Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-68ccn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-13T12:51:32.891Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

P. I. Pestel. The Beginnings of Jacobin Thought in Russia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2008

Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Few Western historians of Russian Revolutionary thought have shown much interest in the Decembrist movement. Its two risings of December 1825 and January 1826, unprepared and ineptly executed, are indeed of little importance. For years a group of young men, representatives of the “conscience-stricken gentry” and mostly army officers, had as members of a secret society hoped for, and finally attempted, the overthrow of Tsarism by means of a military revolt. Nicholas I was thorough, the suppression was cruel and complete, it inaugurated an era of material and moral stagnation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Internationaal Instituut voor Sociale Geschiedenis 1958

References

page 71 note 1 Pavel Ivanovich Pestel, son of a Governor-General of Siberia, born 1793, executed 1826.

page 71 note 2 For a short biography see N. P. Silvanskii, P. I. Pestel, in: Russkii Biograficheskii Slovar. Also by the same author, Dekabrist Pestel pered verkhovnym ugolovnym sudom, Rostov 1907.

page 71 note 3 See above all, the interesting work by Talmon, J. L., The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy, London 1952.Google Scholar

page 71 note 4 Russkaya Pravda P. I. Pestelya, ed. Shchegolev, P., St. Petersburg 1906.Google Scholar

page 72 note 1 Russkaya Pravda P. I. Pestelya, ed. Shchegolev, P., subsequently quoted as Shchegolev, p. 9.Google Scholar

page 72 note 2 ibid., pp. 4–5.

page 72 note 3 “Pestel always spoke intelligently, and firmly stood by his views, in the correctness of which he always believed as one generally believes in a mathematical truth; he was never tempted by anything. Perhaps that was why he alone of all of us for almost ten years never for a moment weakened (in his resolution) and fervently worked for the secret society. Once he had proved to himself that the secret society was the true means of obtaining the desirable end he fused all his being with it.” Quotation from Yakushkina, Zapiski, Moscow 1905, pp. 2324.Google Scholar

page 72 note 4 Shchegolev, , pp. 45.Google Scholar

page 72 note 5 ibid., pp. 3–4.

page 72 note 6 ibid., p. 4.

page 72 note 7 ibid., p. 6.

page 73 note 1 Arkhiv, Tsentralnyi, Dekabristov, Vosstanie, Moscow, Materialy 1927, vol. IV, p. 91Google Scholar, subsequently quoted as Vosstanie.

page 73 note 2 Shchegolev, , e.g. on military settlements and soldiers' children, pp. 7581.Google Scholar

page 73 note 3 ibid., p. 8.

page 73 note 4 ibid., p. 8.

page 73 note 5 ibid., p. 9; also Vosstanie, , vol. IV, pp. 9091.Google Scholar

page 73 note 6 Shchegolev, , p. 6.Google Scholar

page 73 note 7 ibid., p. 2–3.

page 74 note 1 ibid., p. 11.

page 74 note 2 ibid., p. 10.

page 74 note 3 ibid., pp. 10–11.

page 74 note 4 ibid., p. 11.

page 74 note 5 See Talmon, , op. cit., pp. 4042, 111118.Google Scholar

page 74 note 6 Shchegolev, , p. 60.Google Scholar

page 74 note 7 Vosstanie, , Vol. IV, p. 91.Google Scholar

page 75 note 1 Shchegolev, , p. 60.Google Scholar

page 75 note 2 ibid., P. 71.

page 75 note 3 ibid., p. 66.

page 75 note 4 ibid., p. 70.

page 75 note 5 ibid., p. 70.

page 75 note 6 ibid., p. 71.

page 75 note 7 ibid., p. 66.

page 75 note 8 ibid., pp. 58,59.

page 76 note 1 Nicholas I had set up an Extraordinary Commission to try the Decembrists.

page 76 note 2 Shchegolev, , p. 59Google Scholar; Vosstanie, , vol. IV, p. 105.Google Scholar

page 76 note 3 Nechkina, M. V., Dvizhenie Dekabristov, Moscow 1955, Vol. I, pp. 299300.Google Scholar See also V. I. Semevskii, Politicheskie i obshchestvennye idei Dekabristov, St. Petersburg, 1909,.630.

page 76 note 4 Shchegolev, , pp. 203204.Google Scholar

page 77 note 1 Nechkina, M. V., op. cit. Vol. I, pp. 403426 and Vol. II, pp. 70–86.Google Scholar Also S. M. Faiershtein, Dva Varianta Resheniya Agrarnovo Voprosa v “Russkoi Pravde” Pestelya, published in Ocherki iz Istorii Dvizheniya Dekabristov, ed. Druzhinin, N. M., Moscow 1954, pp. 1561.Google Scholar

page 77 note 3 Shchegolev, , pp. 24, 25, and 196.Google Scholar

page 77 note 2 ibid., pp. 204–207.

page 78 note 1 Nechkina, M. V., op. cit. Vol. II, pp. 7580.Google ScholarFaietshtein, S. M., op. cit., pp. 3356.Google Scholar

page 78 note 2 Shchegolev, , p. 89, p. 205. Also Gosudarstvennyi Zavet, publ, in Krasnyi Arkhiv, Vol.VI (13), Moscow 1925, p. 282, col. 2.Google Scholar

page 78 note 3 Nechkina, M. V., op. cit. Vol. I, pp. 411418.Google Scholar Also by the same author, Iz Rabot nad “Russkoi Pravdoi” Pestelya, publ, in Ocherki iz Istorii Dvizheniya Dekabristov, pp. 62–83.

page 78 note 4 Shchegolev, , p. 66.Google Scholar

page 78 note 5 Nechkina, M. V., Dvizhenie, Vol. II, p. 78.Google ScholarFaiershtein, S. M., op. cit., pp. 5658.Google Scholar One desyatin is appr. 2, 7 acres.

page 78 note 6 Shchegolev, , p. 54.Google Scholar

page 79 note 1 Charles Hall, The Effects of Civilization, first published in 1805 but unknown until its republication in 1850. See Beer, Max, A History of British Socialism, vol. I, pp. 126132Google Scholar; Cole, G. D. H., A History of Socialist Thought, vol. I: The Forerunners, London 1953, p.35.Google Scholar

page 79 note 2 Shchegolev, , pp. 71, 72.Google Scholar

page 79 note 3 ibid., p. 207.

page 79 note 4 ibid., p. 70.

page 79 note 5 ibid., p. 233, e.g.: taxes should be based on earnings only, capital is to be tax-free.

page 79 note 6 ibid., pp. 208–209.

page 80 note 1 ibid., p. 209.

page 80 note 2 ibid., pp. 207–211.

page 80 note 3 The original edition was printed in English and appeared in Philadelphia in 1811.

page 80 note 4 Vosstanie, , Vol. IV, p. 91.Google Scholar

page 81 note 1 Commentaire, p. 24, p. 73.Google Scholar

page 81 note 2 Commentaire, p. 24, p.49Google Scholar; Shchegolev, , pp. 211, 212, 213.Google Scholar

page 81 note 3 Commentaire, p. 74, 75Google Scholar; Shchegolev, , p. 212.Google Scholar

page 81 note 4 Commentaire, p. 75.Google Scholar

page 81 note 5 Shchegolev, , p. 212.Google Scholar

page 81 note 6 ibid., pp. 214–217.

page 81 note 7 ibid., p. 211; also Arkhiv, Krasnyi, vol. VI (13), p. 282, col. 2.Google Scholar

page 81 note 8 Shchegolev, , p. 217.Google Scholar

page 82 note 1 ibid., p. 11, P. 218.

page 82 note 2 Vellay, Charles, Discours et Rapports de Robespierre, Paris 1908, p. 96.Google Scholar

page 82 note 3 Shchegolev, , pp. 217218.Google Scholar

page 82 note 4 ibid., p. 9.

page 82 note 5 Published in: Arkhiv, Krasnyi, vol. VI (13), pp. 281284.Google Scholar See also Pestel's evidence on the destruction of most of his papers when suspecting arrest. Vosstanie, , vol. IV, p. 113.Google Scholar On the final planning of his chapters, see Vosstanie, , vol. IV, pp. 114115Google Scholar; also Shchegolev, , pp. 1112.Google Scholar

page 82 note 6 Nechkina, M. V., Iz Rabot nad “Russkoi Pravdoi” Pestelya, pp. 7383.Google Scholar

page 82 note 7 Vosstanie, , vol. IX, p. 57 sq.Google Scholar

page 82 note 8 Vosstanie, , vol. IV, pp. 9091.Google Scholar

page 83 note 1 Shchegolev, , p. 77.Google Scholar

page 83 note 2 Vosstanie, , vol. IV, pp. 9091.Google Scholar

page 83 note 3 Vosstanie, , vol. IV, pp. 103104, p. 137, pp. 142–3, p. 160, p. 184.Google Scholar

page 83 note 4 Arkhiv, Krasnyi, vol. VI (13), p. 182, col. 2.Google Scholar

page 83 note 5 Bestuzhev-Ryumin, , Vosstanie, vol. IX, p. 60.Google Scholar

page 83 note 6 Arkhiv, Krasnyi, p. 283, col. I.Google Scholar

page 84 note 1 For details of the Constitution, see Arkhiv, Krasnyi, pp. 283284Google Scholar and Vosstanie, , vol. IX, pp. 5860.Google Scholar

page 84 note 2 Shchegolev, , pp. 107112.Google Scholar

page 84 note 3 ibid., pp. 110–111.

page 84 note 4 ibid., pp. 237–238.

page 85 note 1 ibid., p. 238.

page 85 note 2 Vellay, Charles, Oeuvres Complètes de Saint-Just, Paris, e.g., vol. II, p 268Google Scholar: Que le peuple réclame sa liberté, quand il est opprimé…

page 85 note 3 Shchegolev, , pp. 236237.Google Scholar

page 85 note 4 Commentaire, pp. 3738.Google Scholar

page 85 note 5 In an earlier draft censorship is retained.

page 85 note 6 Shchegolev, , pp. 238239.Google Scholar

page 85 note 7 Bestuzhev-Ryumin in: Vosstanie, , vol. IX, p. 59.Google Scholar

page 86 note 1 Shchegolev, p. 239.

page 86 note 2 Ibid., p. 62.

page 86 note 3 Ibid., p. 64.

page 86 note 4 Ibid.,pp. 61–65, p. 239.

page 86 note 5 Ibid., p. 239.

page 86 note 6 Ibid., pp. 4–5, p. 38, pp. 239–240.

page 86 note 7 Ibid. ,pp. 237–238.

page 86 note 8 Shtraikh, S. Y., Izbrannye sotsialno-politicheskie i filosofskie proizvedeniya Dekabristov, Moscow 1951, vol. II, pp. 498–501.Google Scholar

page 86 note 9 Pushkin, A. S., Polnoe Sobranie Sochinenii, Moscow 1933, vol. V, p. 803.Google Scholar

page 86 note 10 Vospominaniya P. N. Myslovskovo, printed by S. Y. Shtraikh in: op. cit. vol. II, pp. 501–502. On Pestel's religious outlook during the last months of his life see M. V. Nechkina, Dvizhenie, Vol. II, pp. 120–125.

page 86 note 11 Shchegolev, p. 230.

page 86 note 12 Ibid. pp. 230–231.

page 87 note 1 Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Vosstanie, Vol. IX, p. 58.

page 87 note 2 Shchegolev, p. 190.

page 87 note 3 Ibid., pp. 100,188.

page 87 note 4 Ibid., pp. 101,188,189.

page 87 note 5 Ibid., p. 211.

page 87 note 6 Ibid., p. 38.

page 87 note 7 Ibid., p. 56.

page 87 note 8 Ibid., pp. 21, 23.

page 87 note 9 Ibid., pp. 36, 37.

page 87 note 10 Ibid., p. 23.

page 88 note 1 ibid., p. 23.

page 88 note 2 ibid., pp. 55, 56.

page 88 note 3 ibid., pp. 55, 56.

page 88 note 4 ibid., pp. 41–43.

page 88 note 5 ibid., pp. 47,48.

page 88 note 6 ibid., pp. 50–53.

page 88 note 7 ibid., p. 53.

page 89 note 1 ibid., p. 56.

page 89 note 2 ibid., pp. 36,56.

page 89 note 3 Medvedskaya, L. A., Yuzhnoe Obshchestvo Dekabristov i Polskoe Patriotichskoe Obshchestvo, printed in: Ocherki iz Istorii Dvizheniya Dekabristov, ed. Dru-zhinin, N. M., Moscow 1954, pp. 276319.Google Scholar

page 89 note 4 Shchegolev, , pp. 1821.Google Scholar

page 90 note 1 ibid., pp. 18, 19.

page 90 note 2 ibid., p. 20.

page 90 note 3 See Vosstanie, , vol. IV, pp. 85, 107.Google Scholar

page 90 note 4 Shchegoiev, , p. 20.Google Scholar

page 90 note 5 ibid., p. 18.

page 90 note 6 ibid., p. 19.

page 91 note 1 ibid., p. 19.

page 91 note 2 ibid., p. 18.

page 91 note 3 For the attitude of the French enlightenment, see Talmon, J. L., op. cit., p. 71 sq.Google Scholar

page 91 note 4 Medvedskaya, L. A., op. cit., p. 303.Google Scholar

page 91 note 5 Syroechkovskii, B. E., Balkanskaya Problema v Politicheskikh Planakh Dekabristov, printed in: Ocherki iz Istorii Dvizheniya Dekabristov, ed. Druzhinin, N. M., Moscow 1954, pp. 186275.Google Scholar

page 91 note 6 Shchegolev, , p. 21.Google Scholar

page 91 note 7 ibid., p. 16.

page 92 note 1 ibid., pp. 16,17.

page 92 note 2 ibid., p. 17.

page 92 note 3 ibid., pp. 16, 20.

page 92 note 4 ibid., p. 17.

page 92 note 5 ibid., pp. 18, 21.

page 92 note 6 ibid., p. 21.

page 92 note 7 ibid., p. 14.

page 92 note 8 ibid., pp. 13–15.

page 93 note 1 Vosstanie, , vol. IX, p. 59.Google Scholar

page 93 note 2 Shchegolev, , p. 120.Google Scholar

page 93 note 3 Vosstanie, , vol. IV, p. 112.Google Scholar

page 93 note 4 Vosstanie, , vol. IX, p. 117.Google Scholar

page 93 note 5 Semevskii, V. I., op. cit., pp. 250, 254, 255Google Scholar; Syroechkovskii, B. E., op. cit., pp. 188206.Google Scholar

page 93 note 6 Vosstanie, , vol. IV, p. 144.Google Scholar

page 94 note 1 Shchegolev, , p. 20.Google Scholar

page 94 note 2 Vosstanie, , vol. IV, p. 160.Google Scholar

page 94 note 3 Vosstanie, , vol. IV, p. 91.Google Scholar

page 94 note 4 Vosstanie, , vol. IV, p. 91Google Scholar; also Shchegolev, , pp. 58, 59.Google Scholar

page 94 note 5 Vosstanie, , vol. I, p. 178.Google Scholar

page 94 note 6 Vosstanie, , vol. IV, p. 91.Google Scholar

page 94 note 7 Syroechkovkii, B. E., op. cit., p. 208.Google Scholar See also p. 75.

page 95 note 1 Vosstanie, , vol. IV, P. 105.Google Scholar

page 95 note 2 Bestuzhev-Ryumin, , Vosstanie, vol. IX, p. 71, p. 233. Vol. IV, pp. 98, 118.Google ScholarMedvedskaya, L. A., op. cit. pp. 308309.Google Scholar

page 95 note 3 On Jacobin influence on Communism, see esp. Talmon, J. L., op. cit.Google Scholar