The system of state education in Russia in the 19th century was divided into three stages, reflecting the existing class order in the country. The first and lowest level was the primary (folk) school, intended for the lower classes: peasants, townspeople, artisans, etc. It was not related to the subsequent stages of the education system. The second stage consisted of secondary educational institutions (gymnasiums - real and classical, military gymnasiums and secondary educational institutions of various departments). In fact, they were the first full-fledged step leading to higher education. The system was completed by higher educational institutions belonging to both the Ministry of Public Education and other departments. This also included privileged educational institutions (for children of nobles and high dignitaries), which gave numerous rights (lyceums, Page Corps, School of Law, etc.). University education was particularly popular. Graduating from the university gave the right to engage in scientific activities, become a top-class official, or a teacher at an educational institution. Most of the students were high school students. About 80-90% of high school graduates went to universities.

As you know, secondary educational institutions of the 30s operated under the charter of 1828. The latter declared the school a class school. The University Charter of 1835 restricted the flow of underprivileged classes to higher education. Meanwhile, as the crisis of the feudal-serf system intensified, the estate framework was being eroded. The reforms of the 60s and 70s accelerated this process against the wishes of tsarism. In an effort to slow it down at all costs and once again strengthen the role of the nobles-landowners, the autocracy resorted in the 80s to a policy of reactionary counter-reforms. These included measures to preserve the class principle in the educational system (the charters of secondary educational institutions of 1871-1872, the university charter of 1884, the circular "on cook's children" of 1887).

Development of secondary and higher education in Russia in the 19th century it has long attracted the attention of historians ^.1 A number of detailed works on the history of schools and individual universities, as well as on the policy of tsarism in the field of higher education were created by Soviet scientists ^.2 However, in these studies-

¹ E. Schmid. History of secondary educational institutions in Russia, St. Petersburg, 1878; S. V. Rozhdestvensky. Historical review of the activities of the Ministry of National Education, St. Petersburg, 1902; I. A. Aleshintsev. The estate question and politics in the history of our gymnasiums in the XIX century. St. Petersburg, 1908; his own. History of gymnasium education in Russia of the XVIII-XIX centuries. St. Petersburg, 1912; V. S. Ikonnikov. Russian universities in connection with the course of public education. Vestnik Evropy, 1876, vols. V-VI; S. P. Shevyrev. Istoriya Moskovskogo universiteta [History of Moscow University], Moscow, 1855; V. V. Grigoriev. Imperial St. Petersburg University during the first 50 years. St. Petersburg, 1870; M. F. Vladimirsky-Budanov. History of the Imperial University of St. Vladimir, vol. I. Kiev 1884; Shulgin. History of the University of St. Vladimir in Kiev. Kiev, 1883; N. P. Zagoskin. The history of Kazan University for the first 100 years of its existence. Kazan. 1902 - 1904.

² Sh. I. Ganelin. Essays on the history of secondary schools in Russia in the second half of the XIX century. Moscow, 1954; V. Z. Smirnov. Reform of primary and secondary schools in the 60s of the XIX century M. 1954; N. A. Konstantinov. Essays on the history of secondary schools, Moscow, 1947; " Leningrad Order of Lenin State University. To the 125th anniversary of its foundation", Moscow, 1945; "History of Moscow University", Vol. I (1755-1917), Moscow, 1955; " Gorky Kharkiv State University for 150 Years (1805-1955)", Kharkiv, 1955; " History of Kazan State University named after V. I. Ulyanov-Lenin Street". Kazan. 1954; Yu. N. Yegorov. The reactionary policy of tsarism in matters of university education in the 30s-40s of the XIX century. "Scientific reports of the higher school". Historical sciences. 1960,

changes in the class composition of secondary school students in Russia in the 30-80s of the XIX century were not specifically considered, and in higher education they were traced only for individual years. Meanwhile, the reports of the Ministry of Public Education and other statistics3 contain data on changes in the composition ^of students. The composition of students in 1836-1888 changed as follows: ⁴ :

Judging by the above data, the composition of students in the 60s - 80s became quite different in terms of class status than in the 30s-50s. However, you should keep in mind the conditional nature of the categories: they give a very rough idea of the class composition of students: the first category, for example, included not only hereditary nobles, but also the children of officials (raznochintsy) who graduated from the university. The absolute number of representatives of the first category grew due to an increase in the number of officials. The nobility itself was also a heterogeneous mass. In the 60-80s, it was not the same as in the first half of the century: after the abolition of serfdom, the process of" impoverishment " of this class progressed.

It can be assumed that the composition of students in social terms has changed much more than it appears from the table. In 1866, for example, in all six Russian universities, 13.8% of students received mandatory scholarships, 4.7% were non - mandatory, 9.6% received benefits, and 31.4% were exempt from tuition fees . In general, 59.5% of students enjoyed benefits this year. In the following years, the number of students who enjoyed benefits increased, amounting to 63.3% in 1867, 83.2% in 1870, and 89.3% in 1874. At the same time, in 1875 , the number of nobles and officials in universities was 43%, and the number of unsecured students (even if we take the average figure) was 76.5% ⁵, that is, only 23.5% of students did not enjoy benefits. Well-off people (obviously, even among the nobles) in the student environment were relatively few.

Consequently, it can be argued that university students of the post-reform period were largely heterogeneous. Members of the charter Revision commission of 1863, noting the poverty of the student body, pointed to the reforms of the 60s as one of the reasons for this phenomenon, after which universities "became more attractive to the poor than ever precisely because for young people with higher education-

No. 3; R. G. Eimontov. The university question in the late 50s-early 60s of the XIX century and the university reform of 1863. Moscow, 1954. G. I. Shchetinina. The University question in 1870-1880 and the charter of 1884 M. 1965. Cand. diss.

³ "Materials collected by the department of the Most Highly established commission for the revision of the general charter of Russian universities when visiting them in September, October and November 1875". SPB. 1875 (hereinafter - "Materials for revision"); "Materials for the history and statistics of our gymnasiums". SPB. 1864; " Statistical Vremennik of the Russian Empire. Universities and secondary educational institutions in 50 provinces of European Russia and 10 Privislyansk provinces according to the census of March 20, 1880". SPB. 1888 (ser. III, issue I).

⁴ For data for 1836-1855, see: Yu. N. Yegorov. Op. ed., pp. 61, 63; for 1878, 1885, and 1888, see G. I. Shchetinina. Op. ed., pp. 383-385. For 1875, the data were processed on the basis of "Materials for Revision", Appendix No. 1. Since 1875, the categories of raznochintsy, peasants, and merchants were combined by the ministry statistics into one heading - "Other estates", but the clergy were allocated in an independent column. This and subsequent tables (excluding the "Total" column) omit data on foreign students that are not relevant to the solution of the question posed.

⁵ "Materials for revision", appendix 3a. These data indicate only the number of benefits granted, while the number of applications for them was much higher. Thus, at the Kiev University in 1874, out of 432 petitions, only 287 were granted (ibid., p. 34).

thanks to the judicial, zemstvo, city and other reforms of the present reign, many more or less tempting careers have opened up, which previously did not exist at all."⁶

To answer the question, at the expense of which categories of the population the universities were replenished, it is necessary to refer to the class composition of gymnasiums. The change in the class composition of students, which accelerated in the 60s, caused concern to the tsarist government. In an effort to limit the number of people who entered universities to representatives of the privileged classes, it decided to allow only students of classical gymnasiums to enter them. It was for this purpose that the secondary school reform was carried out in 1871-1872. ⁷ Real gymnasiums were transformed into real schools and were intended for "middle classes", which, according to the authors of the draft reform, "are not yet used to studying a lot and for a long time"⁸ . The course of real schools, in contrast to gymnasiums, was utilitarian in nature. For graduates of real schools who want to continue their education, an additional 7th grade was established, the completion of which gave them the right to enter higher specialized educational institutions. However, the goal set by the tsarist government was never achieved, as evidenced by the data on the change in the class composition of students in gymnasiums ⁹ and real schools ¹⁰ .

Gymnasiums (for men)

From the above data, it follows that the growth of the number of students in the post-reform secondary school was significantly faster than in the previous 30 years. Moreover, in the post-reform period, the growth rate of the number of students from the nobility and bureaucracy decreases. On the other hand, the number of members of the clergy is growing (this is obviously due to the fact that the isolation of this class is weakening). The rapid increase in the absolute number of "citizens" and "peasants" is ultimately due to the significant development of cities, industry and trade.

Under the heading "urban estates", official statistics included various categories of the population: honorary citizens, merchants, burghers, artisans and workers. Given the excessively high tuition fees, it can be assumed that the number of high school students- "citizens" - increased primarily at the expense of honorary citizens and merchants, and sometimes also philistines (small merchants), that is, the bourgeois urban elite. Children of artisans and workers were mainly trained in city schools. ^E. V. Belyavsky recalls that among the students of the Tver gymnasium, where he taught in the 70s, "there were children of tavern keepers, innkeepers, keepers of various entertainment establishments, in general, various kulaks and world-eaters".11 .

A large influx of people who want to enroll in high school led to the opening of but-

⁶ Ibid., pp. 27-28.

⁷ 2 PSZ. t. XLVI, otd. 2, N 49860; t. XLVII, otd. 1, N 50834.

⁸ TsGIA SSSR, f. 1245, op. XVI, 2, l. 20.

⁹ "Materials for the history and statistics of our gymnasiums", p. 66-67; TsGIA of the USSR, f. 733, op. 117, d. 57. Report of the Minister of National Education for 1867, ll. 511-513; " Journal of the Ministry of National Education "(ZHMNP), 1875, N 10, p. 153. Appendix to the MNE report for 1873; ZHMNP, 1879, No. 12, p. 92. Appendix to the report for 1877; "Extract from the most comprehensive report of the Minister of National Education for 1884". St. Petersburg, 1887, p. 54; "Extract from the report for 1888 and 1889". St. Petersburg, 1893, page 97.

¹⁰ ZHMNP, 1875, N 10, p. 153; N 12, p. 92; "Extract from the report for 1884", p. 71; "Extract from the report for 1888 and 1889", p. 111.

¹¹ E. V. Belyavsky. Pedagogical memoirs. 1861-1902. Moscow, 1905, p. 117.

educational institutions 12 . However, the treasury allocated very little money for this purpose. Therefore, the Ministry of Education established four-to six-grade progymnasiums, the course of which was equal to the course of junior high schools. From 1870 to 1879, 22 gymnasiums and 65 progymnasia ¹³ were opened . The establishment of progymnasiums influenced the composition of high school students. The class composition of students in progymnasiums was more democratic than in gymnasiums and even real schools. In general, it looked like this in 1874 (in percentages): ¹⁴ :

The large number of nobles and officials in real schools compared to the number of them in progymnasiums is obviously explained by the fact that the real school gave after finishing the additional, 7th grade the opportunity to enter higher specialized educational institutions. The progymnasium was considered not only as a lower level of secondary school, but also as an educational institution that provided sufficient knowledge to enter the service. This is probably the main reason that determined the more diverse composition of students in progymnasiums. In addition, the latter were mainly located in county towns, where there were fewer officials and from where rich nobles usually sent their children to provincial gymnasiums. It is also significant that in progymnasiums, tuition fees were lower than in gymnasiums.

The data presented in the tables do not reflect the phenomenon of student dropout. In 1874, students in the first grades made up 20.9%, in the eighth grades-2.7% of the total number of high school students; in 1877, respectively-21.8% and 2.7%¹⁵ . Comparing the percentage of students in the first and last grades, we can conclude that only a small part of those who entered these schools completed the full course of the gymnasium. There were many reasons for such a large dropout rate from high school (including poor academic performance, bad behavior, and political unreliability), but the main one was the excessive tuition fees for many students. The newspaper "Golos", reporting on the large number of students expelled from high schools in 187-6, emphasized that almost half of them were removed for non-payment of fees ^.16 The increase in tuition fees (in 1866 it averaged 16 rubles a year in gymnasiums and 15 rubles in progymnasia, and by 1880, respectively, 27 and 24 rubles ¹⁷) restricted access to secondary school for children of the poor.

As a percentage the class composition of secondary school students changed in Russia as follows ¹⁸ :

High schools

¹² In 1872, the number of people who wanted to enter the gymnasium reached 11068. Of these, 20% did not pass the entrance exam, and 9% were not accepted "due to lack of space" (TsGIA USSR, f. 1162, dl. 46-46 vol.).

¹³ "Chronological list of higher and secondary educational institutions of the Department of the Ministry of National Education, founded or transformed from 1855 to 1880". St. Petersburg, 1880, pp. 3-36.

¹⁴ ZHMNP, 1875, N 10. Appendix to the report of the Minister of National Education for 1873, pp. 152, 153.

¹⁵ Department of Manuscripts of the State Library of the USSR named after V. I. Lenin, F. D. A. Milyutin, P. 3, D. 30, L. 15 vol.

¹⁶ "The Voice", 1. III. 1879.

¹⁷ TsGIA OF the USSR, f. 733, op. 162, dd. 968, 979.

¹⁸ The table is based on the sources indicated in footnotes 9 and 10.

It can be seen from the table that although the children of nobles and officials remained in the first place in post-reform Russia's gymnasiums in terms of number, their share among high school students fell significantly. On the other hand, the number of children of the "urban" and "rural" classes, primarily representatives of the groups that formed the Russian bourgeoisie, which squeezed the privileged nobility, increased by almost the same amount. In an attempt to counteract this process, the members of the Special Commission that discussed the 1877 report of the Minister of Education in early 1879 concluded that the further increase in the number of gymnasiums should be stopped. "The need for gymnasium education cannot be considered constantly increasing," they said. - If we take into account that no more than 1/3 of students reach the upper classes and not only the children of nobles and officials should be counted among them..., then the question arises about the preferred need to multiply the number of city schools rather than gymnasiums " ¹⁹. In this way, the ruling circles sought to limit the admission of immigrants to higher educational institutions from the unprivileged classes. However, the top of the latter, according to the Minister of Education D. A. Tolstoy, already had "more funds than impoverished nobles and officials" to provide their children with secondary and higher education.

In real schools in the 70s, the share of "citizens" and "peasants" was constantly growing. In the first years of the existence of real schools, there were fewer representatives of these estates in them than the children of nobles and officials. But by 1878, the ratio had changed in favor of the unprivileged classes, although in the 80s the number of children of nobles and officials in real schools was so large that it contradicted the idea of them as educational institutions intended only for children from the lower classes.

Also interesting are the figures that reflect the ratio of representatives of different classes among students in high schools. In 1874, there were almost twice as many children of nobles and officials as there were "citizens"; in 1878-1885, the difference between the number of these categories of high school students significantly decreased, and by 1889, after the circular "on cook's children", the absolute and relative predominance of children of nobles and officials in high schools was restored.

So, the change in the composition of students in secondary and higher schools in Russia in the 30 - 80s occurred in full accordance with the socio-economic changes that took place in the country. The tsarist government tried by all means to reduce the influx of people from underprivileged segments of the population to high schools and universities. V. I. Lenin emphasized that in the 60s and 70s "the intelligentsia represented the overwhelming majority (73.2%) of participants in the democratic movement"²¹ . In the 60s, the main force in the Russian revolutionary movement was the raznochintsy, whom V. I. Lenin described as "educated representatives of the liberal and democratic bourgeoisie, who belonged not to the nobility, but to the bureaucracy, philistinism, merchants, and peasantry." ²²

The autocracy was powerless to dramatically change the class composition of secondary and higher school students. During the post-reform period, it could no longer fully return to the old class policy, although by 1889 it had managed to somewhat "ennoble" high schools and universities. A new and growing class of the bourgeoisie claimed the right to receive secondary and higher education. In the 70s and 80s, educational institutions quickly lost their class character, and in this sense we can talk about the transformation of the class-feudal school into a class-bourgeois one.

¹⁹ TsGIA OF the USSR, f. 1162, op. I-XVI, 1878, d. 24, l. 10.

²⁰ Ibid., l. 19.

²¹ V. I. Lenin. PSS. Vol. 25, p. 95.

²² Ibid., p. 93.

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