Liberalism in Russia
Encyclopedia
This article gives an overview of liberalism in Russia
. It is limited to liberal
parties
with substantial support, namely those that have had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in the scheme. The listed parties didn't necessarily label themselves as liberal.
is sometimes called the father of Russian liberalism. His ideas were discussed and elaborated by such 19th-century liberals resp. r
adicals as Alexander Herzen
, Boris Chicherin
, and Konstantin Kavelin
. Based on their ideals, various early 20th-century liberal parties evolved, the most important of them being the Constitutional-democratic Party, headed by Pavel Milyukov
.
(Yabloko - Rosiyskaya Demokraticheskaya Partiya, a member of Liberal International
) succeeded in becoming a relevant force. This is a left-of-center liberal party. The Union of Right Forces
(Soyuz Pravykh Sil, a member of International Democrat Union
) is a right-of-center liberal party. It can also be seen as a democratic conservative market party. In this scheme the party is not included as liberal, being considered a democratic conservative party, but it can also be called liberal because of its pro-free-market and anti-authoritarianism stances. The so-called Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
is not at all "liberal" - it is a nationalist
, right-wing, populist party.
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. It is limited to liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
parties
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
with substantial support, namely those that have had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in the scheme. The listed parties didn't necessarily label themselves as liberal.
Background
Mikhail SperanskyMikhail Speransky
Count Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky was probably the greatest of Russian reformers during the reign of Alexander I of Russia. He was a close advisor to Tsar Alexander I of Russia and later to Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, he is sometimes called the father of Russian liberalism.-Early life and...
is sometimes called the father of Russian liberalism. His ideas were discussed and elaborated by such 19th-century liberals resp. r
adicals as Alexander Herzen
Alexander Herzen
Aleksandr Ivanovich Herzen was a Russian pro-Western writer and thinker known as the "father of Russian socialism", and one of the main fathers of agrarian populism...
, Boris Chicherin
Boris Chicherin
Boris Nikolayevich Chicherin was a Russian jurist and political philosopher, who worked out a theory that Russia needed a strong, authoritative government to persevere with liberal reforms...
, and Konstantin Kavelin
Konstantin Kavelin
Konstantin Dmitrievich Kavelin was a Russian historian, jurist, and sociologist, sometimes called the chief architect of early Russian liberalism.Born in Saint Petersburg into an old noble family, Kavelin graduated from the legal department of the Moscow University...
. Based on their ideals, various early 20th-century liberal parties evolved, the most important of them being the Constitutional-democratic Party, headed by Pavel Milyukov
Pavel Milyukov
Pavel Nikolayevich Milyukov , a Russian politician, was the founder, leader, and the most prominent member of the Constitutional Democratic party...
.
History
After the fall of communism, several new liberal parties were formed, but only one of them YablokoYabloko
The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" (Russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко» Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko"; is a Russian social...
(Yabloko - Rosiyskaya Demokraticheskaya Partiya, a member of Liberal International
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
) succeeded in becoming a relevant force. This is a left-of-center liberal party. The Union of Right Forces
Union of Right Forces
The Union of Right Forces, or SPS , was a Russian democratic opposition party associated with free market reforms, privatization, and the legacy of the 'Young Reformers' of the 1990s: Anatoly Chubais, Boris Nemtsov, and Yegor Gaidar. Nikita Belykh was the last party's leader...
(Soyuz Pravykh Sil, a member of International Democrat Union
International Democrat Union
The International Democrat Union, abbreviated to IDU, is a centre-right international alliance of conservative and liberal-conservative political parties. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, the IDU comprises 45 full or associate members...
) is a right-of-center liberal party. It can also be seen as a democratic conservative market party. In this scheme the party is not included as liberal, being considered a democratic conservative party, but it can also be called liberal because of its pro-free-market and anti-authoritarianism stances. The so-called Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
The Liberal Democratic Party of Russia , Liberal'no-Demokraticheskaya Partiya Rossii is a political party in Russia. Since its founding in 1991, it has been led by the charismatic and controversial figure Vladimir Zhirinovsky...
is not at all "liberal" - it is a nationalist
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
, right-wing, populist party.
From Liberation Union to Constitutional Democratic Party
- 1905: The Liberation Union (Soyuz Osvobozhdeniya) merged with the Union of Zemstvo-Constitutionalists (Soyuz Zemstev-Konstitutsionistov) to form the liberal Constitutional Democratic PartyConstitutional Democratic partyThe Constitutional Democratic Party was a liberal political party in the Russian Empire. Party members were called Kadets, from the abbreviation K-D of the party name...
(Konstitutsiono-Demokraticheskaya Partya), formally known as the Party of Popular Freedom (Partiya Narodnoy Svobody), led by Pavel MilyukovPavel MilyukovPavel Nikolayevich Milyukov , a Russian politician, was the founder, leader, and the most prominent member of the Constitutional Democratic party...
. - 1906: A faction forms the ⇒ Party of Democratic Reform (Russia)Party of Democratic Reform (Russia)The Party of Democratic Reform was a liberal-monarchist political party in the Russian Empire, founded at the beginning of 1906 during the elections to the First Duma, from elements who found the Cadet programme too Left. The party had merged with the Party of Peaceful Renovation in 1907....
- October 26 O.S., 1917: The party's newspapers were shut down by the new Soviet regime
- November 28 O.S., 1917: Banned by the Soviet regime, the party went underground
- 1918-1920: Many party leaders were active in the White MovementWhite movementThe White movement and its military arm the White Army - known as the White Guard or the Whites - was a loose confederation of Anti-Communist forces.The movement comprised one of the politico-military Russian forces who fought...
- 1921-early 1930s: The party continued to function in exile, but slowly disintegrated
Union of October 17
- 1905: Conservative liberals formed the Union of October 17 (Soyuz Semnadtsatovo Oktyabrya) and became known as OctobristOctobristThe Octobrist Party was a non-revolutionary centrist Russian political party formally called Union of October 17 . The party's programme of moderate constitutionalism called for the fulfilment of Tsar Nicholas II's October Manifesto granted at the peak of the Russian Revolution of 1905...
s. - 1906: A left wing faction formed the ⇒ Party for Peaceful Renewal, the party develops to be the party of the landlords.
- March 1917: Dissolved after the February RevolutionFebruary RevolutionThe February Revolution of 1917 was the first of two revolutions in Russia in 1917. Centered around the then capital Petrograd in March . Its immediate result was the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, the end of the Romanov dynasty, and the end of the Russian Empire...
.
Moderate Progressive Party
- 1905: National liberals established the Moderate Progressive Party (Umereno-Progresivnaya Partiya).
- 1907: Merged into the ⇒ Party for Peaceful Renewal.
Party of Democratic Reform
- 1906: A moderate faction of the ⇒ Constitutional Democratic Party formed the Party of Democratic Reform (Russia)Party of Democratic Reform (Russia)The Party of Democratic Reform was a liberal-monarchist political party in the Russian Empire, founded at the beginning of 1906 during the elections to the First Duma, from elements who found the Cadet programme too Left. The party had merged with the Party of Peaceful Renovation in 1907....
(Partiya Demokraticheskikh Reform). - 1912: Merged into the ⇒ Progressive Party.
From Party of Peaceful Renovation to Progressist Party
- 1906: A left-wing faction of the Octobrists, together with dissidents of the Constitutional Democratic Party and of the Moderate Progressive Party, established the Party of Peaceful RenovationParty of Peaceful RenovationParty of Peaceful Renovation was a liberal political organisation in the Russian Empire, based amongst landlords and bourgeoisie.It was formed in 1906, uniting the Left Octobrists and Right Cadets. Party leaders were Pyotr Heiden, N. N. Lvov, P. P. Ryabushinsky, Mikhail Stakhovich, Y. N....
(Partiya Mirnovo Obnovleniya). - 1912: Merged with the ⇒ Party of Democratic Reform into the Progressist PartyProgressist PartyThe Progressist Party was a group of moderate Russian liberals organized in 1908; it had 28 deputies in the Third Duma and 48 in the Fourth. Its most prominent members were Ivan Nikolaevich Efremov, Alexander Konovalov, and Pavel Ryabushinsky...
(Progresivnaya Partiya), led by Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov. - 1917: Most of the party merged into the ⇒ Constitutional Democratic Party, some continued as the Radical Democratic Party (Radikal'no-Demokraticheskaya Partiya).
Yabloko
- 1993: Diverse new political parties merged into the social liberal Yavlinksii-Boldyrev-Lukin BlokYablokoThe Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" (Russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко» Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko"; is a Russian social...
, led by Grigorii Yavlinskii. - 1994: The party is renamed YablokoYablokoThe Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" (Russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко» Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko"; is a Russian social...
(Yabloko). - 2003: The party is renamed Russian Democratic Party YablokoYablokoThe Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" The Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" (Russian: Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко» Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko"; is a Russian social...
(Rosiyskaya Demokraticheskaya Partiya/Российская Демократическая Партия Яблоко).
Liberal leaders
- Pre-revolution: Pavel MilyukovPavel MilyukovPavel Nikolayevich Milyukov , a Russian politician, was the founder, leader, and the most prominent member of the Constitutional Democratic party...
- Prince Georgy Yevgenyevich Lvov - Dissidence during communism: Andrei SakharovAndrei SakharovAndrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...
- Yabloko: Grigorii Yavlinskii
See also
- History of RussiaHistory of RussiaThe history of Russia begins with that of the Eastern Slavs and the Finno-Ugric peoples. The state of Garðaríki , which was centered in Novgorod and included the entire areas inhabited by Ilmen Slavs, Veps and Votes, was established by the Varangian chieftain Rurik in 862...
- Politics of RussiaPolitics of RussiaThe politics of Russia take place in a framework of a federal semi-presidential republic. According to the Constitution of Russia, the President of Russia is head of state, and of a multi-party system with executive power exercised by the government, headed by the Prime Minister, who is appointed...
- List of political parties in Russia