Vestnik Evropy
Encyclopedia
Vestnik Evropy (Herald of Europe or Messenger of Europe) was the major liberal
magazine of late-nineteenth-century Russia; it lasted from 1866 to 1918.
The magazine (named for an earlier publication edited by Nikolay Karamzin) was founded by Mikhail Matveevich Stasyulevich
, a former professor of history, who remained the publisher-editor until 1909; its editorial office "was located in Stasyulevich's flat at 20 Galernaya Street and was one of the centres of St. Petersburg's cultural and political life (the journal's major contributors as well as their friends and associates used to get together on Wednesdays)." The first issue appeared in March 1866; for the first two years it was a historical quarterly, but from 1868 it covered history, politics, and literature and came out each month. "The journal always had a serious, objective, professorial character; even in the most heated polemics, for example, it shunned harsh invective and often even avoided naming its adversary." It consistently supported the zemstvo
s, judicial reforms
, and other reforms of the 1860s, publishing frequent articles on foreign countries and on Russian history that served to promote its own views on contemporary society and politics. It "placed its dark red monthly booklet, 'like a little brick, on the slowly and arduously erected structure of social rights and consciousness.'"
During the heated ideological struggles of the 1870s and 1880s, the magazine tried to steer a course between moderate reformism and the kind of revolutionary socialism it consistently opposed; Leonid-Lyudvig Slonimsky, a frequent contributor on economic and political topics, wrote a regular "Foreign Survey" which he used "to sketch the outlines of an ideal relationship between liberals and socialists in Russia’s not-too-distant parliamentary future, which involved one group supplementing its program with demands for social reforms and the other abandoning its calls for revolution." In the 1880s it repudiated state socialism "as a matter of principle, while continuing to build on the arguments in favor of state interference, which it saw
as guaranteeing the people’s welfare"; it also "rejected both the absolutization of the right to private ownership of land and the idea that the land should be nationalized."
Following the 1905 Russian Revolution, many of its members joined the Constitutional Democratic Party
, which separated the journal more and more from the radical movement, and in the spring of 1918 its publication was suppressed by the Soviet authorities (the last issue was March 1918).
Among its contributors over the years were the scientists Kliment Timiryazev, Ivan Sechenov
, and Ilya Mechnikov; the historians Sergey Solovyov
, Konstantin Kavelin
, and Tadeusz Zielinski; the literary scholars Alexander Veselovsky
and Alexander Pypin; and the writers Ivan Turgenev
, Ivan Goncharov
, Aleksandr Ostrovsky, Grigory Danilevsky
, and Vladimir Solovyov
, among many others.
Liberalism in Russia
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...
magazine of late-nineteenth-century Russia; it lasted from 1866 to 1918.
The magazine (named for an earlier publication edited by Nikolay Karamzin) was founded by Mikhail Matveevich Stasyulevich
Mikhail Stasyulevich
Mikhail Matveevich Stasyulevich was a Russian writer and scholar, author of books on ancient history, journalist, editor and publisher, best known as the founder and editor-in-chief of Vestnik Evropy, one of Russia's leading literary magazines...
, a former professor of history, who remained the publisher-editor until 1909; its editorial office "was located in Stasyulevich's flat at 20 Galernaya Street and was one of the centres of St. Petersburg's cultural and political life (the journal's major contributors as well as their friends and associates used to get together on Wednesdays)." The first issue appeared in March 1866; for the first two years it was a historical quarterly, but from 1868 it covered history, politics, and literature and came out each month. "The journal always had a serious, objective, professorial character; even in the most heated polemics, for example, it shunned harsh invective and often even avoided naming its adversary." It consistently supported the zemstvo
Zemstvo
Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...
s, judicial reforms
Judicial reform of Alexander II
The judicial reform of Alexander II is generally considered one of the most successful and the most consistent of all the reforms of Alexander II. During the reform a completely new court system and a completely new order of legal proceedings were established...
, and other reforms of the 1860s, publishing frequent articles on foreign countries and on Russian history that served to promote its own views on contemporary society and politics. It "placed its dark red monthly booklet, 'like a little brick, on the slowly and arduously erected structure of social rights and consciousness.'"
During the heated ideological struggles of the 1870s and 1880s, the magazine tried to steer a course between moderate reformism and the kind of revolutionary socialism it consistently opposed; Leonid-Lyudvig Slonimsky, a frequent contributor on economic and political topics, wrote a regular "Foreign Survey" which he used "to sketch the outlines of an ideal relationship between liberals and socialists in Russia’s not-too-distant parliamentary future, which involved one group supplementing its program with demands for social reforms and the other abandoning its calls for revolution." In the 1880s it repudiated state socialism "as a matter of principle, while continuing to build on the arguments in favor of state interference, which it saw
as guaranteeing the people’s welfare"; it also "rejected both the absolutization of the right to private ownership of land and the idea that the land should be nationalized."
Following the 1905 Russian Revolution, many of its members joined the Constitutional Democratic Party
Constitutional Democratic party
The 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...
, which separated the journal more and more from the radical movement, and in the spring of 1918 its publication was suppressed by the Soviet authorities (the last issue was March 1918).
Among its contributors over the years were the scientists Kliment Timiryazev, Ivan Sechenov
Ivan Sechenov
Ivan Mikhaylovich Sechenov near Simbirsk, Russia – , Moscow), was a Russian physiologist, named by Ivan Pavlov as "The Father of Russian physiology"...
, and Ilya Mechnikov; the historians Sergey Solovyov
Sergey Solovyov
Sergey Mikhaylovich Solovyov was one of the greatest Russian historians whose influence on the next generation of Russian historians was paramount. His son Vladimir Solovyov was one of the most influential Russian philosophers...
, 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...
, and Tadeusz Zielinski; the literary scholars Alexander Veselovsky
Alexander Veselovsky
Alexander Nikolayevich Veselovsky was a leading literary theorist of Imperial Russia who laid the groundwork for comparative literary studies.- Life and work :...
and Alexander Pypin; and the writers Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Turgenev
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His first major publication, a short story collection entitled A Sportsman's Sketches, is a milestone of Russian Realism, and his novel Fathers and Sons is regarded as one of the major works of 19th-century...
, Ivan Goncharov
Ivan Goncharov
Ivan Alexandrovich Goncharov was a Russian novelist best known as the author of Oblomov .- Biography :Ivan Goncharov was born in Simbirsk ; his father was a wealthy grain merchant and respected official who was elected mayor of Simbirsk several times...
, Aleksandr Ostrovsky, Grigory Danilevsky
Grigory Danilevsky
-Life:Born into the family of an impoverished landowner, Petr Ivanovich Danilevsky, in the Izyumsky district of Sloboda Ukraine, Grigory was educated in the Moscow Dvoryansky institut from 1841 to 1846, then studied law at Saint Petersburg University...
, and Vladimir Solovyov
Vladimir Solovyov (philosopher)
Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov was a Russian philosopher, poet, pamphleteer, literary critic, who played a significant role in the development of Russian philosophy and poetry at the end of the 19th century...
, among many others.
Sources
- Saint Petersburg Encyclopedia entry
- Effie Ambler, Russian Journalism and Politics: The Career of Aleksei S. Suvorin, 1861-1881, Detroit: Wayne State University Press, 1972 (ISBN 0814314619).
- V. A. Kitaev, "The Unique Liberalism of Vestnik Evropy (1870-1890)," Russian Studies in History 46 (2007):43-61.