How Did Alexander Herzen's Influence On Society
Discuss the social and political ideas of Alexander Herzen
Often named “the founder of Russian Socialism” (Chubarov 1999, Page 64), Alexander Herzen was an important part of the early Russian revolutionary movement, and later an influence upon the revolutionaries of 1905 and 1917. He was a strong advocate of free speech as well as being critical of the European Bourgeoisie, the inequality of serfdom and the autocracy of the Tsar and the Romanovs‟.
His beliefs began in the radical Westernisers who, unlike the classical Westernisers believed that industrialization and the inevitable rise in the bourgeoisie class would not be beneficial to Russia in the long term. Whilst serfdom would be abolished under the capitalist system, it seemed illogical …show more content…
What defined Herzen‟s ideas “was the individual over the collective, the actual over the theoretical” (Stoppard 2002) in comparative to the revolutionary ideals of Marxism. Herzen‟s theories (particularly on the inherent communist nature of the Obschina) could be physically applied to Russia as opposed to Marxist theories upon society‟s stages of development; Herzen‟s theories were specific to Russia. This is what made Herzen‟s ideas unique and …show more content…
With this you can see the belief that as long as critics of autocracy and immorality message reaches the people, they will be avenged, and the wrong doers will be defeated; “The future, said Herzen, was the offspring of accident and wilfulness (sic)” (Stoppard 2002) which definitely “formed the ideological core of the Russian revolutionary tradition” (Chubarov 1999, page 64)
References
Chubarov A (1999) The Fragile Empire. A History of Imperial Russia. London: Continuum International Publishing Group Inc. Pages 64-69
Herzen A (1851) The Russian people and Socialism. A letter to J Michelet. In Gertsen AI (1956) Alexander Herzen: Selected Philosophical Works. Translated from the Russian by L Navrozov. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House. Pages 470-502
Herzen A (1857) Another Variation on an Old Theme. A letter to X (I.S Turgenev). In Higgins H (1968) My Past and Thoughts: The memoirs of Alexander Herzen vol IV. Translated from the Russian by C Garnett. London: Chatto & Windus. Pages 1560-1573
Hosking G (1997) Russia: People & Empire 1552-1917. London: Harper Collins Publishers. Pages
Often named “the founder of Russian Socialism” (Chubarov 1999, Page 64), Alexander Herzen was an important part of the early Russian revolutionary movement, and later an influence upon the revolutionaries of 1905 and 1917. He was a strong advocate of free speech as well as being critical of the European Bourgeoisie, the inequality of serfdom and the autocracy of the Tsar and the Romanovs‟.
His beliefs began in the radical Westernisers who, unlike the classical Westernisers believed that industrialization and the inevitable rise in the bourgeoisie class would not be beneficial to Russia in the long term. Whilst serfdom would be abolished under the capitalist system, it seemed illogical …show more content…
What defined Herzen‟s ideas “was the individual over the collective, the actual over the theoretical” (Stoppard 2002) in comparative to the revolutionary ideals of Marxism. Herzen‟s theories (particularly on the inherent communist nature of the Obschina) could be physically applied to Russia as opposed to Marxist theories upon society‟s stages of development; Herzen‟s theories were specific to Russia. This is what made Herzen‟s ideas unique and …show more content…
With this you can see the belief that as long as critics of autocracy and immorality message reaches the people, they will be avenged, and the wrong doers will be defeated; “The future, said Herzen, was the offspring of accident and wilfulness (sic)” (Stoppard 2002) which definitely “formed the ideological core of the Russian revolutionary tradition” (Chubarov 1999, page 64)
References
Chubarov A (1999) The Fragile Empire. A History of Imperial Russia. London: Continuum International Publishing Group Inc. Pages 64-69
Herzen A (1851) The Russian people and Socialism. A letter to J Michelet. In Gertsen AI (1956) Alexander Herzen: Selected Philosophical Works. Translated from the Russian by L Navrozov. Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing House. Pages 470-502
Herzen A (1857) Another Variation on an Old Theme. A letter to X (I.S Turgenev). In Higgins H (1968) My Past and Thoughts: The memoirs of Alexander Herzen vol IV. Translated from the Russian by C Garnett. London: Chatto & Windus. Pages 1560-1573
Hosking G (1997) Russia: People & Empire 1552-1917. London: Harper Collins Publishers. Pages