Post-reform Russia of the 1880s–1890s: the view of contemporaries

Abstract

Background. The relevance of the work is determined by the urgent need to fur-ther expand the source base applicable to the analysis of the life of Russian society in the second half of the 19th century. The purpose of the research is to study the possibilities of using the materials of correspondence of contemporaries, periodicals, memoirs as a source for analyzing the life of the population of the Russian Empire in the 1880s–1890s. Materi-als and methods. The research was conducted on the basis of the principles of science, historicism and objectivity. The formal-logical method and comparative-historical methods of scientific research are used. The possibilities of the social method, especially when studying memoirs and official notes of officials, allowed us to proceed from the isolation of the levels of the metropolitan and provincial population on the basis of the estate approach. The principle of conformity was applied in identifying general trends in the daily life of the population of the Russian Empire in the last quarter of the 19th century. When considering a number of sources, critical and concrete historical methods were used. When working with periodicals, the method of modeling, description in combination with analysis was used. Results. In the course of writing the article , the main task was solved – on the basis of a set of sources to explore the possibilities of using materials of personal origin and periodicals as a source for analyzing the life of the population of the Russian Empire in the 1880s–1890s. Conclusions. The study of the life of Russian society in the last quarter of the 19th century is based on the involvement of a wide range of sources. In addition to the materials of the periodical press, which reflect the most important events of the political, ecclesiastical, cultural life of the capital and provincial society, memoirs and correspondence of contemporaries are of interest. Expand the palette of opinions of representatives of various estates about certain events that worried Russian society during the postreform period, it is possible by involving official notes of government officials. The materials of the official part of the government press, as well as the document flow of tsarist Russia, allow us to analyze the position of the authorities on the events of political and public life of the period under review. In addition, in relation to the period of the reign of Alexander III, it is advisable to involve the materials of the church press in the context of following the official government course of that time.

Keywords

• post-reform period
• periodical press
• official notes of government officials
• cor-respondence of contemporaries
• censorship