The French Revolution in Russian Intellectual Life: 1865-1905

by Shlapentokh,Dmitry

• ISBN13: 9781412807807
• ISBN10: 1412807808
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2008-11-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Sandwiched between the East and West, Russian intellectuals have for centuries been divided geographically, politically, and culturally into two distinct groups: the Slavophiles, who rejected Western-style democracy, preferring a more holistic and abstract vision, and the more rational and scientific-minded Westernizers. These two ideologies cut across the political spectrum of late nineteenth-century Russia and competed for dominance in the country’s intellectual life. The tension created between these two opposing groups caused the feeling that violent upheaval was Russia’s future. In turn, many began to think that Russia was possibly following the path of France and that a French-style revolution might be possible on Russian soil. In The French Revolution in Russian Intellectual Life, Dmitry Shlapentokh describes the role that the French democratic revolution played in Russia’s intellectual development by the end of the nineteenth century.The revolutionary upheaval in Russia at the beginning of twentieth century and the continuous expansion of the West convinced most Russian intellectuals that the French Revolution in its democratic reading was indeed the pathway of history. Yet the rise of totalitarian regimes and their expansion proved the validity of the sober vision of nineteenth-century Russian intellectuals. Some conservative Russian intellectuals believed that not only would Russia preserve its authoritarian regime but it would spread this regime all over the world. In this context, Shlapentokh argues the French Revolution with its democratic tradition was only a phenomenon of Western civilization and hence transitory.The flirtation with Western ideology, with its democratic polity and market economy that followed in the wake of the collapse of the communist regime, culminated in an increasing push for corporate authoritarianism and nationalism. This work helps explain why Russia turned away from democratic to autocratic styles-economic pulls to capitalism notwithstanding. It has insight which helps to explain why Russia moved towards an authoritarian regime instead of democracy.Dmitry Shlapentokh is associate professor of history at the University of Indiana, South Bend. Among his books are The French Revolution and the Russian Anti-Democratic Tradition, The Proto-Totalitarian State, Soviet Cinematography, 1918-1991 (with Vladimir Shlapentokh), and East Against West, The First Encounter: The Life of Themistocles.

Author Biography

Dmitry Shlapentokh is associate professor of history at the University of Indiana, South Bend

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Transaction Edition	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Introduction	p. 1
Prologue to a New Wave of Russian Thought	p. 7
Conservative Thought and the French Revolution	p. 13
Conservative Slavophilism	p. 15
Conservative Occidentophilism	p. 31
Tragic Thinkers	p. 52
The Liberals Respond	p. 77
The French Revolution as a Manifestation of Capitalism	p. 89
The French Revolution as a Striving for Freedom	p. 94
Radicals and the French Revolution	p. 101
Herzen and the Problem of Russian Destiny	p. 104
The Terror of the French Revolution and Russian Radical	p. 120
Thought of the Second Half of the Nineteenth Century
"Theoretical Myths": Jacobins and the Power Struggle Among	p. 138
Russian Social-Democrats
Conclusion	p. 147
Notes	p. 153
Selected Bibliography	p. 181
Index	p. 197
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