Sixties (XIX century)

The sixties - a direction in the revolutionary movement of the Russian Empire , represented by revolutionaries- raznochintsy , as well as a galaxy of Russian writers and publicists who declared themselves in the late 1850s and in the 1860s.

The abolition of serfdom in 1861 caused an unprecedented revival of interest in socio-political issues in the educated layers of Russian society. One of the magazines of the time wrote: “In the most deaf cities, where until now all vital interests were cards, vodka, bribes and gossip, there are public libraries, magazines and newspapers, mental life woke up everywhere and perked up.” The weakening of censorship under Alexander II primarily affected the number of permitted periodicals. From 1851 to 1855 only 31 editions were allowed, and in the next five years, 147 appeared. Journalism turned into a powerful mouthpiece of public opinion.

Of particular interest were questions of education and upbringing. Certain literary speeches in this area acquired the significance of outstanding public events (The Issues of Life by NI Pirogov , 1856). “The question of upbringing has become a modern, vital issue that has attracted the attention of the best people in our society,” D.I. stated in 1859 Pisarev . The issues of enlightenment and upbringing have been much dealt with by the general press; they are entirely devoted to new special editions (Journal for Education, Russian Pedagogical Bulletin, Teacher, etc.), which published articles by leading teachers such as K.D. Ushinsky .

The intelligentsia made a rather large-scale attempt to educate the urban lower classes by creating Sunday schools . They were created initially in Kiev , St. Petersburg , Moscow (at the end of the 1850s), and then in many other large and small cities of Russia. This movement aroused suspicion among the government, which, after a series of restrictive measures, closed all Sunday schools in 1862.

The question of the spread of literacy and at least the most basic knowledge among the mass of the peasantry has become the subject of wide discussion in the press. Under pressure from society and the press, the government was to work on the issue of a public school; by 1864, it had prepared and published the "Regulation on primary public schools." Zemstvo reform led to the emergence of zemstvo schools for peasant children.

For the ideological atmosphere of the 1860s, a special interest in the issues of natural science was very characteristic. Natural science was considered as a way of developing a scientific worldview, as a weapon in the fight against prejudice, against the rule of religion in society. In the field of social sciences, interest was shown in the history of the peasantry, the rural community, and in social and economic history as a whole.

In the late 1850s and 1860s, writers such as N.V. Uspensky , G.I. Uspensky , N.G. Pomyalovsky , F.M. Reshetnikov , V.A. Sleptsov , A.I. Levitov . Most of them belonged to the circle of raznochintsy . The central theme of their work was the life of the common people, the difficult path of a person from a diverse environment to knowledge, his self-affirmation in an educated society. A significant role in the popularization of their works was played by literary criticism of D.I. Pisareva , N.A. Dobrolyubova , M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin , P.N. Tkacheva .

During these years, a special historical type of personality appeared, designated in the history of literature as a new person , realist , democrat , nihilist , thinking proletariat . For the first time, the desire of women (especially young ones) to equality with men in public life, to the acquisition of a profession was manifested. The "emancipation" of girls from parents often took the form of fictitious marriages.

A special place in Russian radicalism was occupied by D.I. Pisarev, who spoke in the Russian Word magazine for eliminating all the obstacles that stood in the way of human personality, such as everyday and family abilities, traditions, religion or authority.

N.G. became the leader of the revolutionary democrats of the 1860s . Chernyshevsky , a leading publicist of the journal Sovremennik . In 1861, his like-minded people created the secret society “ Earth and Freedom ” for the preparation of a peasant uprising. But the hopes for a popular performance did not materialize, and this society in 1864 ceased to exist.

More radical were the members of the Hell terrorist group, headed by N. A. Ishutin . D.V. On April 4, 1866, Karakozov shot Alexander II. This marked the beginning of the revolution’s transition to terror tactics. The consequence of the assassination of Karakozov was that in the government of liberals was replaced by a group of reactionaries, including P.A. Shuvalov and D.A. Tolstoy , acting very cohesively.

In the autumn of 1868, S.G. began to work among St. Petersburg students. Nechaev , who had plans to create a powerful secret revolutionary organization in Russia. But his provocative methods, which ended in 1869 with the murder of student Ivanov , led to the failure of his supporters.