Kitabı oku: «Russia»

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Titel: Russia

von William Shakespeare, H. G. Wells, Henry Van Dyke, Thomas Carlyle, Oscar Wilde, Joseph Conrad, Henry James, Anthony Hope, Henry Fielding, Giraldus Cambrensis, Daniel Defoe, Grammaticus Saxo, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Hugh Lofting, Agatha Christie, Sinclair Lewis, Eugène Brieux, Upton Sinclair, Booth Tarkington, Sax Rohmer, Jack London, Anna Katharine Green, Sara Jeannette Duncan, Xenophon, Alexandre Dumas père, John William Draper, Alice Christiana Thompson Meynell, Bram Stoker, Honoré de Balzac, William Congreve, Louis de Rougemont, Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol, Rolf Boldrewood, François Rabelais, Lysander Spooner, B. M. Bower, Henry Rider Haggard, William Hickling Prescott, Lafcadio Hearn, Robert Herrick, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Charles Babbage, Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin, Frank L. Packard, George Meredith, John Merle Coulter, Irvin S. Cobb, Edwin Mims, John Tyndall, Various, Charles Darwin, Sidney Lanier, Henry Lawson, Niccolò Machiavelli, George W. Crile, Théophile Gautier, Noah Brooks, James Thomson, Zane Grey, J. M. Synge, Virginia Woolf, Conrad Aiken, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Helen Cody Wetmore, Ayn Rand, Sir Thomas Malory, Gustave Flaubert, Edmond Rostand, Charlotte Brontë, Edith Wharton, Giles Lytton Strachey, Myrtle Reed, Ernest Bramah, Jules Verne, H. L. Mencken, H. Stanley Redgrove, Victor Lefebure, Edna Lyall, John Masefield, Charles Kingsley, Robert Burns, Edgar Lee Masters, Victor [pseud.] Appleton, Ellis Parker Butler, Mary Lamb, Charles Lamb, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Kenneth Grahame, Charles Dickens, John Ruskin, John Galt, James J. Davis, Owen Wister, William Blades, Sir Hall Caine, Sir Max Beerbohm, Baron Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett Dunsany, Bret Harte, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Thomas Henry Huxley, A. B. Paterson, John N. Reynolds, Walter Dill Scott, Hans Gustav Adolf Gross, T. S. Eliot, Walt Whitman, Arthur Ransome, Jane Addams, Elizabeth, David Lindsay, Helen Bannerman, Charles A. Oliver, J. M. Barrie, Robert F. Murray, Andrew Lang, Jerome K. Jerome, Francis Thompson, Sydney Waterlow, Andrew Dickson White, Benjamin N. Cardozo, Karl Marx, Edouard Louis Emmanuel Julien Le Roy, Margaret Hill McCarter, Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace

ISBN 978-3-7429-1293-0

Es ist ohne vorherige schriftliche Erlaubnis nicht gestattet, dieses Werk im Ganzen oder in Teilen zu vervielfältigen oder zu veröffentlichen.

Preface

CHAPTER I

TRAVELLING IN RUSSIA

Railways – State Interference – River Communications – Russian "Grand Tour" – The Volga – Kazan – Zhigulinskiya Gori – Finns and Tartars – The Don – Difficulties of Navigation – Discomforts – Rats – Hotels and Their Peculiar Customs – Roads – Hibernian Phraseology Explained – Bridges – Posting – A Tarantass – Requisites for Travelling – Travelling in Winter – Frostbitten – Disagreeable Episodes – Scene at a Post-Station.

CHAPTER II

IN THE NORTHERN FORESTS

Bird's-eye View of Russia – The Northern Forests – Purpose of my Journey – Negotiations – The Road – A Village – A Peasant's House – Vapour-Baths – Curious Custom – Arrival.

CHAPTER III

VOLUNTARY EXILE

Ivanofka – History of the Place – The Steward of the Estate – Slav and Teutonic Natures – A German's View of the Emancipation – Justices of the Peace – New School of Morals – The Russian Language – Linguistic Talent of the Russians – My Teacher – A Big Dose of Current History.

CHAPTER IV

THE VILLAGE PRIEST

Priests' Names – Clerical Marriages – The White and the Black Clergy – Why the People do not Respect the Parish Priests – History of the White Clergy – The Parish Priest and the Protestant Pastor – In What Sense

the Russian People are Religious – Icons – The Clergy and Popular Education – Ecclesiastical Reform – Premonitory Symptoms of Change – Two Typical Specimens of the Parochial Clergy of the Present Day.

CHAPTER V

A MEDICAL CONSULTATION

Unexpected Illness – A Village Doctor – Siberian Plague – My Studies – Russian Historians – A Russian Imitator of Dickens – A ci-devant Domestic Serf – Medicine and Witchcraft – A Remnant of Paganism – Credulity

of the Peasantry – Absurd Rumours – A Mysterious Visit from St. Barbara – Cholera on Board a Steamer – Hospitals – Lunatic Asylums – Amongst Maniacs.

CHAPTER VI

A PEASANT FAMILY OF THE OLD TYPE

Ivan Petroff – His Past Life – Co-operative Associations – Constitution of a Peasant's Household – Predominance of Economic Conceptions over those of Blood-relationship – Peasant Marriages – Advantages of Living in Large Families – Its Defects – Family Disruptions and their Consequences.

CHAPTER VII

THE PEASANTRY OF THE NORTH

Communal Land – System of Agriculture – Parish Fetes – Fasting – Winter Occupations – Yearly Migrations – Domestic Industries – Influence of Capital and Wholesale Enterprise – The State Peasants – Serf-dues – Buckle's "History of Civilisation" – A precocious Yamstchik—"People Who Play Pranks" – A Midnight Alarm – The Far North.

CHAPTER VIII

THE MIR, OR VILLAGE COMMUNITY

Social and Political Importance of the Mir – The Mir and the Family Compared – Theory of the Communal System – Practical Deviations from the Theory – The Mir a Good Specimen of Constitutional Government of the Extreme Democratic Type – The Village Assembly – Female Members – The Elections – Distribution of the Communal Land.

CHAPTER IX

HOW THE COMMUNE HAS BEEN PRESERVED, AND WHAT IT IS TO EFFECT IN THE FUTURE

Sweeping Reforms after the Crimean War – Protest Against the Laissez Faire Principle – Fear of the Proletariat – English and Russian Methods of Legislation Contrasted – Sanguine Expectations – Evil Consequences of the Communal System – The Commune of the Future – Proletariat of the Towns – The Present State of Things Merely Temporary.

CHAPTER X

FINNISH AND TARTAR VILLAGES

A Finnish Tribe – Finnish Villages – Various Stages of Russification – Finnish Women – Finnish Religions – Method of "Laying" Ghosts – Curious Mixture of Christianity and Paganism – Conversion of the Finns – A Tartar Village – A Russian Peasant's Conception of Mahometanism – A Mahometan's View of Christianity – Propaganda – The Russian Colonist – Migrations of Peoples During the Dark Ages.

CHAPTER XI

LORD NOVGOROD THE GREAT

Departure from Ivanofka and Arrival at Novgorod – The Eastern Half of the Town – The Kremlin – An Old Legend – The Armed Men of Rus – The Northmen – Popular Liberty in Novgorod – The Prince and the Popular Assembly – Civil Dissensions and Faction-fights – The Commercial Republic Conquered by the Muscovite Tsars – Ivan the Terrible – Present Condition of the Town – Provincial Society – Card-playing – Periodicals—"Eternal Stillness."

CHAPTER XII

THE TOWNS AND THE MERCANTILE CLASSES

General Character of Russian Towns – Scarcity of Towns in Russia – Why the Urban Element in the Population is so Small – History of Russian Municipal Institutions – Unsuccessful Efforts to Create a Tiers-etat – Merchants, Burghers, and Artisans – Town Council – A Rich Merchant – His House – His Love of Ostentation – His Conception of Aristocracy – Official Decorations – Ignorance and Dishonesty of the Commercial Classes – Symptoms of Change.

CHAPTER XIII

THE PASTORAL TRIBES OF THE STEPPE

A Journey to the Steppe Region of the Southeast – The Volga – Town and Province of Samara – Farther Eastward – Appearance of the Villages – Characteristic Incident – Peasant Mendacity – Explanation of the Phenomenon – I Awake in Asia – A Bashkir Aoul – Diner la Tartare – Kumyss – A Bashkir Troubadour – Honest Mehemet Zian – Actual Economic Condition of the Bashkirs Throws Light on a Well-known Philosophical Theory – Why a Pastoral Race Adopts Agriculture – The Genuine Steppe – The Kirghiz – Letter from Genghis Khan – The Kalmyks – Nogai Tartars – Struggle between Nomadic Hordes and Agricultural Colonists.

CHAPTER XIV

THE MONGOL DOMINATION

The Conquest – Genghis Khan and his People – Creation and Rapid Disintegration of the Mongol Empire – The Golden Horde – The Real Character of the Mongol Domination – Religious Toleration – Mongol System of Government – Grand Princes – The Princes of Moscow – Influence of the Mongol Domination – Practical Importance of the Subject.

CHAPTER XV

THE COSSACKS

Lawlessness on the Steppe – Slave-markets of the Crimea – The Military Cordon and the Free Cossacks – The Zaporovian Commonwealth Compared with Sparta and with the Mediaeval Military Orders – The Cossacks of the Don, of the Volga, and of the Ural – Border Warfare – The Modern Cossacks – Land Tenure among the Cossacks of the Don – The Transition from Pastoral to Agriculture Life—"Universal Law" of Social Development – Communal versus Private Property – Flogging as a Means of Land-registration.

CHAPTER XVI

FOREIGN COLONISTS ON THE STEPPE

The Steppe – Variety of Races, Languages, and Religions – The German Colonists – In What Sense the Russians are an Imitative People – The Mennonites – Climate and Arboriculture – Bulgarian Colonists – Tartar-Speaking Greeks – Jewish Agriculturists – Russification – A Circassian Scotchman – Numerical Strength of the Foreign Element.

CHAPTER XVII

AMONG THE HERETICS

The Molokanye – My Method of Investigation – Alexandrof-Hai – An Unexpected Theological Discussion – Doctrines and Ecclesiastical Organisation of the Molokanye – Moral Supervision and Mutual Assistance – History of the Sect – A False Prophet – Utilitarian Christianity – Classification of the Fantastic Sects – The "Khlysti" – Policy of the Government towards Sectarianism – Two Kinds of Heresy – Probable Future of the Heretical Sects – Political Disaffection.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE DISSENTERS

Dissenters not to be Confounded with Heretics – Extreme Importance Attached to Ritual Observances – The Raskol, or Great Schism in the Seventeenth Century – Antichrist Appears! – Policy of Peter the Great and Catherine II. – Present Ingenious Method of Securing Religious Toleration – Internal Development of the Raskol – Schism among the Schismatics – The Old Ritualists – The Priestless People – Cooling of the Fanatical Enthusiasm and Formation of New Sects – Recent Policy of the Government towards the Sectarians – Numerical Force and Political Significance of Sectarianism.

CHAPTER XIX

CHURCH AND STATE

The Russian Orthodox Church – Russia Outside of the Mediaeval Papal Commonwealth – Influence of the Greek Church – Ecclesiastical History of Russia – Relations between Church and State – Eastern Orthodoxy and the Russian National Church – The Synod – Ecclesiastical Grumbling – Local Ecclesiastical Administration – The Black Clergy and the Monasteries – The Character of the Eastern Church Reflected in the History of Religious Art – Practical Consequences – The Union Scheme.

CHAPTER XX

THE NOBLESSE

The Nobles In Early Times – The Mongol Domination – The Tsardom of Muscovy – Family Dignity – Reforms of Peter the Great – The Nobles Adopt West-European Conceptions – Abolition of Obligatory Service – Influence of Catherine II. – The Russian Dvoryanstvo Compared with the French Noblesse and the English Aristocracy – Russian Titles – Probable Future of the Russian Noblesse.

CHAPTER XXI

LANDED PROPRIETORS OF THE OLD SCHOOL

Russian Hospitality – A Country-House – Its Owner Described – His Life, Past and Present – Winter Evenings – Books – Connection with the Outer World – The Crimean War and the Emancipation – A Drunken, Dissolute Proprietor – An Old General and his Wife—"Name Days" – A Legendary Monster – A Retired Judge – A Clever Scribe – Social Leniency – Cause of Demoralisation.

CHAPTER XXII

PROPRIETORS OF THE MODERN SCHOOL

A Russian Petit Maitre – His House and Surroundings – Abortive Attempts to Improve Agriculture and the Condition of the Serfs – A Comparison – A "Liberal" Tchinovnik – His Idea of Progress – A Justice of the Peace – His Opinion of Russian Literature, Tchinovniks, and Petits Maitres – His Supposed and Real Character – An Extreme Radical – Disorders in the Universities – Administrative Procedure – Russia's Capacity for Accomplishing Political and Social Evolutions – A Court Dignitary in his Country House.

CHAPTER XXIII

SOCIAL CLASSES

Do Social Classes or Castes Exist in Russia? – Well-marked Social Types – Classes Recognised by the Legislation and the Official Statistics – Origin and Gradual Formation of these Classes – Peculiarity in the Historical Development of Russia – Political Life and Political Parties.

CHAPTER XXIV

THE IMPERIAL ADMINISTRATION AND THE OFFICIALS

The Officials in Norgorod Assist Me in My Studies – The Modern Imperial Administration Created by Peter the Great, and Developed by his Successors – A Slavophil's View of the Administration – The Administration Briefly Described – The Tchinovniks, or Officials – Official Titles, and Their Real Significance – What the Administration Has Done for Russia in the Past – Its Character Determined by the Peculiar Relation between the Government and the People – Its Radical Vices – Bureaucratic Remedies – Complicated Formal Procedure – The Gendarmerie: My Personal Relations with this Branch of the Administration; Arrest and Release – A Strong, Healthy Public Opinion the Only Effectual Remedy for Bad Administration.

CHAPTER XXV

MOSCOW AND THE SLAVOPHILS

Two Ancient Cities – Kief Not a Good Point for Studying Old Russian National Life – Great Russians and Little Russians – Moscow – Easter Eve in the Kremlin – Curious Custom – Anecdote of the Emperor Nicholas – Domiciliary Visits of the Iberian Madonna – The Streets of Moscow – Recent Changes in the Character of the City – Vulgar Conception of the Slavophils – Opinion Founded on Personal Acquaintance – Slavophil Sentiment a Century Ago – Origin and Development of the Slavophil Doctrine – Slavophilism Essentially Muscovite – The Panslavist Element – The Slavophils and the Emancipation.

CHAPTER XXVI

ST. PETERSBURG AND EUROPEAN INFLUENCE

St. Petersburg and Berlin – Big Houses – The "Lions" – Peter the Great – His Aims and Policy – The German Regime – Nationalist Reaction – French Influence – Consequent Intellectual Sterility – Influence of the Sentimental School – Hostility to Foreign Influences – A New Period of Literary Importation – Secret Societies – The Catastrophe – The Age of Nicholas – A Terrible War on Parnassus – Decline of Romanticism and Transcendentalism – Gogol – The Revolutionary Agitation of 1848—New Reaction – Conclusion.

CHAPTER XXVII

THE CRIMEAN WAR AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

The Emperor Nicholas and his System – The Men with Aspirations and the Apathetically Contented – National Humiliation – Popular Discontent and the Manuscript Literature – Death of Nicholas – Alexander II. – New Spirit – Reform Enthusiasm – Change in the Periodical Literature – The Kolokol – The Conservatives – The Tchinovniks – First Specific Proposals – Joint-Stock Companies – The Serf Question Comes to the Front.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE SERFS

The Rural Population in Ancient Times – The Peasantry in the Eighteenth Century – How Was This Change Effected? – The Common Explanation Inaccurate – Serfage the Result of Permanent Economic and Political Causes – Origin of the Adscriptio Glebae – Its Consequences – Serf Insurrection – Turning-point in the History of Serfage – Serfage in Russia and in Western Europe – State Peasants – Numbers and Geographical Distribution of the Serf Population – Serf Dues – Legal and Actual Power of the Proprietors – The Serfs' Means of Defence – Fugitives – Domestic Serfs – Strange Advertisements in the Moscow Gazette – Moral Influence of Serfage.

CHAPTER XXIX

THE EMANCIPATION OF THE SERFS

The Question Raised – Chief Committee – The Nobles of the Lithuanian Provinces – The Tsar's Broad Hint to the Noblesse – Enthusiasm in the Press – The Proprietors – Political Aspirations – No Opposition – The Government – Public Opinion – Fear of the Proletariat – The Provincial Committees – The Elaboration Commission – The Question Ripens – Provincial Deputies – Discontent and Demonstrations – The Manifesto – Fundamental Principles of the Law – Illusions and Disappointment of the Serfs – Arbiters of the Peace – A Characteristic Incident – Redemption – Who Effected the Emancipation?

CHAPTER XXX

THE LANDED PROPRIETORS SINCE THE EMANCIPATION

Two Opposite Opinions – Difficulties of Investigation – The Problem Simplified – Direct and Indirect Compensation – The Direct Compensation Inadequate – What the Proprietors Have Done with the Remainder of Their Estates – Immediate Moral Effect of the Abolition of Serfage – The Economic Problem – The Ideal Solution and the Difficulty of Realising It – More Primitive Arrangements – The Northern Agricultural Zone – The Black-earth Zone – The Labour Difficulty – The Impoverishment of the Noblesse Not a New Phenomenon – Mortgaging of Estates – Gradual Expropriation of the Noblesse-Rapid Increase in the Production and Export of Grain – How Far this Has Benefited the Landed Proprietors.

CHAPTER XXXI

THE EMANCIPATED PEASANTRY

The Effects of Liberty – Difficulty of Obtaining Accurate Information – Pessimist Testimony of the Proprietors – Vague Replies of the Peasants – My Conclusions in 1877—Necessity of Revising Them – My Investigations Renewed in 1903—Recent Researches by Native Political Economists – Peasant Impoverishment Universally Recognised – Various Explanations Suggested – Demoralisation of the Common People – Peasant Self-government – Communal System of Land Tenure – Heavy Taxation – Disruption of Peasant Families – Natural Increase of Population – Remedies Proposed – Migration – Reclamation of Waste Land – Land-purchase by Peasantry – Manufacturing Industry – Improvement of Agricultural Methods – Indications of Progress.

CHAPTER XXXII

THE ZEMSTVO AND THE LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT

Necessity of Reorganising the Provincial Administration – Zemstvo Created in 1864—My First Acquaintance with the Institution – District and Provincial Assemblies – The Leading Members – Great Expectations Created by the Institution – These Expectations Not Realised – Suspicions and Hostility of the Bureaucracy – Zemstvo Brought More Under Control of the Centralised Administration – What It Has Really Done – Why It Has Not Done More – Rapid Increase of the Rates – How Far the Expenditure Is Judicious – Why the Impoverishment of the Peasantry Was Neglected – Unpractical, Pedantic Spirit – Evil Consequences – Chinese and Russian Formalism – Local Self-Government of Russia Contrasted with That of England – Zemstvo Better than Its Predecessors – Its Future.

CHAPTER XXXIII

THE NEW LAW COURTS

Judicial Procedure in the Olden Times – Defects and Abuses – Radical Reform – The New System – Justices of the Peace and Monthly Sessions – The Regular Tribunals – Court of Revision – Modification of the Original Plan – How Does the System Work? – Rapid Acclimatisation – The Bench – The Jury – Acquittal of Criminals Who Confess Their Crimes – Peasants, Merchants, and Nobles as Jurymen – Independence and Political Significance of the New Courts.

CHAPTER XXXIV

REVOLUTIONARY NIHILISM AND THE REACTION

The Reform-enthusiasm Becomes Unpractical and Culminates in Nihilism – Nihilism, the Distorted Reflection of Academic Western Socialism – Russia Well Prepared for Reception of Ultra-Socialist Virus – Social Reorganisation According to Latest Results of Science – Positivist Theory – Leniency of Press-censure – Chief Representatives of New Movement – Government Becomes Alarmed – Repressive Measures – Reaction in the Public – The Term Nihilist Invented – The Nihilist and His Theory – Further Repressive Measures – Attitude of Landed Proprietors – Foundation of a Liberal Party – Liberalism Checked by Polish Insurrection – Practical Reform Continued – An Attempt at Regicide Forms a Turning-point of Government's Policy – Change in Educational System – Decline of Nihilism.

CHAPTER XXXV

SOCIALIST PROPAGANDA, REVOLUTIONARY AGITATION, AND TERRORISM

Closer Relations with Western Socialism – Attempts to Influence the Masses – Bakunin and Lavroff—"Going in among the People" – The Missionaries of Revolutionary Socialism – Distinction between Propaganda and Agitation – Revolutionary Pamphlets for the Common People – Aims and Motives of the Propagandists – Failure of Propaganda – Energetic Repression – Fruitless Attempts at Agitation – Proposal to Combine with Liberals – Genesis of Terrorism – My Personal Relations with the Revolutionists – Shadowers and Shadowed – A Series of Terrorist Crimes – A Revolutionist Congress – Unsuccessful Attempts to Assassinate the Tsar – Ineffectual Attempt at Conciliation by Loris Melikof – Assassination of Alexander II. – The Executive Committee Shows Itself Unpractical – Widespread Indignation and Severe Repression – Temporary Collapse of the Revolutionary Movement – A New Revolutionary Movement in Sight.

CHAPTER XXXVI

INDUSTRIAL PROGRESS AND THE PROLETARIAT

Russia till Lately a Peasant Empire – Early Efforts to Introduce Arts and Crafts – Peter the Great and His Successors – Manufacturing Industry Long Remains an Exotic – The Cotton Industry – The Reforms of Alexander II. – Protectionists and Free Trade – Progress under High Tariffs – M. Witte's Policy – How Capital Was Obtained – Increase of Exports – Foreign Firms Cross the Customs Frontier – Rapid Development of Iron Industry – A Commercial Crisis – M. Witte's Position Undermined by Agrarians and Doctrinaires – M. Plehve a Formidable Opponent – His Apprehensions of Revolution – Fall of M. Witte – The Industrial Proletariat

CHAPTER XXXVII

THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT IN ITS LATEST PHASE

Influence of Capitalism and Proletariat on the Revolutionary Movement – What is to be Done? – Reply of Plekhanof – A New Departure – Karl Marx's Theories Applied to Russia – Beginnings of a Social Democratic Movement – The Labour Troubles of 1894-96 in St. Petersburg – The Social Democrats' Plan of Campaign – Schism in the Party – Trade-unionism and Political Agitation – The Labour Troubles of 1902—How the Revolutionary Groups are Differentiated from Each Other – Social Democracy and Constitutionalism – Terrorism – The Socialist Revolutionaries – The Militant Organisation – Attitude of the Government – Factory Legislation – Government's Scheme for Undermining Social Democracy – Father Gapon and His Labour Association – The Great Strike in St. Petersburg – Father Gapon goes over to the Revolutionaries.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

TERRITORIAL EXPANSION AND FOREIGN POLICY

Rapid Growth of Russia – Expansive Tendency of Agricultural Peoples – The Russo-Slavonians – The Northern Forest and the Steppe – Colonisation – The Part of the Government in the Process of Expansion – Expansion towards the West – Growth of the Empire Represented in a Tabular Form – Commercial Motive for Expansion – The Expansive Force in the Future – Possibilities of Expansion in Europe – Persia, Afghanistan, and India – Trans-Siberian Railway and Weltpolitik – A Grandiose Scheme – Determined Opposition of Japan – Negotiations and War – Russia's Imprudence Explained – Conclusion.

CHAPTER XXXIX

THE PRESENT SITUATION

Reform or Revolution? – Reigns of Alexander II. and Nicholas II. Compared and Contrasted – The Present Opposition – Various Groups – The Constitutionalists – Zemski Sobors – The Young Tsar Dispels Illusions – Liberal Frondeurs – Plehve's Repressive Policy – Discontent Increased by the War – Relaxation and Wavering under Prince Mirski – Reform Enthusiasm – The Constitutionalists Formulate their Demands – The Social Democrats – Father Gapon's Demonstration – The Socialist-Revolutionaries – The Agrarian Agitators – The Subject-Nationalities – Numerical Strength of the Various Groups – All United on One Point – Their Different Aims – Possible Solutions of the Crisis – Difficulties of Introducing Constitutional Regime – A Strong Man Wanted – Uncertainty of the Future.