At the Origins of a Russian National Consciousness Eighteenth Century Roots and Napoleonic Wars

8/12/2019 At the Origins of a Russian National Consciousness Eighteenth Century Roots and Napoleonic Wars

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At the Origins of a Russian National Consciousness: Eighteenth Century Roots and NapoleonicWarsAuthor(s): Marc RaeffSource: The History Teacher, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Nov., 1991), pp. 7-18Published by: Society for History EducationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/494605.

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At the Originsof a Russian National Consciousness:EighteenthCenturyRoots andNapoleonicWars

MarcRaeffColumbiaUniversity(Emeritus)

ALMOST EVERY DAY NEWSPAPERSAND MAGAZINES relatestoriesof problemsconnectedwithnational,cultural,or ethnicidentity.Ifin theWesternworld thesequestionsare no longerconnectedexclusivelywiththestate,in theThirdandex-Soviet worlds issues of national dentityare ntimatelyboundupwith state(re)building.As nationalclaimsbynon-Russiansmove into the centerof thestagein the SovietUnion,one shouldalso payattention o thenatureof Russiannationalconsciousness. Is thereanythingin the historyof Russian nationalidentitythatmay explain itspeculiar ormsof expressionandclarifythe attitudes he Russiansbringtonon-Russianswithin the boundariesof the RussianEmpireor the SovietUnion? To answerthisquestion,as well as for thelightit mayshed on thenatureof modem Russianculture,a sketch of the formativeperiodof theRussian sense of nationality may be of interest. But before proceedingseveralpreliminaryobservationsarein order.Modemnationalism,or the sense of national dentity, s aphenomenonwhose birth can be pretty exactly traced to the time of the FrenchRevolutionandtheNapoleonicwars.Incontrast o othersenses of identityreligious, ocal,orestatebound- thataredocumented orancienregimeEurope(andthatare still atplayin manypartsof thenon-Westernworld),modem nationalismis not only associated with the notion of a nationalstate,but also sets itself a goal or task that the nationis to fulfill - be itThe History Teacher Volume 25 Number 1 November 1991

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8 Marc Raeff

linguistic unity, recuperation of ethnic territory, ideological mission, orcultural leadership. Of course, even before the end of the eighteenthcentury, people who lived in a definable territoryhad a sense of belongingto larger groups than family or clan. But it was rather an awareness ofspecific forms of existence rather than a project to be realized in the future.Religion, of course, was one of the major criteria of distinction on thefrontiers of Christendom, or wherever two or more denominations cameinto contact (e.g., the Germanies, Poland). Language might have playedthat role, too, but its concrete manifestations have not been adequatelyinvestigated as yet. Such forms of identification survived among thepeasantry in Europe down to the second half of the nineteenth century, oreven later- as long as the rural world remained relatively self-contained.They broke down only with the penetration of modem means of transpor-tation and communication, and the uniformizing role of school andadministration, a process that has been brilliantly illuminated by EugeneWeber in his Peasants into Frenchmen.For the area that interests us here, a graphic illustration of the pre-modemrn, morphous and fluid sense of group identity was given in anEnglish diplomatic reportduring the Civil War in the Ukraine inMay 1918:

The peasantsspeakthe Little Russiandialect;a small groupof nationalistintelligentsianow professes a Ukrainian dentitydistinct fromthatof theGreatRussians.Whethersuch a nationalityexists is usuallydiscussed interms in which the questioncan receive no answer. Were one to ask theaveragepeasant n the Ukrainehis nationality,he would answer thathe isGreekOrthodox; f pressedto say whetherhe is a GreatRussian,a Pole, oraUkrainian,hewouldprobablyreplythathe is apeasant;and f oneinsistedonknowingwhat anguagehespokemhewouldsaythathetalked he "localtongue."One might perhapsget him to call himself by a propernationalname and say that he is "russkii" Russian],but this declarationwouldhardlyprejudge hequestionof a Ukrainian elationship; esimplydoes notthinkof nationality n the terms familiar o the intelligentsia.Again, if onetriedto find outto whatState he desires to belong- whetherhe wantedtobe ruled by an All-Russian or a separateUkrainianGovernment onewould findthat nhis opinionall Governments like are anuisance,andthatit would be best if the "Christian easant-folk"were left to themselves.'To articulate the specific characteristics and goals of a "nation," theintellectual or ideological leadership of an educated elite was necessary. Itwas such an elite thatprovided an intellectual validation, or ideology if youwill, rooted in the Enlightenment belief of permanent progress and aRomantic faith in the existence of a people's (Volk) character and destiny.For this reason the spiritual leadership had to come from the ranks of theeducated -of whatever social origin. Consequently, it was the profession-



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At the Origins of a Russian National Consciousness 9

als, theacademics,theclerics,as well as noble andbourgeoisleaderswhobecamethespokesmenandadvocatesof anationalism hat, nthelongrun,also served theirselfish interestsbyprovidingnewopportunitiesorsocialadvancement,recognitionof social status,andbureaucratic mployment.Moreover, only an organized, centralized political sovereignty couldimplementa"rationallyonstructivist,"uture-oriented olicy.Such arolehad been adumbratedby the "Well Ordered Police State" of the lateseventeenthandeighteenthcenturies as it had laid the foundationsof anactivistadministration ndprofessionalstaff.As we learn rompsychologists, inguistsandanthropologists,he senseof identity is very often defined and sharpenedby the discovery of an"Other" gainstwhich tocompareor measureoneself.Thus,thediscoveryof Americanotonlyled to anewknowledgeof an"Other," utalso refinedandenhanced heSpaniards'orChristians' enseof identity.Andso it wasalso that the first form of a nationalRussianconsciousness took shapeinoppositionto theimageof Russiaandits historythatforeign (particularlyGerman)scholars had projectedin the eighteenth century, as has beenbeautifully shown by Hans Rogger in his classic book, National Con-sciousness inEighteenthCenturyRussia (1960). Thisconsciousness wasthe work of an educatedelite and it tookplace in the eighteenthcentury,which endowed the processwith specific characteristic raits which thepresentarticlewill endeavorto define.Throughout heeighteenthcenturythe Russian elites strainedall theirenergies to fulfill Peter I's (the Great's)projectand become "European-ized." They had succeeded, we may say, by the end of the reign ofCatherine I(1762-1796). Fromthenon we canspeakof a"civilsocietyofthe educated," i.e., of those educated to partakeof the cultural andintellectuallife of Westernand CentralEurope.This "Europeanization,"however,had a numberof specific traits hatareoftenoverlookedbecauseofanoveremphasis nthe nfluenceof theFrenchphilosophes.ntheprocessof internalizing heEuropeanmodels, Russia'seducatedelites hadcometo stress not so much the cerebral as the affective aspects. They foundthemselves closer to the GermanAufklarunghanto theFrenchlumidres,and we should speak of an "enlightenmentof the heart"as their mostcharacteristic ngredient.This gave a moreemotionaltinge to the ethicalgoals they pursued n theireffortsat a "Transfiguration"Preobrazhenie)of Russiaand of its people.We cannothelpbut be remindedof theFrenchrevolutionaryproject o"regenerateman"according o theratherambigu-ous prescriptionsof thephilosophes (cf M. Ozouf,L'hommerigenereEssais sur la Rd'volutionrangaise, 1989).Indeed,a revival of religious andspiritualconcernswas a significantaspect of the Europeanizationof the Russian elites. Ever since the late



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seventeenth century, the Russian elites had been exposed to GermanProtestant piritualistandhermetic iterature hatservedtocompensate ortheinadequate piritual are offeredby the official OrthodoxChurchafterPeter's reforms.The Pietists founda particularlyavorablereception, ornotonlydidtheyteachtheways to a richerpersonalreligiouslife, buttheycombinedit with anenergeticfurtherance f society's materialprogress.They were eagerto help realizePeterI's projectof transformingRussiaintoanenergeticandproductive ountry,so as to enhancethemilitaryandpoliticalpowerof theState.Inthiswaythemodel ofpietatis praxis (waysof piety) could receive a social ethicaldimension: n helpingfellow mento improvetheir materialcircumstancesone also enabledthem to lead aproperChristianlife in preparation or the hereafter. To combine thefurtheranceof the individual'sspiritualitywith the active service to thecommunityfor the sake of society's moralperfectionas well as materialprogress- such was the aim of the masonic lodges that attracted heeducatedelites inthereignof Catherine I,aswitnessedbythe careerof N.I.Novikov,pioneerpublisherandphilanthropist. y theend of Catherine'sreignwe may speakof a "civil society of the educated" hataspiredto anautonomousexistence,independentromstateservice,andfullfreedomtocontribute o culturalandmaterialprogress, heirown,aswellas thatof thecountryat large.Catherine'spanickyresponseto theFrenchRevolution(more precisely to the execution of Louis XVI) and Paul's militaristictyrannybroughtabouttheclosing of philanthropic rganizations, uch asthemasoniclodges and of printingpresses,andthepersecutionof promi-nent cultural leaders (N. I. Novikov, A. N. Radishchev),as well as theimpositionof a restrictivecensorship.Such a policy did not destroytheelite's emotionalcommitment oits ethical deals,but tenhanced hesenseof frustrationanduselessness of theyounger generation.Among the less illustrious victims of Catherine'santi-masonic mea-suresatthe end of herreignwasIvanTurgenev,Directorof theUniversityof Moscow's BoardingSchool, who was exiled to his estatein Simbirskprovince.His four sons came to be in many ways paradigmaticor theirgeneration ageneration hatreachedmaturityntheyearsfollowingtheJacobindictatorshipnFranceandthe rise of NapoleonBonaparte.Undertheir ather'sguidance he foursonswere introducedo German ulturebelles lettres(Schillerin particular) ndphilosophy(Kantand theearlierAufklirer)- thatcame to have a morepowerful mpacton them thantheFrenchenlightenment.Ofnote,too,is thefactthat,contraryoexpectation,the main events andlegislativeaccomplishmentsof theFrenchrevolutiondid not arrest heirattention. nthisrespect hey only followed theexampleof the writer Nicholas M. Karamzin,a friend of the family. Karamzin(1766-1826) had beenassociated nhis youthwithNovikov's publishing



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activities aseditorof thefirstRussianjournalortheyoung,Detskoe chteniedlia serdtsa i razuma, 1785-1789); he experienced the influence of Ger-manauthorsof theAufklarung Gottsched,Wieland)andof the buddingsentimentalismin England (Gray, Sterne). He gained recognition andcelebrity with his sentimentalnovel, BednaiaLiza (Poor Lisa), showingthe moral worth of the simple folk, and with his Letters of a RussianTraveler hat llustrated ow muchaneighteenth enturyeducatedRussianwas at home in the culture of theWest, especially in Germany.The reign of Paul I (1796-1801) demonstrated o Karamzin and theyoung Turgenevsthe deleteriouseffects thata capriciousand tyrannicalsovereigncould have on thedevelopmentof a freeandcreativepersonality,notonly by stymieinghisactions,butalsobythreateningheverysurvivalof a sensitive heartandanexactingmoralconscience.Paul'sruleconvinc-ingly showed how fetters binding the individualspiritand conscienceprevented active and useful involvement in society, and in so doing,contributed o theperpetuation f theRussianpeople'sbackwardness ndmisery.Upon accession to his father's throne,AlexanderI (1801-1825) prom-ised to "reignin the spiritof my grandmother,"Catherine I.The procla-mationrevived the educatedelite's hopesthatthemovementtowardsevergreaterEuropeanization nd socio-economicprogresswould be resumed.The first decade of the reign seemed to justify these expectations.Thecentral administrationwas reformedand its proceduresrationalizedandeconomicandsocialprogresswaspromotedby government egislation.Inaddition,AlexanderI furtherededucation and cultureby foundingnewuniversities and grantingthem a large degree of academicfreedomandinternalautonomy; ensorshipwas relaxedso that nformativeandcriticaljournalscould be published,while the governmentalso encouragedandsubsidized the translationof the most importantprogressive Westernwriters n politicaleconomyand urisprudenceSmith,Bentham).Rumorhad t that hese measureswouldbetoppedbyaconstitution;Alexanderdidnothingtodiscountenance histalk,quitethecontrary,he himselfspokeoftheneed"torebuild(perestroit) hedilapidated tructure f government."The "civil societyof the educated" hathadcome intobeinginthereignofCatherineII, only to be choked by PaulI, revivedandoptimisticallysetaboutto resume its creativespurt.A key element in the "Europeanization"f Russia (as it was to beelsewhere at othertimes) was the developmentof a languagecapableofhandlingthe technicaland culturalterminologydemandedby Europeanideasandways. As theprocessof Europeanizationeemedcompletedforthe educated elite, it was also necessary to bring to completion thedevelopment of a modern literaryRussian language;this task was of



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primaryconcern to the literaryand aestheticcircle foundedby the oldestof theTurgenevbrothers,Andrei.His circle wasthefirsttocreatetheheadymixturethatcombinedaestheticandemotionalcommitment o the moraland spiritual developmentof friends with a mounting interest in, andconcern for, the welfare of the nation. It was to inspire subsequentgenerationsof youngmembersof educatedcivil society- theintelligen-tsia- who would not, underconditions of autocracy, ind a meaningfuland creative role for themselvesin Russiansociety.The taskof developingan adequatemodernRussianlanguage, alongwith the challenges presented by Russia's active involvement in thepoliticalevents on theinternationalcene, led theyoung generationof the1800stobecome interestednthehistoryof Russia.Theeighteenth enturybelief that modem Russia had its sourceexclusively in thereignof PeterI was no longer tenable. Russia's success in fulfilling Peter'sprojectofbecoming a majorpower could not be explainedin such a simple way.Furthermore,he conceptsof historyandhistoricaldevelopmentformu-latedin theeighteenthcenturybyphilosophesand Jruditshadpenetratedinto Russiaandtheyhadbeen reinforcedbyagrowing eelingthatRussia'sdifference from Europehad to be preserved along with the consciousefforts at imitating the latter.The scholarshipof Europeanacademicsinvitedto Russiaandtheurgetodisprove hoseEuropean uthorswhoonlysaw barbarityand despotism in Russia, furtherstimulatedthe study ofhistory. With Alexander's benign approvaland support,an increasingnumber of Russians studied in universities abroad,most particularlyG6ttingen,then thecapitalof cameralistandhistoricalscholarship.Alongthe samevein,Alexandercreated hepositionof officialhistoriographerowhich he appointedN. M.Karamzin.As we havenoted,Karamzinwas notonlyclose to theTurgenev amilybuthadbeenstrongly nfluencedby thereligious and ethical notionsof theAufklarung.It is, however,theexperienceof 1812 thatprovedparticularlyeminal.It is neithersurprising,noranovel observation, hatNapoleon'sinvasionof Russia released a wave of patrioticfeeling among the elites; and thecommonpeoplewerealsoswept up byitoncetheyrealized hat he invaderwould not bring any beneficial social or economic changes. It is also aclich6of most Russian(andWestern)historiographyhat hedefeatof theFrench heightened national pride. But as the recently discovered andpublisheddiaryof theyoungnoblemilitiaofficer,AlexanderChicherin anancestorof the Soviet Union's firstCommissarof ForeignAffairs,BorisN. Chicherin)makesclear, the moresignificantfeatureof theexperienceof 1812 was adouble"discovery"madebytheeducatedparticipantsnthestruggleagainstNapoleonicFrance DnevnikAleksandra hicherina1812-1813, ed. by S. G. Engel' and M. I. Perper:Moscow, 1966).



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The first "discovery"made by young Chicherinwas that he was notaloneinbeinginterestednthelife of thespiritandof themuses(inhiscase,poetryandmusic). He found among fellow militia officers like-mindedspiritsof similareducationalandculturalbackgroundwho thirsted or achance to be useful to theircountry.Useful not only by expelling theinvader from Russian soil, but also by devoting their knowledge andenergiesto further heirpeople's well-beingandtheircountry'sprogress.Thecommon bond of similareducationandaspiration reateda subgroupof civil society thateagerlyawaitedthechance toproveitself.The second"discovery"wasperhapsmoresurprising ndsignificant: his was that hecommonpeopleof Russia- thepeasantsconscripted o fighttheFrenchinvader were ascapableas the well bornof loyalty, initiative,depend-abilityanddevotion tothecommonweal of thecountry.InWarand PeaceLeo Tolstoi may have idealizedthe figureof PlatonKarataev,but he didmake of him a fairexampleof the commonpeople discoveredby manyayoung educatednobleman who joined the armyas a junior officer. Ofcourse, the young nobles in the armyandmilitia hadknown the Russianpeasanteven beforeenteringservice;most likely theyhadbeen raisedonthe family estate in close contact with the peasantsand their children.Therefore, t shouldbe noted herethateven in thecourse of theeighteenthcentury,the imageof thepeasant n the minds of thecultivatedelites hadalreadyundergonea change: seen at first mainly as a brute,potentiallydangerous(andserfrevolts seemed to confirmit), underthe influenceofthe Enlightenmentand of Sentimentalism, he peasantwas increasinglyseen as a "childof nature,"capableof education to civilization and selfdiscipline.Karamzin'searlywritingsillustrated his transformation.On theestate hepeasantswereonlypassiveparticipantsnthenoblemen'slife, however,performers f routine asks nthefield and nthehouse;theywere hardlyseen as personalities n theirown rightendowed with a senseof dignity and devotion to the common good. The discovery in war of"another easantry"ed theyoungnobles totheconviction that hesoldiersshouldreceiveadequaterewards ortheirsacrificesin theform of positivestepsto solve the serfquestionand toraise thepeople'smoralandmaterialcondition. This discovery heightenedthe young officers' awarenessoftheirduty and responsibilityas an educatedelite towards the people. Itconfirmedthem in their conviction thattheir task would not be finishedwith the expulsion of the invader,but that a still more important askawaited them, namely active participationin reforming the nation'sinstitutionsandimprovingthe economic andspiritual ife of the people.Clearlythegenerationof the 1800s had nternalizedheeighteenthcenturyPietist projectof an inner improvementand personalspiritualenhance-mentto accompanythereconstitution f society, so as toprepare t for the



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ultimatesynergism(i.e., meldingwith the Divine throughactive moral,social, andspiritualpurification).A similarconstellationof intellectualelementswas at work atthe sametime in the Germanies. Not only was a modem nationalismrapidlygrippingthe emotions andintellectualefforts,butthe traditionof Protes-tant spiritualismand service was enlisted in the cause of the nation'sliberationand renovation.We shouldnotignorethereligiouselements-spiritual,moral,eschatological presentbothin theTugendbund ndinthe affective and ideological makeupof Romanticnationalism.WhileFreiherrvom SteinandScharnhorstepresentedherationalandpracticalpolitical side of the struggle againstFrance,"Turnvater"aim,the poets

UhlandandKomer,andacademicphilosophersikeFichte,proclaimedtsspiritualand emotional ethical character.Quite naturally,the Russianswho foughtalongsidetheGermansandparticipatedntheadministrationandpoliciespursuedduring hecampaignsof 1813-1815,fully experiencedtheimpactof thishighlychargedatmosphere.AmongtheseRussiansweremembersof theTurgenevs'circle, suchas A. KaisarovandV. Vostokov,whoplayedanimportantoleinwhatwe todaycallpsychologicalwarfare;and the oldest Turgenev,Nicholas, held a high position on the staff ofFreiherrvom Stein andthe Russianmilitaryadministrationn Germany.The membersof theyoungergenerationwho hadactively takenpart nthe warsagainst NapoleonicFrancehadeveryreason to expectandhopeforan activeinvolvement nshaping hedestiniesof theircountryuponthereturnof peace. They wereprepared ndeagertoassumeleadershiprolesin reformingthe administrativenstitutions,eliminatingabuses, and intakingradicalstepstoimprove heconditionsof thepeasantry.To this endtheyneededgreater reedomof expression(glasnost'- a termused eventhen),thepossibilityof meeting openlywitheach otherandinorganizingpublicassociations. Most importantof all, they wantedto have an active

role in thepublic life of theempire.They well realizedthat to be fully effective theyhadto completetheireducation, which had been interruptedby the war. This need for self-developmentandself-improvementedmanyamemberof thisgenerationto gainadmissionto masoniclodges (reopenedwithAlexander'spermis-sion) andtojoin religiousgroupsandassociationsdedicatedto the samegoals as thosepursuedby their athers n theprecedingcentury.Examplesof these werethegroupgatheredaround heLabzincoupleanditsjournal,Sionskiivestnik(Courierof Zion) andtheRussianbranchesof the BibleSociety. In addition, they became active in a variety of philanthropicendeavors nsuchfields aspopulareducationorprisonreform.Itwas stillanother nstance of the eighteenthcenturyPietistheritageof combiningindividualspiritualenhancementwithsocial reform.This time,however,



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incontrast oeighteenthcenturyprecedents, hestress wasnotso much onthe enhancementof the inner individualas on broader ocial concernsthe bettermentof the spiritualand materialcircumstancesof the wholepeople. It bothreflected andmanifestedthe heightenedsense of nationalidentityandpride generatedby the warof 1812 andits aftermath.All thisactivateda varietyof privately inancedpublicenterprises hatreacheda growing number of people and served to structure he "civilsocietyof theeducated":publiclectures,schools and nstitutionsof higherlearningandprofessional training, ournalsof largercirculationofferingserious,semi-professionalas well as literary are,societies forthepromo-tionof goodcauses (soldiers'education,prisonreform,etc.),andreligiouscommunities.Membersof civil society actively engagedin these institu-tions demandedand expected greater atitude and freedomof action, ahigherdegreeof autonomyandindependence rom tutelageby the gov-ernment.In this hope, however, they were sadly disappointed.The gov-ernment,the Emperor n the lead, were not willing to grantthe kind ofautonomyand freedom of action that were expected. On the contrary,AlexanderI andhis advisors felt that the relaxationproducedby war andexposure to foreign countries had to be counteredby the impositionofstrictersupervision,controls,andguidanceon Russiansociety, especiallyon itsyoungereducatedmembers.How reminiscentof the Stalin-Zhdanovrepressive measures against intellectuals and artistic productionafter1945Underthecircumstances, onflict betweensocietyandgovernmentwasa foregoneconclusion. Civilsociety,inthepersonof itsmoreenergeticandcreativeyoungmembers,withdrew ntoavirtuallyundergroundxistence.Itreconstitutediteraryandartisticcircles as inprewaryears,butthistimewith an addedpoliticalaim,to pressforchangein imperialpolicy so as tobringaboutreformsanda constitution.Ultimately, ntheearly1820s,therealso arose secret societies for whichpoliticalactionandideology-forma-tion were in the forefrontof attention.Conceivedat firstas coordinatingcenters forthepublicactivities of civil society, the secret societies turnedintoproto-revolutionaryrganizationsnresponse o theconservative,nayreactionary, ourseof thegovernment.Seizing theopportunity fferedbythe deathof AlexanderI,and theconfusionover his succession,thesecretsocietiesattempted ostagearevolutionary oupinwhatcame to be knownas theDecembristrevolt(14 December1825).Thestoryof the revoltneednot detainus. It suffices to note that t illustrated hepoliticizationof civilsociety's aestheticandculturalconcernsand thespiritual-ethicalngredi-ents of its commitment to the service of the people. The emotionallychargedspiritual-religiousaspect (often playeddown in thehistoriogra-phy) is well documentedin the correspondenceof the Decembrists and



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exemplified by their culturalandpedagogicalactivities in theirSiberianexile.While the developmentsand events we have just summarizedweretakingplaceinthepubliclife of Russia,Karamzinhadbeencarryingonhistask of official historiographer.ndeed,thefirst volume of his Historyofthe Russian State (Istoriia gosudarstva rossiiskogo) note the significanttitle - appeared n 1818. It was an instant success (new printingsandeditions were publishedin rapidsuccession), and subsequentvolumeswere eagerly awaited and avidly read upon their appearance.Such aresponse shows that therewas a greatneed for a serious and readablehistoryof Russia. Indeed,therehad existed no satisfactoryhistoryof thecountry,and theintensepatriotismandprideproducedby the war of 1812had to be satisfied.Karamzin's iteraryskill explainsa greatdeal of hishistory's popularity.But he also wrote in the "pragmatic"raditionofeighteenth century historiography,giving biographical,psychologicalsketches of rulers that lend themselves to moralistic nterpretations. orthisreason,too, inreactionto thedesiccated andideologizedCommunistParty-approved istories,Karamzins havingagenuinerenaissancen theSoviet Union today- theHistoryhas beenreprintedandserialized,andthe first scholarlyeditionis in preparation.Karamzin'shistory converged with, and fed on, the spiritualistandsocio-ethicalaspects of modem Russian culturethat Peter I's projectofEuropeanization had firmly entrenched among the educated elites.Karamzin'spoliticalorientationwas a conservativeone- notonlyhadhebeen frightened by the brutalchaos of the French Revolution he hadpersonally witnessed, but he had also been deeply disturbedby theinnovativeexperimentswithrationally onstructednstitutional eforms nthe first decadeof AlexanderI's reign.His interpretationf Russia's past,besidesbringingoutits glory, emphasized he beneficial role of autocracyand of the nobility's paternalisticauthorityover theirserfs;it also under-lined the threat o socialstabilityandpeacethatweakandcorrupt ulersandlandownersbrought n theirwake. In short,in his historyandpublicisticwritings (most specially in the Memoir on Ancient and Modern Russia hecirculated n 1811)Karamzinadvocatedmonarchicalpatriotismandsangpaeansto apowerfulstate and a glorious empire.TheDecembrists,on theotherhand,displayeda form of nationalismcommittedto the furtheranceof the greatestwelfare,prosperityandfelicity of the Russianpeople.One may say that this polaritycontained all the future of Russian

nationalism.Onthe one handwe findthe "chauvinistic"dentificationwiththe state thatrelied on theruler'senlightenedmoralityandleadership. tsmajorspokesmanwas to be the Ministerof Educationof NicholasI,CountS. S. Uvarov (who had also beenassociatedwith some of theprogressive



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circles in thereignof AlexanderI).On the otherhand we find apatriotismprimarily oncernedwiththesocialprogressof the nationthrough ntensedidactic activity, a concern that could easily be extended to the non-Russian peoples in the empire who, in the opinion of these populistnationalists,had to be takeninto the orbit of the "higher"modem (i.e.,Europeanized)Russian culture.This latterformof nationalismwas to beexemplifiedby the writingsof the Slavophilesand radicalpopulists,andit was also adopted and adaptedby the Marxistrevolutionaries n thetwentiethcentury.Eachpole, however,owed much of its thrustandenergyto a religiousandmoralingredient hatimparted o it a heightenedemotional tone andtransformed t into an ideology. In either case, too, the "paternalistic"notionof Kulturtragertummpliedtheelites' leadership n theTransfigu-ration(Preobrazhenie)of people (Westernization)andthe renovationofinstitutions(socio-economic and political programs).And it was advo-catedwithoutadequate mpiricalknowledgeandtolerance,with asense ofculturalsuperiorityhataimedattransforming on-Russians nto Russiansin order o bestow uponthemthefullbenefit of eventualEuropeanizationand a "rationalorganization" f societyand culture.Ineachcase, too, wedetect the eighteenthcentury heritagethat found expressionin the intel-lectualenvironmentof the firstquarter f the nineteenth enturyanda newemotional tone in the experienceof the waragainstNapoleon's invasionof Russia.These comments do notpretend o give a completesolutionto a majorhistorical problem- that of Russian nationalism- in the last twocenturies,but they do throwan interesting ight on it. Let us remember,however,the admonitionof FusteldeCoulanges,"L'histoirener6soutpasles questions,elle nousapprendAes examiner" historydoes not resolvequestions,it teaches us [merely]to examinethem).Notes

1. I owe this quotation to the kindness of Prof. David Saunders from the Universityof Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Select BibliographyOn the 18th century background: Franco Venturi, Settecento reformatore. vol. III, Laprima crisi dell'AnticoRegime, 1768-1776 (Torino: Giulio Einaudi, 1979); EduardWinter,Hlalle als Ausgangspunkt der deutschen Russlandkunde int 18. Jahrhundert (Berlin:Akademie Verlag, 1953); Marc Raeff, "Les Slaves, les Allemands et les 'Lumieres',"



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Canadian American Slavic Studies, 1:4 (winter, 1967), 521-551; Viaggio [di Radiscev] daPietroburgo a Mosca - con un saggio introductivo di Franco Venturi (Bari: De Donatoeditore, 1972); Isabel de Madariaga, Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great (New Haven:Yale University Press, 1981).On Karamzin,besides the numerous histories of Russian literature:J. L. Black, NicholasKaramzin and Russian Society in the Nineteenth Century (Toronto: University of TorontoPress, 1975); J. L. Black, ed., Essays on Karamzin. Russian Man-of-Letters, PoliticalThinker, Historian, 1766-1826 (The Hague & Paris: Mouton, 1975); Richard Pipes,Karamzin's Memoir on Ancient and Modern Russia, A Translation and Analysis (Cam-bridge: Harvard University Press, 1959).The transition to the 19th century and the early years of Alexander I are treated by AllenMcConnell, Tsar Alexander I.- Paternalistic Reformer (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell,1970) and Marc Raeff, Comprendre l'Ancien regime russe: Etat et socite' en Russiaimperiale (Paris: Le Seuil, 1982) translated as Understanding Imperial Russia (New York:Columbia University Press, 1984).

Literary circles and the spiritual atmosphere in the reign of Alexander I are bestapproached through Marc Raeff, "Le jeunesse russe ?a 'aube du XIXe si&cle: Andr6Turgenev et ses amnis,"Cahiersdu monde russe etsovietique, 8:4 (October-December, 1967),560-586; the introductory material in Poety nachala XIX veka, ed. by Iu. M. Lotman(Leningrad: Sovetskii pisatel', 1961); and Markus Wischnitzer, Die Universitat Gottingenund die Entwicklung der liberalen Ideen inRussland im ersten Viertel des 19. Jahrhunderts(Historische Studien, Heft LVIII, Berlin, 1907; reprint Vaduz: Kraus Reprint Ltd., 1967).On the impact of the war of 1812 see: Dnevnik Aleksandra Chicherina, 1812-1813(Moscow: izd. "Nauka," 1966), and, of course, Leo Tolstoi's War and Peace.The literature on the Decembrists and on the political, intellectual and social back-ground of their movement is immense. For a handy introduction see Marc Raeff, TheDecembrist Movement (Englewood Cliffs, NJ:Prentice-Hall, 1966); Franco Venturi,Il motodecabrista e ifratelli Poggio (Torino: Giulio Einaudi, 1956); and Anatole G. Mazour, TheFirstRussian Revolution, 1825: The Decembrist Movement.:Its Origins, Development, andSignificance (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1937; reprinted, Stanford: StanfordUniversity Press, 1962).

At the Origins of a Russian National Consciousness Eighteenth Century Roots and Napoleonic Wars

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