The Image of the Revolution in Russian Political Thought in 1905

Abstract

The article covers the analysis of the transformation of the concept revolution in Russian political thought in 1905. It shows that in Russia as well as in Europe, there were two interpretations of this term. Some contemporaries referred to the process of political modernization as a revolution and evaluated this phenomenon positively, while their opponents regarded it as a violent attempt on the legitimate state power and were antagonistic to such actions. These attitudes determined the views of contemporaries on the events of 1905 in Russia. Speaking of the revolution in Russia, the overwhelming majority of the top bureaucracy and general public had in mind the armed anti-government actions of the late 1905 – early 1906. Their suppression meant the ending of the revolution. However, the decisions on a radical reorganization of the public administration system, which had been made earlier against the background of the events that contemporaries did not consider as a revolution at all, inspired hope in many people that the revolution as reorganization in Russia would continue and the country would follow the path of systemic political reforms.

Keywords

• revolution
• 1905
• the first russian revolution
• public opinion
• political thought
• top bureaucracy
• russian conservatism
• russian liberalism