Walking among the people (“Going to the people”)

mass movement of democratic youth to the countryside in Russia in the 1870s. For the first time the slogan "To the people!" put forward by A. I. Herzen in connection with the student unrest of 1861 (see The Bell, fol. 110). In the 1860s - early 1870s. attempts to rapprochement with the people and revolutionary propaganda among them were made by members of the Land and Freedom (See Land and Freedom), the Ishuta circle (See Ishuta circle), the Ruble Society (See Ruble Society), Dolgushintsy. The leading role in the ideological preparation of the movement was played by P. L. Lavrov’s Historical Letters (1870), which called on the intelligentsia to “pay their debt to the people,” and V. V. Bervi’s (N. Flerovsky’s) The Condition of the Working Class in Russia. Preparation for the mass "X. in n. began in the autumn of 1873: the formation of circles intensified, among which the main role belonged to the Chaikovtsy (See Chaikovtsy) , Propaganda literature was being published (printing houses of the Chaikovites in Switzerland, I. N. Myshkin and in Moscow), peasant clothes were prepared, and young people mastered crafts in specially arranged workshops. The mass “Kh. in n. It was a spontaneous phenomenon that did not have a single plan, program, or organization. Among the participants were both supporters of P. L. Lavrov, who advocated the gradual preparation of the peasant revolution through socialist propaganda, and supporters of M. A. Bakunin. , seeking immediate revolt. The democratic intelligentsia also participated in the movement, trying to get closer to the people and serve them with their knowledge. Practical activity "among the people" erased the differences between directions, in fact, all participants conducted "flying propaganda" of socialism, wandering around the villages. The only attempt to raise a peasant uprising was The Chigirinsky Conspiracy (1877).

The movement that began in the central provinces of Russia (Moscow, Tver, Kaluga, Tula) soon spread to the Volga region (Yaroslavl, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov and other provinces) and Ukraine (Kyiv, Kharkov, Kherson, Chernigov provinces). According to official data, 37 provinces of European Russia were covered by propaganda. The main centers were: the Potapovo estate of the Yaroslavl province (A. I. Ivanchin-Pisarev , N. A. Morozov) , Penza (D. M. Rogachev) , Saratov (P. I. Voynaralsky), Odessa (F. V. Volkhovsky , Zhebunev brothers), "The Kyiv Commune" (V. K. Debogoriy-Mokrievich , E. K. Breshko-Breshkovskaya) and others. In “H. in n. actively participated O. V. Aptekman , M. D. Muravsky , D. A. Klements , S. F. Kovalik , M. F. Frolenko , S. M. Kravchinsky and many others. By the end of 1874, most of the propagandists were arrested, but the movement continued into 1875. In the second half of the 1870s. "X. in n. took the form of "settlements" organized by "Land and Liberty" (See Land and Liberty) , “flying” was replaced by “sedentary propaganda” (the arrangement of settlements “among the people”). From 1873 to March 1879, 2564 people were involved in the inquiry into the case of revolutionary propaganda, the main participants in the movement were convicted on"Trial of the 193s" (See Trial of the 193s) . "X. in n. failed primarily because it relied on the utopian idea of ​​populism (See Populism) about the possibility of the victory of the peasant revolution in Russia. "X. in n. did not have a leading center, most of the propagandists did not have the skills of conspiracy, which allowed the government to crush the movement relatively quickly. "X. in n. was a turning point in the history of revolutionary populism. His experience prepared a departure from Bakuninism, accelerated the process of maturation of the idea of ​​the need for a political struggle against the autocracy, the creation of a centralized, clandestine organization of revolutionaries.

Source: Trial of the 193s, M., 1906: Revolutionary Populism of the 70s. XIX in Sat. documents, vol. 1-2, M. - L., 1964-65; Agitational literature of Russian revolutionary populists, L., 1970; Ivanchin-Pisarev A.I., Going to the people, [M. - L., 1929]; Kovalik S.F., The revolutionary movement of the seventies and the process of the 193s, M., 1928; Lavrov P. L., Populist propagandists of 1873-1878, 2nd ed., L., 1925.

Lit.: Bogucharsky V. Ya., Active populism of the seventies, M., 1912; Itenberg B. S., Movement of revolutionary populism, M., 1965; Troitsky N. A., Large Propaganda Society 1871-1874, Saratov, 1963; Filippov R.V., From the history of the populist movement at the first stage of "going to the people", Petrozavodsk, 1967; Ginev VN, Populist movement in the Middle Volga region. 70s of the XIX century., M. - L., 1966; Zakharina V.F., Voice of revolutionary Russia, M., 1971; Kraineva N. Ya., Pronina P. V., Populism in the works of Soviet researchers for 1953-1970, M., 1971.

B. S. Itenberg.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what "Going to the People" is in other dictionaries:

Movement among Russian student youth in the 70s. 19th century In those years, interest in higher education, especially in the natural sciences, grew significantly among the youth. But in the fall of 1861, the government raised tuition fees, banned ... ... Dictionary of winged words and expressions

Mass movement of youth in the village. It began in the spring of 1873, the greatest scope was in the spring and summer of 1874. Objectives: the study of the people, the promotion of socialist ideas, the organization of peasant uprisings. Centers: St. Petersburg and Moscow circles of Tchaikovsky ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Mass movement of radical youth to the countryside. It began in the spring of 1873 and reached its greatest extent in the spring and summer of 1874 (covering 37 provinces of Russia). Lavrists aimed to promote the ideas of socialism, Bakuninists tried to organize mass anti ... Russian history

- "WALKING TO THE PEOPLE", a mass movement of youth to the village. It began in the spring of 1873, the greatest scope was in the spring and summer of 1874. Objectives: the study of the people, the promotion of socialist ideas, the organization of peasant uprisings. Centers: St. Petersburg and ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Mass movement of youth in the village. It began in the spring of 1873, the greatest scope was in the spring and summer of 1874. Objectives: the study of the people, the promotion of socialist ideas, the organization of peasant uprisings. Centers: St. Petersburg and Moscow circles ... ... Political science. Dictionary.

"Going to the people"- “WALKING INTO THE PEOPLE”, a mass movement of revolutionary and democratic youth into the countryside. It began in the spring of 1873, the greatest scope was in the spring and summer of 1874. Objectives: the study of the people, the promotion of socialist ideas, the organization of peasant uprisings. Centers… Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

Revolutionary movement. populists in order to prepare the cross. revolution in Russia. Back in 1861 A. I. Herzen in the Bell (fol. 110) turned to Russian. revolutionaries with a call to go to the people. In the 60s. attempts to rapprochement with the people and revolution. propaganda in his ... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia

The mass movement of radical youth to the countryside, an attempt to put into practice the ideas of populism. It began in the spring of 1873 and reached its greatest extent in the spring and summer of 1874 (covering 37 provinces of Russia). "Lavrists" aimed to promote ideas ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Walking among the people- East. The movement of the raznochintsy intelligentsia to the village in the 60-70s of the XIX century. for the purpose of enlightenment and revolutionary propaganda among the people. Korolenko was essentially the purest exponent of the ideas and moods of the 70s, the era of people's love and walking ... ... Phraseological dictionary of the Russian literary language

WALKING, walking, cf. 1. only units Action under ch. walk in 1, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 17 digits. Walking around the room. Going to lectures. Walking in a bathrobe and shoes. "I was engaged in walking on cases of litigation." A. Turgenev. Walking among the people (see go). By… … Explanatory Dictionary of Ushakov

Populism is an ideological trend of a radical nature that opposed serfdom, for the overthrow of the autocracy or for the global reform of the Russian Empire. As a result of the actions of populism, Alexander 2 was killed, after which the organization actually collapsed. Neopopulism was restored in the late 1890s in the form of the activities of the Socialist-Revolutionary Party.

Main dates:

• 1874-1875 - "the movement of populism to the people."
• 1876 ​​- creation of "Land and Freedom".
• 1879 - "Land and Freedom" splits into "Narodnaya Volya" and "Black Repartition".
• March 1, 1881 - the assassination of Alexander 2.

Prominent historical figures of populism:

1. Bakunin Mikhail Alexandrovich is one of the key ideologists of populism in Russia.
2. Lavrov Petr Lavrovich - scientist. He also acted as an ideologue of populism.
3. Chernyshevsky Nikolai Gavrilovich - writer and public figure. Ideologist of populism and informer of its main ideas.
4. Zhelyabov Andrei Ivanovich - was a member of the Narodnaya Volya administration, one of the organizers of the assassination attempt on Alexander 2.
5. Nechaev Sergey Gennadievich - the author of the Catechism of a Revolutionary, an active revolutionary.
6. Tkachev Petr Nikolaevich - an active revolutionary, one of the ideologists of the movement.

The ideology of revolutionary populism

Revolutionary populism in Russia originated in the 60s of the 19th century. Initially, it was called not "populism", but "public socialism". The author of this theory was A.I. Herzen N.G. Chernyshevsky.

Russia has a unique chance to move to socialism, bypassing capitalism. The main element of the transition should be the peasant community with its elements of collective land use. In this sense, Russia should become an example for the rest of the world.

Herzen A.I.

Why is Narodism called revolutionary? Because it called for the overthrow of the autocracy by any means, including the way of terror. Today, some historians say that this was the innovation of the populists, but this is not so. The same Herzen in his idea of ​​"public socialism" said that terror and revolution is one of the methods to achieve the goal (albeit an extreme method).

The ideological currents of populism in the 70s

In the 70s, populism entered a new stage, when the organization was actually divided into 3 different ideological currents. These currents had a common goal - the overthrow of the autocracy, but the methods for achieving this goal differed.

The ideological currents of populism:

• Propaganda. Ideologist - P.L. Lavrov. The main idea is that thinking people should lead historical processes. Therefore, populism must go to the people and enlighten them.
• Rebellious. Ideologist - M.A. Bakunin. The main idea was that propagandistic ideas were supported. The difference is that Bakunin spoke not simply of enlightening the people, but of calling them to take up arms against the oppressors.
• Conspiratorial. Ideologist - P.N. Tkachev. The main idea is that the monarchy in Russia is weak. Therefore, there is no need to work with the people, but it is necessary to create a secret organization that will carry out a coup and seize power.

All directions developed in parallel.

Entry into the People is a mass movement that began in 1874, in which thousands of young people of Russia took part. In fact, they implemented the ideology of the populism of Lavrov and Bakunin, conducting propaganda with the villagers. They moved from one village to another, handed out propaganda materials to people, talked with people, calling them to active actions, explaining that it was impossible to live like this any longer. For greater persuasiveness, entry into the people involved the use of peasant clothing and conversation in a language understandable to the peasants. But this ideology was met with suspicion by the peasants. They were wary of strangers who made "terrible speeches", and also thought in a completely different way from representatives of populism. Here is an example of one of the documented conversations:

- Who owns the land? Is she God's? - says Morozov, one of the active participants in joining the people.

- “God she is where no one lives. And where people live, there is human land,” was the answer of the peasants.

Obviously, populism had difficulty imagining the way of thinking of ordinary people, which means that their propaganda was extremely ineffective. Largely because of this, by the autumn of 1874, "entry into the people" began to fade away. By the same time, the repressions of the Russian government against those who "walked" began.

In 1876, the organization "Land and Freedom" was created. It was a secret organization that pursued one goal - the establishment of the Republic. Peasants' war was chosen as the achievement of this goal. Therefore, starting from 1876, the main efforts of Narodism were directed towards preparing for this war. The following areas were chosen as training:

• Propaganda. Again the members of "Land and Freedom" appealed to the people. They got jobs as teachers, doctors, paramedics, petty officials. In these positions, they agitated the people for war, following the example of Razin and Pugachev. But once again, the propaganda of populism among the peasants did not give any effect. The peasants did not trust these people.
• individual terror. In fact, we are talking about disorganization work, in which terror was waged against prominent and capable statesmen. By the spring of 1879, as a result of terror, the head of the gendarmes, N.V. Mezentsev and Kharkov Governor D.N. Kropotkin. In addition, an unsuccessful attempt was made on Alexander 2.

By the summer of 1879, "Land and Freedom" split into 2 organizations: "Black Repartition" and "Narodnaya Volya". This was preceded by a congress of populists in St. Petersburg, Voronezh and Lipetsk.

Black redistribution

"Black redistribution" was headed by G.V. Plekhanov. He called for the abandonment of terror and a return to propaganda. The idea was that the peasants were simply not yet ready for the information that populism brought down on them, but soon the peasants would begin to understand everything and "take up the pitchfork" themselves.

People's Will

"Narodnaya Volya" was controlled by A.I. Zhelyabov, A.D. Mikhailov, S.L. Petrovskaya. They also called for the active use of terror as a method of political struggle. Their goal was clear - the Russian tsar, whom they began to hunt from 1879 to 1881 (8 assassination attempts). For example, this led to the assassination attempt on Alexander 2 in Ukraine. The king survived, but 60 people died.

The end of the activities of populism and brief results

As a result of attempts on the emperor, unrest began among the people. Alexander 2 in this situation created a special commission, headed by M.T. Loris-Melikov. This man intensified the fight against populism and its terror, and also proposed a draft law, when certain elements of local government could be transferred under the control of "electors". In fact, this was what the peasants demanded, which means that this step significantly strengthened the monarchy. This draft law was to be signed by Alexander II on March 4, 1881. But on March 1, the populists committed another terrorist act, killing the emperor.

Alexander 3 came to power. "Narodnaya Volya" was closed, the entire leadership was arrested and shot by a court verdict. The terror unleashed by the Narodnaya Volya was not perceived by the population as an element of the struggle for the liberation of the peasants. In fact, we are talking about the meanness of this organization, which set high and correct goals, but chose the meanest and meanest opportunities to achieve them.

39. Revolutionary populism: main directions, stages of activity, similarities

signs of revolutionary populism;

In post-reform Russia, populism became the main trend in the liberation movement. His ideology was based on a system of views about a special, "original" path of Russia's development towards socialism, bypassing capitalism.

The foundations of this “Russian socialism” were formulated at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s by A. I. Herzen.

Signs:

1) Recognition of capitalism in Russia as a decline, regression

2) Belief in the "communist instincts" of the Russian peasant, in the fact that the very principle of private ownership of land is alien to him and that the community, because of this, can become the initial unit of communist society.

3) Ways to achieve should be shown by the intelligentsia - a part of the population that is not connected with property, does not have selfish interests in the exploitative system, has mastered the cultural heritage of mankind and therefore is most receptive to the ideas of equality, humanism, social justice.

4) The conviction that the state, and the Russian autocracy in particular, is a superstructure above classes, a bureaucratic apparatus not associated with any classes. Because of this, a social revolution, especially in Russia, is an extremely easy matter.

5) The transition to a new society is possible only through a peasant revolution.

M.A. Bakunin, P.L. Lavrov, P.N. Tkachev and their views on the development of the revolutionary process in Russia; the impact of these views on practice;

At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, the doctrine of populism was also formed, the main ideologists of which were M. A. Bakunin, P. L. Lavrov and P. N. Tkachev.

Bakunin is one of the most prominent anarchist theorists. He believed that any statehood is evil, exploitation and despotism. He contrasted any form of state with the principle of "federalism", that is, a federation of self-governing rural communities, production associations based on collective ownership of tools and means of production. They are then combined into larger federal units.

Lavrov shared Bakunin's thesis about the "social revolution", which "will come out of the countryside, not the city", considered the peasant community as a "cell of socialism", but rejected the position that the peasantry was ready for revolution. He argued that the intelligentsia was not ready for it either. Therefore, in his opinion, the intelligentsia itself must undergo the necessary training before starting systematic propaganda work among the people. Hence the difference between the "rebellious" and "propaganda" tactics of Bakunin and Lavrov.

Tkachev believed that the coup in Russia should be carried out not through a peasant revolution, but through the seizure of power by a group of revolutionary conspirators, because with the "wild ignorance" of the peasantry, its "slavish and conservative instincts", neither propaganda nor agitation can cause a popular uprising, and the authorities will easily catch the propagandists. In Russia, Tkachev argued, it is easier to seize power by conspiracy, because the autocracy at the moment has no support ("hanging in the air").

Tkachev's ideas were subsequently taken over by Narodnaya Volya.

"going to the people" in 1874: goals, forms, results; political processes of the 70s;

The first major action of revolutionary populism in the 70s was the mass "going to the people" in the summer of 1874. It was a spontaneous movement. Several thousand propagandists took part in the movement. Basically, it was young students, inspired by Bakunin's idea of ​​the possibility of raising the people to a "general rebellion." The impetus for the campaign "to the people" was the severe famine of 1873-1874. in the Middle Volga.

"Going to the people" in 1874 failed. Speaking in the name of peasant interests, the populists did not find a common language with the peasants, who were alien to the socialist and anti-tsarist ideas inspired by the propagandists.

Again, young people, leaving their families, universities, gymnasiums, dressed in peasant clothes, learned blacksmithing, carpentry, carpentry and other crafts and settled in the countryside. They also worked as teachers and doctors. This was the "second going to the people", now in the form of permanent settlements in the countryside. Some of the Narodniks decided to conduct propaganda among the workers, who were seen as the same peasants, who only temporarily came to factories and plants, but were more literate and, therefore, more receptive to revolutionary ideas.

But again, they were declassified.

The success of the "second going to the people" was also not great. Only a few natives of the people found a common language with the revolutionaries, subsequently becoming active participants in populist and workers' organizations.

the creation of "Land and Freedom", the beginning of revolutionary terrorism, the creation of "Narodnaya Volya" and "Black Redistribution";

The revolutionists saw the need for a centralized revolutionary organization. This was created in 1876. In 1878 - the name of the Earth and the will

1) When creating the “Land and Freedom”, its program was also adopted, the main provisions of which were:

transfer of all land to peasants with the right to communal use of it,

the introduction of secular self-government,

· freedom of speech, assembly, religion, creation of industrial agricultural and industrial associations.

The authors of the program chose propaganda among the peasants, workers, artisans, students, the military, as well as influence on the liberal opposition circles of Russian society, in order to win them over to their side and thus unite all the dissatisfied as the main tactical method of struggle.

At the end of 1878 it was decided to curtail the decision to go to the people. The organization begins to see the idea of ​​the need for regicide as the ultimate goal of the revolution. However, not all members of the Earth and the will agreed with such a decision. And in the end, in 1879, it broke up into the Black Repartition and Narodnaya Volya.

2) The difficulties of propaganda, its low effectiveness, the harsh actions of the government against the revolutionaries (hard labor, imprisonment) prompted terror. Some terrorist organizations have been created.

3) "Narodnaya Volya" - a revolutionary populist organization that arose in 1879, after the split of the "Land and Freedom" party, and set the main goal of forcing the government to democratic reforms, after which it would be possible to fight for the social transformation of society. Terror became one of the main methods of the political struggle of Narodnaya Volya. In particular, members of the terrorist faction Narodnaya Volya hoped to push political changes by the execution of Emperor Alexander II.

goals and main forms of activity of the "Black Redistribution";

The populist organization "Black Redistribution", headed by G. V. Plekhanov, declared its rejection of the tactics of individual terror and set the goal of "propaganda among the people" in order to prepare an "agrarian revolution." Its members carried out propaganda mainly among workers, students, and the military. The Black Repartition program largely repeated the program provisions of Earth and Zero. In 1880, she was betrayed by a traitor. A number of members of the Black Redistribution were arrested. In January 1880, fearing arrests, Plekhanov emigrated abroad with a small group of Black Peredelites. The leadership of the organization passed to P. B. Axelrod, who tried to intensify its activities. A new printing house was set up in Minsk, which published several issues of the newspapers Cherny Peredel and Zerno, but at the end of 1881 it was hunted down by the police. More arrests followed. After 1882, the "Black Repartition" broke up into small independent circles. Some of them joined the "Narodnaya Volya", the rest ceased to exist.

"Narodnaya Volya": reasons for choosing terror as the main means of struggle; assassination attempts and execution of Alexander II on March 1, 1881;

The program of "Narodnaya Volya" set the goal of "disorganizing the government. They decided to bring it to life with the help of terror.

Assassination attempts:

On April 4, 1866, on the Neva embankment, Karakozov fired at Alexander II, but the peasant O. Komissarov prevented him.

On April 2, 1879, all 5 shots fired by Solovyov at Alexander II on the square of the Guards Headquarters missed the emperor. On May 28, A. Solovyov was executed on the Smolensk field in the presence of a crowd of 4,000.

On February 5, 1880, at 6:30 p.m., a dinner was scheduled with the Prince of Hesse. However, due to the malfunction of his watch, the prince was late and the king and his entourage approached the doors of the dining room only at 18 hours and 35 minutes. At that moment there was an explosion.

The explosion in the Winter Palace did not bring the results desired by the terrorists, Alexander II was not injured,

On February 27, 1881, Andrei Zhelyabov, the main organizer of the impending assassination of Alexander II, was arrested. Sofya Perovskaya led the preparation of the assassination attempt on the tsar. On March 1, 1881, a group of terrorists led by her ambushed the royal carriage on the banks of the Catherine Canal. N. I. Rysakov threw a bomb that turned the carriage around and hit several people from the tsar's convoy, but did not hit the tsar. Then the bomb thrown by I. I. Grinevitsky mortally wounded the emperor and the terrorist himself.

The assassination of Alexander II caused fear and confusion at the top. "Street riots" were expected. The Narodnaya Volya themselves expected that "the peasants would take up the axes." But the peasants perceived the act of regicide by the revolutionaries differently: "The nobles killed the Tsar because he gave the peasants freedom." Narodnaya Volya members appeared in the illegal press with an appeal to Alexander III to carry out the necessary reforms, promising to stop terrorist activities. The appeal of the Narodnaya Volya was ignored. Soon, most of the Executive Committee of the "Narodnaya Volya" was arrested.

theoretical, organizational defeat of revolutionary populism and its consequences.

With the defeat of the "Narodnaya Volya" and the collapse of the "Black Repartition" and the 80s, the period of "effective" populism ended, however, as the ideological direction of Russian social thought, populism did not leave the historical stage. In the 1980s and 1990s, the ideas of liberal (or, as it was called, “legal”) populism became widespread.

The murder of Alexander II by the Narodnaya Volya did not lead to a change in the political system of the country, it only caused an increase in conservative tendencies in government policy and a wave of repressions against revolutionaries. And although the populist idea continued to live and find new supporters, the minds of the most radical part of the Russian intelligentsia began to increasingly take over Marxism, which made great strides in the West in the 80-90s of the 19th century.

What is Walking among the People?

Walking among the people is a mass movement of democratic youth to the countryside in Russia in the 1870s. For the first time the slogan "To the people!" put forward by A. I. Herzen in connection with the student unrest of 1861. In the 1860s - early 1870s. attempts to rapprochement with the people and revolutionary propaganda among them were made by members of the Land and Freedom, the Ishutin circle, the Ruble Society, and Dolgushintsy.

The leading role in the ideological preparation of the movement was played by P. L. Lavrov’s Historical Letters (1870), which called on the intelligentsia to “pay their debt to the people,” and V. V. Bervi’s (N. Flerovsky’s) The Condition of the Working Class in Russia. Preparations for the mass "Walking to the People" began in the autumn of 1873: the formation of circles intensified, among which the main role belonged to the Chaikovites, the publication of propaganda literature was established, peasant clothes were prepared, and young people mastered crafts in specially arranged workshops.

The mass “Walking to the People”, which began in the spring of 1874, was a spontaneous phenomenon that did not have a single plan, program, or organization. Among the participants were both supporters of P. L. Lavrov, who advocated the gradual preparation of a peasant revolution through socialist propaganda, and supporters of M. A. Bakunin, who strove for an immediate revolt. The democratic intelligentsia also participated in the movement, trying to get closer to the people and serve them with their knowledge.

Practical activity "among the people" erased the differences between directions, in fact, all participants conducted "flying propaganda" of socialism, wandering around the villages. The only attempt to raise a peasant uprising was the Chigirinsky Conspiracy (1877).

The movement that began in the central provinces of Russia (Moscow, Tver, Kaluga, Tula) soon spread to the Volga region and Ukraine. According to official data, 37 provinces of European Russia were covered by propaganda. The main centers were: the Potapovo estate of the Yaroslavl province, Penza, Saratov, Odessa, the “Kyiv Commune”, etc. O. V. Aptekman, M. D. Muravsky, D. A. Klements, S. F. Kovalik, M. F. Frolenko, S. M. Kravchinsky, and many others. By the end of 1874, most of the propagandists were arrested, but the movement continued into 1875.

"Going to the people" took the form of "settlements" organized by "Earth and freedom", "flying" was replaced by "sedentary propaganda". From 1873 to March 1879, 2,564 people were involved in an inquiry into the case of revolutionary propaganda, the main participants in the movement were convicted in the "trial of the 193s." "Going to the People" was defeated primarily because it was based on the utopian idea of ​​populism about the possibility of the victory of the peasant revolution in Russia. "Going to the people" did not have a leading center, most of the propagandists did not have the skills of conspiracy, which allowed the government to crush the movement relatively quickly. "Going to the people" was a turning point in the history of revolutionary populism.

His experience prepared a departure from Bakuninism, accelerated the process of maturation of the idea of ​​the need for a political struggle against the autocracy, the creation of a centralized, clandestine organization of revolutionaries.

Walking among the people- the movement of student youth and revolutionary populists with the aim of enlightening the people and revolutionary agitation directly among the peasant masses. The first, student and educational stage began in 1861, and the movement reached its greatest extent in the form of organized revolutionary agitation in 1874. "Walking to the people" influenced the self-organization of the revolutionary movement, but did not have a significant impact on the masses. This phrase entered the Russian language and is used ironically today.

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First stage

In the middle of the 19th century, interest in higher education grew in Russia, especially in the natural sciences. But in the fall of 1861, the government raised tuition fees and banned student mutual funds. In response to this, student unrest occurred at the universities, after which many students were expelled from educational institutions. A significant part of the active youth turned out to be thrown out of life - the expelled students could neither get a job in the civil service due to "unreliability", nor continue their studies. Herzen wrote in the newspaper The Bell in 1861:

In subsequent years, the number of "exiles of science" grew, and going to the people became a mass phenomenon. During this period, former and failed students became rural teachers and paramedics.

The propaganda activities of the revolutionary Zaichnevsky, the author of the proclamation “Young Russia”, who went to the people as early as 1861, gained great fame. However, in general, during this period, the movement was of the social and educational nature of "serving the people", and Zaichnevsky's radical Jacobin agitation was rather an exception.

Second phase

In the early 1870s, the populists set the task of drawing the people into the revolutionary struggle. The ideological leaders of the organized revolutionary movement among the people were the populist N. V. Tchaikovsky, the anarchist P. A. Kropotkin, the “moderate” revolutionary theorist P. L. Lavrov and the radical anarchist M. A. Bakunin, who wrote:

A theoretical view of this problem was developed by the illegal magazine Vperyod! ”, published since 1873 under the editorship of Lavrov. However, the revolutionary youth strove for immediate action, there was a radicalization of views in the spirit of the ideas of the anarchist Bakunin. Kropotkin developed a theory according to which, in order to carry out a revolution, the advanced intelligentsia must live a people's life and create circles of active peasants in the villages with their subsequent unification into a peasant movement. Kropotkin's teaching combined the ideas of Lavrov on the enlightenment of the masses and the anarchist ideas of Bakunin, who denied the political struggle within the institutions of the state, the state itself and called for a nationwide revolt.

In the early 1970s there were many cases of individual revolutionaries going among the people. For example, Kravchinsky agitated the peasants of the Tula and Tver provinces back in the autumn of 1873 with the help of the Gospel, from which he drew socialist conclusions. Propaganda in overcrowded huts continued well into the night and was accompanied by the singing of revolutionary hymns. But by 1874 the Narodniks had developed a general view of the necessity of mass going to the people. The mass action began in the spring of 1874, was associated with a public upsurge, remained spontaneous in many respects and drew in various categories of people. A significant part of the youth was inspired by Bakunin's idea to immediately raise a revolt, but due to the diversity of the composition of the participants, the propaganda was also diverse, from calls to immediately start an uprising to the modest tasks of educating the people. The movement covered about forty provinces, mainly in the Volga region and in southern Russia. It was decided to deploy propaganda in these regions in connection with the famine of 1873-1874 in the Middle Volga region, the populists also believed that the traditions of Razin and Pugachev were alive here.

In practice, going to the people looked like this: young people, as a rule, student youth, one by one or in small groups under the guise of merchants, craftsmen, etc., moved from village to village, speaking at gatherings, talking with peasants, trying to instill distrust in the authorities , urged not to pay taxes, disobey the administration, explained the injustice of the distribution of land after the reform. Proclamations were distributed among the literate peasants. Refuting the popular opinion that royal power is from God, the populists initially propagandized the Earth and will” and decided to change tactics and announced a “second trip to the people.” It was decided to move from the unsuccessful practice of "flying detachments" to the organization of permanent settlements of agitators. The revolutionaries opened workshops in the villages, got jobs as teachers or doctors, and tried to create revolutionary cells. However, the experience of three years of agitation showed that the peasantry did not perceive either radical revolutionary and socialist appeals or clarification of the current needs of the people, as they were understood by the populists. Attempts to rouse the people to fight did not bring any serious results, and the government paid attention to the revolutionary propaganda of the populists and launched repressions. Many propagandists were handed over to the authorities by the peasants themselves. More than 4 thousand people were arrested. Of these, 770 propagandists were involved in the inquiry, and 193 people were brought to trial in 1877. However, only 99 defendants were sentenced to penal servitude, prison and exile, the rest were either given pre-trial detention or were fully acquitted.

The futility of revolutionary propaganda among the people, mass arrests, the trial of the 193rd and the trial of the fifty in 1877-1788 put an end to the movement.