The Liberation Movement in Russia 1900–1905 (Cambridge Russian, Soviet and Post-Soviet Studies, Series Number 10)

Historians of the Russian Revolution naturally tend to concentrate their attention upon the Bolshevik 'victors' and on the Mensheyiks - ideologically the closest of their rivals, - and to neglect other political movements. For the Russian Liberals at least, Dr Galai redresses this imbalance. This book traces the nineteenth-century origins of the Liberation Movement (also known as the Liberal Movement), the social and historical conditions which led to its formation in the first years of the twentieth century, its policies, influence, initial success and ultimate failure. Against the background of the political and social crisis culminating in the 1905 Revolution, Dr Galai traces the stages by which the Liberation Movement became supreme among the forces of opposition but ultimately was defeated and disintegrated. It failed to fulfil its aim of replacing Tsarist autocracy by a constitutional-democratic regime and to demonstrate effectively that there was an alternative to the extremes of Tsarism and Bolshevism. Cover Title Copyright Contents Dedication Acknowledgments Note on dates, etc. List of abbreviations Introduction Part I Origins 1 The origins of zemstvo radicalism 2 The beginnings of the zemstvo oppositional movement 3 The birth of the democratic intelligentsia 4 The parting of the ways Part II The Formation of the Liberation Movement 5 The launching of the Liberation Movement 6 The organization of public opinion 7 The intelligentsia in ascendancy 8 The formation of the Union of Liberation Part III War and Revolution 9 Setback and recovery 10 'No enemies on the left' 11 Unleashing the Revolution 12 Defeat in victory Appendix A: The origins of Beseda Appendix B: A bibliographical note on the writings of Kuskova and Prokopovich in the years 1898–9 Appendix C: Note on sources on the formation of the Liberation Movement Bibliography Index This book, based on a detailed knowledge of the sources, traces the nineteenth-century origins of the Liberation Movement (also known as the Liberal Movement), the social and historical conditions which led to its formation in the first years of the twentieth century, its policies, influence, initial success and ultimate failure. Zemstvo radicalism was the offspring of what was referred to in Liberation Movement circles as the 'Constitutionalist Movement of 1878-81' or the 'First Zemstvo Movement'.