considered classics.
Prince Igor, the only opera by Alexei Porfirievich Borodin (1833-1887), was staged after his death. The opera is distinguished by the truthfulness and beauty of the national flavor, which is contrasted with the oriental (Polovtsian) flavor.
Borodin was a professor of chemistry, but he studied music in his few hours of leisure. All the more surprising is the ease with which he solved complex musical problems both in opera and in symphonies (critics called his second symphony “Bogatyrskaya”). Borodin strove for the breadth and epic character of musical narration.
The activities of the “Mighty Handful” are such a vivid phenomenon in Russian culture that contemporaries spoke of the “musical revolution” of the 60s and 70s. Having brilliantly coped with the task, “The Mighty Handful” finally confirmed the Russian national principles in music.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was not a member of The Mighty Handful. He gravitated towards common European musical forms, although in his music one can feel belonging to the Russian school. His opera Eugene Onegin, written for a conservatory performance in Moscow, was soon staged at the theater, and then won worldwide recognition. His symphonic poems (“Romeo and Juliet” and others) are magnificent. Of the symphonies, the last one stands out, the Sixth, written shortly before his death and imbued with a premonition of an impending tragedy. Tchaikovsky's ballets (Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker) entered the world's ballet classics. Tchaikovsky wrote over a hundred romances and many other works.
Thus, the second half of the 19th century was the time of the final approval and consolidation of national forms and traditions in Russian art. It was most successful in music, less successfully in architecture. At the same time, there is no need to talk about the closure of Russian art in narrow national frameworks, about its isolation from the rest of the world. Russian culture (primarily literature and music) has received worldwide recognition. Russian culture has taken an honorable place in the family of European cultures.
The science
The social upsurge during the period of the abolition of serfdom created favorable conditions for the development of Russian science. In the eyes of the younger generation, the importance and attractiveness of scientific activity grew (an important role was played by the spread of nihilism, a prerequisite for which was higher education). Graduates of Russian universities began to travel more often for internships in European research centers, contacts between Russian scientists and their foreign colleagues became more active.
Great advances have been made in mathematics and physics. Pafnuti Lvovich Chebyshev (1821-1894) made major discoveries in mathematical analysis, number theory, and probability theory. He laid the foundation for the St. Petersburg mathematical school. Many talented scientists came out of it, including Alexander Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1857 - 1918). His discoveries laid the foundation for a number of the most important areas of mathematics.
Alexander Grigorievich Stoletov (1839-1896) played an outstanding role in the development of physics. He owns a number of studies in the field of photoelectric phenomena, which were later used in the creation of modern electronic technology.
The development of physical science determined the success in electrical engineering. P.N. Yablochkov created an arc lamp ("Yablochkov's candle") and was the first to transform the alternating current. A.N. Lodygin invented a more perfect incandescent lamp.
The discovery of world significance was the invention of the radiotelegraph. Alexander Stepanovich Popov (1859-1905) in 1895, at a meeting of the Russian Chemical Society, he made a presentation on the use of electromagnetic waves for signal transmission. The device he demonstrated, the "lightning detector", was essentially the world's first receiving radio station. In subsequent years, he created more advanced devices, but his attempts to introduce radio communications in the navy were not very successful.
Naval officer Alexander Fedorovich Mozhaisky (1825 - 1890) devoted his life to the creation of an aircraft heavier than air. He studied the flight of birds, made models, and in 1881 began building an airplane with two steam engines of 20 and 10 hp. with. There are no official documents on the testing of this aircraft. Apparently, the attempt ended unsuccessfully. However, the inventor came close to solving the problem, and his name is rightfully inscribed in the history of aviation.
60 - 70s of the XIX century. is called the “golden age” of Russian chemistry. Alexander Mikhailovich Butlerov (1828 - 1886) developed the theory of chemical structure, the main provisions of which have not lost their significance until our time.
In the second half of the XIX century. the great chemist Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev (1634-1907) made his discoveries. The greatest merit of Mendeleev was the discovery of the periodic law of chemical elements. On its basis, Mendeleev predicted the existence of many then still unknown elements. Mendeleev's book "Fundamentals of Chemistry" has been translated into almost all European languages.
DI. Mendeleev thought a lot about the fate of Russia. He associates its emergence on the path of economic and cultural growth with the wide and rational use of natural resources, with the development of the creative forces of the people, the spread of education and science.
Using the achievements of chemistry and biology, Vasily Vasilyevich Dokuchaev (1846 - 1903) laid the foundation for modern soil science. He revealed a complex and lengthy process of the origin of soils. The monograph "Russian Chernozem" brought world fame to Dokuchaev. Dokuchaev's ideas influenced the development of forestry, land reclamation, hydrogeology and other sciences.
Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov (1829-1915) became an outstanding Russian naturalist, the founder of the Russian physiological school. His lecture course "On Animal Electricity" (that is, on bioelectricity) was of outstanding importance. Later he dealt with the problems of the human psyche. His works "Reflexes of the Brain" and "Psychological Studies" are widely known.
The activities of another world famous Russian biologist, Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (1845-1916), concentrated in the field of microbiology, bacteriology, and medicine. In 1887, at the invitation of Louis Pasteur, Mechnikov moved to Paris and headed one of the laboratories of the Pasteur Institute. Until the end of his days, he did not break ties with Russia, corresponded with Sechenov, Mendeleev, and other Russian scientists, repeatedly came to his homeland, helped Russian trainees at the famous institute.
Professional historians have long been dissatisfied with the multivolume work of N.M. Karamzin "History of the Russian State". Many new sources on the history of Russia have been identified, and ideas about the historical process have become more complex. In 1851, the first volume of "History of Russia from Ancient Times" was published, written by a young professor at Moscow University, Sergei Mikhailovich Solovyov (1820-1879). Since then, for many years, a new volume of his "History" has been published annually. The latter, 29, saw the light of day in 1880. The events were brought up to 1775. Comparing the historical development of Russia and other European countries, Soloviev found much in common in their destinies. He also noted the originality of the historical path of Russia. In his opinion, it consisted in its intermediate position between Europe and Asia, in the forced centuries-old struggle against the steppe nomads. First, Asia advanced, Soloviev believed, and from about the 16th century. Russia, the foremost outpost of Europe in the East, went on the offensive.
A student of S.M. Solovyov was Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky (1841-1911). He changed his teacher at the Department of Russian History at Moscow University. In keeping with the spirit of modern times, Klyuchevsky showed great interest in social and economic issues. He tried to trace in detail the process of the formation of serf relations in Russia, to reveal their essence from an economic and legal point of view. Klyuchevsky possessed an extraordinary gift of vivid, imaginative presentation. His "Course in Russian History", compiled on the basis of university lectures, still has a wide readership.
In the second half of the XIX century. Russian scientists have made significant progress in various fields of knowledge. Moscow and St. Petersburg are among the world's scientific centers.
The achievements of Russian scientists in the field of geographical research were of particular importance. Russian travelers have visited places where a European has never gone before. In the second half of the XIX century. their efforts were focused on exploring the interior regions of Asia.
Expeditions into the interior of Asia were initiated by Peter Petrovich Semyonov-Tyan-Shan (1827-1914), a geographer, statistician, botanist. He made a number of journeys to the mountains of Central Asia, to the Tien Shan. Heading the Russian Geographical Society, he began to play a leading role in the development of plans for new expeditions. On his initiative the multivolume edition “Russia. Full geographical description of our fatherland ”.
The activities of other travelers were also associated with the Russian Geographical Society - P.A. Kropotkin and N.M. Przhevalsky.
PA Kropotkin in 1864-1866 traveled across Northern Manchuria, Sayan and Vitim plateau. Later he became a famous revolutionary anarchist.
Nikolai Mikhailovich Przhevalsky (1839-1888) made his first expedition along the Ussuriysk Territory, then his paths ran through the most inaccessible regions of Central Asia. He crossed Mongolia, Northern China several times, explored the Gobi Desert, Tien Shan, and visited Tibet. He died on the way, at the start of his last expedition.
Overseas travels of Russian scientists in the second half of the 19th century. have become more focused. If before they were mainly limited to describing and mapping the coastline, now they also studied the way of life, culture, and customs of local peoples. This direction, which began in the XVIII century. put the joint venture. Krasheninnikov, was continued by Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklukho-Maclay (1846 - 1888). He made his first travels to the Canary Islands and North Africa. In the early 70s, he visited a number of islands in the Pacific Ocean, studied the life of local peoples. For 16 months he lived among the Papuans on the northeastern coast of New Guinea (this place has since been called the “Maclay Coast”). The Russian scientist won the trust and love of local residents. Then he traveled to the Philippines, Indonesia, Malacca, and again returned to the “Maclay Coast”. The descriptions of the life and manners, economy and culture of the peoples of Oceania compiled by the scientist were largely published only after his death.
ESSAY
on the course "History of Russia"
on the topic: "Russia in the second half of the 19th century"
1. Domestic policy of Russia in the second halfXIXv.
In 1857, by decree of Alexander II, a secret committee on the peasant question began to work, the main task of which was the abolition of serfdom with the obligatory allotment of land to the peasants. Then such committees were created for the provinces. As a result of their work (and the wishes and orders of both landlords and peasants were taken into account), a reform was developed to abolish serfdom for all regions of the country, taking into account local specifics. For various regions, the maximum and minimum values of the allotment transferred to the peasant were determined.
The Emperor signed a number of laws on February 19, 1861. Here was the Manifesto and the Regulation on the granting of freedom to the peasants, documents on the entry into force of the Regulation, on the management of rural communities, etc. The abolition of serfdom was not a one-time event. First, landlord peasants were freed, then appanage peasants and those assigned to factories. The peasants received personal freedom, but the land remained the landlord's property, and while the allotments were allotted, the peasants in the position of "temporarily obligated" bore obligations in favor of the landlords, which, in fact, did not differ from the previous serfs. The allotments given to the peasants were, on average, 1/5 less than those that they had worked before. Redemption agreements were concluded for these lands, after which the “temporarily obligated” state was terminated, the treasury paid for the land with the landlords, the peasants - with the treasury for 49 years at the rate of 6% per annum (redemption payments).
Land use and relations with the authorities were built through the community. It was preserved as a guarantor of peasant payments. The peasants were attached to the society (world).
As a result of the reforms, serfdom was abolished that "obvious and tangible evil for all", which in Europe was directly called "Russian slavery." However, the land problem was not resolved, since the peasants, when the land was divided, were forced to give the landowners a fifth of their allotments.
Under Alexander II, in addition to land reform and the abolition of serfdom, a number of reforms were also carried out.
The principle of the Zemstvo reform carried out in 1864 was electiveness and lack of estates. In the provinces and districts of Central Russia and parts of Ukraine, zemstvos were established as bodies of local self-government. Elections to zemstvo assemblies were carried out on the basis of property, age, educational and a number of other qualifications. The city reform carried out in 1870 was close in character to the zemstvo reform. In large cities, city councils were established on the basis of all-estate elections.
New judicial statutes were approved on November 20, 1864. The judicial branch was separated from the executive and legislative branches. An unclassified and open court was introduced, and the principle of the irremovability of judges was affirmed. Two types of court were introduced - general (crown) and world. The most important principle of the reform was the recognition of the equality of all subjects of the empire before the law.
After the appointment in 1861, D.A. Milyutin as Minister of War, the reorganization of the command and control of the armed forces begins. In 1864, 15 military districts were formed, subordinate directly to the Minister of War. In 1867, a military-judicial charter was adopted. In 1874, after a lengthy discussion, the tsar approved the Charter on universal military service. A flexible call-up system was introduced. Recruitment kits were canceled, the entire male population who had reached the age of 21 was subject to conscription.
In 1860 the State Bank was established, the ransom 2 system was canceled, which was replaced by excise taxes (1863). From 1862 the Minister of Finance became the only responsible manager of budget revenues and expenditures; the budget became public. An attempt was made to carry out monetary reform (free exchange of banknotes for gold and silver at a fixed rate).
The regulation on elementary public schools "dated June 14, 1864 eliminated the state-church monopoly on education. Now, both public institutions and private individuals were allowed to open and maintain primary schools under the control of the district and provincial school councils and inspectors. The secondary school charter introduced the principle of equality of all estates and religions, but introduced tuition fees. The gymnasiums were divided into classical and real ones. The University Charter (1863) granted universities wide autonomy, and the election of rectors and professors was introduced. In May 1862, a reform of censorship began, "provisional rules" were introduced, which in 1865 were replaced by a new censorship charter.
The preparation and implementation of reforms was an important factor in the country's socio-economic development. Administratively, the reforms were well prepared, but public opinion did not always keep up with the ideas of the reformer tsar. The variety and speed of transformation gave rise to a feeling of uncertainty and confusion in thoughts. People lost their bearings, organizations that profess extremist, sectarian principles appeared. On March 1, 1881, Alexander II was killed. The new emperor Alexander III. proclaimed a course called "counter-reforms" in the historical-materialist literature, and "correction of reforms" in the liberal-historical literature. He expressed himself as follows.
In 1889, in order to strengthen the supervision of the peasants, the positions of zemstvo chiefs with broad rights were introduced. They were appointed from the local noble landowners. Clerks and small traders, other poor strata of the city lost the right to vote. The judicial reform has undergone changes. In the new regulation on the zemstvos in 1890, the estate-nobility representation was strengthened. In 1882-1884. many publications were closed, and the autonomy of universities was abolished. Primary schools were transferred to the church department - the Synod.
These events revealed the idea of an “official nationality” of the times of Nicholas I - the slogan “Orthodoxy. Autocracy. The spirit of humility ”was consonant with the slogans of a bygone era. New official ideologues K.P. Pobedonostsev (Chief Prosecutor of the Synod), M.N. Katkov (editor of Moskovskiye vedomosti), Prince V. Meshchersky (publisher of the newspaper Grazhdanin) dropped the word “people” as “dangerous” in the old formula “Orthodoxy, autocracy and the people”; they preached the humility of his spirit before the autocracy and the church. In practice, the new policy resulted in an attempt to strengthen the state by relying on the traditionally loyal nobility to the throne. Administrative measures were supported by the economic support of the landlord households.
2. Foreign policy of Russia in the second half of the XIX century.
After the defeat of Russia in the Crimean War, a new balance of forces developed, and the political primacy in Europe passed to France. Russia as a Great Power has lost its influence on international affairs and found itself in isolation. The interests of economic development, as well as considerations of strategic security, required, first of all, to eliminate the restrictions on military navigation in the Black Sea provided for by the Paris Peace Treaty of 1856. Russia's diplomatic efforts were aimed at disengaging the participants in the Paris Peace - France, England, Austria.
In the late 50s - early 60s. there was a rapprochement with France, which intended to seize territory on the Apennine Peninsula, using the Italian liberation movement against Austria. But relations with France worsened as a result of Russia's brutal suppression of the Polish uprising. In the 60s. relations between Russia and the United States have grown stronger; Pursuing its own interests, the autocracy supported the republican government of A. Lincoln in the civil war. At the same time, an agreement was reached with Prussia on its support of Russia's demands for the abolition of the Paris Treaty; in return, the tsarist government promised not to interfere with the creation of the North German Union headed by Prussia.
In 1870 France suffered a crushing defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. In October 1870, Russia announced its refusal to comply with the humiliating articles of the Paris Treaty. In 1871 the Russian declaration was adopted and legalized at the London conference. The strategic task of foreign policy was solved not by war, but by diplomatic means. As a result, Russia got the opportunity to more actively influence international affairs, primarily in the Balkans.
The conquest and annexation of new territories continued in the “near abroad”. Now, in the 19th century, the desire to expand the area was determined primarily by motives of a socio-political nature. Russia took an active part in big politics, sought to neutralize the influence of England in Central Asia, Turkey in the Caucasus. In the 60s. there was a civil war in the United States, and the import of American cotton was difficult. Its natural substitute was at hand, in Central Asia. And, finally, the emerging imperial traditions pushed to the seizure of territories.
In 1858 and 1860. China was forced to cede land on the left bank of the Amur and the Ussuri region. In 1859, after half a century of war, the Caucasian highlanders were finally "pacified", their military and spiritual leader Imam Shamil was taken prisoner in the high-mountainous village of Gunib. In 1864, the conquest of the Western Caucasus was completed.
The Russian emperor strove to ensure that the rulers of the states of Central Asia recognized his supreme power, and achieved this: in 1868 the Khiva Khanate, and in 1873 the Bukhara Emirate recognized vassal dependence on Russia. Muslims of the Kokand Khanate declared a "holy war", "ghazavat" to Russia, but were defeated; in 1876 Kokand was annexed to Russia. In the early 80s. Russian troops defeated the nomadic Turkmen tribes and came close to the borders of Afghanistan.
In 1875-1876. uprisings against Turkey covered the entire Balkan Peninsula, the Slavs were waiting for Russia's help.
On April 24, 1877, the tsar signed the Manifesto declaring war on Turkey. A plan was developed for a short-lived campaign. On July 7, the troops crossed the Danube, reached the Balkans, captured the Shipka Pass, but were detained near Plevna. Plevna fell only on November 28, 1877; in winter conditions the Russian army crossed the Balkans, on January 4, 1878 Sofia was taken, on January 8 - Adrianople. The Porta requested peace, which was concluded on February 19, 1878 in San Stefano. Under the treaty at San Stefano, Turkey lost almost all of its European possessions; a new independent state appeared on the map of Europe - Bulgaria.
The Western powers refused to recognize the Treaty of San Stefano. In June 1878, the Berlin Congress opened, which adopted decisions that were much less beneficial for Russia and the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula. In Russia, this was greeted as an insult to national dignity, a storm of indignation arose, including against the government. Public opinion was still held captive by the “all at once” formula. The war, which ended in victory, turned into a diplomatic defeat, economic disorder, and an aggravation of the internal political situation.
In the first years after the war, there was a "rebalancing" of the interests of the great powers. Germany was inclined towards an alliance with Austria-Hungary, which was concluded in 1879, and in 1882 was supplemented by a "triple alliance" with Italy. Under these conditions, a natural rapprochement between Russia and France took place, which ended in 1892 with the conclusion of a secret alliance, supplemented by a military convention. For the first time in world history, an economic and military-political confrontation between stable groupings of great powers began.
In the Far East, the southern part of Sakhalin Island was acquired from Japan in exchange for the Kuril Islands. In 1867, Alaska was sold to the United States for $ 7 million. According to the historian
S.G. Pushkarev, many Americans believed that she was not worth it.
The Russian Empire, "one and indivisible", stretched "from the Finnish cold rocks to the fiery Taurida", from the Vistula to the Pacific Ocean and occupied a sixth of the land.
3. Economic and social development of Russia in the second half of the XIX century.
The economy of post-reform Russia is characterized by the rapid development of commodity-money relations. There was an increase in acreage and agricultural production, but agricultural productivity remained low. Yields and food consumption (except for bread) were 2-4 times lower than in Western Europe. At the same time, in the 80s. compared to the 50s. the average annual grain harvest increased by 38%, and its export increased by 4.6 times.
The development of commodity-money relations led to property differentiation in the countryside, middle peasant farms went bankrupt, and the number of poor people grew. On the other hand, strong kulak farms appeared, some of which used agricultural machines. All this was part of the plans of the reformers. But quite unexpectedly for them in the country, the traditionally hostile attitude towards trade, towards all new forms of activity increased: towards a kulak, a merchant, a buyer - towards a successful entrepreneur.
The reforms laid the foundation for a new credit system. For the years 1866-1875. 359 joint-stock commercial banks, mutual credit companies and other financial institutions were created. Since 1866, the largest European banks began to actively participate in their work.
In Russia, large-scale industry was created and developed as a state industry. The main concern of the government after the failures of the Crimean War was the enterprises producing military equipment. The military budget of Russia in general terms was inferior to the British, French, German, but in the Russian budget it had a more significant weight. Particular attention was paid to the development of heavy industry and transport. It was in these areas that the government directed funds, both Russian and foreign.
As a result of government regulation, foreign loans and investments went mainly to railway construction. Railways ensured the expansion of the economic market in the vast expanses of Russia; they were also important for the operational transfer of military units.
The growth of entrepreneurship was controlled by the state through the issuance of special orders, so the big bourgeoisie was closely connected with the state. The number of industrial workers grew rapidly, but many workers maintained economic and psychological ties with the countryside; they carried a charge of discontent among the poor, who had lost their land and were forced to look for food in the city.
After the fall of serfdom, Russia quickly turned from an agrarian country into an agrarian-industrial one. Large-scale machine industry developed, new types of industry arose, regions of capitalist industrial and agricultural production were formed, an extensive network of railways was created, a single capitalist market was formed, and important social changes took place in the country. The decomposition of the peasantry was an important factor in the formation of the capitalist market and the development of capitalism in general. The poor peasantry created a labor market for both entrepreneurial agriculture and large-scale capitalist industry. The well-to-do elite showed an ever greater demand for agricultural machinery, fertilizers, etc. The accumulated capital was invested by the village elite in industrial entrepreneurship.
Thus, for all its progressiveness, agrarian reforms further exacerbated social contradictions, which by the beginning of the 20th century resulted in a revolutionary situation.
4. Ideological struggle and social movement in Russia in the second half of the XIX century.
The year 1861 was characterized by a sharp aggravation of the situation in the countryside. The peasants, who were declared the Regulation on February 19, 1861, did not believe that this was a true tsarist law, demanding land. In some cases (as, for example, in the village of Bezdna), it reached ten thousand meetings, which ended with the use of troops and hundreds of people killed. A.I. Herzen, who initially greeted Alexander II with the title of "Liberator" on February 19, after these shootings changed his mind and declared that "the old serfdom has been replaced by a new one." In public life as a whole, there has been a significant emancipation of the consciousness of wide circles of the population.
Three trends have emerged in the public consciousness: radical, liberal and conservative. Conservatives advocated the inviolability of the autocracy. The radicals are for his overthrow. Liberals tried to achieve greater civil freedom in society, but they did not seek to change the political system.
Liberal movement of the late 50s - early 60s. was the widest and had many different shades. But, one way or another, the liberals advocated the peaceful establishment of constitutional forms of government, for political and civil freedoms and the education of the people. Supporters of legal forms, the liberals acted through the press and the zemstvo.
The democratization of society affected the composition of the participants in the social movement. If in the first half of the 19th century, representatives of the nobility predominated among opposition figures (from the Decembrists to Herzen), then in the 60s people of various "ranks" (that is, social groups) began to take an active part in public life. This allowed Soviet researchers, following Lenin, to talk about the transition from 1861 from the noble to the raznochin stage of the liberation movement.
In the wake of the democratic upsurge in the country, a number of underground circles emerged, which at the end of 1861 united in the organization "Land and Freedom". The leadership of the organization was Alexander and Nikolai Serno-Solovievich, Nikolai Obruchev, Alexander Sleptsov, Chernyshevsky took an active part in its affairs, Ogarev and Herzen helped from London. The organization brought together up to 400 members of circles from central Russia and Poland.
The name of the organization reflected the main, in the opinion of its participants, the demands of the people and was associated with the program: the return of land plots, the compulsory redemption of landowners' land by the state, the creation of elected local government and central popular representation. The program, as we see, was quite moderate by modern standards, but one could not count on its implementation under the tsarist government. Therefore, the participants of "Land and Freedom" were preparing for an armed seizure of power. They associated his perspective with the spring of 1863, when, from February 19, 1863, the conclusion of redemption acts was to begin throughout the country. However, in 1862 Nikolai Serno-Solovievich and Chernyshevsky were arrested; at the same time, the latter was exiled to Siberia on unproven charges, so that he left the political arena. In addition, within the organization itself, there were differences of opinion on ideological issues. As a result, by the spring of 1864, "Land and Freedom" was liquidated.
Slightly in the early 1860s, Russia's working population increased significantly over the next two decades. In view of the inhuman living and working conditions, the labor movement also grew, which at the end of the 70s became quite common. The number of strikes was measured in dozens a year, sometimes there were large strikes, for the dispersal of which troops were used.
The creation of the South Russian Union of Russian Workers in Odessa dates back to 1875. Disclosed by the police just a few months later, the Union is notable for the fact that it was the first workers' organization in Russia. Three years later, in 1878, the Northern Union of Russian Workers appeared in St. Petersburg. Its purpose was quite obvious - "the overthrow of the existing political and economic system as extremely unjust." The immediate requirements are the introduction of democratic freedoms, the development of labor legislation, etc. It is especially worth noting "the establishment of a free people's federation of communities on the basis of Russian customary law." Thus, the developing labor movement was based on populist, peasant ideology.
However, the beginning of the 1880s revealed the crisis of the populist movement, which sought to rely on the peasants in the struggle to change the system. Populism was replaced by Marxism, which had already firmly established itself by that time in Europe. The revolutionary ideas of Karl Marx were based on his economic views, which proclaimed capitalism as the advanced stage in the development of society, which, however, is characterized by serious internal contradictions between capitalists and direct producers. Accordingly, Marx predicted that capitalism should be replaced by a different social system based on a more equitable distribution, and this should happen with the support of the proletariat. It is therefore natural that it is precisely with the proletarian (workers') movement that the development of Marxism in Russia is connected.
The penetration of Marxism into Russia was greatly facilitated by the populists who ended up in exile in the West: Plekhanov, Zasulich, Axelrod and others. Recognizing the fallacy of their previous views, they accepted the ideas of Marx. This change is clearly characterized by the words of Plekhanov: "The historical role of the Russian proletariat is as revolutionary as the role of the muzhik is conservative." The Emancipation of Labor group formed on the basis of these revolutionaries began to translate and publish Marx, which contributed to the spread of Marxist circles in Russia.
Thus, the revolutionary movement in Russia entered a new stage at the end of the 19th century.
Literature
1. Dolgiy A.M. Russian history. Tutorial. M .: INFRA-M, 2007.
2. History of Russia. Learning theories. Book one, second / Under. ed. B.V. Lichman. Yekaterinburg: SV-96, 2006 .-- 304 p.
3. Kozin K.M. The history of homeland. Textbook for universities. M .: AIRO-XXI; SPb .: Dmitry Bulanin, 2007 .-- 200 p.
4. Mironov B.A. Social history of Russia. Vol. 1. SPb, 2006.
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In the second half of the XIX century. Russia is entering the period modernization. An industrial revolution is taking place. The social structure of society is changing. An obstacle to the development of modernization processes is the serfdom system that persisted in the country, which survived in the middle of the 19th century. a crisis.
Domestic policy.
The main tasks in domestic politics were:
- preservation of autocracy;
- preservation of the privileges of the nobility;
- ensuring social stability and strengthening the internal situation through the creation of conditions for economic development;
- restoration of the country's international prestige, including through the implementation of reforms aimed at overcoming the backwardness of Russia.
Domestic policy of the second half of the XIX century. can be divided into two stages: the reforms (contemporaries called them the Great Reforms) of Alexander II and the counter-reforms of Alexander III.
Great reforms of Alexander II.
The main issue that predetermined the course and content of subsequent reforms in Russia was the abolition of serfdom (peasant reform).Causes abolition of serfdom:
- Serfdom became a brake on the country's economic development. The low productivity of the forced labor of serfs hindered the development of the landlord economy. The increase in the peasants' duties in favor of the landlords, who sought to increase their incomes, and the disenfranchised position of the serfs did not allow the development of the peasant economy. The absence of a free labor market, low purchasing power of the population and a lack of capital held back industrial development;
- the growth of peasant uprisings;
- the attitude of society towards serfdom has changed: not only revolutionary-minded commoners, but also representatives of the liberal part of the nobility spoke out for the abolition of serfdom, realizing its economic inefficiency;
- attempts to overcome the negative consequences of the Crimean War came across an attitude towards Russia by the leading European states as a backward country, primarily due to the preservation of serfdom in it.
At a meeting with a deputation of the Moscow nobility in March 1856, Alexander II spoke out against the immediate abolition of serfdom. But it is better to cancel it from above than to wait until it begins to cancel itself out from below. In January 1857, the Secret Committee on the Peasant Question was created. In November-December, the emperor's rescripts allowed the creation of provincial noble committees to develop projects of peasant reform. The editorial commission created in March 1859, having processed all the projects submitted to the Main Committee on the Peasant Question, worked out the final version, which was submitted in January 1861 for discussion to the State Council, and then for signature to the emperor. On February 19, 1861, Alexander II signed the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom and the local "Regulations on the peasants who emerged from serfdom", which specified the behavior of the peasant reform in different provinces.
Conditions for the release of serfs:
- the land remains the property of the landowners;
- the landowner was obliged to provide the peasant for the ransom of a field allotment and a manor settlement (the site on which the house stood);
- the highest and minimum norms of the field allotment were established, the sizes of which depended on the fertility of the land and were specified in the Local Regulations;
- the size of the redemption transaction was recorded in the charter;
- peasants paid 20% of the value of the land from their own funds when making a redemption transaction. The state provided the peasant with a loan in the amount of 80% of the value of the land, which was repaid over 49 years at 6% annually (redemption payments);
- peasant allotments were placed at the disposal of the community;
- mutual responsibility was introduced in the peasant community;
- peasants who did not go over to ransom were considered temporarily liable and continued to pay the quitrent and work off the corvee. The "Regulations" of December 28, 1881 obliged all peasants to switch to ransom by January 1, 1883.
Effects peasant reform: - the high price of land redemption (one and a half times higher than the market price) and annual redemption payments (canceled only in 1906, when the peasants paid an amount almost 2 times higher than the loan amount) affected the financial situation of the peasantry;
- the process of landlessness of the peasants is developing: the landowners sought to reduce the peasant allotments, bringing their size closer to the minimum rate established for the given province (the problem of sections), which led to a reduction in peasant allotments throughout the country by 20%. The growth of the peasant population in Russia, while it was impossible for the majority of peasants to increase their holdings, led to a decrease in the average size of per capita land allotment from 4 dessiatines after the reform to 2 dessiatines at the end of the 19th century;
- the reform gave rise to a problem striped;
- preservation of the community conserved archaic forms of land use with periodic redistribution of land, which held back the development of capitalism in the countryside;
- the introduction of mutual responsibility in the community neutralized the income of peasant farms, on the one hand, saving them from ruin, on the other hand, preventing successful farms from developing.
All were dissatisfied with the peasant reform. The landowners who lost their serfs and, for the most part, were unable to adapt to the new economic conditions. Democrats who understood the limitations of the reform, which did not make the former serfs full subjects of the Russian Empire. Peasants who have lost part of their allotments and are forced to redeem land from the landlords. The abolition of serfdom led to an increase in the number of peasant uprisings and an intensification of the activities of revolutionary organizations in Russia.
Zemskaya reform. On January 1, 1864, the "Statute on provincial and district zemstvo institutions" was approved. Zemstvos dealt with economic issues:
- maintenance of zemstvo buildings and communication lines;
- the implementation of measures to ensure the national food;
- carrying out charitable events;
- development of local trade and industry;
- sanitary measures;
- development of health care and education.
Elections to the zemstvo assemblies were held in three curiae - landowning (county nobles, landowners), urban (city dwellers with a capital of at least 60 thousand rubles) and peasant (rural peasant societies). Elections were held every three years and were multi-stage. Zemsky assemblies elected an executive body - the zemstvo council. The chairman of the county zemstvo council was approved by the governor, and the provincial council - by the minister of internal affairs.
Zemstvos were not created in Siberia, in the Cossack regions and in the national regions.
Judicial reform... On November 20, 1864, new judicial statutes were approved. The new judicial system was built on the following principles:
- equality of all before the court;
- publicity (openness) of court sessions;
- adversarial nature in the course of the trial: the presence of charges (prosecutor) and defense (lawyer - attorney at law);
- election of justices of the peace;
- independence of the court from the administration;
- the introduction of the institution of jurors.
At the same time, estate courts remained, government officials were brought to trial by decision of their superiors, juries were removed from consideration of political cases, and the Minister of Justice had an unlimited right to appoint judges.
The reform took 35 years to complete. The first two judicial districts according to the new statutes were created in April 1866, the last - in 1899.
Military reform. The defeat in the Crimean War forced the government to come to grips with changes in the army. The military reform was carried out with the active participation of D.A.Milyutin, who was appointed Minister of War in 1861.
The purpose of the reform was to overcome the lag in the military sphere from the armies of the leading Western European states. For this, it followed:
- to improve the military command and control system;
- improve the training of officers;
- create trained reserves;
- re-equip the army.
Key reform measures:
- division of Russia into military districts;
- expansion of the network of military educational institutions (establishment of military schools, academies, military gymnasiums);
- rearmament of the army with rifled weapons;
- reduction of the service life of recruits to 15 years;
- the abolition of recruitment and the introduction in 1874 of universal conscription;
- assignment of an officer rank only with a special military education.
Attention! The historical literature contains various dates of the military reform. Or 1862-1874, that is, from the reorganization of the army management system to the introduction of the "Charter on conscription." Or 1874, when the reform boils down to the adoption of the "Charter", which abolished recruitment kits, replaced by universal military service.
School reform. In 1863, the introduction of the new University Charter began the reform of higher education. There is a democratization of the social life of universities: the internal autonomy of universities has been restored, the "sets" of students have been canceled (the number of students is limited to no more than 300 people per university), and access is open to free listeners. Universities were created in Odessa, Warsaw, Helsingfors (Helsinki) and several new institutes.
In 1864 begins primary and secondary school reform: the "Regulations on elementary public schools" and "Charter of gymnasiums and progymnasiums" were adopted. It was allowed to open primary schools to individuals and public organizations, which destroyed the state-church monopoly on primary education. Education in the gymnasium gave the right to enter higher educational institutions: after the classical - to the university, after the real - to higher technical educational institutions. Women's education developed (in 1862 women's gymnasiums appeared).
Financial reform. In the 1860s. there have been changes in the field of finance:
- the State Bank was established;
- the creation of joint-stock banks is allowed, which was prohibited under Nicholas I;
- a unified procedure for drawing up estimates of income and expenses has been established;
- Introduced the unity of the cash desk: financial transactions of state institutions went through the cash desk of the Ministry of Finance;
- the state budget was published in the open press;
- wine lease payments were canceled, excise tax and patent tax were introduced.
City reform. In 1870, the “City Statute” was adopted, which introduced urban self-government like a zemstvo. City councils and councils dealt with issues of improvement, were in charge of school, medical and charitable affairs. Only city dwellers-taxpayers took part in the elections to the City Duma. The City Duma elected the city council and the mayor, who headed both the Duma and the council.
Liberal reforms of the 1860-1870s. gave impetus to the capitalist modernization of Russia. However, the policy of Alexander II was not consistent. Pressure from the conservative part of the emperor's entourage forced him in April 1861 to dismiss one of the developers of the peasant reform N.A.Milyutin and the Minister of Internal Affairs S.S.Lansky. Revision of the most radical provisions of the ongoing reforms (primarily judicial) begins already under Alexander II.
In addition, the reforms of the 1860-1870s. did not affect the political sphere. Russia remained an autocratic monarchy. The emperor's reaction to the decision of the provincial noble assembly and the meeting of the peace mediators of the Tver province in February 1862 on the need to convene "elected representatives from the whole Russian land" to resolve issues "raised but not resolved by the 19 February regulation" was immediate: 13 participants in the conference of world intermediaries were put in the Peter and Paul Fortress. In January 1865, the Moscow nobility approached Alexander II with a proposal to convene a "general meeting of elected people from the Russian land to discuss the needs common to the entire state".
In the context of the uprising that began in Poland in 1863, the Minister of Internal Affairs P.A.Valuev proposed introducing a kind of representative body in order to make the image of Russia more attractive in the eyes of the European public. Alexander II approved the development of a project that provided for the introduction of elected representatives from zemstvos into the State Council while maintaining autocratic power. When the uprising was suppressed and the threat of foreign intervention was over, the project was sent to the archives.
In January 1861, the Minister of Internal Affairs MT Loris-Melikov presented a report to Alexander II, which was called "The Constitution of Loris-Melikov" in the historical literature. According to the minister, "the calling of society to participate in the development of measures necessary for the present time is exactly the means that is useful and necessary for the further fight against sedition." Loris-Melikov proposed to create a commission to develop issues related to the continuation of the course of reforms. A meeting of the Council of Ministers, chaired by the emperor, was scheduled for March 4 to discuss the minister's report. But on March 1, 1881, Alexander II was killed by the People's Will, Grinevitsky.
Counter-reforms of Alexander III. The main task of domestic policy was to strengthen the autocracy of the estate state system. One of the first documents signed by Alexander III was the Manifesto "On the inviolability of autocracy" of April 29, 1881, prepared by the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod KP Pobedonostsev and the right-wing publicist MN Katkov.
Alexander III considered it a mistake to reform his father. He abandoned the plan to continue reforms proposed by Loris-Melikov. There is a revision of the liberal reforms of the reign of Alexander II. The representation of the nobility in the zemstvos increased and peasant self-government was limited. According to the new "City Regulations" of 1892, administrative interference in the activities of city councils is increasing. The "Provisional Regulations on the Press" of 1882 led to tougher censorship: the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Chief Prosecutor of the Synod received the right to close any printed publication. In 1884, the autonomy of universities was abolished. The 1887 circular "About the Cook's Children" by the Minister of Public Education, ID Delyanov, closed the doors of the gymnasiums for children from the lower classes.
To support the nobility in 1885, the Noble Land Bank was created, which issued loans to landowners on preferential terms on the security of land. The 1886 “Regulations on Employment for Rural Work” expanded the rights of landowners in settlements with farm laborers.
Measures are being taken to mitigate the acuteness of the peasant and workers' questions. In 1881, redemption payments were reduced and a decree was adopted on the compulsory transfer of all temporarily liable peasants to redemption before January 1, 1883. In 1882, the Peasant Land Bank was created, which gave loans to peasants for the purchase of land. In 1886, the poll tax was canceled. At the same time, direct taxes were increased by one third, indirect taxes - 2 times.
In 1882, a factory inspection was created and a ban was introduced on the work of children under 12 years of age. Since 1885, night work for women and children has been prohibited. In 1886, workers' fines were limited to 20% of wages. At the same time, a law was adopted prohibiting strikes, in the event of which a criminal punishment - arrest or a fine - was envisaged.
For economic development Russia in the second half of the XIX century. a combination of old and new elements is characteristic - the development of capitalism and the preservation of survivals of serfdom. The economy is developing at an accelerated pace. The formation of a single all-Russian market is nearing completion. But the preservation of landlordism, the estate structure of society, and the lack of land of the peasants restrain the economic development of Russia and become a factor in the growth of social tension.
In industry, a revolution is coming to an end, and at the turn of the XIX - XX centuries. the process of industrialization begins. Active railway construction is becoming a factor in economic growth and capitalist evolution of the entire economy of the country. The number of industrial enterprises and the number of workers employed in them is steadily increasing. At the same time, the formation of industries in different regions proceeds differently. Active state intervention remains, which became the basis for the emergence of state capitalism in Russia. With capitalism, periodic crises of overproduction and financial crises come to the Russian economy.
In agriculture, routine techniques and old methods of cultivating the land are preserved, and the low marketability of patriarchal peasant farming. The problem of peasants' land shortage is becoming more acute. Serving labor of peasants on landlord farms and seasonal work are becoming widespread.
Social movement.
The main directions in the Russian social movement in the second half of the XIX century. were conservative, liberal and radical.Conservatives (K.P. Pobedonostsev, M.N. Katkov, D.A.Tolstoy, and others) advocated the strengthening of the autocratic monarchy, the preservation of landlord ownership of land, the spread of Orthodoxy as the spiritual foundation of the state, and increased repression against revolutionaries.
Liberals (K.D. Kavelin, brothers N.A. and D.A. Milyutin, P.A. state power and the development of capitalism as the basis of Russia's economic success.
The radicals (V.K.Debogoriy-Mokrievich, M.P. Kovalevskaya, S.L. Perovskaya, A.I. Zhelyabov, N.A.Morozov, V.N. the destruction of the autocracy, a radical solution of the agrarian question and the construction of peasant socialism in Russia.
Populism... Social upsurge in the late 50s - early 60s. XIX century. contributed to the wide dissemination of the ideas of populism in the Russian diverse environment, the theoretical foundations of which were laid by A.I. Herzen and N.G. Chernyshevsky.
Key ideas:
- the remnants of serfdom, primarily landlord land ownership, must be destroyed;
- capitalism in Russia is imposed from above and has no social roots;
- the Russian community is a ready-made cell of socialism;
- the country's future lies in communal socialism;
- the penetration of capitalism leads to the destruction of the peasant community and postpones the socialist perspective, therefore the ulcers of capitalism should not be allowed into Russia.
Representatives of the liberal trend of populism denied violent methods of struggle, advocating the spread of literacy and a general rise in the cultural level of the people.
The revolutionary populists believed that transformations should be carried out by violent methods.
Revolutionary populism developed three streams.
1) Rebellious (anarchist) (M. A. Bakunin):
- the state is an instrument of violence and exploitation, it must be destroyed;
- the state will be replaced by a union of self-governing communities;
- the Russian peasant is a rebel, ready for revolution;
- the task of the intelligentsia is to go to the people, to agitate and from individual riots to kindle an all-Russian revolution.
2) Propaganda (P. L. Lavrov):
- the Russian people are not ready for an immediate revolution;
- the progressive intelligentsia ("thinking people") must, through propaganda, prepare the peasants for the revolution;
- the success of propaganda will be ensured by a secret revolutionary organization.
3) Conspiratorial (P.N. Tkachev):
- an uneducated peasant will not be able to understand the ideas of socialism;
- the peasant is not ready for rebellion because of his conservatism and faith in the tsar-father;
- Only a narrow group of professional revolutionaries can carry out a coup d'état and begin a socialist reorganization by means of a conspiracy.
The most famous of the populist organizations were the circles of M.A. Natanson, N.V. Tchaikovsky, the women's self-education circle of A.I.Kornilova and S.L. Perovskaya. In 1861-1864, the first organization "Land and Freedom" operated. The second was created in 1876. In 1879, at the Voronezh congress, the “Land and Freedom” split into “Narodnaya Volya” (supporters of terror A. I. Zhelyabov, S. L. Perovskaya, A. D. Mikhailov, N. A. Morozov, V. N. Figner) and "Black Redistribution" (G. V. Plekhanov, V. I. Zasulich, P. B. Axelrod who advocated the continuation of agitation among the peasants). On March 1, 1881, the Narodnaya Volya managed to organize the assassination of Emperor Alexander II, after which the populist organizations in Russia were actually defeated by the government. The populist leaders who escaped arrest were forced to immigrate.
Labor movement. The reasons for the emergence of the labor movement in Russia are difficult working conditions in production, low wages, lack of labor protection and arbitrariness of entrepreneurs. After the abolition of serfdom, the size of the working class is constantly growing. But the first "labor laws" in Russia, regulating the relationship between wage workers and entrepreneurs, appear only in the early 1880s. In the 70s. XIX century. there are the "South Russian Workers' Union" (Odessa, E.O. Zaslavsky) and the "Northern Union of Russian Workers" (St. Petersburg, V.P. Obnorsky and S.N. Khalturin). In the 80s. Marxism penetrates the Russian labor movement. Unlike the populists, the Marxists considered the main driving force of the socialist revolution not the peasantry, but the proletariat (working class) and advocated the creation of a workers' party. Capitalism was recognized by Marxists as a natural and necessary period in economic development, including for Russia, during which the material and technical basis of the future communist society is being created. Marxists opposed political terror as a means of struggle.
The first Russian Marxist organization "Emancipation of Labor" was founded in Geneva in 1883 by G. V. Plekhanov, L. G. Deich, V. I. Zasulich, P. B. Axelrod and V. N. Ignatov. In Russia, there were circles of D. I. Blagoev (1883-1885), P. V. Tochissky (1885-1888), M. I. Brusnev (1889-1891) in St. Petersburg and N. Ye. Fedoseev (1888) in Kazan. In 1895-1898. St. Petersburg hosted the "Union of Struggle for the Liberation of the Working Class", in which V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin), Yu. O. Tsederbaum (Martov) and other future leaders of Russian social democracy took part. Members of Marxist circles studied and disseminated Marxist ideas, published newspapers and proclamations for workers, organized demonstrations, and led the strike movement.
Foreign policy.
The main task in the European direction after the Crimean War, there was a way out of international isolation and a revision of the terms of the Paris Treaty of 1856. Taking advantage of the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War, Foreign Minister A.M. Gorchakov sends a circular note refusing Russia to comply with the obligation not to have a navy on the Black Sea. At the London Conference in March 1871, the leading European powers agreed with Russia's unilateral refusal to comply with the principle of neutralizing the Black Sea and confirmed the closure of the Bosphorus and Dardanelles for the warships of all European powers.In 1873, the Union of three emperors - Russia, Germany and Austria-Hungary - was concluded. Despite the extension of the "Union" in 1881 and 1884. and the signing in 1887 of the "reinsurance treaty", relations between Russia on the one hand and Germany and Austria-Hungary on the other, which concluded an agreement with Italy in 1882 and created the Triple Alliance against Russia and France, continued to deteriorate.
In the early 1890s. there is a rapprochement between Russia and France. In 1891 a political agreement was concluded. In 1892 - a military convention. The ratification by the parties of the military convention in 1893 led to the formalization of the Russian-French alliance, to which at the beginning of the XX century. England joined.
Thus, two hostile blocs have developed in Europe. A new stage in international relations begins, leading in 1914 to the outbreak of the First World War.
Balkan direction. In the 70s. XIX century. the liberation struggle of the Balkan peoples against Turkish rule is intensifying. In 1875, an uprising began in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1876 - in Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro declare war on Turkey. A movement in defense of the Slavic peoples is growing in Russia. The ideas of Pan-Slavism are becoming widespread. In April 1877 Alexander II declares war on Turkey.
Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878 was conducted in two directions - the Balkan and the Caucasian. Major events in the Balkan theater of operations:
- the capture of the Shipka Pass by the detachment of General IV Gurko in July and its defense until December 1877;
- the siege from July 1877 and the capture of the Plevna fortress in November 1877;
- the capture of Sofia on January 4, 1878 by Russian troops and Bulgarian militias;
- capture of Andrianople by the army of M.D.Skobelev on January 8, 1878;
- the capture in February 1878 by the Russian army of San Stefano in the immediate vicinity of Constantinople (Istanbul) and the signing of an agreement between Russia and Turkey.
In the Caucasian theater of military operations, Russian troops managed to capture the Turkish fortresses of Bayazet, Kars and Erzurum.
England and Austria-Hungary refused to accept the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano. They were revised at the Berlin Congress in the summer of 1878.
Central Asian direction... In the early 1860s. the annexation of Kazakh lands to Russia is completed, which leads to a conflict with the Kokand khastv. In 1863, a special committee decides to start hostilities. The campaigns of the Russian armies under the command of M. G. Chernyaev, K. P. Kaufman and M. D. Skobelev ended with the annexation of the Kokand and Khiva Khanates and the Bukhara Emirate to Russia. In 1884-1885. the Mevr oasis became part of Russia. Russian-English agreements of 1885 and 1898 assigned to Russia the oases of Mevr, Pendin and Pamir.
Far East direction... Russia is developing trade and diplomatic relations with China and Japan. The treaties of 1858 in Aigun and 1860 in Beijing established the border between Russia and China. The source of tension in relations with Japan was the territorial dispute over the possession of the Kuriles and the island of Sakhalin.
Unable to control distant territories, Russia sold Alaska to the United States of America in 1867.
Under Alexander III, Russia did not wage wars, in connection with which contemporaries called the emperor the Peacemaker.
Culture.
The liberal reforms of the 1860s – 1870s, capitalist modernization and the rise of the social movement contributed to the development of Russian culture.V fine arts academicism with its inherent mythological, biblical, antique and historical subjects is replaced by realism. In 1863, a group of graduates of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts refused to write their theses on classical themes ("riot of fourteen") and created the "Artel of Artists" headed by I. N. Kramskoy. In 1870, 23 artists (G. Myasoedov, V. Perov, A. Savrasov, V. Sherwood, M. P. Klodt, N. Ge, I. Kramskoy, I. Repin, I. Shishkin and others) created " The Association of Traveling Art Exhibitions "to" provide provincial residents with an opportunity to get acquainted with Russian art and follow its success ", to develop a love of art in society and to expand opportunities for the sale of works for artists. Subsequently, the Wanderers included V.M. and A.M. Vasnetsov, A.I. Kuindzhi, I.I. Levitan, V.D. Polenov, V.A.
In the portrait genre worked I. N. Kramskoy (portraits of I. A. Goncharov, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, N. A. Nekrasov, L. N. Tolstoy), V. A. Serov (portraits of I. E. Repin , K. A. Korovin, I. I. Levitan, N. S. Leskov, A. M. Gorky, A. P. Chekhov, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov).
In the historical genre - I. E. Repin ("Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan", "Cossacks composing a letter to the Turkish Sultan"), V. I. Surikov ("Morning of the Strelets' execution", "Menshikov in Berezovo", "Boyarynya Morozova ").
In the everyday genre - V. G. Perov ("Tea Party in Mytishchi", "Troika", "The arrival of the police officer"), I. E. Repin ("Barge haulers on the Volga", "Religious procession in the Kursk province", "Refusal confession "," We did not expect ").
In the landscape genre - I. Shishkin ("Rye", "Morning in a pine forest", "Ship Grove"), I. I. Levitan ("After the rain", "Evening on the Volga", "Golden Autumn", " March").
Notable sculptors:
MO Mikeshin - monument "Millennium of Russia" in Novgorod, Catherine II in St. Petersburg;
A. M. Opekushin - a monument to Pushkin in St. Petersburg, Alexander II in the Moscow Kremlin, Alexander III at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior;
M. M. Antokolsky - "Ivan the Terrible", "Peter the Great", "Nestor the Chronicler", "Ermak", "Christ before the People";
V.O.Sherwood, architect and sculptor - monuments to the heroes of Plevna in Moscow, to Alexander II in Samara;
In architecture, the most developed were the Russian (neo-Russian) style (A.N. Pomerantsev - Upper Trading Rows (now - GUM), the Historical Museum, the City Duma in Moscow) and eclecticism (a mixture of styles) (architects A.N. Pomerantsev, R. I. Klein, K. M. Bykovsky). At the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. the Art Nouveau style is spreading.
For realism as an artistic method of Russian literature in the second half of the 19th century. characterized by high citizenship, patriotism, nationality and emotional richness.
Representatives of the culture of the second half of the 19th century.
| Playwrights | A. N. Ostrovsky | "Thunderstorm", "Forest", "Dowry", "Talents and admirers", "Guilty without guilt" |
| A. K. Tolstoy | "Death of Ivan the Terrible", "Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich", "Tsar Boris" | |
| Writers | M.E.Saltykov-Shchedrin | "Provincial Essays", "The History of a City", "Lord Golovlevs", "Poshekhonskie Stories" |
| I. S. Turgenev | "Rudin", "Noble Nest", "On the Eve", "Fathers and Sons" | |
| I. A. Goncharov | "Oblomov", "Break" | |
| F. M. Dostoevsky | "Notes from the House of the Dead", "Humiliated and Insulted", "Crime and Punishment", "Idiot", "The Brothers Karamazov" | |
| L. N. Tolstoy | "Sevastopol Stories", "Prisoner of the Caucasus", "War and Peace", "Anna Karenina" | |
| A. K. Tolstoy | "Prince Silver" | |
| G. I. Uspensky | Series of essays "Morals of Rasteryaeva Street" and "Ruin" | |
| V. G. Korolenko | "In a Bad Society", "Children of the Underground", "The Blind Musician" | |
| N. S. Leskov | "Nowhere", "At the Knives", "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District", "Cathedrals", "The Enchanted Wanderer" | |
| Poets | N. A. Nekrasov, A. K. Tolstoy, K. R. (Grand Prince Konstantin Konstantinovich Romanov) | |
| Publicists | N. A. Dobrolyubov, N. K. Mikhailovsky |
In the late 50s - early 60s. XIX century. formed a creative community Russian composers, known as the "Mighty Handful" ("New Russian Music School", or Balakirevsky Circle). The "Mighty Handful" included M. A. Balakirev (head and leader), A. P. Borodin, C. A. Cui, M. P. Mussorgsky, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov, for some time also N. N. Lodyzhensky, A.S. Gussakovsky, N.V. Shcherbachev. Being the heirs and successors of the traditions of MI Glinka and AS Dargomyzhsky, the composers of The Mighty Handful were looking for new forms for the embodiment of themes and images from Russian history and modern times. Such are the operas by Mussorgsky (Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina), Borodin (Prince Igor), Rimsky-Korsakov (The Woman of Pskov). The “Mighty Handful” as a close-knit creative group ceased to exist in the mid-70s, but its ideas and creative principles influenced the further development of Russian music.
The social upsurge and development of capitalism also contributed to the development Russian science.
P. L. Chebyshev, A. M. Lyapunov, S. V. Kovalevskaya - fundamental and applied mathematical research;
A. G. Stoletov - research in the field of photoelectric phenomena;
P. N. Yablochkov - invention of the arc lamp ("Yablochkov's candle");
A. N. Lodygin - invention of the incandescent lamp;
A.S. Popov - invention of radio;
AF Mozhaisky - a project of an aircraft powered by steam engines;
AM Butlerov - the theory of the chemical structure of organic substances;
DI Mendeleev - the periodic law of chemical elements, works on economics "To the cognition of Russia", "Cherished thoughts";
VV Dokuchaev - work on soil science;
I. M. Sechenov - the foundations of the national physiological school;
II Mechnikov - work in the field of microbiology, bacteriology and medicine;
S. M. Solovyov and V. O. Klyuchevsky - works on Russian history.
A great contribution to geographical science and ethnography was made by Russian researchers P.P.Semenov-Tyan-Shansky, P.A.Kropotkin, N.M. Przhevalsky, N.N. Miklukho-Maclay, E.V. Toll.
Domestic policy.
The problem of modernization intensified in Russia at the turn of the century. Reforms of the 1860-1870s were not completed and largely stopped during the reign of Alexander III. Social tension was growing, caused by the development of new capitalist forms of management, which came into conflict with the remnants of serfdom in the economic sphere and absolutism in the political sphere.Politic system. In Russia, the autocracy and the class structure of society are preserved, which came into conflict with the changed historical conditions. The social support of the autocracy remained the nobility, which was losing its position in the economic life of the country. Representatives of other social strata, primarily the bourgeoisie, whose economic positions were strengthening every year, were not allowed to power. During his accession to the throne, the new emperor Nicholas II declared loyalty to the internal political course of his father Alexander III and in his policy, especially after the revolution of 1905–1907, relied on the most conservative part of the nobility. The activity of political parties in Russia until October 1905 was banned.
The beginning of the reign of Nicholas II was overshadowed by the Khodynka tragedy - the death of people during the distribution of royal gifts on the occasion of the emperor's coronation.
The zemstvo movement is developing. Back in the 1870s, illegal meetings of participants in the zemstvo movement began to be held in order to develop a general political program and coordinate speeches in zemstvo assemblies (zemstvo congresses). In 1879, at a large zemstvo congress in Moscow, the "Zemsky Union and Self-Government Society" ("Zemsky Union") was created. After the assassination of Alexander II, the Zemsky Union formulated its basic political principles: denial of government and revolutionary terror, decentralization of state administration, central popular representation (State Duma), and the abolition of autocracy. In 1894, Nicholas II, on the occasion of his accession to the throne, provincial zemstvo assemblies raised the issue of expanding the rights of zemstvos. But the king called such wishes "meaningless dreams." Since 1900, the Zemstvo opposition has regularly held its congresses. In 1903-1905. 5 All-Russian Zemstvo Congresses took place. In 1902, a group of liberal-minded Zemstvo members founded the Osvobozhdeniye magazine in Stuttgart, edited by P. B. Struve, and published in it a policy statement demanding political freedoms and the convocation of a representative body with legislative rights at the "highest will". In November 1903, the Union of Zemstvo Constitutionalists was created, in January 1904 - the Union of Liberation, which became the basis for the subsequent creation of a party of Cadets. Lacking opportunities for legal political activity, the zemstvos in the fall of 1904 organized a "banquet campaign" on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the zemstvo reform. The central event of the campaign was the congress of zemstvos on November 6-9, 1904, which developed a program of political reforms: the convocation of "freely elected representatives of the people" with the empowerment of this body with legislative rights, the introduction of civil liberties and equality of estates, the expansion of the composition and range of activities of local self-government.
Nicholas II was outraged by the decisions of the zemstvo congress, but on December 12, 1904, he was forced to issue a decree "On measures to improve the state order", in which he promised to expand the rights of zemstvos, revise the laws on peasants, Old Believers, the press and an exceptional position.
One of the ways to distract the population from internal problems could be the "small victorious war", the need for which in January 1904, the Minister of Internal Affairs VK Pleve spoke to General A. N. Kuropatkin. But the war with Japan that began on January 26, 1904 was unsuccessful and further exacerbated the situation in Russia.
Trying to weaken the influence of underground revolutionary parties on the workers and put the workers' movement under government control, at the beginning of the XX century. the creation of workers' trade unions controlled by the police was allowed ("zubatovism", or police socialism). But this did not relieve social tension, and the shooting on January 9, 1905 of the procession to the tsar organized by G. Gapon was the beginning of the first Russian revolution (Bloody Sunday).
The reasons for the revolution of 1905-1907:
- the need for political reforms. Autocracy became an obsolete form of state power that did not meet the interests of society;
- lack of democratic freedoms (freedom of speech, press, assembly), guarantees of personal integrity and the prohibition to create political parties and unions;
- the unresolved agrarian issue: the preservation of landlord ownership, land shortages of peasants, redemption payments;
- deterioration of the material situation of workers in the context of the world economic crisis of 1900–1903, difficult working conditions, legal vulnerability of workers to the arbitrariness of entrepreneurs;
- the national question: the inequality of the peoples of the national borderlands.
The tasks of the revolution of 1905-1907:
- the overthrow of the autocracy, the establishment of a democratic republic;
- the introduction of democratic freedoms;
- the elimination of landlord ownership, the return of land plots to the peasants and the abolition of redemption payments;
- reduction of the working day at enterprises, the creation of trade unions to protect the rights of workers;
- the establishment of equality for all peoples of Russia, the creation of opportunities for their free development.
The nature of the revolution of 1905-1907:
- according to tasks - bourgeois,
- in terms of driving forces (participants) - democratic.
Stages of the revolution 1905-1907:
- the first stage: January-December 1905 - the beginning and strengthening of the revolutionary movement,
- the second stage: January 1906 - June 3, 1907 - the decline of revolutionary uprisings.
In the course of the revolution, the organs of power of the insurgent popular masses - the Soviets - are created. The first Council was the Council of Commissioners, organized in May 1905 by striking workers of textile and weaving enterprises in Ivanovo-Voznesensk (now Ivanovo). It was a strike committee that directed the strike struggle, following the example of factory councils in Europe. In the autumn of 1905, Soviets of Workers ', Soldiers', Railroad, Cossack, Sailor's, Agricultural Laborers 'and Peasants' Deputies were organized in many cities and towns. Emerging as the governing bodies of the insurgent masses, with victory they acted as a revolutionary power. The propagandists of the idea of the power of the Soviets as the highest form of democracy were originally A.L. Parvus and L.D. Trotsky (leaders of the Petersburg Soviet), Mensheviks, Social Revolutionaries-maximalists. Lenin put forward the idea of Soviets as a form of political organization of the working people in the struggle for the proletarian revolution and the dictatorship of the proletariat.
In the course of the first Russian revolution, 62 Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies arose. 47 Soviets were headed by the Bolsheviks or were under their influence, 10 were headed by Mensheviks.
The highest point in the development of the revolution was the October All-Russian political strike of 1905 and the December armed uprising in Moscow. During the December uprising in Moscow, the Bolshevik-led Moscow Soviet of Workers 'Deputies and Borderland Soviets led the workers' uprising, becoming revolutionary organs of power.
Revolutionary actions of workers, peasants and uprisings in the navy forced the emperor to make a number of concessions. The announcement in August 1905 of the convocation of a legislative advisory State Duma ("Bulyginskaya Duma") could not defuse the situation. Therefore, with the manifesto "On the improvement of state order" on October 17, 1905, Nicholas II proclaimed democratic freedoms in Russia and announced the convening of a legislative State Duma (see table "Composition of the State Duma 1906-1917, p. 213). The creation of political parties and unions is allowed (see the table "Positions of the main parties in the revolution of 1905-1907", p. 214). By decrees of November 3, 1905, the redemption payments in 1906 were reduced by 2 times, from January 1, 1907, they were completely canceled, and the Peasant Land Bank was allowed to issue loans to peasants not at 90, but at 100% of the assessed value of the acquired land. On November 9, 1906, the Stolypin agrarian reform began.
On April 23, 1906, Nicholas II approved a set of Basic State Laws, according to which a bicameral legislative parliament was created in Russia (the State Council - the upper chamber, the State Duma - the lower chamber). Laws were subject to approval by the emperor. The executive power in the country was subordinate only to the emperor. The Duma could change the basic state laws only on the initiative of the emperor himself.
The dissolution of the 2nd State Duma on June 2, 1907 and the publication of a new electoral law by Nicholas II on June 3, 1907 without the approval of the Duma ("the third June coup") is considered the end of the first Russian revolution.
Results of the revolution of 1905-1907:
- the transformation of Russia into a constitutional monarchy with a bicameral parliament began;
- introduced freedom of speech, press, parties and unions;
- legal political parties have been created;
- the position of the proletariat has been improved (shorter working hours and higher wages in a number of industries);
- the position of the peasantry has been improved (the abolition of redemption payments, legal restrictions on the peasants as owners have been eliminated, in the course of the Stolypin reform, the process of destruction of the community has begun);
- the authority of the autocracy has fallen;
- the emperor retained the right to pass laws and the entirety of the executive power;
- the landlord's land ownership was preserved;
- the problem of peasant land shortages has not been resolved.
The government's repressive measures - the persecution of revolutionary parties and democratic organizations, the arrests of participants in the revolution, the closure of some trade unions and democratic newspapers and magazines - had temporary success. Since 1910, a new socio-political crisis has been brewing in Russia.
Economic development.
The liberal reforms of the 1860s-1870s, the completion of the industrial revolution, the strengthening of the financial system during the monetary reform of S. Yu. Witte (1897) gave impetus to the rapid economic development of Russia along the capitalist path, which was characterized not only by fast rates, tight deadlines, but also a shift in the stages of the folding of the system of factory production and a different sequence of agrarian-capitalist and industrial revolutions. At the turn of the century, the process of industrialization and monopolization of the economy began in Russia.Features of the economic development of Russia in the late 19th - early 20th centuries:
- railway construction in Russia developed before the industrial revolution and became a powerful stimulus for both industrialization and the capitalist evolution of the entire economic system;
- Russian factory production in many industries, due to the export of equipment and technologies, developed without going through the previous stages - handicrafts and trade;
- the combination of modern capitalist industry and the financial and banking system with a backward agrarian sector, since the industrial revolution in Russia preceded both the bourgeois-democratic revolution and the agrarian-capitalist revolution initiated by Stolypin's reform;
- active support and interference of the autocratic state in economic processes;
- The Russian state was a large owner of industrial enterprises, railways, communications enterprises, a state bank, which gave rise to the problem of bureaucratic capital and led to the formation of a system of state-monopoly capitalism;
- active import of foreign capital, due to the stability of the monetary system and the possibility of obtaining super-profits due to cheap labor and huge raw materials.
The Russian economy is more and more involved in world economic processes, experiencing the influence of periodic economic crises characteristic of capitalism. After the industrial boom in the 1890s. Russia is experiencing a decline in production during the years of the world economic crisis of 1900-1903, industrial stagnation in 1904-1908. and a new upsurge in 1909-1913.
The process of creating monopolies is underway. If in the 1880-1890s. these are cartels ("Prodparovoz"), then since 1902 - syndicates ("Prodamet", "Prodvagon", "Produgol", "Nobel-Mazut"), since 1909 - trusts (mainly foreign ones, for example, " Royal Dutch-Shell) and concerns (Kolomna-Sormovo, Putilovsko-Nevsky).
In the 1890s. the government is rethinking the agrarian problem as key to the country's economic growth and the political survival of the regime. There is a search for new approaches to its solution. The Ministers of Agriculture A. S. Ermolov, Finance S. Yu. Witte, and Internal Affairs V. K. Pleve believed that the reason for the land hunger was the low efficiency of agricultural production, caused by the insufficient level of development of market relations. The culprit is the communal system of land use. A special government commission chaired by S. Yu. Witte ("Special meeting on the needs of the agricultural industry") in 1902-1905. a program of transformations was developed, which provided for the individualization and intensification of peasant farms through the destruction of the community, the transformation of the peasant economy into a system of small private property with a simultaneous increase in peasant holdings by expanding the sale of noble lands to peasants, both directly and through the Peasant Bank.
The proposals of the "Special Meeting" formed the basis of the Stolypin agrarian reform:
- the right of peasants to freely leave the community;
- the right to allocate from the communal lands and consolidate their allotment into private ownership (cut);
- the right to transfer your estate to the allotment by creating a farm;
- state support for resettlement policy;
- expansion of the civil rights of peasants.
In the course of the Stolypin agrarian reform, the economic stability of peasant farms was strengthened, their marketability and market orientation increased. The process of economic stratification of the peasantry accelerated, the number of the rural bourgeoisie, which organized profitable, market-oriented farms, grew.
However, from 1906 to 1917, 26% of the peasants left the community, securing 15% of the communal lands. On the outskirts of the empire (Siberia, Central Asia) in 1906–1914. more than 3 million people left. Of these, 1 million 133 thousand people settled down, more than 1 million (27.2%) people returned, completely ruined, unable to find themselves in a new place. The arrival of Russian settlers in the national regions of the empire led to an increase in clashes on ethnic grounds.
The main task - to turn the peasant into the support of the political system - was not accomplished during the Stolypin reform. The peasantry continued to demand the elimination of landlordism.
Thus, the country's economy is characterized by a situation of “overlapping epochs” and a multi-structured pattern, which gave rise to a complex knot of social contradictions and conflicts, one of the ways to resolve which is revolution.
Foreign policy.
At the end of the XIX - beginning of the XX century. as a result of the struggle of the powers for the redivision of the world, a tense international situation has developed. In 1898, Russia came up with a proposal for a general limitation of armaments. In 1899, the first, in 1907, the second international peace conferences took place in The Hague, which laid the foundations of modern humanitarian law, which determines the procedure for the peaceful resolution of international conflicts, the laws of warfare (a ban on the use of certain types of weapons, etc.). But Russia's proposals to limit weapons were not accepted. In Europe, the process of the formation of military-political blocs is under way. Rearmament programs are underway.Far East direction. The European powers, the United States and Japan are striving to divide the Far East into spheres of influence. At the end of the XIX century. Russia is strengthening its position in the Far East and increasing its influence in China. In 1891, the construction of the Siberian railway from Chelyabinsk to Vladivostok began (completed in 1905). In 1895 the Russian-Chinese Bank was established. In 1896, a secret treaty was concluded with China on a defensive alliance against Japan, which was preparing to invade Manchuria, and the construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) began. In 1898, Russia concludes an agreement with China on the 25-year lease of the Liaodong Peninsula and Port Arthur, where a Russian naval base was established. In 1900, Russian troops were sent to Manchuria to suppress the Boxer Uprising. A detachment of General N.P. Linevich liberates Beijing from the rebels. In 1896, Japan and Russia recognized the equality of their rights in Korea, but already in 1898, Japan got Russia to recognize the priority of Japanese economic interests in this country. In 1902 Japan and England conclude an alliance treaty directed against Russia. Under pressure from Britain and the United States, Russia begins to withdraw its troops from Manchuria. In 1903, Japan offered Russia to conclude an agreement on the division of spheres of influence in China, but, preparing for war, it drags out and ultimately breaks down the negotiations. January 24 (February 6, New Style), 1904 Japan severs diplomatic relations with Russia. On January 26 (February 8, New Style), hostilities begin, and on January 28 (February 10, New Style) declares war on Russia.
As a result of the unsuccessful Russian-Japanese war of 1904-1905 for Russia. in the city of Portsmouth (USA), a peace treaty was signed, according to which Russia recognized Korea as a sphere of influence of Japan, transferred to her the rights to Lease the Liaodong Peninsula with Port Arthur, and lost the southern part of Sakhalin and the adjacent islands. Thanks to the efforts of the head of the Russian delegation, S. Yu. Witte, a number of Japan's demands, in particular, on the payment of indemnity, were rejected. The terms of the Portsmouth Treaty were regarded as a diplomatic success for Russia. S. Yu. Witte received the title of count. But in opposition circles he was nicknamed the "Polusakhalin Count".
European direction. At the beginning of the reign of Nicholas II, the “calm” (as defined by the Minister of Foreign Affairs NK Girs) policy was continued in European affairs, which was necessary to solve the problems of modernizing the country and strengthening Russian influence in the Far East. During the Russo-Japanese War, Russia actually found itself in international isolation, since in China and Korea, Russia's interests collided with the interests of not only Japan, but also the European powers. In 1907, with the conclusion of an agreement between Russia and Great Britain on the division of spheres of influence in Iran and Central Asia, the formation of the Triple Accord (Entente) - an alliance of Russia, France and Great Britain directed against Germany, Austria-Hungary and countries that joined the Triple Alliance (Turkey , Bulgaria, etc.). Weakened during the Russo-Japanese War and the 1905–1907 revolution, Russia did not take active action during the Bosnian crisis of 1908–1909. and two Balkan wars of 1912-1913. But strengthening the position of Germany-backed Austria-Hungary in the Balkans ran counter to Russian interests. The need to resolve the traditional for Russian foreign policy issues of influence in the Balkans, control over the Black Sea straits and maintaining an all-European balance of power pulled Russia into a complex set of European contradictions that led to the outbreak of the First World War. The First World War was attended by 38 states with a population of over 1.5 billion people.
Causes of the First World War:
- attempts to revise the results of the colonial division of the world that ended by the beginning of the 20th century;
- in connection with the beginning of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the struggle for the redistribution of spheres of influence in the Balkans, the Middle East and in the straits zone.
The occasion the assassination in June 1914 of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, began the war.
Russia's participation in the First World War. Germany declared war on Russia on July 19 (August 1), Austria-Hungary on July 24 (August 6), and Turkey on October 20. In 1914, neither side achieved decisive successes. Germany did not succeed in defeating France and Russia with lightning speed and successively. In 1915, Russia lost Poland, Galicia, part of the Baltic states, Western Belarus and Ukraine, and went on the defensive. The war in Europe has acquired a positional character. In May-July 1916, as a result of the offensive of Russian troops (Brusilov breakthrough), the troops of Austria-Hungary were defeated, but they failed to build on the success. Military operations on the Caucasian front against Turkey were more successful for Russia. In late 1914 - early 1915, during the Sarykamysh operation, most of the Transcaucasia was occupied. In the course of the Alashkert operation of 1915, an attempt by the Turkish army to defeat the 4th Caucasian corps and reach the Kars fortress was thwarted. The Erzurum and Trebizond operations of 1916 ended with the capture of Erzurum and Trebizond by the Russian troops.
Failures at the front against Germany and the aggravation of the internal economic and political situation made the war unpopular in Russia. Anti-war sentiment is on the rise in the country. In 1917, the Russian army was completely demoralized. On November 20 (December 3, New Style), the Bolsheviks who came to power begin peace negotiations, which culminated in the signing of a separate Brest-Litovsk Peace Treaty with Germany on March 3, 1918.
Culture.
Modernization processes in the economic and socio-political sphere also influenced the development of Russian culture in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. This period was called the Silver Age of Russian culture.Artistic culture is characterized by a variety of styles, trends, ideas and methods. In literature, along with the recognized classics of realism (L.N. Tolstoy, A.P. Chekhov, V.G. Korolenko), new authors (M. Gorky, A.I. Kuprin, L. Andreev) and a new artistic method are gaining popularity - modernism. Various tendencies of decadence develop in poetry - symbolism, acmeism, futurism.
V painting the traditions of realism are continued by I. E. Repin, V. I. Surikov, the Vasnetsov brothers. In 1903, the “Union of Russian Artists” was created in Moscow (K. Yuon, I. Grabar, A. Rylov), whose style combined the realistic traditions of the Itinerants and the experience of impressionism in the transmission of air and light. Various currents of Art Nouveau appear:
- world of art(members of the creative union "World of Art" created in 1898) A. N. Benois, K. A. Somov, L. S. Bakst, E. E. Lansere, N. K. Roerich and others.
- avant-garde:
supporters symbolism M. S. Saryan and P. V. Kuznetsov (exhibition "Blue Rose", 1907);
fans impressionism P. Cezanne and fauvism A. Matisse P. P. Konchalovsky, M. F. Larionov, R. R. Falk (exhibition and association "Jack of Diamonds", 1910);
primitivists M.F. Larionov, N. S. Goncharova, K. S. Malevich, K. M. Zdanevich, A. V. Shevchenko, S. P. Bobrov, V. E. Tatlin, M. Z. artists headed by MF Larionov separated from the Jack of Diamonds and organized in 1912 two exhibitions and the Donkey's Tail Association);
"Analytical art" Pavel Filonov, who overcame the main drawback of Cubism - the immobility of geometric forms and conveyed the forms of objects in a state of "organic growth";
cubo-futurism(D. D. Burliuk, N. A. Udaltsov, works of K. S. Malevich 1913–1914);
suprematism- a direction in avant-garde art, founded in the first half of the 1910s. in Russia by K. S. Malevich. Suprematism was expressed in combinations of multi-colored planes of the simplest geometric outlines, devoid of pictorial meaning (in the geometric forms of a straight line, square, circle and rectangle);
constructivism(works by V.E. Tatlin after 1914).
In sculpture, preference was given not to a careful study of the form, but to artistic generalization. The features of impressionism manifested themselves in the work of sculptors P. P. Trubetskoy ("Leo Tolstoy on a horse", monument to Alexander III) and A. S. Golubkina ("Old age", "Wave (Swimmer)", relief on the building of the Moscow Art Theater in Moscow). The works of S. T. Konenkov are diverse in themes and style (Lesovik, The Old Pole, Nika, Sleep, busts of A. P. Chekhov, the publisher P. P. Konchalovsky).
V architecture there is both an appeal to the traditions of classical architecture, ancient Russian architecture, to national motives, and the search for new architectural solutions in the spirit of Art Nouveau: the use of new materials (reinforced concrete, steel, glass), rejection of symmetry, smooth lines and rich decor.
The main styles in architecture were:
- neo-Russian (A. V. Shchusev - Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh on the Kulikovo field, Kazansky railway station in Moscow);
- neoclassicism (R.I. Klein - Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow (now - the State Museum of Fine Arts named after A.S. Pushkin); I.A.Fomin - development of the Golodai Island in St. Petersburg; F.I. Lidval - hotel "Astoria" in St. Petersburg; I. V. Zholtovsky - House of the Racing Society in Moscow);
- modern (V.F.Valkot - hotel "Metropol" in Moscow; F.I.Shekhtel - mansions of S.P. Ryabushinsky and Z.G. Morozova, Yaroslavsky station, Art Theater in Moscow, V.V. Gorodetsky - House with chimeras in Kiev).
Russian realistic theatre is at dawn. In 1898, thanks to the efforts of V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko and K. S. Stanislavsky, the Moscow Art Public Theater (MHT) was opened. The system of the director K.S. Stanislavsky has received worldwide recognition. The work of the founder of the Chamber Theater in Moscow, A. Ya. Tairov, was filled with the search for a new scenographic style. During these years, the creative activities of theatrical reformers V.E. Meyerhold and E. B. Vakhtangov began. Actors I. M. Moskvin, V. F. Komissarzhevskaya, singers F. I. Shalyapin, L. V. Sobinov, A. V. Nezhdanova, ballet dancers A. P. Pavlova, T. P. Karsavina, V. F. Nijinsky. The choreographer M.I. Petipa, composers S.V. Rachmaninov, A.N. Skryabin, A.K. Lyadov became famous.
An event for European culture was the Russian Seasons organized by S. P. Diaghilev - tours of Russian opera and ballet dancers in Paris and other European cities in 1907–1913.
In 1908, the premiere of the first Russian 7-minute silent film "The Laughing Freeman" ("Stenka Razin") took place. Already in 1911, a full-length film directed by V. M. Goncharov and A. A. Khanzhonkov “Defense of Sevastopol” was released. In 1909, director Ya. A. Protazanov made his debut with the tape "The Fountain of Bakhchisarai". The actors Ivan Mozzhukhin, Vera Kholodnaya, Vitold Polonsky became the stars of silent films.
Significant achievements have been made by Russian scientists. The Russian scientists I.P. Pavlov (1904) and I.I.Mechnikov (1908) became laureates of the Nobel Prize awarded since 1901.
Achievements of Russian science at the turn of the XIX - XX centuries.
| Physics | P. N. Lebedev | Substantiated the electromagnetic theory of light |
| A. S. Popov | The invention of the radio | |
| Chemistry | S. V. Lebedev | Synthetic rubber |
| Maths | N.E. Zhukovsky | Aircraft construction |
| K. E. Tsiolkovsky | The theory of jet propulsion, laid the foundations of astronautics | |
| Biology and medicine | I. P. Pavlov | The doctrine of higher nervous activity |
| I. I. Mechnikov | Phagocytic theory of immunity and the foundations of evolutionary embryology | |
| History | S. F. Platonov, V.O. Klyuchevsky, A. A. Shakhmatov, L. P. Karsavin |
|
| Sociology | M. M. Kovalevsky, P. A. Sorokin |
|
| Economy | M. I. Tugan-Baranovsky | |
| Philosophy | N. A. Berdyaev, S. N. Bulgakov, S. L. Frank, L. Shestov, S. N. Trubetskoy |
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| V. I. Vernadsky | Works in geochemistry, biochemistry, radiology, the creation of the doctrine of the noosphere | |
| P. B. Struve | Works on economics, sociology, philosophy |
Becomes more democratic education system. According to the census of 1897, 21.1% of the population were literate in Russia. The society discussed the problem of eliminating illiteracy and introducing universal primary education. The project of universal education was developed by the Ministry of Public Education in 1906. Although it did not acquire the force of law, state allocations for the development of the education system and the opening of new schools, primarily primary ones, increased. State allocations for primary education from 1906 to 1911 more than quadrupled: from 9.144 million to 39.65 million rubles. From 1894 to 1915, the number of primary schools quadrupled. Sunday schools, work courses, and popular universities (University of A. L. Shanyavsky, etc.) are being opened, supported by private and public funds.
Periodicals and book publishing played an important educational role. Book publishers A. F. Marks, A. S. Suvorin, I. D. Sytin, brothers Sabashnikovs and others publish a large amount of popular literature and publicly available books for the people: A. S. Suvorin's Cheap Library, Self-Education Library, "People's Encyclopedia of Scientific and Applied Knowledge", cheap editions of collected works of Russian classics and popular prints by I. D. Sytin and others.
Russia in the second half of the 19th century
On February 18, 1855, after the death of Nicholas I, his son Alexander II ascended the throne. His reign (1855-1881) was marked by a deep modernization of Russian society. 19 February 1861 was promulgated Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom and approved by the legislative acts, which made up the "Regulations on the peasants emerging from serfdom." In 1864, zemstvo self-government was introduced (gradually, in 34 provinces of European Russia), a jury and a legal profession, in 1870 - city self-government, in 1874 - universal military service.
In 1863, an uprising broke out in Poland. It was suppressed. In 1864, Russia managed to end the Caucasian War, which lasted 47 years. Accession to Russia in 1865-1876 significant territories of Central Asia put the tsarist administration in front of the need to organize the management of a remote foreign cultural outskirts.
Reforms of the 1860-1870s led to a sharp growth in the economy and especially - in the industry. The most notable aspect of this growth was the "railway boom" in the second half of the 1860s-early 1870s, during which the most important highways were built: Moscow-Kursk (1868), Kursk-Kiev (1870), Moscow -Brest (1871).
In the middle of the XIX century. Russia was an agricultural country, the largest producer and supplier of agricultural products. Under the terms of the abolition of serfdom, the peasants had to redeem their land plots. “Redemption payments” were a heavy burden on rural communities and often stretched out over many years, which caused more than 1,300 mass demonstrations of peasants, of which more than 500 were suppressed with the use of force. Communal land use (the inability to manage their allotments) and land scarcity caused discontent among the peasants and held back the growth of the working class, and the lack of social guarantees from the state led to increased exploitation of workers.
The ideas of V.G.Belinsky (1811-1848), A.I. Herzen (1812-1870) and N.G. Chernyshevsky (1828-1889), who believed that that an ideal state structure can be affirmed only on the principles of extending the communal order familiar to the Russian countryside to the whole of society. They saw a general peasant uprising as a means of reorganizing social life. To prepare for this all-Russian peasant revolt, the revolutionary youth tried to organize the propaganda of their ideas among the peasants (“going to the people” in 1874-1875), but in the peasant environment the naive monarchist sentiments were still very strong. Some young people mistakenly believed that the assassination of the tsar would automatically cause the collapse of the state apparatus, which would facilitate the revolution. Already in 1866, the first attempt on the life of Alexander II took place, and in 1879 a secret organization "Narodnaya Volya" emerged, which set as its task terror against prominent employees of the tsarist administration, and regicide as its highest goal. On March 1, 1881, Alexander II was killed by the "populists", but the peasant revolution did not take place.
The son of Alexander II, Alexander III, became the king. His reign (1881-1894) was characterized by protective tendencies. The new monarch strove in every possible way to strengthen the state apparatus and increase the controllability of the country. To do this, he went on to partially curtail the transformations that were carried out by Alexander II. In historiography, this period was called "Period of counter-reforms"... Zemstvo chiefs (nobles) appeared in the districts, who managed peasant affairs; in the provinces, security departments were established to fight the revolutionary movement. The rights of zemstvo self-government were significantly limited, and the electoral system was changed in order to ensure the predominance of delegates from landowners in zemstvo bodies. Reactionary changes were made to the litigation and censorship case. On the other hand, the administration of Alexander III strove to act as a social arbiter. The government was forced to pass laws limiting the exploitation of workers. In 1883, the poll tax was abolished.
Alexander III died in 1894. His son Nicholas II ascended the throne, who, like his father, fought against liberal tendencies and was a consistent supporter of absolute monarchy, which, however, did not prevent him from favorably treating certain innovations and transformations, if they were tactical nature and did not touch the foundations of autocracy. In particular, during the reign of Nicholas II (1894-1917), the gold security of the ruble and the state wine monopoly were introduced, which significantly improved the country's finances. The Trans-Siberian Railway, the construction of which was completed in those years, linked the Far Eastern borders with the central regions of Russia. In 1897, the First All-Russian Population Census.
The liberation of the peasants from serfdom contributed to the rapid development of capitalism: the emergence of a large number of industrial and commercial enterprises, banks, the construction of railways, and the development of agricultural production. By the end of the XIX century. the number of workers doubled and reached 1.5 million. In 1879-1900. the share of large enterprises increased from 4 to 16%, i.e., 4 times, workers at them - from 67 to 76%.
The growth of the proletariat was accompanied by the appearance of the first revolutionary workers' organizations. In 1883 G.V. Plekhanov (1856-1918) and his associates in Geneva united in the "Emancipation of Labor" group, which laid the foundation for the spread of Marxism in Russia. The group developed a program for Russian Social Democracy, the ultimate goal of which was the creation of a workers' party, the overthrow of the autocracy, the seizure of political power by the working class, the transfer of the means and instruments of production to public ownership, the elimination of market relations and the organization of planned production. The publications of this group were distributed in Russia in more than 30 provincial centers and industrial cities.
Marxist circles began to emerge in Russia (by the end of the 19th century there were about 30 of them). In 1892 V. I. Lenin (Ulyanov, 1870-1924) began his revolutionary activity in Samara. In 1895, together with members of the Marxist circle of technology students (S. I. Radchenko, M. A. Silvin, G. M. Krzhizhanovsky, etc.) and St. Petersburg workers (I. V. Babushkin, V. A. Shelgunov, B.I. Zinoviev and others) Lenin created in St. Petersburg an organization "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class", which was soon defeated by the police, and Lenin had to emigrate.
In 1898, a congress of representatives of the St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Yekaterinoslav "unions of struggle" and the Bund (the party of the Jewish proletariat) was held in Minsk. The congress proclaimed the creation Russian Social Democratic Labor Party (RSDLP) and elected the Central Committee (CC). On behalf of the Congress, the Central Committee issued Manifesto of the RSDLP, in which the democratic and socialist tasks of the Russian proletariat and its party were briefly stated. However, the party did not yet have a program and charter, its local committees were in a state of ideological and organizational confusion.
In 1855 the Kuril Islands were officially incorporated into Russia. The annexation of Priamurye and Primorye was formalized Aygunsky(1858) and Beijing(1860) treaties with China. Under the Aigun Treaty, non-delimited lands along the left bank of the Amur were recognized as the possession of Russia, and along the Peking Treaty, Primorye (Ussuriysk Territory) ceded to it. In 1875 Sakhalin Island passed to Russia, and the Kuril Islands to Japan.
In 1867, from the annexed possessions of the Kokand Khanate and the Bukhara Emirate, the Turkestan General Government was formed. In 1868, the Samarkand and Kata-Kurgan districts of the Bukhara Emirate were annexed to Russia, which recognized the protectorate of Russia. In 1869 the Transcaspian military department was formed with the center in Krasnovodsk. After 1881, the Transcaspian region was formed with the Center in Askhabad. By agreement with Great Britain (England), on September 10, 1885, the border between Russia and Afghanistan was established, and in 1895 - the border in the Pamirs.
In the spring of 1875, an uprising broke out in the Turkish possessions of Russia in the Balkans. The Serbs turned to the Russian government for help, which demanded that Turkey conclude a truce with the Serbs. The refusal of the Turks caused the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878. In the summer of 1877, Russian troops crossed the Danube and entered Bulgaria.
However, there was not enough strength for a decisive offensive. General Gurko's detachment moved to the south occupied the Shipka Pass on the Balkan Range, but could not advance further. On the other hand, numerous attempts by the Turks to knock the Russians off the pass were also unsuccessful. The delay of the Russians with the occupation of Plevna on the western face of the Trans-Danube bridgehead became especially dangerous. Turkish troops were the first to reach this strategically important point and gain a foothold in it. Three extremely bloody assaults on 8 (20), 18 (30) July and 30-31 August (11-12 September) 1877 were not crowned with success. In the fall, the Russians occupied the fortifications of Telish and Gorny Dubnyak, finally blocking Plevna. Trying to support the encircled fortress, the Turks launched a counteroffensive immediately both from Sofia and on the eastern face of the bridgehead. In the Sofia direction, the Turkish counteroffensive was repelled, and the Eastern Front of the Russian location was broken through, and only a desperate counterattack by the Russian troops, which crushed the Turkish order at Zlataritsa, stabilized the front. Having exhausted the possibilities for resistance, after an unsuccessful attempt to break through, the Pleven garrison surrendered on November 28 (December 10), 1877. In the winter of 1877-1878. in incredibly difficult weather conditions, Russian troops crossed the Balkan ridge and inflicted a decisive defeat on the Turks at Sheinovo. 3-5 (15-17) January 1878 in the battle near Philippopolis (Plovdiv) the last Turkish army was defeated, and on January 8 (20) Russian troops occupied Adrianople without any resistance. According to the Berlin Treaty on July 13, 1878, Southern Bessarabia, Batum, Kars and Ardahan were annexed to Russia.
The trends in literature and art that developed in the first half of the 19th century were further developed and in the second half of the 19th century. - the beginning of the XX century.
Reforms of the 1860-1870s represented a real revolution, the consequence of which were cardinal changes in social, state and all national life, which could not but affect the development of culture. There was not only a social, but also a spiritual emancipation of the people, who had new cultural needs and opportunities to satisfy them. The circle of persons of intelligent labor, bearers of culture, has also significantly expanded. Scientific and technological progress, which served both as factors and as an indicator of the development of culture, was also of no small importance.
The beginning of the XX century. - this is the "Silver Age" of Russian culture, primarily in the field of literature and art. Russia has firmly entered the system of world powers, closely linked by economic, political and cultural ties. In Russia, the novelties of scientific and technological progress of advanced countries (telephone, cinema, gramophone, automobile, etc.), achievements of exact sciences were widely used; various directions have become widespread in literature and art. And world culture has been significantly enriched by the achievements of Russian science, literature and art. Performances by Russian composers, opera singers, ballet masters have taken place in renowned theaters in Italy, France, Germany, England, and the USA.
V Russian literature second half of the 19th century. themes of popular life, various socio-political trends were especially vividly depicted. This time saw the flourishing of the creativity of the outstanding Russian writers L. N. Tolstoy, I. S. Turgenev, M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, N. A. Nekrasov, A. N. Ostrovsky, F. M. Dostoevsky. In the 1880-1890s. A. P. Chekhov, V. G. Korolenko, D. N. Mamin-Sibiryak, N. G. Garin-Mikhailovsky are distinguished in Russian literature. The traditions of critical realism inherent in these writers found their continuation and development in the work of those who came to literature at the beginning of the 20th century. writers of a new generation - A. M. Gorky, A. I. Kuprin, I. A. Bunin.
Along with this direction, especially in the pre-revolutionary decade and mainly in the poetic environment, various literary circles and associations arise, striving to move away from traditional aesthetic norms and ideas. The symbolists' associations (the poet V. Ya.Bryusov was the creator and theorist of Russian Symbolism) included K. D. Balmont, F. K. Sologub, D. S. Merezhkovsky, Z. N. Gippius, A. Bely, A. A. Block. The opposite direction to symbolism, acmeism arose in Russian poetry in 1910 (N. S. Gumilyov, A. A. Akhmatova, O. E. Mandelstam). Representatives of another modernist trend in Russian literature and art - futurism - denied traditional culture, its moral and artistic values (V.V. Khlebnikov, Igor Severyanin, early V.V. Mayakovsky, N. Aseev, B. Pasternak).
The Alexandrinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and the Maly Theater in Moscow remained the main centers of Russian theater culture in the second half of the 19th century. - the beginning of the XX century. In the repertoire of the Maly Theater, plays by A. N. Ostrovsky occupied a leading place. Among the actors of the Maly Theater were Prov Sadovsky, Sergei Shumsky, Maria Ermolova, Alexander Sumbatov-Yuzhin and others. Maria Savina, Vladimir Davydov, Polina Strepetova shone on the stage of the Alexandrinsky Theater.
In the 1860-1870s. private theaters and theatrical circles began to appear. In 1898, K. Stanislavsky and V. I. Nemirovich-Danchenko founded the Art Theater in Moscow, and in 1904, V. F. Komissarzhevskaya created the Drama Theater in St. Petersburg.
Second half of the 19th century - heyday Russian musical art... Anton and Nikolai Rubinstein played an important role in the development and organization of music education. NG Rubinshtein initiated the creation of the Moscow Conservatory (1866).
In 1862, the “Balakirevsky circle” (or, according to V. Stasov, “The Mighty Handful”) was formed in St. Petersburg, which included M. A. Balakirev, C. A. Cui, A. P. Borodin, M. P. Mussorgsky and N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov. Mussorgsky's operas "Khovanshchina" and "Boris Godunov", Rimsky-Korsakov's "Sadko", "The Pskovite Woman" and "The Tsar's Bride" are masterpieces of Russian and world musical classics. The greatest composer of the era was P. I. Tchaikovsky (1840-1893), whose creativity flourished in the 1870-1880s. PI Tchaikovsky - the largest creator of symphonic, ballet and opera music (ballets "Swan Lake", "Nutcracker", "Sleeping Beauty"; operas "Eugene Onegin", "The Queen of Spades", "Mazepa", "Iolanta", etc. .). Tchaikovsky wrote over a hundred romances, mainly based on the works of Russian poets.
At the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. A galaxy of talented composers appeared in Russian music: A. K. Glazunov, S. I. Taneev, A. S. Arensky, A. K. Lyadov, I. F. Stravinsky, A. N. Skryabin. With the help of wealthy philanthropists, private operas appeared, among which the private opera of S. I. Mamontov in Moscow was widely known. On her stage, the talent of F.I. Shalyapin was fully revealed.
V Russian painting the dominant position was taken by critical realism, the main theme of which was the depiction of the life of the common people, primarily the peasantry. First of all, this theme found its embodiment in the work of the Itinerant artists (I. N. Kramskoy, N. N. Ge, V. N. Surikov, V. G. Perov, V. E. Makovsky, G. G. Myasodoev, A. K. Savrasov, I. I. Shishkin, I. E. Repin, A. I. Kuindzhi, I. I. Levitan). An outstanding representative of Russian battle painting was V.V. Vereshchagin, the largest marine painter was I.K. Aivazovsky. In 1898 a creative association of artists “The World of Art” was formed, which included A. N. Benois, D. S. Bakst, M. V. Dobuzhinsky, E. E. Lancere, B. M. Kustodiev, K. A. Korovin, N.K. Roerich, I.E. Grabar.
Implementation in architecture achievements of industrial progress and technical innovations contributed to the construction of structures characteristic of the industrial development of the country: factory buildings, railway stations, banks, shopping centers. Art Nouveau became the leading style, along with which buildings of the Old Russian and Byzantine styles were erected: the Upper Trading Rows (now GUM, architect A.N. Pomerantsev), the buildings of the Historical Museum in Moscow (architect V.O. Sherwood) and the Moscow City Duma ( architect D.N. Chichagov) and others.
A significant event in social and cultural life was the opening of the monument to A.S. Pushkin in Moscow (1880, sculptor A.M. Opekushin). T. Konenkov.
Developed successfully the science... The name of the great scientist DI Mendeleev (1834-1907) is associated with the discovery of the Periodic Table of Elements; I. M. Sechenov's research in the field of physiology and higher nervous activity was continued by I. P. Pavlov; II Mechnikov created the doctrine of the protective factors of the body, which formed the basis of modern microbiology and pathology.
The "father of Russian aviation" E. N. Zhukovsky laid the foundations of modern aerodynamics, invented the wind tunnel, and in 1904 founded the Aerodynamic Institute; K.E. Tsiolkovsky laid the foundation for the theory of the movement of rockets and rocket devices. Academician V. I. Vernadsky, with his work, gave rise to many scientific directions in geochemistry, biochemistry, radiology, ecology. KA Timiryazev founded the Russian school of plant physiology.
Technical discoveries and inventions are associated with the development of natural sciences: the creation of an incandescent light bulb (A. N. Lodygin), an arc lamp (P. N. Yablochkov), radio communication (A. S. Popov).
The eminent scientist S. M. Solovyov developed the fundamental work "History of Russia from Ancient Times", in which he substantiated a new concept that explained Russian history by the natural and ethnic characteristics of the Russian people.
The abolition of serfdom, despite its incompleteness, created the conditions for the rapid development of capitalism. In the years 1861-1900. Russia has turned from an agricultural to an agrarian-industrial capitalist country, one of the great world powers. At the end of the XIX century. in industrial production, it took the fifth place, after the USA, England, Germany and France.
As a result of imperial policy, Russia annexed a huge space in Central Asia, stopping the expansion of England in this area and obtaining a raw material base for the textile industry. In the Far East, the Amur Region and the Ussuriysk Primorye were annexed, and the possession of Sakhalin was secured (in return for the cession of the Kuril Islands). Political rapprochement with France began.
The emerging revolutionary movement of the populists was unable to rouse the peasants to revolt, the terror against the tsar and high officials turned out to be untenable. In the 1880s. the spread of Marxism began, in 1892 - the revolutionary activity of Lenin, in 1898 the RSDLP was created.
