M. Mysl'. 1982. 206 p.
Power in Russia, according to the plans of the Decembrists, was to pass to the provisional government, which was to carry out the first revolutionary transformations and ensure the convocation of the Great Council (Constituent Assembly). As candidates for the future government, they identified not only representatives of the secret society, but also major Russian statesmen known for their moderate-liberal views, who were critical of the autocratic-feudal order. What guided the members of the secret societies, how did they imagine the political views and moods of these individuals, how did they relate to their projects of reforming the state and social structure, what were the contacts between the Decembrists and the alleged members of the provisional government? These and other issues are explored in the book of the Candidate of Historical Sciences A. A. Shishkin. In Semenova (Institute of History of the USSR of the USSR Academy of Sciences).
The book under review is the first experience of a special study of this problem. In addition to the published and commonly used sources in the literature, the author relies on documents that she identified in the central archives and manuscript departments of the libraries of Moscow and Leningrad, the Institute of Russian Literature and the State Museum of Fine Arts of the USSR.
A.V. Semyonova limited her research to considering the relations of the Decembrists with four candidates for members of the provisional government: M. M. Speransky, N. S. Mordvinov, A. P. Ermolov, and P. D. Kiselyov (each of them is devoted to a separate chapter)1 . Indeed, these individuals had extensive state experience, enjoyed authority in public circles, were associated with members of secret societies, were most often named as candidates for the government, and, naturally, the Decembrists were interested in their assistance to the plans for the transformation of Russia.
An analysis of investigative and other materials led the author to the conclusion that members of the Northern Society hoped to meet sympathy for the Decembrist program from the opposition - minded segments of the population in general and individual liberal representatives of the "higher spheres" in particular. P. I. Pestel believed that "when the revolution takes its course, then there will be quite a lot of people who will join the revolution, especially if it is a good success, and maybe even among the highest officials" (p.168). As shown in the cni-
1 In addition to them, I. M. Muravyov-Apostol, N. N. Raevsky, D. O. Baranov, A. A. Stolypin, D. N. Senyavin and others were nominated at various times.
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However, in Northern society, everyone came to the unanimous opinion that" the Provisional Government needs people who are already known to all of Russia " (p.45). Speransky and Mordvinov, as the Decembrists believed, would provide the assistance of the Senate and the State Council, and Ermolov (commander of the Caucasian Corps) and Kiselyov (chief of Staff of the 2nd Army) - support for the troops under their command.
Evaluating the attempts of the Decembrists to attract liberal statesmen to carry out their plans and explaining the failure of such calculations, A.V. Semenova notes that this was reflected in the class limitations of the noble revolutionaries, who were afraid of popular movements and were looking for "potential allies not among the people", but among the bureaucracy (p.178).
The author paid much attention to finding out the degree of awareness of the Decembrists about the socio-political views and moods of candidates for the provisional government. The book contains extensive material (partially unpublished, for example, the diaries of S. I. Turgenev, letters of G. S. Batenkov, the Turgenevs, etc.), which shows that members of secret societies carefully and critically studied the projects and notes of candidates, including the so-called opinions or votes of Mordvinov submitted to the State Council and others. distributed in handwritten copies throughout the country. The author draws attention to the fact that these projects and notes had some influence on the formation of the political outlook of members of secret societies and on the development of their program documents (pp. 36, 76-77).
At the same time, as A.V. Semenova showed, the noble revolutionaries did not treat all the candidates ' activities positively. They criticized Speransky, Mordvinov and others for refusing to immediately release the peasants from serfdom and delaying the solution of this issue for decades, for plans to free the peasants without land and with the payment of a huge ransom to the landlords. The Decembrists also criticized the candidates ' plans and opinions concerning state reconstruction for moderation. In particular, members of the secret society "were critical of the aristocratic orientation of Mordvinov's projects" regarding the organization of supreme power in Russia (p. 74).
The study of the personal connections of the Decembrists with Speransky, Mordvinov, Ermolov and Kiselyov is complicated by the fact that both of them tried to hide these contacts before the uprising and especially during the investigation. All the papers of the special secret investigation into these connections were apparently destroyed. In any case, they have not yet been found in the archives. The tsar, as A.V. Semenova writes, decided "not to inflate the case of possible involvement in the secret society of persons holding high positions in the state, which could cast a shadow over the entire state apparatus and give the secret society undesirable weight" (p. 54). The book reveals a fairly wide circle of Decembrists who maintained various connections with these individuals. The author cites numerous testimonies confirming that the nomination of Speransky, Mordvinov. Yermolov and Kiselyov as candidates for the provisional government were thoroughly considered by the Decembrists and relied on knowledge of their worldview and social appearance, as well as long-term personal contacts. The same circumstances determined the hopes of the members of the secret society to support their performance as candidates. We can agree with the author's assumption that these individuals also knew to some extent about the existence of the secret society, as well as that the Decembrists linked their plans with them (pp. 46, 93, 124-125). Candidates for the provisional government understood the need for changes in the economic and political life of the country, and they all had basically the same view of the nature and ways of these changes. The book does not ignore the differences in the views of the candidates, which, as A.V. Semenova showed, were not of a fundamental, but of a private nature.
Based on the extensive historical literature, the author managed to recreate the memorable image of each of the four candidates for members of the provisional government and convey the peculiarities and originality of their views. We can only regret that the book lacks an analysis and evaluation of the literature, the current understanding of this issue. In general, the book gives an objective assessment of the candidates ' worldview and state activities, and it was possible to avoid both idealization and excessive emphasis on the conservative features of their thinking. It seems reasonable-
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This is the characteristic of the contradictions in Mordvinov's worldview, for example: "Along with the outstanding and undoubtedly cutting-edge aspects of his socio-political views, there were elements of a clearly feudal ideology that often turned the progressive aspects of his socio-political and economic program into utopias" (p.63).
Of primary importance for revealing the book's theme was the question of the correlation between the worldview of noble revolutionaries and candidates for members of the provisional government. A.V. Semyonova compared the drafts and notes of Speransky, Mordvinov, and Kiselyov (Yermolov left no political projects) with the program documents of the Decembrists. This comparison, which was carried out for the first time in such detail, allowed the author to make a number of observations concerning some common features and mainly fundamental differences between the program of the Decembrists, on the one hand, and the transformation projects prepared by candidates for the provisional government, on the other. The author sees the essence of these differences both in the depth of socio-political transformations and in the methods of their implementation. If the Decembrists were in favor of the revolutionary destruction of feudal-serfdom and autocracy, the candidates were in favor of a slow, peaceful path of transformation, reforms from above.
Striving for the greatest accuracy in presenting the social views of his characters, the author reproduces the terminology inherent in their works and correspondence. Speransky, writes A.V. Semenova, proposed a way to "gradually mitigate the personal slavery of the peasants" (p. 21), "abolish extreme forms of personal slavery" (p. 25); he was aware of the "shamefulness of the political institution of slavery" (p. 20). " Serfdom and slavery are abolished, "the Constitution also said N. M. Muravyova. "A slave who touches Russian soil becomes free." "Slavery must be decisively destroyed, "Pestel's Russkaya Pravda quotes A.V. Semenov as saying. In these comparisons, the author has on his side both the exact text of the sources and the historiographical tradition, which often accepts as equivalent terms: "serfdom" and "slavery", which is quite natural in the journalistic presentation of ideas or in the literal transmission of the thoughts of historical figures. But does this flexibility of terminology conceal a theoretical ambiguity, does it not bring a touch of modernization to the analysis of the views of political figures of the Decembrist era?
A. V. Semyonova seems to be right when she notes that "the question of the provisional revolutionary government as an organ of revolutionary power developed and matured along with the ideological growth of the Decembrist movement" (p.176). However, this important thesis is only declared and essentially remained undisclosed in the book.
Such questions as the powers of the Provisional revolutionary Government, its program of activity, its terms of operation, and its relations with the secret society were subject to detailed consideration in a special chapter, which perhaps should have opened the book. It is known that these issues were the subject of lively discussions and disputes among the Decembrists since 1820, and unity between the Northern and Southern societies was not achieved. Meanwhile, A.V. Semenova limited herself to the brief information presented on several pages in the introduction. In a book specifically devoted to the provisional revolutionary government and intended not only for historians, but also for a relatively wide range of readers, such a chapter, I think, was necessary.
In general, it is impossible not to say about the creative success of the author. The book contains a very complete summary of published and archived materials on an important topic and valuable observations, well and vividly written.
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