Finishing / Gu Yujia
Since Peter I, Russia has almost always been presented to the world as an empire. It may be strong or weak, and even if the regime changes, it is difficult to erase its unique authoritarian imprint. And after the power of knowledge made the country independent and strong, it gradually tore apart its east and west, upper and lower layers, until it finally disintegrated. Through the disconnection between the power network and the knowledge network of the Russian Empire, Professor Zhang Jianhua analyzed the reasons behind the ups and downs of this huge empire in the past changes.
This article is compiled from the online lecture "Russia's Imperial Dream: Floating in the Network of Power and Knowledge" by Professor Zhang Jianhua of the School of History of Beijing Normal University, and the manuscript was reviewed by the presenter. The lecture is sponsored by Peking University Press and Peking University Liberal Arts Forum, and is the 318th lecture series of "Peking University Boya Forum". Professor Zhang Jianhua is currently the vice president of the Chinese Association for the Study of the History of Eastern Europe of the Soviet Union, the vice president of the Chinese Society for the History of Cultural Exchanges between China and foreign countries, and the director of the Soviet (Russia) Branch of the Chinese Association of European and American Returned Scholars, and has long been engaged in the research of the ideological and cultural history of Russia (Soviet Union), the history of Russian (Soviet) diplomacy, the history of Sino-Russian relations and the history of Russian sinology, and the history of modern and contemporary world history. Professor Zhang Jianhua has participated in many national social science fund research projects, and has published many books related to the study of Russian history, such as "Imperial Storm: Russia on the Eve of Great Change", "Mirror of Thought: Intellectuals and Political Changes in the Soviet Union", "History of Russia" and so on.
Zhang Jianhua is the author of "Imperial Storm: Russia on the Eve of the Great Change"
Since its publication in 2016, the book "Imperial Storm: Russia on the Eve of the Great Change" has aroused great repercussions among readers, so Peking University Press invited the author Professor Zhang Jianhua to further explain the topics derived from this book. From the formal establishment of the Russian Empire in 1721 to the sudden death of Nicholas I in 1855, the status of the Russian Empire in Europe and even in the world has undergone a process from a weak country to a strong country, from a strong country to the peak of hegemony. However, the dream did not last long, and in the Crimean War that began in 1853, the Russian Empire was in vain. Professor Zhang Jianhua believes that the Russian Empire has experienced ups and downs in the network of power and knowledge in this more than century.
The current president of the Russian Federation is Putin, and on December 31, 1999, as the new century was approaching, Russian President Boris Yeltsin abruptly announced his resignation and Putin succeeded him as acting president of the Russian Federation. It is rumored that Putin once said: "Give me twenty years, and I will give you a new Russia." By the end of 2019, two decades had passed, and Putin was still at the top of Russian politics. A slogan appeared on the Russian website: "As long as Putin remains in power, Russia will exist strongly!" "(Пока у власти Путин будет, Россия сильной будет жить!) Some European and American scholars refer to Putin as "the new generation of Russian tsars." Not only European and American scholars wearing "colored glasses", but also many Russians think so. For example, Ozersky (Виктор Васильевич Озерский) is the author of "The Rulers of Russia, From Rurik to Putin: History in Portraits" (Правиели Росссии от Рюрика до Путина: История в портретах) lists Putin and Rurik as the ruler of the Rurik dynasty, the earliest dynasty in Russian history. In addition, there are other similar statements such as "formerly a Romanov dynasty, now a Putin dynasty" (Была династия Романовых, теперь династ ия Путиных), today's Putin is "Emperor Vladimir I" (Император Владиир Первый), "Tsar is born" and so on.
Ozersky's "Rulers of Russia, from Rurik to Putin: History in Portraits" book
In fact, not only Putin is considered a ruler with tsarist overtones, but also Yeltsin. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the first leader of the Russian Federation was Yeltsin. He ruled from 25 December 1991 to 31 December 1999. Some in Russia refer to him as "Tsar Boris" (Царь Борис). During his time in power, Yeltsin established a "super-presidential system", in which the president had more power than institutions such as the State Duma and the League Council. So Yeltsin's opponents and political analysts in Europe and america attacked him, calling him "Tsar." Yeltsin did not shirk, and even joked: "If you say I am the Tsar, then I am 'Boris I'." Other scholars trace the historical origins of the current political development in Russia to Stalin. 如 Kovanov(Алексей Николаевич Кофанов))He is the author of the book "Russian Tsar Joseph Stalin" (Русский царь Иосиф Сталин). Stalin is also referred to in cartoons as the "Red Monarch" (Красный монарх). Others made up a portrait of Brezhnev cordially receiving Putin, who was working in the KGB at the time. But Putin was born in 1952, while Brezhnev died on November 10, 1982. So When Brezhnev died, Putin had just turned 30, and there was no conclusive evidence that he had been received by the former. The painting was painted to satirize that Putin and another Soviet supreme leader with "tsarist" characteristics, Brezhnev, were one and the same. Therefore, scholars in both Russia and Europe and the United States believe that Russia itself has an "imperial" tradition, and Russia's supreme leaders have a tradition of authoritarian dictatorship.
Caricature: Brezhnev receives Putin
A real "Russian Empire" existed from 1721 to 1917. But after the February Revolution, the empire collapsed, and it was the first empire to fall apart on the Russian soil. On December 25, 1991, Gorbachev, the first and last president of the Soviet Union, appeared on the screen of Soviet Central Television at 7:15 p.m., announcing his resignation as president of the Soviet Union. At the same time, the "hammer and sickle flag" that has been flying in the Kremlin for 74 years has also slowly descended, and the white, blue and red tricolor flag is rising. This meant the collapse of the Soviet Union, the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the independence of Russia. This is the second time that there has been a scene of "empire collapse" in this part of Russia. And then the Russians remembered a French lady, Hélène Carrère d'Encausse. She is a historian who in 1975 published The Empire that Fell Apart. In the book, Donkos makes a prediction that the Soviet Empire is about to collapse because of the contradictions within the Empire. Moreover, among the many reasons, the most fundamental cause is the problem of ethnic contradictions. The year 1975 was the strongest period of comprehensive national strength in the history of the Soviet Union. After the book was published, it caused a great response. Brezhnev openly called the author of the book "the witch of the study of the Soviet question," dismissively stating that her curse would have no effect on the Soviet Union. At that time, European and American researchers also criticized the book, because the Soviet Union was strong at that time, and the United States was in the midst of the Vietnam War. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, russians remembered her. On January 5, 1992, she was asked in Paris how she could have predicted that the Soviet Union would fall apart. Donkos replied: "In my heart, I can feel that the Soviet Union will eventually collapse, but I did not expect it to be so soon. At that time I thought that the Soviet Union could exist at least into the new century. This shows that the Soviet Union, a "Red Empire" regime with "imperial overtones," collapsed in a "sudden death" manner. As a rigorous historian, Dunkos predicted the course of Russian history more accurately, but he did not expect the changes to be so rapid. Later, Elena Dunkos became a guest of honor to the Russian government, and Russian President Vladimir Putin cordially received her and awarded her a medal. Whether it was the Russian Empire, the Soviet era, or today's Russia, the West sees it as an empire, with her supreme ruler as a tsar.
What is "Empire": Let's start with "Putin's Question"
Western countries have their own views on Russia in transition. Zbigniew Kazimierz Brzezinski, an American politician of Polish descent, graduated from Harvard University in the United States with a Ph.D. and served at Columbia University as an expert on Soviet issues. He later served as a national security adviser in the Carter administration, when cold war relations between the United States and the Soviet Union were at their most tense, and many of their policies bore traces of Brzezinski's personality. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he returned to academia, asking the following question about the state nature of Russia in transition in his 1994 essay "The Premature Partnership": "What is Russia?" Was Russia originally a nation-state or a multi-ethnic empire? "Russia is either an empire or a democracy, but it cannot be both." As the most authoritative Soviet expert in Europe and the United States, Brzezinski still has questions about whether Russia in transition is "imperial" or not. Putin did not express a clear objection to this question, but instead asked the question at a meeting with experts from various countries at the Valdai Forum on September 11, 2008: "What is an empire?" "Is Russia an empire?" And "How to become an empire?" ”。 From these three questions, it can be seen that Putin is not averse to the title of "empire", but he also wants to question why Russia is called an empire. In addition, Putin also said at the "Valdai Forum" that "Russia has no imperial ambitions, but has its own interests in the post-Soviet space", and the so-called "post-Soviet political space" includes Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Baltic Sea coast and other areas that were strongly influenced by the Soviet Union in the past. Putin also said: "We will not return to the post-Soviet empire at any time, and this attempt will place a huge burden on the country's economy, politics and consciousness." Professor Zhang Jianhua believes that Putin himself has doubts about whether Russia is an empire, but Russians must defend their interests in the space of the Soviet republics. In 2008, Russia and Georgia fought the Five-Day War. Then there was a crisis in Ukraine at the end of 2013. In 2014, Crimea was incorporated into the Russian Federation. There is also the situation in Belarus, which is still unclear today, which is related to Putin's above-mentioned statements.
Therefore, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, since the 21st century, the entire international academic community has been discussing whether today's Russia is an empire. From January 18, 2012 to January 20, 2012, the Slavic Research Center of Hokkaido University in Japan held a symposium on the theme of "Comparing Modern Empires" (Comparing Modern Empires). In the face of Western accusations, Russian scholars have also responded. The Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences has compiled "The Russian Empire from Its Origins to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century: An Overview of Socio-Political and Economic History" (Российская империя оо истоков до начала XIX века: Очерки социально-политической и экономической истории)一書。 European and American academic circles are interested in the question "Is Russia an empire?" There are more questions about his research masterpiece, such as "Empire: The Russian Empire and its Rivals" by Professor Dominic Lieven. The book deals with the relationship between Russia and Europe since the Napoleonic invasion of 1812.
"Is Today's Russia an empire?" This has become an academic question with political and ideological overtones. Professor Zhang Jianhua first saw the Russian Empire as a "space". According to the Blackville Encyclopedia of Political Science, an empire is "a state of different peoples that rules over a number of territories beyond its borders." "Empire is a form of state system and rule that has existed for a long time in human history. There have been many kinds of empires in history, such as the ancient Roman Empire, the Arab Empire, and the modern "Empire of the Sun Never Sets" - Britain. Among them, the British ruled over all continents, and it ruled not only the English, the Scots and the Irish, but also many other peoples. The state system, political system, territorial division, ethnic composition, culture and customs of an empire are different from those of a single state. Hence the "space" of the Empire. "Space" consists of two parts, and "Visible Space" is the territory of the Empire. The "invisible space" refers to intangible areas of governance such as institutions, institutions, and ideologies. The French political scientist and philosopher Henri Lefebvre once explained space this way: "Space is man-made, not purely natural, it is the influence of various historical, natural elements ... Space is political..." Professor Zhang Jianhua believes that the space of empire is composed of two main veins - power and knowledge. And because the empire is vast in territory, and its culture, religious beliefs, economic situation, living customs, etc. are diverse, these diverse knowledge spreads in the space of the empire like a network. Pluralism produces polycentricity, and polycentricity produces separation forces. If the Empire wants to control this situation of multi-separation forces, it needs to use power. Thus a network of power is formed. The power network mainly consisted of the political system (form of government) and the system of state (state system) of the empire. There is also the basis of the social rule of the state, the empire is based on the social foundation of the nobility, and the supreme ruler of the empire is only the "first man" among the nobles. There is also the governance system, where various governing institutions are established at the center, and governance is required to maintain high loyalty in the periphery or provinces. Also important in the network of power was the territory of the Empire. Unlike a single country, the empire's territory is vast, and the empire is committed to external expansion, so its borders are characterized by openness. In Russian history, from Ivan III onwards, the supreme ruler was called the "collector of the territory". Because in their view, the borders are open and the territory can be taken over to themselves. The change in borders also meant that the empire would have relations with other countries. For example, the Russian Empire united Austria and Prussia to divide Poland three times in 1772, 1793 and 1795. Therefore, the territorial changes of the empire will most of the time bring conflicts with other empires and the peoples of the occupied lands, and sometimes there will be temporary cooperation of interests, which will be affected by the power network of diplomatic relations, geopolitics, geo-economic changes and so on.
If an empire relies only on violent political means such as the army and the police, and is maintained from top to bottom, from the central to the local level, it will certainly not last long. For example, from 1238 to 1480, the Golden Horde established by the Mongol Tatars from the east established rule on Russian soil and lasted for more than 240 years. Eventually, however, the Golden Horde collapsed, and the Russians gained national independence. This is because the Golden Horde can exert the power of the power network to the extreme, but lacks "soft power", that is, the lack of support of the knowledge network. The Golden Horde did not develop an imperial consciousness and ideas that would be acceptable to the ruled peoples, and eventually fell apart. The knowledge network includes the following elements: First, the imperial theory and official ideology that underpin and serve the power network. Official ideology, which means that a country can have only one nation, one system, one leader, one religion, one doctrine, emphasizes the idea of imperial unity, and everything else is heresy. This is a top-down knowledge network, but at the same time, a knowledge network can also function from the bottom up. For those who possess knowledge can choose to serve the imperial system or oppose it. Their means of opposition were usually not through revolution, but through the production and accumulation of knowledge to criticize the imperial system and plan a new state system. This is the second element contained in the knowledge network – the accumulation of knowledge and the production of ideas that affect the course of society and determine the fate of the country. If an empire's power network and knowledge network go hand in hand, then the empire is powerful; but if the two contradict and conflict, or even run counter to each other, then the empire's power network will be challenged or even collapsed. The sudden collapse of the Mongol-Tatar Golden Horde established by the Iron Horse was due to the inability of the rulers to provide knowledge that reflected social trends, through which enslaved Russians could rebel against their rule.
The painting "Basihas" (Басиасильевич Ивановв) shows the scene of the Inspector of the Golden Horde asking for tribute
The Glorious Moments of the Russian Empire: Networks of Power and Networks of Knowledge Working Together
It was the parallel network of power and knowledge that brought the Russian Empire to a glorious moment for more than a hundred years, passing through many rulers, including Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, and Alexander I. Neither Russia, the Soviet Union nor the Russian Empire is a complete image of Russia. Because Russia has also had the image of poverty, weakness, "disability" and "ugliness". The so-called "remnants" are because the Russians, as a branch of the East Slavs, are mainly active in this land from the Vistula River in the west, the Volga River in the east, the Dnieper River in the south, and the Gulf of Finland in the north. Once a very weak people, it has long been invaded and ruled by the Germans in the north, the Ottoman Turks in the south, the Poles and Lithuanians in the west, and the Mongolian Tatars in the east. The reason why it is said to be "ugly" is because Russia was once a country that was backward not only economically, politically, but also culturally and educationally, and this nation has many bad habits. In many European languages, the people to which Russians belong are called "Slavs", which is cognate with the word "slave". This was because the Slavs were a poor and weak people, and they were often sold to Europe as slaves. In Russian, there is a word similar to "Slavic" (славяне) "glorious" (слава). In addition, russia's national and state origins are also problematic. Whether Russia's first state was founded by the Slavs or by the Norse people from scandinavia in the north remains a historical mystery. That is, "North talk" and "anti-North talk". According to the former, it was the Three Rurik brothers from Scandinavia who ruled Russia and helped establish its first state, Novgorod. Some scholars in the Soviet era opposed this claim, arguing that the Slavic people established the first native state. Which statement is correct has also become a question of strong political overtones and national pride. These phenomena can show that Russia was once a weak people in a remote corner.
Vasnetsov(Виктор Михайлович Васнецоd Rurik comes to Lake Ladoga (Прибытиие Рюрика в Ладогу)
During the reign of the Golden Horde, the Russian grand dukes bowed down to their subjects and "confessed thieves as fathers", which also led to the appearance of the term "Mongols" (Моонгоо-татарское иго). In the context of resisting foreign invasion and safeguarding national independence, the Russian state, the Principality of Moscow, was formed. At the same time, the East Slavs divided into Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian nations. In addition to this, Russian national consciousness emerged, and knowledge networks began to sprout. For example, the first epic in Russian history, the famous "Igor Expedition" tells the story of prince Igor leading the people to resist foreign enemies and fight for national independence. Marx spoke highly of the book: "The significance of this epic is to call on the Princes of Rus to unite in the face of the invasion of a large group of Mongol troops. The Igor Expedition is also known as the "Epic of the Four Heroes" along with the Western European Song of Roland, the Song of the Cid, and the Song of the Nibelungen. On 8 September 1380, Grand Duke Dmitry (Дммитрий Иванович) led an army to a major showdown at Kulikovo with the army of the Golden Horde of Mamaikhan. In the book Battle of Kulikovo (Куликовская битва), the scene was described as follows: "The gilded helmet clanged, and the crimson shield clanged. The sword roared, and the sharp saber flashed next to the heads of the good men..." In the end, the army led by Grand Duke Dmitry won the victory, and he was honored as "Donskoy" (Донской), meaning "master of the Don". In the process, the Russian nation gained its own national consciousness and began to record its own national epics in writing. This indicates that knowledge networks have begun to sprout.
At the same time, networks of power also began to sprout, the Russian monarchy was formed, and "absolute monarchy" (самодержавие) appeared. Since the word was born in the process of the struggle for national independence in the Muscovite Principality, some Russian scholars believe that the current understanding of the word is not accurate and should be interpreted as "striving for national independence". The word consists of two parts, the root of "само" is "сам", meaning oneself. "державие" is a verb noun whose verb form is "держать", meaning to grasp, grasp. So the two words joined together should be translated as "own control (destiny)". In the struggle for national independence, the power of the supreme ruler (grand duke) of the Muscovite principality played an important role. Engels once said: "Kingship represents order in chaos." As the leader of the revolution, he devoted his life to opposing the power of the emperor and the bourgeoisie. But at the same time, he was also a scholar who looked at the process of power change from a historical perspective. He believed that in the chaotic Middle Ages, kingship was a progressive phenomenon. On the one hand, the royal power is to appropriate power for itself, but on the other hand, in the process, it can also make a nation produce centripetal force and cohesion. For example, in the course of the struggle against the Golden Horde, the Grand Duke of Moscow played a positive role, and it was also at this time that the network of power began to sprout. Therefore, the supreme ruler in times of crisis is the symbol of the state.
In 1547, during the reign of Ivan IV, he renamed the Grand Duchy of Moscow the "Tsarist State of Russia" and changed the title of supreme ruler to "Grand Duke" to "Tsar". The establishment of the Russian Tsarist State meant that the state system changed from a hierarchical monarchy to an absolute monarchy. In addition to the driving effect of historical development, this change also has its theoretical sources. Professor Zhang Jianhua believes that the theoretical source of Russia's absolute absolute monarchy is the combination of Western theocracy and Eastern military absolutism, which also makes Russia's tsarism a bastion of monarchy in Europe and even the world, which remained until March 15, 1917. And the reason why Russia's tsarism is so stable is precisely because of the combination of eastern and western factors. The baptism of Rus in 988 AD, the end of the polytheistic era, and the official becoming the state religion of the Orthodox Church, also marked the beginning of the theocratic autocracy. According to Christian theory, the supreme ruler of the state is not only the supreme ruler of the secular world, but also the agent sent by God to the human world, and their power comes from God, that is, "the divine right of kings." After this, the "Three Jerusalems" theory and the "Moscow-Third Rome" theory emerged, pointing out that it was the "Third Jerusalem" and "Third Rome"," the Principality of Moscow, that could ultimately bear the burden of saving Christendom from fire and water. This is theocracy from the West. Military absolutism from the East is a legacy of the Mongol-Tatars. The Golden Horde established the "Basiha system" on Russian soil. "Basiha" means "town watchman" in Turkic. The town sheriff is both the supreme military commander and the supreme administrator. Bashha is spread all over Russia. Through this system, the Golden Horde strengthened its tight rule over all of Russia. Although the Mongol-Tatars later left the land, the Basikha system remained and was engraved in the blood of the Russians. Thus, the singular combination of Eastern and Western absolutism in this land made Russian tsarism a bastion of european and world autocracy.
On January 16, 1547, the first Tsar in Russian history, the 17-year-old Ivan IV, held a grand coronation ceremony at the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Kremlin. He declared: "The title of monarch implies the recognition of the tsarist regime without any restrictions." All the people, including the lords, are the subjects of the Fallen... The Dynasty was created by Saint Vladimir, born in the royal family, grew up in the dynasty, controlled his own world, not stole from others, the Rus' monarchs have been in the government since ancient times, and the noble ministers are not allowed to interfere. Ivan IV is also known as "Ivan the Terrible" (Иван Грозный). The title is related to the policies he pursued after he came to power. He found that the throne was only an empty shell, that he himself was only the nominal supreme ruler, and that in fact he had to share power with the great nobles. If his policies were not supported by the great nobles, they would oppose them or threaten the throne. Therefore, Ivan IV decided to pursue a policy of terror. In 1565-1572, Ivan IV introduced the "special system". Within seven years, the great aristocratic class was basically wiped out. About Ivan IV there is a famous painting "Ivan the Terrible Kills The Son" (original name Иван Грозный и сын его Иван 16 ноября 1581 года, literally translated as "Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on November 16, 1581" was written by the famous itinerant exhibitionist Repin. In the painting, Ivan IV's son, Ivan iv (Иван Иванович), shed blood from his temple and fell to the ground, with Ivan the Terrible holding him in his arms. The painting reflects a true historical story: during the implementation of the special rule, Crown Prince Ivan opposed his father's bloody policies, and the two clashed without a word. Ivan IV, in a fit of rage, raised his scepter and stabbed the heir to the throne in the temple. This also shows that Ivan IV did not hesitate to kill his son in order to consolidate his power.
Repin's painting Ivan the Terrible and his son Ivan on 16 November 1581
A similar scene later played out again in Russian history. Guy (Николай Николаевич Ге) by Peter the Great's Trial of Prince Alexei in the Summer Palace (Пётр I допрашивает царевича Алексея Петровича в Петергоо The 65е also reflects a historical event: Peter the Great offended many conservatives during his reign, so the conservatives encouraged Peter the Great's son Alexei (Алексей Петрович) against his father. After the matter was exposed, Peter the Great pursued Alexei, who fled with his family to Austria. Later, Peter the Great sent emissaries to Vienna to extradite Alexei to return home. Because Alexei committed treason, he was tried by the Privy Council, the supreme body of Russia. Before the trial, Peter the Great lectured Alexei on two main points: First, as a man, you have to take responsibility. Second, although he was the heir to the throne, "the prince broke the law and committed the same crime as the common people." Alexei was later sentenced to death and died in prison. Both Peter the Great and Ivan IV, in strengthening their imperial power, saw the great nobles, and even their sons who opposed their policies, as obstacles. Therefore, Professor Zhang Jianhua believes that Ivan IV completed the initial establishment of the tsarist autocracy in the middle of the sixteenth century, and the final completion of the absolute absolute monarchy was Peter the Great in the early eighteenth century.
Guy's painting "Peter the Great's Trial of Prince Alexei in the Summer Palace"
After these events, Russia's web of power has been woven. The network of power underwent three main changes from its inception to its establishment: First, the social basis of the tsarist system replaced the social basis of the grand duke system. Ivan IV's reforms resulted in the replacement of the grand nobility (дворянин) with the great nobility (боярин), and Peter the Great's reforms completely abolished the grand aristocracy and established 14 ranks of officials, and the military nobles could obtain hereditary nobility titles regardless of origin, as long as they reached the seventh rank. Second, the state apparatus of the tsarist system replaced the state apparatus of the ecumenical system. Ivan IV replaced the Grand Noble Duma with the Council of Gentry, which was later replaced by the Privy Council (сенат) established by Peter I, which was transliterated as "Sanat Yamen" in Qing dynasty literature. At the same time, he also established a central court system, in which departments were set up to manage foreign affairs, finances, and other matters. In the periphery, Peter I established the system of governors of the provinces, which, unlike the governor who was only an administrative official, was also the supreme military governor of a province, and this system also epitomized from the "Basiha system". Third, the state apparatus of the Tsarist system replaced the state apparatus of the Archduke era. During Ivan IV's reign, the special army became the police, and the shooting army became the standing army. During the reign of Peter I, a modern army and navy were established to compete for the sea access to the Gulf of Finland in the north and the Black Sea in the south.
At the same time as the network of power, there is also a network of knowledge, which Professor Zhang Jianhua calls "the germination and establishment of knowledge in the cultural desert". Russia was once located in a corner of Eastern Europe, far from the center of European civilization such as Greece and Rome. As a nomadic people, the Slavs used to have a very low level of culture and education. In 988 AD, Vladimir, grand duke of Kiev, in order to get rid of the backward situation, announced the abandonment of polytheism, accepted Orthodox Christianity as the state religion, and ordered the people to accept it at a limited time, an event known in history as the "baptism of Rus". Religion is not only a belief, but also culture, customs, architecture and so on. Thus, writing also entered Russia with the Orthodox Church. Greek Orthodox missionaries Cyril (Кирилл) and Mefouji (Мефодий) created the Cyrillic alphabet on the basis of the Greek alphabet to facilitate the spread of Orthodoxy among the East Slavs. Writing brought civilization to Russia, and networks of knowledge began to sprout. When the Russians fought with the Mongols and Tatars for national independence, national consciousness began to awaken, and after recording these, there were the earliest national epics such as the Igor Expedition. Paintings of related subjects also began to be created, for example, and Andrei Rublev (Андрей Рублёв) promoted and emphasized Russian national consciousness by painting icons. The subject was also made by the Soviet director Tarkovsky (Андрей Арсеньевич Тарковский). Knowledge networks gradually formed.
Andrei Rublev's painting "The Trinity"
In the early 18th and early 19th centuries, the network of power and the network of knowledge initially belonged to the same disease, and after the struggle for national independence, the two worked together and complemented each other, and finally ushered in the golden age of the Russian Empire. During ivan ivy, Russia's territory covered an area of 2.8 million square kilometers, and during the time of Peter I, Russia's territory reached about 12 million square kilometers. During the reign of Catherine II, Russia's territory increased to 17.05 million square kilometers. For this reason, successive Russian tsars have been called "the collectors of Russia's territory". Catherine II, a native of Germany, married Peter III, the heir to the Russian throne, in 1745, and later in 1762 she staged a coup d'état with the support of the Palace Janissaries to overthrow her husband's rule. The empress wrote in her memoirs in her later years: "I think when I married Russia alone, I brought only two or three dresses with me, a dozen shirts, a dozen socks, a dozen handkerchiefs, this is my whole dowry, and now Poland, Crimea and the Black Sea are the best dowries I have given to Russia... If I could live to be 200 years old, I would let all of Europe crawl under my feet. ”
The Russian Empire reached the pinnacle of power at ten o'clock in the morning of March 31, 1814, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, as the first ally of the Anti-French Alliance, walked triumphantly on the streets of the Champs-Elysées in Paris, France, surrounded by allied marshals of Russia, Austria, Prussia and Britain. The event was set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, after which several European countries formed an alliance to confront it. Emperor Alexander I of Russia, as an ally of the Sixth Coalition against France, called on nations to fight Napoleon. Napoleon was later defeated and exiled to the island of Elba. In 1814 Alexander I took to the Champs Elysées as a victor, a liberator of France and Europe. For the first time, the Russian Tsar appeared to the world not as an admirer of French culture, but as a French conqueror. Russia later served for considerable time as a policeman in suppressing revolutionary movements in European countries. Thus the English poet Byron violently denounced Alexander I, calling him "a reactionary and force-minded dictator" and "a gendarme of Europe." If, during the time of Peter the Great, Russia became an empire, it was only a regional, military empire. By the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, Russia had become a world empire, and in addition to the military empire, it had become a political empire and a cultural empire.
The Storm of Empires on the Eve of the Great Change: The Contradictions and Conflicts Between the Network of Power and the Network of Knowledge
During alexander I's 24 years in power (1801-1825), Russia reached its historical heyday in terms of politics, economy, diplomacy, military and culture, and formed a strange combination of "absolute absolute monarchy" with "bureaucracy" and "citizenship". At this time, the ideas of the French Revolution also came to Russia, and in a sense, Russia already possessed the characteristics of a modern state. The reason why Russia is not yet a modern state is that it still has an absolute absolute monarchy, and many countries in Europe at that time already had constitutional monarchies. On November 19, 1825 (December 1 of the Gregorian calendar), Alexander I died suddenly while inspecting the south. On 14 December (26 December in the Gregorian calendar), the Decembrists revolted in an attempt to overthrow the autocracy. Nicholas I ascended the throne in a hurry. After the revolt was suppressed, Nicholas I wanted to continue to strengthen the imperial power. He believed that the russian opposition came from within the ruling class. Leader of the Decembrists, Bistel (Павел Иванович Пестель), Muravyov-Apostor(Сергеер The likes of Й Иванович Муравьёв-Апостол) were acquaintances of Nicholas I, and he did not expect that people of equal aristocratic origin would become a force against the Tsar, which made him shudder. Therefore, Nicholas I ordered the establishment of a new police system, which included the Gendarmerie Corps and the Third Hall of the Emperor's Office. The specific functions of the Third Chamber are as follows: to collect anti-government statements of all those under surveillance; to collect information on the activities of various religious heretical organizations and dissidents in the country; to monitor the activities of revolutionaries, artists and scientists and to imprison political ideology prisoners in the Peter and Paul Fortress; and to censor all literary newspapers and press publications. In 1828, the first book and newspaper censorship law was promulgated, which was called the "Pig Iron Book censorship law" by its contemporaries because of its extremely stringent regulations. Nicholas I gave the Director of the Third Chamber, Benkendorff (Александр Христофорович Бенкендорф) "This is the order for you." The more tears flowed, the more I could achieve my purpose. This means that Benkendorff could use the special power in his hands to impose the most severe punishment on those who opposed the government in order to guarantee the stability of the tsar's power. In 1880 the "Third Hall of the Gendarmerie" was abolished and a new "Supreme Administrative Council for the Maintenance of State Order and Public Peace" was established, but its functions as secret police remained.
Tim (Василий Фёдорович Тимм) Janissaries in the Revolt in The Secret Courtyard Square(Лейб-гварди Конный полк к оо время восстания 14 декабря 1825 года на Сенатской площади)
The Decembrists' revolt also made Nicholas I aware of the divergence between the networks of knowledge and power, and he attempted to build new top-down networks of knowledge. In 1833, the Minister of Education Uvarov (Сергей Семёнович Уваров) analyzed the reasons for the emergence of revolutionary phenomena such as the aristocracy's opposition to the government, peasant uprisings, and peasant revolts. He believed that this was due to the shaking of the Orthodox faith, the instability of the authoritarian system, and the loss of national character. He proposed that orthodox beliefs, despotism, and nationality should be regarded as the last anchor for Russia's security. This idea of his was called "official nationality" by later generations, a top-down system of knowledge developed by the government. At the same time, Nicholas I promoted Great Russian nationalism under pan-Slavism.
At this time, the underlying body of knowledge is also changing. The Russian nobleman, known as the "first Russian intellectual", Ratisev (Александр Николаевич Радищев) lived during the reign of Catherine II. Although he was born with a golden key, he was dissatisfied with Russian society and institutions and criticized them. In his book Travels from Petersburg to Moscow, he criticized all the injustices that came from despotism and the tsar. The book reads: "Carnival, the bound people, this is the natural right to revenge, it sends the tsar to the guillotine..." After the French Revolution, the idea of "natural human rights" emerged, and Radishev used it to criticize the Russian system. The French Revolution sent Louis XVI and Empress Marie Antoinette to the guillotine, while Radishchev offered to send the Russian Tsar to the guillotine. So after the book was published, Catherine II regarded it as a banned book and imprisoned Ratischev. Radishev was also known as Russia's "first rebellious aristocrat". The "rebellious aristocratic firsts" refers to the Decembrists. Because there were many commonalities among the Decembrists, such as many of them were aristocratic, but they were dissatisfied with the parasite life and the unjust social status. Another example is that most of them were young officers, who once followed Alexander I all the way to Paris, France, where they saw the political atmosphere of liberal democracy and were confused. As Bistel, the leader of the Decembrists, wrote in his diary: "We liberated France, we gave the French a constitution, but in our country we dare not even mention the word 'constitution'." Do we trade our blood for our international standing in order to maintain an oppressive system at home? Thus these Decembrists returned to Russia in secret, organized, and actively prepared for an uprising. In 1825, Alexander I died. The young officers hoped to take advantage of the fact that the new Tsar had not yet been sworn in, and planned to launch an uprising in front of the statue of Peter the Great in privy council square on December 14 in the Russian calendar, forcing the new tsar to change the system. But the uprising was brutally suppressed. On this subject, Russia released a film "National Salvation League" in 2019.
At the same time, a group of Russian intellectuals emerged. With the accumulation of knowledge, the intellectual community began to awaken. They began to consciously distance themselves from the tsarist system, to understand social realities and to perceive the world situation. In 1836, Chadayev published eight letters in the journal Telescope (Телескоп), collectively known as the Philosophical Compendium. In these letters, Chadaev pondered deeply: he believed that Russia had fallen far behind Europe, and that although the Russian nation belonged to the European nation, its religious beliefs were Christian, and its culture was biased towards The European style, the actual gap between the two had widened. First, the Orthodox Church played a bad role in Russia. Because it could not promote the emancipation of the mind like Catholicism or Protestantism, it became a means of strengthening the absolute monarchy, hindering the ideological emancipation of the Russian nation and the acceptance of new ideas such as democracy and freedom. Second, the existence of the tsarist autocracy prevented Russia from continuing Peter the Great's policy of total Europeanization. In these eight epistles, Chadayev openly denounced the shortcomings of Orthodoxy, Tsarist absolutism, and serfdom. These letters offended the class he criticized and caused great repercussions. The Orthodox Church declared Chadaev an "apostate", and the Tsarist government considered him a "madman" and even sent a court doctor to "cure his illness" and humiliate him. This incident was known at the time as the "Chadayev Incident". There were also two schools of Russian intellectuals at the time: the Slavics believed that Chadaev had forgotten his ancestors, while the Westerners favored full Europeanization. But intellectuals of either kind were not satisfied with the backwardness of Russia at that time and began to inquire into whose sin it was and what should be done. Intellectuals on both sides wanted to find a correct path for Russia, so they began to build new bottom-up networks of knowledge. At that time various groups appeared among intellectuals, such as the famous "Stankiewicz-Belinsky Group", "Herzen-Ogaraev Group" and "Petrasevsky Group". The first two groups are more inclined to "sit and talk". The "Petrashevsky Group" was devoted to propaganda in the army, among the peasants, in order to launch a revolution. The famous 19th-century Russian writer Dostoevsky was a radical at a young age. He was arrested for participating in the "Petrasevsky Group". In 1849, Petrosevsky's group was cracked by the Tsarist government, and more than 70 members of the group were subsequently sentenced to death. However, Nicholas I announced a pardon for them and exiled them to Siberia instead. Dostoevsky later wrote in his memoirs that the moment he felt death coming, he felt remorse. He felt Christ beckoning to him. He continued his confession in Siberia. When he returned to Petersburg after his release from prison, he became a great writer. Therefore, in Dostoevsky's novels, most of them depict the dark environment of the life and psychology of people at the bottom of society, reflecting the social reality of the time and the situation in which intellectuals were dissatisfied but unable to return to heaven. In addition to Dostoevsky, the works of Pushkin, Lermontov and many other famous Russian writers have appeared in the works of "superfluous people", "repentant aristocrats" and "new people", who have either become revolutionaries or compromised with reality. All these phenomena indicate that at this time, the Russian intellectual network and the power network have become disconnected, and even the two have emerged in a situation of opposition.
In 1853, war broke out between Russia and Turkey, and the eve of the Great Russian Revolution came. At this time the old system was out of place, and revolutionary crises lurked everywhere. Radicalism and constitutionalism from Europe became the intellectual resources of Russian modernity. The increasingly mature group of Russian intellectuals became an enlightening factor in Russian modernity. Civil society has become a factor in the social structure of Russian modernity. The aristocratic bureaucracy became a factor of change within the system of Russian modernity. The backwardness of serfdom gave Russian modernity a factor of economic change. The Decembrists, the Narodniks and the socialists represented by Lenin became revolutionary elements of Russian modernity. In his essay "In Memory of Herzen", Lenin proposed that there were "three generations" of figures in the Russian Revolution - "nobles and landlords", "plebeian intellectuals" and "proletariat". These three generations of revolutionaries took the initiative in the network of knowledge and launched the revolution from the bottom up. Nicholas I died suddenly on 2 March 1855, when a coalition of Turkey, Great Britain, France, and Sardinia besieged Sevastopol and Russia was about to lose. Before his death, he called the future Tsar Alexander II to his bedside and said, "I have not been able to leave you instructions in full order..." （Оставляю тебе команду не в полном порядке... ）。 The Crimean War fully exposed the problem of Russia's network of power, and the network of knowledge and power had come to a state of tit-for-tat. Thus Alexander II signed a decree on 19 February 1861 (3 March of the Gregorian calendar) abolishing serfdom. But this did not save Russia, and in 1905, the Russian Revolution resumed, and under pressure, Nicholas II declared a constitutional monarchy. During the First World War, the contradiction between the Russian network of power and the network of knowledge once again reached an unstoppable state. On 2 March 1917 (15 March of the Gregorian calendar), the Tsarist government was finally overthrown. The British historian John L. H. Keep once said of the Rulers of Russia: "The floodgates were tightly closed to keep the tide of revolution out, and the result was that the tide rose even higher, until it suddenly broke through the gap and swept away all obstacles, including the throne of the ancient Romanov dynasty."
Editor-in-Charge: Shanshan Peng
Proofreader: Yan Zhang