Russia under the Old regime

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had no ideology in common. Some among them were liberal, others radical, even extremely so. But their radicalism was subject to change. Belinskii, for example, towards the very end of his life had a sudden illumination that what Russia needed was not socialism but a bourgeoisie, while Herzen, having spent his life as an eloquent advocate of drastic change, in one of his last writings ('Letter to an Old Comrade') rejected revolution. It might be better, therefore, to call the Westernizing movement the 'critical movement' because a highly critical attitude towards Russia, past and present, was its outstanding quality. Apart from history, its principal outlet was literary criticism. Belinskii, the most consistent Westerner of his generation, fashioned out of the book review and the literary essay a powerful instrument of social analysis. He used his considerable influence to expose all idealizations of Russian reality, and to promote what he considered the realistic school of literature. It was owing to him that the Russian writer first became conscious of fulfilling a social role. The reign of Alexander 11 witnessed a sharp break in Russian public opinion. The Idealist generation had still been concerned primarily with the question: who are we? The new post-1855 generation of 'Positivists' or 'Realists' raised the more pragmatic problem, first articulated by Novikov: what are we to do? In responding, the intelligentsia became polarized into conservative and radical wings, with a small body of liberal opinion uneasily wedged in between. Unlike the preceding era, when ideological opponents continued to meet socially and observe ordinary civilities, in the reign of Alexander conflicts of ideas became personalized and not infrequently led to bitter enmities.

The occasion which brought about this change was the Great Reforms inaugurated by the new monarch, most of which have been mentioned in these pages already. There was the emancipation of the serfs, followed by the introduction of zemstva and organs of urban self-government, a reform of the court system (which will be touched upon in the following chapter) and the introduction of compulsory military service. This was the most ambitious effort undertaken in the history of Russia to bring society into active participation in national life short of allowing it to share in the political process.

The reforms generated a tremendous sense of excitement in society, especially among the young who suddenly saw opportunities opening up for public service such as had never existed before. They could now enter the professions (law, medicine or journalism); they could work in zemstva and city governments; they could seek careers in the military service, whose officer ranks were opened to commoners; and, above all, they could establish contact with the emancipated peasant and help him