"Walking to the people" is a movement of the revolutionary intelligentsia in Russia

"Walking to the people" is a phenomenon that has no analogues in any country in the world. Agrarian Russia was not shaken by bourgeois revolutions. The best representatives of the nobility rose up against autocracy and serfdom. The peasants were given freedom under the reform of 1861, which was of a half-nature, which caused their discontent. The revolutionary baton was taken by raznochintsy, who believed in the possibility of achieving socialism through a peasant uprising. The article is devoted to the movement of the progressive intelligentsia for enlightenment and revolutionary propaganda among the people.

Prehistory

Young people from the middle class were drawn to education, but the fall of 1861 was marked by higher tuition fees. Mutual aid funds were also banned to help poor students. Began unrest, brutally suppressed by the authorities. Activists were not only excluded from universities, but also thrown out of life, as they were not taken to the civil service. AI Herzen called the victims "exiles of science". In the magazine Kolokol published abroad, he suggested that they go "to the people."

So spontaneously began "walking to the people." This movement grew into a mass movement in the early 70's, acquiring a special scope in the summer of 1874. The appeal was supported by the revolutionary theorist PL Lavrov. In his "Historical Letters," he expressed the idea of the need to "pay the debt to the people."

The ideological inspirers

By that time, a utopian idea had formed in Russia about the possibility of a peasant revolution, the victory of which would lead to socialism. Its adherents were called Narodniks, because they spoke of a special way of the country's development, idealizing the peasant community. The reasons for "walking to the people" lie in the unconditional faith of raznochintsy in the correctness of this theory. In the revolutionary ideology three currents were distinguished (the diagram is presented slightly above).

Anarchist MA Bakunin believed that the people were ready for a riot and enough to call for peasants to take up the pitchfork. PL Lavrov suggested that "critically thinking" representatives of the intelligentsia should first help the people (peasants) realize their mission in order to jointly create history. Only PN Tkachev argued that the revolution must be committed by professional revolutionaries for the people, but without his participation.

"The People's Movement" of the Narodniks began under the ideological leadership of Bakunin and Lavrov, when the first associations-the Moscow and St. Petersburg circles of N.V. Tchaikovsky and the Kyiv Commune-had already been established.

Basic goals

Thousands of propagandists went to deaf villages in the guise of traders and artisans disguised as artisans. They believed that their costumes would arouse the confidence of the peasants. With them, they carried books and propaganda appeals. Thirty-seven provinces were covered by the movement, especially actively - Saratov, Kiev and Verkhnevolzhskaya. The threefold goal of "walking to the people" included the following points:

• Studying of peasant moods.
• Propaganda of socialist ideas.
• Organization of the uprising.

The first stage (until the middle of 1874) is called "flying propaganda", for the revolutionaries, counting on their strong legs, moved from one settlement to another without delaying for a long time. In the second half of the 1970s, the second stage began - "steady propaganda". Populists settled in villages, acting as doctors, teachers or artisans, specially mastering the necessary skills.

results

Instead of supporting the revolutionaries, there was disbelief. Even in the Lower Volga region, where the traditions of Emelyan Pugachev and Stepan Razin must be alive. The peasants eagerly listened to speeches about the necessity of dividing the landed estates and abolishing taxes, but as soon as it came to calls for a riot, interest faded. The only real attempt of the uprising was the Chigirinsky Conspiracy of 1877, brutally suppressed by the autocracy. Often the villagers themselves handed over the propagandists of the gendarmerie. For six years, 2564 people were involved in the inquiry.

In I. Repin's painting of 1880, the moment of arrest of a propagandist in a peasant hut is imprinted. The main evidence is a suitcase with literature. The picture clearly shows how "going to the people" ended. This led to massive repression. The most active were convicted in St. Petersburg in 1878. The court went down in history as "The process of one hundred and ninety-three," in which about one hundred people were sentenced to exile and hard labor.

Historical meaning

Why did the movement of the revolutionary youth end in failure? Among the main reasons are:

• The unpreparedness of the peasantry for a revolutionary coup.
• Lack of connections and general leadership.
• Ferocity of the police.
• The propaganda lacks conspiratorial skills.

What conclusion led to the unsuccessful "walking to the people"? This can be understood from subsequent historical events. A mass departure from Bakuninism and the search for new forms of political struggle began. There was a need for a single all-Russian organization on conditions of the strictest conspiracy. It will be created in 1876 and in 2 years will go down in history under the name "Earth and Will".