The Liberation Movement in Russia 1900–1905

The story of Russian liberalism's failure to present an effective alternative to Tsarism and Bolshevism.

Shmuel Galai (Author)

9780521526470, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 27 June 2002

336 pages
21.7 x 14.1 x 2.3 cm, 0.467 kg

Historians of the Russian Revolution naturally tend to concentrate their attention upon the Bolshevik 'victors' and on the Mensheyiks - ideologically the closest of their rivals, - and to neglect other political movements. For the Russian Liberals at least, Dr Galai redresses this imbalance. This book traces the nineteenth-century origins of the Liberation Movement (also known as the Liberal Movement), the social and historical conditions which led to its formation in the first years of the twentieth century, its policies, influence, initial success and ultimate failure. Against the background of the political and social crisis culminating in the 1905 Revolution, Dr Galai traces the stages by which the Liberation Movement became supreme among the forces of opposition but ultimately was defeated and disintegrated. It failed to fulfil its aim of replacing Tsarist autocracy by a constitutional-democratic regime and to demonstrate effectively that there was an alternative to the extremes of Tsarism and Bolshevism.

Acknowledgments
Note on dates, etc.
List of abbreviations
Introduction
Part I. Origins: 1. The origins of zemstvo radicalism
2. The beginnings of the zemstvo oppositional movement
3. The birth of the democratic intelligentsia
4. The parting of the ways
Part II. The Formation of the Liberation Movement: 5. The launching of the Liberation Movement
6. The organisation of public opinion
7. The intelligentsia in ascendancy
8. The formation of the Union of Liberation
Part III. War and Revolution: 9. Setback and recovery
10. 'No enemies on the left'
11. Unleashing the Revolution
12. Defeat in victory
Appendices
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: General & world history [HBG]