Features of the historical development of Russia. Factors that determined the uniqueness of the development of Russia

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

FEDERAL STATE BUDGETARY EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION OF HIGHER PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION

"UFA STATE ACADEMY OF ECONOMY AND SERVICE"

Department of Humanities, Natural Sciences, Mathematical and Socio-Economic Disciplines

TEST

in the discipline "HISTORY"

Topic: Natural and climatic conditions and their impact on Russian history and the mentality of Russians.

2012

Introduction

Conclusions.

List of used literature

Introduction

Proponents of the second approach to the study of Russian history proceed from the concept of multilinearity historical development... They believe that the history of mankind consists of the histories of a number of distinctive civilizations, each of which mainly develops (developed) one (or a specific combination of several) aspects of human nature, evolves along its own path; one of these civilizations is the Russian (Slavic) civilization.

The third group of authors tries to reconcile both of these approaches. The prominent Russian historian and public figure Pavel Nikolaevich Milyukov belonged to the representatives of this trend. In his opinion, the historical result distinguishes three main groups of conditions that produce it: “The first condition consists in an internal tendency, an internal law of development, inherent in every society and for every society the same. The second condition lies in the peculiarities of the material environment, the environment, among which this society is destined to develop. Finally, the third condition is the influence of the individual human personality on the course of the historical process. The first condition imparts to various historical processes a character of similarity in the basic course of development; the second condition gives them the character of diversity; the third, the most limited in its action, introduces the character of chance into historical phenomena ”. The internal course of Russia's development “was modified under the powerful influence of the second condition, the historical situation. If it could be assumed that this condition produced only a retarding effect, that it stopped the growth of Russia at one of the early stages of life, then we would still have the right to compare the state of Russia with the state of Europe, as two different ages.

But no, the historical life of Russia has not stopped; she went under its own power, maybe slower, but continuous, and, therefore, experienced famous moments developments - experienced by Europe - in its own way. The conditions of historical life delayed the development of the Russian population; but the further process, if necessary, will consist in reproduction and increase in the density of this population.

The conditions of the situation delayed economic evolution at the lower stages, but its further course in our country, as elsewhere, will proceed in the same order, in the direction of greater intensity, greater differentiation and greater socialization of labor.

So, representatives of the three approaches interpret the problem of the peculiarities of Russian history in different ways. Nevertheless, they all recognize the impact on the development of Russia of certain powerful factors (causes, conditions), which determine the significant difference between the history of Russia and the history of Western societies. What are these conditions?

In Russian and foreign historiography, four factors are usually distinguished, which determined the features (backwardness, delay, originality, originality) of Russian history: natural and climatic; geopolitical; confessional (religious); social organization. Starting the study of the history of any nation, we meet the force that holds in its hands the cradle of each nation - the nature of its country. The influence of climatic and geographical factors on the specifics of Russian history and the mentality of Russians, was noted by almost all researchers of the originality of the Russian historical process.

historical evolution identity mentality

Natural and climatic conditions affecting the history of Russia

Natural and climatic conditions are understood as the forces of nature that affect the vital activity of the population and the economic activity necessary to obtain the final products of this activity. Natural and climatic conditions can facilitate or hinder the settlement and development of the territory of a particular region, affect the scale, ways and forms of use natural resources... Any of the elements ("wind rose", temperature, humidity, etc.) of natural and climatic conditions can be characterized by: - the strength and nature of the impact; - the territory of the impact; - versatility, duration and seasonality of the impact; - the nature of the impact on different groups population; - the degree of possibility and feasibility of its improvement; - the degree of influence on the life of the population.

Territories of regions by elements of natural and climatic conditions are subdivided into extreme, uncomfortable, hypercomfortable, precomfortable, comfortable. Territories with extremely unfavorable natural impacts on human life are classified as extreme. Areas with a very unfavorable impact on human life are considered uncomfortable. Territories suitable for the formation of a permanent population arriving from other regions are called hypercomfortable. Territories are favorable enough for the formation of a permanent population. Comfortable areas are optimal for human life. A significant part of the territory of Russia belongs to extreme and uncomfortable territories. However, the bulk of the population lives in regions with precomfortable and comfortable conditions.

Natural and climatic conditions can accelerate or slow down the pace of development of economic activity. LV Milov was one of the last to dwell on this problem. In his opinion, in central Russia, which formed the historical core of the Russian state (after its movement from Kiev to North-Eastern Russia), with all the fluctuations in the climate, the cycle of agricultural work was unusually short, taking only 125-130 working days.

East European Plain: the climate is sharply continental, harsh. And the soil is unfavorable - only 3% of chernozem, mainly clay and other infertile soils. Soloviev said that Russian nature became a stepmother for the Russian people. Long winters, short summers, cold or hot steppe winds, a large temperature drop, an abundance of moisture in some and a lack of it in other areas, soil poverty - all this had a great impact on the economic, socio-cultural development of the peoples inhabiting this territory. What is not kindness here? First, the quality of the soil is very poor. However, the quality of the soil is not yet important. Most of us have suburban areas, we do not like to go there. However, the yield depends not so much on the quality of the soil as on the quality of processing.

The Russian did not have time for high-quality processing. Because the agricultural year lasted 135-147 days a year on average. From the 12th to the 18th century, there was a so-called Little Ice Age on the territory of Europe. The average monthly temperature was minus 37 degrees (in Moscow).

During the feudal era, the agricultural year was 140 days a year. Therefore, it was necessary to hurry, which led to a change, to the uniqueness of the structure of the economy. Only the most necessary things were grown. Therefore, cereal growing becomes the main one. Those. crops were grown that are drought tolerant and do not require maintenance.

Gardening was not practiced. They planted only what would grow by itself: turnips, rutabagas, peas.

Cities have always been surrounded by gardens (dachas). The townspeople in the summer were gardeners - they themselves took care of food. This influenced the nature of the craft. In Russia, a gardener in summer and a craftsman in winter.

For at least four centuries, the Russian peasant was in a situation where the thin soils required careful cultivation, and he simply did not have enough time for it, as well as for the preparation of feed for livestock. Using primitive tools, the peasant could only cultivate his arable land with minimal intensity, and his life most often directly depended only on the fertility of the soil and the vagaries of the weather.

In reality, with a given budget of working time, the quality of his farming was such that he could not always return even seeds to the harvest. In practice, this meant for the peasant the inevitability of labor without sleep and rest, day and night, using all the family's reserves. A peasant in the west of Europe, neither in the Middle Ages, nor in the new time, did not need such a exertion of strength, because the season of work there was much longer. The break in fieldwork in some countries was surprisingly short (December-January). Of course, this provided a much more favorable work rhythm. And the arable land could be worked much more thoroughly (4-6 times). This is the fundamental difference between Russia and the West, which can be traced back for centuries.

Low productivity, the dependence of labor results on weather conditions led to the extraordinary stability of communal institutions in Russia, which are a certain social guarantor of the survival of the bulk of the population. Land redistribution and equalization, various kinds of peasant "help" survived in Russia until 1917. The communal equalizing traditions survived after the First World War; they existed in the 1920s, right up to collectivization.

For three months a year he was a peasant, and the rest of the time he was a craftsman. Hence the quality and character of the craft. The trade was razor-sharp. The shops appeared only at the end of the 18th century. Those. before that, merchants went, changed, carried. Therefore, each handicraft was made for an abstract consumer. In Europe, if you make a bad, low-quality product, then you disgrace your shop, brand.

The natural and climatic factor also influenced the unprofitableness of animal husbandry. Spring begins, there is nothing to sow, the peasant harnesses himself. Agriculture provided a low surplus product. That is, there was a low cost of living.

This gave rise to a peculiarity of the state structure. How does the state live? At the expense of taxes. If there is no surplus product, it means that it is difficult to take taxes, it must be a strong state, therefore a despotic state existed in Russia.

The social structure is changing. There is no surplus product, therefore, society cannot support the intelligentsia. However, there are needs for health care, art, science. And since there is no intelligentsia, then these functions are performed by religion.

Therefore, in Russia, until the surplus product began to grow, there was no intelligentsia, there was no secular literature or music. Russian culture until the 18th century had a religious character.

The natural and climatic factor also influenced the social structure. The countries of the first echelon left primitiveness by the 11th century, the community was outlived, and an individual economy came. In Russia, however, the communal structure survived until the 20th century. Even Stolypin's reform could not change anything. In other words, there was a communal organization in Russia. In these difficult conditions, the efforts of our reformers aimed at creating farms have come to nothing.

Also, the natural and climatic factor influenced psychology - community psychology is taking shape in Russia. So in Russian history there is a pull. This is from the times of Kievan Rus. Everyone struggled with it. There is a nourishment for this phenomenon - community psychology. Griboyedov expressed this well in Woe from Wit.

Another consequence of community psychology is egalitarianism. She has always been. Equalization is a lever for the self-preservation of communities. The community breaks down if the neighbor gets rich.

Since the Russian person was dependent on nature and weather (it was possible to work on arable land from morning to evening, however, an early drought or frost could ruin all work). Therefore, people believed in a miracle. Belief in miracles also manifested itself in folklore. All Russian characters in fairy tales miraculously received the joys of life. This hope for a miracle is, in general, characteristic of the Russian character, hence the unique, untranslatable words: perhaps, I suppose.

The natural and climatic factor largely determined the peculiarities of the national character of the Russians. First of all, we are talking about the ability of a Russian person to exert extreme strength, to concentrate for a relatively long period of time with all his physical and spiritual potency. At the same time, the eternal shortage of time, the absence of a correlation between the quality of agricultural work and the yield of grain for centuries did not develop in it a pronounced habit of thoroughness, accuracy in work, etc.

The extensive nature of agriculture, its riskiness played a significant role in the development in the Russian man of ease to change places, the eternal craving for the "sub-paradise land", for the white water, etc., to which Russia owes not least its vast territory, and at the same time multiplied in him a craving for traditionalism, rooting of habits. On the other hand, the difficult working conditions, the strength of communal traditions, and the inner feeling of the danger of pauperization threatening society, gave rise to the development of a sense of kindness, collectivism, and readiness for help in the Russian people. We can say that the Russian patriarchal, not in terms of economics, but in terms of its mentality, the peasantry did not accept capitalism.

Usually, the following geopolitical conditions are noted that influenced the specifics of Russian history: a vast, sparsely populated territory, a border unprotected by natural barriers, isolation (throughout almost all history) from the seas (and, accordingly, from sea trade), a river network favorable to the territorial unity of the historical core of Russia, the position of the Russian territories between Europe and Asia.

The poorly populated lands of the East European Plain and Siberia, which became the object of the application of the forces of the Russian people, had diverse consequences for its history. Vast land reserves provided favorable conditions for the outflow of the agricultural population from the historical center of Russia. This circumstance forced the state to strengthen control over the personality of the farmer (so as not to lose sources of income). The more in the course of historical development the needs of the state and society for a surplus product increased, the more rigid control became, leading in the 17th century to enslavement of a significant mass of the Russian peasantry.

On the other hand, due to the weak population of the country, the Russians in the process of colonization had no need to win a "place in the sun" in the fight against the indigenous peoples Central Russia(Finno-Ugric) and Siberia: there was enough land for everyone. "Slavic tribes spread over vast areas, along the banks big rivers; when moving from south to north, they were supposed to meet with the Finnish tribes, but no legends have survived about hostile clashes between them: it can easily be assumed that the tribes did not quarrel very much for the land, which was so abundant and on which it was possible to settle so spaciously without offense each other".

The historical life of the Russian people was extremely complicated by such a factor as the natural openness of the borders of the Russian lands for foreign invasions from the West and the East. Russian territories were not protected by natural barriers: they were not protected by either the seas or mountain ranges. Naturally, this circumstance was used by neighboring peoples and states: Catholic Poland, Sweden, Germany (Livonian and Teutonic orders of knighthood in the Baltic States, Germany in the 1st and 2nd world wars) and even France (under Napoleon I), on the one hand, the nomads of the Great Steppe , with another. The constant threat of military incursions and the openness of the border lines demanded colossal efforts from the Russian and other peoples of Russia to ensure their security: significant material costs, human resources (and this with a small and rare population). Moreover, security interests demanded a concentration of popular efforts: as a result, the role of the state should have increased enormously. The location between Europe and Asia made Russia open to influence from both the West and the East. Until the 13th century, development proceeded in a manner similar to and parallel to the European one. However, the active invasion of the West with the aim of seizing lands and planting Catholicism, which took place simultaneously with the Tatar-Mongol invasion, forced Russia to turn towards the East, which seemed to be a lesser evil.

Asian despotism as a form state structure society of the emerging Moscow principality was determined by external, military circumstances, as well as internal, natural-geographical and socio-political factors. Therefore, when choosing forms of government, such democratic options as the Novgorod Republic or a representative monarchy with Zemsky Sobors were discarded in favor of autocracy.

In addition to the unfavorable ones, there were also geopolitical factors favorable for the historical development of Russia. The first of them is the specificity of the river network of the East European Plain, on which the Greek historian Herodotus drew attention: "In addition to many huge rivers, there is nothing more interesting in this country."

In fact, Soloviev echoes him, the vast expanse of ancient Scythia corresponds to gigantic systems of rivers that almost intertwine with each other, thus constituting a water network throughout the country, from which it was difficult for the population to free itself for a special life; as everywhere, so here rivers served as guides for the first population: the tribes settled along them, the first cities appeared on them. Since the largest of them flow to the east or southeast, the predominant distribution of the Russian state area in the indicated direction; rivers contributed much to the unity of the people and the state, and with all that special river systems initially defined special systems of regions, principalities. Thus, the river network united the country both politically and economically.

Another factor favorable for the history of Russia is that a significant part of the "Great Silk Road" from China to Europe passed through its territory. This circumstance created an objective interest of many countries and peoples in maintaining political stability along this great highway of antiquity, i.e. in the existence of the Eurasian Empire: first, the state of Genghis Khan became such an empire, then Russia.

Natural-historical situations and the mentality of Russians

In modern society at the turn of the XX-XXI centuries, there is a very wide interest in the concept and term "mentality", as well as in the disclosure of the essential meaning of this phenomenon. As a result, scientists of many specialties turn to the study of mentality as a cultural and historical phenomenon, characterized by a fairly large variety and diversity of its manifestations.

An analysis of a number of works devoted to this topic allows, despite the variety of points of view expressed in them, in general to determine that "mentality" is a complex concept that reflects the entire set of ideas, opinions, aspirations, values and, finally, certain rules of behavior, which guides an individual or a certain community of people (including ethnic) in their daily life and economic practice aimed at life support (satisfaction of needs) in specific natural and geographical conditions and at a certain historical stage in the development of mankind (and this community).

Among the elements that characterize the mentality and reflect, thus, the multifaceted spectrum of human relations (or the community of people) with the world, the set of vital - basic - values that correspond to the basic needs of a person and those main concepts by which he is guided can be singled out. in their life.

According to L. M. Smirnov (Smirnov 1997: 60-95; 1999: 137-165; 2003: 98-120), the individual has the widest (up to 60 positions) such a set. This is a system of individual values. With the transition to higher hierarchical levels of human communities (social groups, ethnic groups, superethnoses, humanity), this set - already supra-individual values - is reduced to several positions, corresponding to the most important features (signs, indicators) of the mentality, which, as a rule, designate the originality of one or a different human community and bearing a certain historical coloring.

These provisions give reason to consider such a community of people as an ethnos as the primary source of formation and the direct carrier of the main features of the mentality, since it is most closely connected within itself and the most homogeneous in terms of space-time and natural-economic terms (Bromley 1983). According to the encyclopedic definition (Kozlov 1994: 462-465), "ethnos" is a historically established stable community of people, the conditions for the emergence of which (ethnogenesis) are a common territory and language, and in the course of development a community of material and spiritual culture arises, including the most important feature of an ethnos - self-awareness. It is noted that the development of the theory and classification of ethnic groups cannot yet be considered complete.

In the theory of ethnogenesis, according to L.N. Gumilev (Gumilev 1992; 1990; 1993), ethnos is considered as a natural phenomenon that exists in the biosphere of the Earth, and as an elementary integrity, where natural factors and social forms of human existence are connected, due to which and the uniqueness of each ethnic group is created. Moreover, L.N. Gumilev proposed to consider "ethnos" a geographical phenomenon, always associated with the enclosing natural landscape that feeds a given ethnos adapted to this landscape, and historically he noted the high dynamism of the development of ethnic groups and highlighted the phases of emergence, prosperity, decline and even disappearance of certain ethnic groups.

From a geographical point of view, the concept of "ethnos" closely correlates with the general definition of the geographical landscape as the main complex object of study

The main stages in the development of the territory of the Russian state and the formation of the mentality of Russians on the basis of such a scheme can be represented as follows

Initial Rus. This union of northern tribes had as its economic and economic basis mainly hunting, hunting for furs in the northern and middle taiga forests of Karelia and Kola Peninsula in a relatively mild seasonal climate ( annual amplitude average monthly temperatures 16-20 ° С) and non-freezing ocean coast. In addition, it is assumed that "... Russia was a people who occupied one of the key sections of the transcontinental waterways connecting the Baltic and the Caspian." The most advantageous position on these trade communications was occupied by the territory of the Western Ladoga area (the island of Rus - the present Karelian Isthmus).

In these conditions, the following qualities could be developed as the main features of the mentality:

Recognition of the value of physical endurance and general human health;

Heightened attention to natural phenomena and noticeable features of natural landscapes, knowledge of nature and a sense of their connection with it;

The existence of pagan beliefs as the religion of a lone man who turns to natural deities to obtain the greatest personal benefits - hunting luck, etc.

The state of Rurik is the second stage, which began with the establishment of the power of Russia on a vast territory adjacent to To the White Sea(Gandvik), and in the south it covers the Gulf of Finland and Riga, as well as the basins of the Dvina and Volkhov rivers and the upper reaches of the Volga, Desna and Dnieper. After the Varangians were called here, this vast country began to be called "Rus".

As a state, it was already distinguished by a much greater organization of its economic and economic life, in which the squads (soldiers) played a serious role, since only with the help of the squad-rati it was possible to successfully control trade routes and collect tribute from vast territories.

The most valuable qualities in these conditions were recognized:

Collectivism (retinue, collaboration), as well as a sense of strength, power (team);

Will (freedom of the earth, nature); the concept of heroes was developed.

Ancient (Kievan) Rus is the third, final stage in development Old Russian state... Continuing economic and economic activities based on foreign trade, this state significantly expanded its limits, moving south, from the natural zone of the taiga to the zones of mixed and deciduous forests, forest-steppe and steppes - the most suitable for the development of agriculture, and thus reaching the shores of the Black Sea. Cities developed in the state, land ownership arose and strengthened, active trade on river routes and control over them continued. At the same time, the main trade route was and remained the Volga route, which accounted for most of the turnover of that time. And the Dnieper route from the Varangians to the Greeks had a more local meaning.

The most important moment in cultural life was the adoption of Christianity as a religion professing universal human values.

In this era, undoubtedly, such traits of mentality as:

Feeling of the strength and power of the state;

Feeling the diversity and power of nature;

The breadth of human nature and daring scope, arising in contact with the Volga and Dnieper river expanses;

Introduction to the book (chronicle) culture;

A sense of the unity of Old Russian culture on the basis of the development of Slavic writing and the Christian religion, as well as the emergence of the actual Old Russian literature and other elements of culture.

Upper Volga Rus arose after the decline of foreign trade on the river routes and the fragmentation of Kievan Rus into separate principalities ("Lord Novgorod the Great", Rostov-Suzdal Rus). This territory, located in natural areas southern taiga and mixed forests, had a more severe climate than the Slavic lands in the Middle Dnieper region, but under the pressure of the Tatar-Mongol hordes it came here and concentrated here in the 13th-15th centuries. the bulk of the Russian population, having begun the free agricultural development of these places.

The natural conditions of North-Eastern Russia, despite the difficulties of the seasonal climate, gave the newcomer population good opportunities for the development of the economy. In the interfluve of the Oka, Volga and Klyazma there were enough land suitable for plowing; magnificent flooded meadows stretched along the rivers for hundreds of kilometers. The temperate climate contributed to the development of both agriculture and cattle breeding, forests abounded in fur animals, were rich in mushrooms and berries. Since ancient times, beekeeping has been practiced here, which yielded such valuable products as honey and wax. Powerful rivers and deep lakes abound in fish. With persistent and systematic work, this land could well feed, water, shoe and warm a person, give him material for building houses. And people for centuries mastered these unpretentious places.

Under these conditions, a free farmer could not, however, regulate his work with any formal rules, he completely obeyed natural rhythms and was fully responsible for the life support of his family. At the same time, a number of mentality traits were developed that were characteristic of the ethnic community of Russians, which existed for a long time in natural conditions. temperate climate at the stage of agricultural development of the territory, namely:

Observation and attentive attitude to natural rhythms, the ability to use them in your household;

Free, voluntary and creative approach to agricultural work and awareness of its vital necessity;

Ability to concentrate labor efforts when performing seasonal work;

Striving for a good-quality arrangement of life;

The value of the family, family hearth.

Great Russia (Moscow Russia). At this stage, having overcome the consequences of the Horde invasion, Russia entered the era of renaissance, the center of which was the Moscow lands, where important water and overland routes... Located in the center of the Volga-Oka interfluve, Moscow and the neighboring lands absorbed the flows of the population hiding from the Horde "men". Fragments of various ethnic groups came here from the south: Russian, Slavic, Baltolithic, Finno-Ugric, Turkic. Their unification on a single territory and in a single economic and economic space of the Moscow State, in fact, became the nucleus of the formation of the Great Russian ethnic community (nationality), which included in the orbit of its agricultural, agricultural production vast lands in the south, including the famous Central Russian black earth region ( Tula, Oryol, Kursk, Voronezh, Tambov, Penza), where the best Russian lands are concentrated. It was these regions, together with the previously developed lands of the Volga-Oka interfluve, over the next centuries that remained the center of the formation, development and improvement of that type of peasant economy, which historians called the traditional agrarian (pre-industrial) economy, which absorbed the even earlier agricultural experience of the Eastern Slavs. This traditional type of economy turned out to be quite effective for both peasants and landowners and served as the foundation of social and state system Russia almost until the beginning of the twentieth century.

As for the mentality, then in this historical period, apparently, such essential features the national character of the Russian person, as:

Awareness of the value of the land, its natural qualities and capabilities;

Devotion to the native land, native spaces, native home;

Formation of community psychology, a sense of collectivism;

Fostering hard work and patience, necessary to overcome life's difficulties, including those associated with natural conditions.

Russian empire. During this period, from the 17th to the half of the 19th centuries, through the efforts of Russian explorers and travelers, vast territories in the east and south of the country were discovered, surveyed and studied. Part Russian Empire entered, united in a single state, numerous ethnic communities (nationalities), which formed the ethnic mosaic that gave the basis for the formation of the Russian superethnos and is to this day a distinctive feature of Russia. Expanding, the territory of the Russian Empire was thus widely open to the Arctic and Pacific Oceans, included Alaska within its borders and firmly established itself on the shores of the Caspian, Black and Baltic Seas.

Despite the vastness of the territory and the diversity of its natural resources, the basis of the economic and economic life of the state continued to be agricultural labor, which finally became serf.

Overcoming the historical and natural disasters of this period (the war of 1812, drought, floods and crop failures), the Russian state gradually became one of the most powerful powers in the world.

Under these conditions, undoubtedly, a number of new, peculiar traits of mentality inherent in the entire Russian super-ethnos were developed. This:

Feeling proud of your country;

Feeling the power of the state and its exceptional wealth of natural resources;

Powerfulness in the mind of a person;

Feeling of solidity and good quality of life style;

Mercy, generosity, hospitality;

Dignity, valor and honor of the defenders of the Fatherland;

Caring for the Russian language and Russian-speaking culture as a nationwide means of uniting all the peoples of Russia;

Responsibility for the fate of the small peoples that became part of the Russian Empire.

Russia - USSR - Russia. This period, which spanned the last century and a half, was marked for Russia by a number of serious historical changes and upheavals. Among these events are the abolition of serfdom (1861), participation in the First World War (1914), the October Socialist Revolution (1917), the Great Patriotic War (1941-45) and, finally, the era of perestroika. which continued from the end of the 80s of the twentieth century and led to the collapse of the USSR as a state entity with the allocation Russian Federation as a new sovereign state.

Overcoming these historical cataclysms, Russia continued its economic and economic development. The most important were the processes of industrialization and urbanization. Concentration has occurred industrial enterprises in the Central and Southern regions of the country, as well as in the Urals and St. Petersburg. Of particular importance was the Trans-Siberian Railway, built in 1895-1916 - a railway with a length of more than 9 thousand km, connecting central regions countries with Siberia and the Far East and opened up the possibility of wide agricultural development of lands in the south of Siberia and in Primorye. Industrial zones also moved eastward.

At the end of the twentieth century, a large role in the development of the eastern regions was played by the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline, which passed north of Lake Baikal, providing transport links timber industry complex, located in the basin of the river. Angars (Bratsk, etc.), and other industrial zones that arose in Eastern Siberia, in the Amur region.

As a result, within the former USSR the "ecumene" belt, which was formed throughout the entire history of the development of the Russian state, turned out to be clearly pronounced. This is the most populated and intensively developed territory, which covers the western, southern and central regions of the Russian Plain and in a narrowing strip goes beyond the Urals in the south of Siberia.

The ecumene belt is characterized by a high percentage of arable land (in the chernozem zone up to 50-70%), a high concentration of urban areas and industrial centers, especially in the European part of Russia (Moscow, Tula, Nizhny Novgorod) and in the Trans-Urals (Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk), as well as high background population density (up to 100 people / km 2), which indicates a general high level anthropogenic load and pronounced signs of anthropogenization of the natural environment. Outside the oecumene, in the vast expanses of the Russian North, the development of the territory still largely remains at the level of hunting, hunting, pasture and, in part, forestry land use, which is usually referred to as the traditional economy of the indigenous peoples.

Translational industrial development Russia - the USSR ensured the build-up of the industrial power of the state and active participation in the world scientific and technological revolution of the twentieth century (STR), where the country's major achievements are considered to be the launch of the world's first nuclear power plant (Obninsk), the launch of the first artificial satellite Earth and the first manned flight into space. By the middle of the twentieth century, having won the Great Patriotic War and overcoming the post-war devastation, Russia has firmly taken its place among the great powers of the world.

Analyzing the economic development of Russia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, V. T. Ryazanov (Ryazanov 1998) emphasizes that “the historical merit of the USSR lies in the fact that ... the country was the first in the world to effectively and fully use the regime of forced development in a situation different from capitalist civilizational and formational structure ...

This strategy was transformed into its new version (scenario) - advanced development based on internal resources and forces, as well as on its own model, in which, despite all the desire to create a "new" socialist economy, historical roots still dominated, at least in the form of resilience behavioral characteristics of people who have adapted to changed circumstances. "

The peculiarities of the development of Russia in the last 150 years, naturally, have found their reflection in the formation of certain features of the mentality, which can be classified as supra-individual values of a very high rank, that is, considered as general features of the mentality inherent in Russians - representatives of the super-ethnos of Russia. These features include:

Awareness of their country as one of the great powers in the world;

Assessment of the country as the owner of enormous natural resources, technical and military might, high cultural achievements;

Understanding the need to protect the territory of the country and ensure its security;

Recognition of the friendship of peoples and close economic and economic ties between them as essential conditions ensuring the overall achievements of the country;

The display of endurance, courage and unparalleled courage by Soviet soldiers (both Russians and representatives of other nationalities of Russia) on the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-45, where they defended their native land - the Land of the Soviets;

Understanding the value of science, education and mastering the Russian language as the main means of introducing all the peoples of Russia to the heights of world culture;

Awareness of the ecological contradictions of industrial civilization, which already oppose the still prevailing idea of conquering nature and require the search for new ways of development.

Naturally, the last decade of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century, accompanied by the collapse of the USSR as a state entity and the transition of Russia to a different path of economic and economic development within a more limited territory, could not fail to cause a certain turning point in the process of forming the mentality of Russians. It can be assumed, however, that in the new conditions proposed by history, many features of the Russian and Russian mentality will persist, since the main factors and, first of all, the natural-geographical factor - the vastness of the country's territory and the diversity of its natural conditions, in which the population of Russia has live and manage - remain the same.

As a result, the natural-historical situations analyzed in this article that developed on the territory of Russia during certain periods of its state development, and the basic values of the Russian mentality interpreted for these periods, outline only a general basis for determining the historical path of the formation and evolution of such a complex phenomenon as the modern mentality. Russians, combining both the latest and historically inherited features.

Conclusion

Russia is the owner of a unique geopolitical space that connects it with all world civilizations, geostrategic regions, and major powers of the world. Due to these circumstances, Russia is forever embedded in the world political process and cannot be excluded from it.

At the same time, the country for more than three centuries has not been able to master this space, populate it more evenly, reduce the gap in the level of development between the center of Russia and its Siberian territories, and create civilized living conditions there.

The vast expanses of Russia predetermined the predominantly extensive nature of the economy, the orientation towards self-sufficiency and the priority development of heavy industry, weak participation in international division labor.

The problems of ensuring the country's security and public order in a vast space have determined such features of Russian statehood as a strong centralized power, the presence of a powerful military force, the exaggeration of the country's first personality and the principle of one-man rule, and the weakness of democratic institutions.

The large dependence of the economic results of the economy and the well-being of the population on the natural and climatic conditions predetermined the low productivity of peasant labor, the poverty of the bulk of the population, and the poverty of the state. The serf system generated by these circumstances further hampered the peasants' interest in increasing the efficiency of their economy, fettered their initiative and enterprise. In conditions of poverty, frequent crop failure and hunger in Russia, a traditionally large state sector of the economy has formed, and a significant regulatory role of the state in the economic sphere has emerged. On the other hand, the hardships of a harsh life were easier to overcome by the communal way of life. The geopolitical position of Russia on two continents and the influence of the two civilized worlds on it led to a constant struggle between the two trends in the political elite of 6 supporters of rapprochement with the West and adherents of national identity. Undertaken since early XVIII v. attempts to modernize the country according to the European model, as a rule, led to serious political and social crises, a deepening split in society, deformation of transformations, and rejection of European values by the majority of the population.

The most important historical lesson for politicians and citizens of the country: the modern reform of Russia is impossible without taking into account the geopolitical position of the Russian state, its features and traditions. World experience must be adapted to national conditions. Understanding historical features geopolitical development of Russia - the most important source of the formation of the national consciousness of the population of the country. “It is not enough for a Russian to be born. They need to be, they need to become. " (I. Severyanin).

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> Genesis and development of Russian geopolitical thought

The uniqueness of the geopolitical space and the geographical environment of Russia stimulated the relatively earlier emergence and intensive development of political geography in the Russian Empire. In the middle of the 18th century. German scientists who served in Russia, H.N. Vintsheim and G.V. Kraft published textbooks and works describing the geographical environment, natural conditions, borders, territorial-administrative division, population, its occupations, judicial, church, military systems of Russia, etc.

The foundation of political geography laid by German scientists was continued in the 19th century. K.F.German, K.I. Arseniev. E.F. Zyablovsky, who identified four parts of political geography:

1. parts of the world into which the globe is divided, and the state belonging to them;

2. the administrative-territorial structure and form of government of the countries;

3.characterization of the population (size, location, density, language, culture, religion, national character);

4.kinds economic activity(ways of food for the people).

K. Arseniev divided Russia into 10 agro-climatic, economic zones-spaces, assessed the state of the borders of the Russian state, investigated the process of spatial expansion of Russia. Arseniev considered the colonized lands to be an auxiliary force “of one main and great force, which was in the Russian lands proper. ... This is a great circle, to which all other parts of the Empire adjoin, like radii in different directions, closer or further, and contribute more or less to non-dissolution one ". The conclusion that Russia and the colonized periphery is the first geopolitical scheme that appeared long (1848) before European geopolitics.

V late XIX-beginning of XX centuries. in the field of political geography, V.P. and P.P. Semyonov-Tyan-Shanskie, V.I. Lamansky, A.I. Voeikov and others. In their works, Eurasia is studied as a single historical, cultural and territorial-political space, the position of Russia as a "middle world" in Eurasia, characteristics of the regions are given the globe, features of the development of human organizations, due to geographical and natural conditions, etc.

An outstanding specialist in political geography and geopolitics of this period was V.P. Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky. In the work “On the powerful territorial possession in relation to Russia. Essays on Political Geography ”(1915), he analyzed the territorial space of Russia, its advantages and disadvantages, identified two zones and 19 regions as integral territories in the political and geographical relation. Considering the geopolitical patterns of human development, Semenov-Tyan-Shansky identified three types of territorial systems of political power: "ring-shaped" (Mediterranean), "patchy" (colonial empires), "trans-continental" (Russia). The global territorial-political system will be a combination of these three historical forms, as well as buffer states at their junctions.

At the end of the XIX century. the ideas of biological and geographical determinism in the development of civilization were developed by N. Danilevsky and K. Leont'ev. Danilevsky argued that civilizations develop as living organisms, go through stages of maturation, decrepitude and death. The geographic environment determines the specificity and uniqueness of a civilization. Features of the geographical space, population, culture, national character Slavic peoples determine the broad historical perspectives of the Slavic civilization. Based on the conclusions of Danilevsky, K. Leontiev substantiated the position of Russia as the center of the Eurasian space, which should become the center of the Christian world, will unite with Eastern countries and become a powerful Eurasian power.

Russian scientists at the end XIX- early XX centuries. developed such problems as "national interests", " national policy", The connection of authoritarian regimes with wars, the influence of society on the foreign policy of states, the creation of systems of" European equilibrium "and collective resistance to the aggressor, the concept of development Central Asia and Of the Far East and others. In the first years of Soviet power, adherents of geopolitics continued to study the geopolitical space of the country, worked out recommendations for strengthening borders, locating production forces, developing Siberia, the Far East, Kazakhstan, etc. Western geopolitical concepts, especially "German geopolitics", were also analyzed.

Geopolitical topics are reflected in the theory of international relations, economic geography, in the course of the political and economic map of the world, etc. In the works of I.А. Vitver, B.N. Semenovsky, A.I. Shiger et al economic regions the planet, as well as the dynamics of population, its ethnic, linguistic, religious composition, the state of the air, sea, land and transport systems and dt. The theory of international relations recognized and developed such geopolitical categories as national interests, national sovereignty, strength and balance of power, centers of power, as well as the principles of functioning of the UN and regional integration structures, etc.

In the 20-30s. abroad, a course of Eurasianism was formed, representatives of which were N.S. Trubetskoy, P.N.Savitsky, G.V. Vernadsky, G.F. Florovsky and others. The main provisions of the Eurasian concept:

The Eurasian space has little contact with the World Ocean, which excludes its active participation in the world oceanic (colonial) economy and condemns it to autonomy, economic independence, and self-sufficiency. Since Eurasia is self-sufficient for everything, access to the world's oceans does not matter much for it and would mean “going out into the void”.

Russia is the natural center (core) of Eurasia, capable of uniting other Asian peoples around itself.

L.N. Gumilyov was very close to Eurasianism. He considered the history of nature and the history of man in an indissoluble unity. The historical fate of an ethnos is determined by the dynamism of the “intervening and nourishing landscape”. Geographic and natural factors, he explained the specific features of the Russian ethnos, its culture, economy, character and life. Like the Eurasians, Gumilev believed that the steppe and steppe peoples had a tremendous influence on the people and statehood.

In the 90s, Eurasian ideas found many supporters among scientists and politicians of the right and left spectrum. Also, significant works on geopolitics appeared by such authors as A. Dugin, E. Pozdnyakov, A. Panarin and others, who adhere to the traditional view of geopolitics, which studied the patterns of interaction between politics and geospatial factors. Another group of researchers (K. Pleshak, K. Gadzhev, K. Sorokin and others) believe that the subject, tasks, methodology of geopolitics should be radically changed. The subject of research should be the entire earthly space, they oppose the absolutization of geospatial factors and believe that foreign policy and the system of international relations depends on a whole complex of material, spiritual, cultural and other spheres of life.

Considerable provisions have been made, a methodology for studying the geopolitical situation in the world has been proposed, but does not yet exist in an integral geopolitical theory.

1. Introduction

1.1. Requirements for the level of mastering the content of the discipline:

The course "Features of the historical development of Russia" is offered as an optional discipline in accordance with the requirements of the State Educational Standard for the cycle of general humanitarian and socio-economic disciplines.

The history of Russia is an integral part of world history. The problem of the general and the particular in the historical process. Russian historical school (S.M.Soloviev, V.O. Klyuchevsky) on identity and the most important dominants national history... The problem of features in the historiography of the Soviet and post-Soviet period.

Natural and climatic factors. Features of soil, climate, landscape. Extensive farming. Features of the labor process. The influence of natural and climatic factors on the type of Russian statehood, forms of non-economic coercion (serfdom), the development of community institutions, culture, mentality of the Russian people. Geopolitical factors.

Geopolitical factors of the development of Russia. Border geographic location of Russia. Influence of the East and West. The flat character of the terrain, its openness, the absence of natural geographical boundaries... The special role of invasions, invasions, war in Russian history. Continuous expansion of the country's territory (colonization) - distinctive feature geopolitical development. Stages of territorial acquisitions of Russia in the XII-XX centuries. The influence of this process on the economic and social life of society, on the psychology of the Russian.

Features of the formation of the Russian state, their influence on the formation of the patrimonial form of government. Mongol conquest and strengthening of state despotism. The specifics of the relationship between the supreme power and the ruling classes. The special nature of the folding of the Russian centralized state in the XIV-XVI centuries. Ivan the Terrible is an attempt to establish absolute personal despotism. "Regular state" Peter I. Features of the monarchy in Western Europe and Russia. "Enlightened absolutism" by Catherine II. Disintegration of the served system. Alienation of society from the state. A special function of the supreme power in Russia is the state regulation of public life. State intervention in social processes The nature of the Russian state in the XX century. The structure of the regime of power in the 20-30th goals. Totalitarianism in Europe and the USSR: common and special, similarities and differences.

The history of reformism in Russia. Types of reforms: general and specific. Modernization of the society of Peter I. "Great reforms" of the 60-70s of the XIX century. Reforms and counter-reforms. The role of bureaucracy in the reform process. Methods of Russian reforms, the degree of participation of society in the reform process.

Instability and conflict development is one of the main features of Russian history. Coexistence in Russian society of various sociocultural ethnic formations and the impact of this phenomenon on Russian history. The role of rapid Russian modernizations in the formation of social contradictions. Sociocultural splits in Russian society and conflict development. Cruel serfdom and the lack of rights of the population are the objective basis for the crisis in Russian history. The centuries-old tradition of the split between the despotic government and the people. The peculiarities of the formation of the intelligentsia and the Russian national consciousness are a reflection of the conflict nature of social development.

1.2. The elective discipline "Peculiarities of the Historical Development of Russia" is based on the knowledge gained by students in the course of "National History".

2. Goals and objectives.

To give an idea of the climatic, geopolitical, religious factors that influenced Russian history.

Show the main points of view on the problem of the peculiarities of Russian history.

Pay attention to the special role of the "state principle", the specifics of Russian reforms, the conflicting nature of social processes.

Introduction .

Russia occupies a special place in world history. Although it is accepted to say that it is located in Europe and Asia, it has largely absorbed everything characteristic of the countries of these continents, nevertheless, it must be borne in mind that its history is independent in nature. It cannot be denied that Russia was seriously influenced by both Europe and Asia, but the countries located here also experienced its influence. In other words, the historical process is interconnected and interdependent. Each country has its own special history that sets it apart from others. The above is directly related to the history of Russia.

Topic 1. Natural, climatic and geopolitical conditions for the development of Russia.

In the history of Russia, natural and geopolitical conditions have always influenced the formation and development of society, the form of its statehood and management, certain historical processes. The flat character of the terrain, its openness, the absence of natural borders - these are the main specific geographic features of Russia. They did not allow the national community to be protected from invasions, raids, invasions, wars. These features were emphasized by the largest Russian pre-revolutionary historians of Russia - SM. Soloviev, V.O. Klyuchevsky and others. Indeed, already in the first centuries of Russian history, the territory of the Slavic tribes was subjected to constant raids by the Khazars, Pechenegs, Polovtsians. The Mongol-Tatar invasion and the two-century Horde yoke had grave consequences.

An important feature of Russian history was the continuous expansion of the country's territory. It went in different ways. One of them is the development of new desert territories by the peasant population. So, as a result of agricultural colonization in the XII-XIII centuries. the fertile lands of Vladimir-Suzdal and other principalities of North-Eastern Russia, the Zamoskovny Territory were developed. In the XVI-XVII centuries. peasant colonization covered the territory of the Ukrainian and southern Russian steppes between the Don, the upper Oka, the left tributaries of the Dnieper and Desna, the territory of the so-called "Wild Field".

A radical revolution in the history of Russian colonization took place in the middle of the 16th century. after the conquest of the Kazan and Astrakhan khanates. Russian settlers rushed towards the middle Volga, the Urals and further to Siberia. Fortified cities were erected along the banks of Siberian rivers and Lake Baikal. Several dozen cities were scattered over a vast, almost entirely forested area. Around the fortified cities, settlements of state peasants, resettled to Siberia by tsarist decrees, were formed. Went to Siberia, to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, and free settlers, and hunter-industrialists. In the east, mainly desert, virgin lands were developed. The indigenous, nomadic population was extremely small here.

In a number of cases, territorial expansion took place through voluntary accession to Russia. Exhausted by the six-year war with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Ukraine faced a choice: to recognize Polish rule again or to go “under the arm” of Moscow. In 1654 the Pereyaslavl Rada made a decision on the entry of Ukraine into Russia. Voluntary accession of Georgia at the turn of the XIX century. it was also nothing more than a definite historical choice in the face of the threat of enslavement by a neighbor more dangerous than Russia.

But more often Russia “recaptured” the territories they had seized from other states. So, as a result of the Northern War, the Baltic was "taken away" from Sweden, from Turkey - its fortresses - outposts in the Northern Black Sea region and Bessarabia, from Iran - Armenia. The Caucasian wars ended with the subjugation of the North Caucasian tribes. In the 60s. XIX century. the entry of Kazakh lands into Russia was completed. After the defeat of the Kokand Khanate by the tsarist troops, the Kyrgyz lands were annexed. From the side of the Caspian Sea and Central Asia, the lands of the Turkmen tribes were annexed to Russia.

Continuous territorial expansion predetermined a number of historical features of Russia.

The increment of territories provided the treasury and the state with new sources of funding, an increase in material and human resources, and additional economic benefits. Only the annexation of Siberia gave for several centuries an increase in enormous material wealth, the rarest Siberian furs, forests, the richest natural deposits, etc.

Over the centuries, economic development went on in breadth, provided by quantitative factors (extensive type). The Russian population did not have an urgent need to move from traditional farming to a more efficient one, since there was always an opportunity to move to new places, to develop new territories. There was no shortage of land.

The scattering and inaccessibility of many settlements, long distance. The high cost of transport, poor roads, and poor development of trade and communications were largely associated with this.

The peculiarities of the Russian historical process to a large extent were determined by the originality of the natural and climatic conditions and the related specificity of agricultural production.

Given the vast expanse of land on the territory that constituted the historical core of the Russian state, there was extremely little good arable land. The predominant soil type in Russia was podzolic, clayey, swampy or sandy, poorly provided with natural nutrients. Siberia, with its potentially inexhaustible supply of arable land, was largely unsuitable for land tenure. This was due to the fact that the warm air produced by the Gulf Stream cooled as it moved away from the Atlantic coast and moved inland.

Another feature of the natural and climatic conditions was the unusually short cycle of agricultural work. It only took 125-130 business days (roughly April to September). Thus, the Russian peasant was in difficult production conditions: thin soils inevitably required high-quality, nutritious cultivation, and natural conditions did not give sufficient time for agricultural work.

Average yields in Russia were low and labor costs exceptionally high. In order to get the harvest, the peasant had to work literally without sleep or rest. At the same time, all the reserves of the family were used, even children and the elderly. Women were fully employed in all male jobs. Severe agricultural conditions, overstrain and the inclusion in work of everyone, young and old, predetermined the specific way of life of the Russian landowner. In contrast to him, the European peasant, neither in the Middle Ages, nor in modern times, did not need such a exertion of strength, for the agricultural season was much longer. This ensured a more favorable rhythm of work and the entire way of life of the European peasant.

A characteristic feature of peasant production in Russia was the extremely weak base of animal husbandry. Procurement of feed for livestock became a big problem every year. The term for harvesting feed in historic center Russia was extremely limited (only 20-30 days). During this time, the peasant needed to stock up on a sufficient amount of feed.

Foreign trade did not stimulate the development of agricultural production. Russia stood far from the great trade routes and until the middle of the 19th century. could not sell grain abroad. And the gap in labor productivity between Western Europe and Russia was significant. According to the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, at the end of the 19th century. one acre of wheat in Russia yielded only one-seventh of the English crop and less than half of the French and Austrian crops.

Russian geography was not conducive to sole proprietorship. In the conditions of a short agricultural season, field work was easier to carry out in a collective. This preserved the archaic traditions of the communal organization of village life.

Unlike Europe, the community in Russia did not disappear, but began to develop. From about the XVI century. Russian peasants are increasingly parting with the farm settlement system (it is preserved mainly in southern regions) and concentrate their yards and farms in multiyard villages and villages. With the strengthening of personal serfdom from the end of the XVI century. the protective functions of the neighboring community, its democracy and equalizing tendencies are increasing.

In addition to organizing sowing, mowing and other collective field work, the community has developed a set of measures to help impoverished and ruined peasants. Arable land was divided by the community into plots of different soil quality and distance from the village. Every courtyard had the right to receive one or more strips of land on each of these plots. Periodically, as the situation within the neighboring community changed, redistributions took place as a way to achieve intra-community “social justice”.

Along with production functions, the community solved such social problems as the collection of taxes, taxes, the distribution of recruitment, and others.

Despite the vigorous involvement of agriculture in the second half of the nineteenth century. into market relations, communal traditions were preserved there until 1917.

The millennial existence of the community in Russia, its dominant role in the life of the Russian population were factors that radically distinguish the entire way of life of Russians from Western traditions.

High-cost, labor-intensive farming put the rural population in front of the need for almost the entire family to participate in it. There were no free working hands. Consequently, Russia was characterized by the narrowness of the hired market. work force... And this slowed down the process of becoming industrial production, urban growth.

The poverty of society also predetermined the small number of people living at its expense, the so-called "servants" of society - scientists, teachers, artists, actors, etc. And hence the late genesis of secular culture in Russia. The church here has been carrying out cultural and ideological functions for much longer than in Western Europe. It is no coincidence that the first universities in Europe appeared in the 12th-13th centuries, and in Russia - in the 18th century.

Finally, one cannot fail to note the fact that the extremely difficult working conditions of the Russian landowning population left an imprint on the national character. First of all, it is about the ability of a Russian to exert himself to the utmost, his readiness to help his neighbor, and a sense of collectivism. The strength of social traditions also played a significant role here. At the same time, the eternal lack of time and difficult natural conditions, often nullifying all the results of labor, did not develop in the Russian person a pronounced habit of thoroughness and accuracy in work.

Thus, we see that the geographical and natural-climatic factors affected the type of management, the political and social structure of the country, its cultural development, and the pace of the most important social processes.

Topic 2. The role of the state in Russian history.

One of the main characteristic features Russian historical process was the hypertrophied role of the supreme power in relation to society. What are the origins of special state despotism in Russia? There are different opinions on this matter. Historical researchers draw attention to a number of circumstances.

The ancient Russian state arose under the influence of the activities of an alien element - the Varangians, as a result of the development of a huge territory by their separate detachments. The Kiev state, at the origins of which stood the Varangians and their Slavic and glorified descendants, was not formed as a result of the natural evolution of the structure of the Slavic tribes. Neither the princes nor their warriors were from Slavic society, although later they were assimilated. The noticeable influence of the Varangian element gave statehood a kind of external, external form. The Slavic and Finnish tribes living in this territory adopted the introduced forms of government, but retained their ancestral way of life and ancestral psychology.

This is how a special political entity was formed with an unusually deep chasm between the rulers and the ruled. There was no unifying interest in the Kievan state and Kievan society: the state and society coexisted, preserving their differences.

In Russia, from the very inception of Russian statehood, its lowest form, the patrimonial state, began to be developed. Even in later times, Russian emperors owned, and did not rule, Russia, had their own dynastic, and not state, interests in it. The tradition of considering the country entrusted to them as property remained with the Russian rulers until the February Revolution of 1917 (until the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne).

The strengthening of state despotism was facilitated by the weakening of the rights and role of cities. The Mongols launched their main blows on the cities. According to archaeologists, of the 74 Russian cities of the 12th-13th centuries, known from excavations, 49 were devastated by Batu. The cities of many principalities were destroyed in the 13th century. several times (Pereyaslavl-Zalessky - four times, Suzdal, Ryazan, Murom - three times; Vladimir - two times, etc.) 1. In conditions of constant external danger, the cities were deprived of their old liberties. At the same time, the role of the prince increased sharply.

And one more factor of that time, which predetermined a special strengthening of the supreme power. As a result of the Horde invasion, the main part of the ruling class perished. According to experts, in the middle of the XII century. of the twelve Ryazan princes, nine perished, of the three Rostov princes, two, of the nine Suzdal princes, five. Analysis of the genealogical books of the Moscow boyars of the 16th century. testified that the Moscow and northeastern clans of boyars had no ancestors before the invasion of Batu. In addition, the bulk of the feudal warriors also perished during the invasion. After all, it was the squads, together with the townspeople, who defended the Russian cities.

The origins of the all-encompassing role of the state in relation to society largely lie in the special nature of the formation of the Russian centralized state in the XIV-XV centuries. If in Western Europe the main role in the process of centralization of lands was played by socio-economic circumstances, then the unification of the Russian lands was dictated by political circumstances, above all the need to combat external danger ( Golden Horde, Livonian Order, etc.) and the establishment of national independence. Such a process of centralization, which took place under “advancing” (in relation to socio-economic) political factors, preserved the emerging purely despotic relations.

In the XIV century. between the strongest Russian principalities (Moscow, Tver, Ryazan, Suzdal and Nizhny Novgorod), an acute rivalry unfolded for the consolidation of the grand ducal power. The Moscow prince Ivan I acted in this struggle in the most cunning and unprincipled manner. He spent most of his reign either in the Horde or on the way there. Being a clever and gifted businessman (popularly nicknamed Kalita - "money bag"), he made a very significant fortune, which allowed him not only to regularly pay his share to the Horde, but also to cover the arrears of other princes. To the latter, he lent money on the security of their estates, which he sometimes took for himself in exchange for debts.

The most serious rival of Ivan Kalita in the struggle for the favor of the Mongols was the prince of Tverskoy, who then had the grand-ducal rank. In 1327 an anti-Horde uprising arose in Tver, and the Tver prince sided with the rebels. Ivan Kalita hastily set off for the Horde and returned at the head of the united Mongol-Russian punitive army, which devastated Tver in the most terrible way. As a reward for his loyalty, Kalita received the khan's label for a great reign and the right to independently collect tribute for the Horde.

So, thanks to the zealous service to the Horde, Moscow gradually isolated its rivals and came to the fore, becoming a mediator between the conquerors and Russian subjects. The final rallying of the principalities around Moscow took place under Kalita's grandson, Prince Dmitry Donskoy. He was the first to give his son the title of Grand Duke, without asking the khan's permission.

In the future, the Moscow princes showed foresight and outstanding business and political abilities to preserve and increase their power. They collected villages, cities and crafts, actively traded. In an effort not to divide their principality by inheritance, they gradually introduced the order of succession to the throne by the right of the birthright.

In the XVI-XVII centuries. state autocratic power is strengthening. Under Ivan IV (the Terrible), the remnants of decentralization were eliminated, the rights of feudal lords were limited.

The tendency towards centralization and absolutism develops in the future. Under Peter I, the patriarchate was liquidated and a state body, the Synod, was created to manage the affairs of religion. This marks the final victory of the supreme secular authority over the Church. In 1721 Peter introduced the title of Emperor. Russia is becoming an empire. Instead of an estate-representative elected body under the tsar (Boyar Duma), a Senate is created, whose members are approved and appointed by the emperor.

The estates were formed under the direct influence of the authorities. The society was divided into layers with a clear definition of the status and functions of each. The Cathedral Code of 1649 consolidated the position of various categories of the population and the range of their duties.

Those who served in the army or administration constituted the service class. Others - landowners, artisans, merchants and other manual workers - became the "draft" class. Service people were not originally nobility, did not have class privileges, but they had significant advantages. Possessing a fund of land, the state, being the supreme owner, provided service people with a plot of land (estate) with peasants, subject to them performing military or civil service.

The supreme power tried by all means to consolidate the existing structure. In the XVI and XVII centuries. laws were passed prohibiting peasants from leaving their plots, and merchants from changing their place of residence. The priests did not have the right to relinquish their dignity, their sons had to enter their father's career. Under the threat of severe punishment, commoners were not allowed to move into the ranks of the service stratum. And the sons of service people should, upon reaching the age of majority, register with the appropriate department. The state in every possible way tried to make the social position hereditary. The social structure of society became more and more motionless. This is how a comprehensive system took shape, attaching the entire population to the state.

If the power influenced the formation of the nobility, then the estate of state peasants was generally organized as a kind of institution. Various categories of the non-serf population were recorded in one legal and tax class. A part of yesterday's servicemen fell into the category of "taxable", which forever blocked their way to the nobility, although some of them had their own serfs and owned land.

Likewise, by establishing and enrolling states, a layer of clergy was created. Some of the churchmen also did not get into the state and were assigned to the "tax" class.

The social structure of the city was determined in a purely administrative way. The entire population was divided into guilds and workshops.

The feudal intervention of the autocratic government also distorted the development of the bourgeois stratum. Manufactory owners were forced to spend money on buying land from peasants, and not on the development of production. The wealthy industrialists sought to obtain a title of nobility and join the privileged nobility.

By his intervention in the sphere trade relations the state hindered the development of the merchant trading stratum. Merchants were forcibly drawn into various kinds of state "services", forced to organize special trading companies... Administratively, it was determined in what places and what goods can be traded.

The idea of serving the common good, “the world,” for the sake of which a person should sacrifice his personal, was the most important part of the Russian mentality. In this regard, the idea of serving the common state principle played a significant role in the spiritual mood of the Russian people. “Russia is the most powerful and most bureaucratic country in the world; everything in Russia is turning into an instrument of politics. The Russian people suffered great sacrifices to create the Russian state, they shed a lot of blood, but they themselves remained powerless in their immense state, "wrote the outstanding Russian scientist Nikolai Aleksandrovich Berdyaev about the role of the state principle in the life of the Russian people.

Topic 3. Features of the reform process in Russia

Russian history is in many ways the history of social reformism. Despite numerous wars, riots, conspiracies and revolutions, real changes in the economic and political system over the past centuries have occurred, as a rule, as a result of reforms carried out by the supreme power, sometimes on their own initiative, and sometimes under the pressure of circumstances.

Deep modernization and Europeanization of Russia was carried out by Peter the Great. With the name of a prominent statesman, close adviser to Emperor Alexander I, M.M. Speransky connected the reformist process of the first half of the XIX century. The agrarian, urban, zemstvo and other reforms of the 60-70s are also exceptional in their significance. XIX century. We speak of this period as "the era of great reforms." The process of modernization of Russian society at the beginning of the XX century. was started on the initiative of such a significant political figure of Russian reformism as Pyotr Stolypin. In the history of Soviet society there was also a deep modernization of the social order in the late 1920s and 1930s, and Khrushchev's reformism, and, finally, attempts to renew society in the second half of the 1980s and in the 90s.

The history of Russian reformism has given rise to many types of reforms with varying degrees of government coercion and varying degrees of involvement of social forces in the design and implementation of reforms.

For centuries, Russian reformism was based solely on the idea of statehood. Reforms very often acquired the character of state intervention in social relations, and the people acted only as an object. Not only Peter with his idea of violent progress, not other reformers and statesmen proceeded from the principle of developing and implementing reforms exclusively "from above".

A feature of the Russian transformations was their conflict. Reforms were very often carried out by harsh, violent methods, they had "the taste of tears and the color of blood." The reasons for this lay both in the accelerated pace of innovation and in the insufficient consideration of social interests. Russian reformers, as a rule, largely did not take into account the position of those groups of the population who adhered to traditional norms of life.

Peter's reforms were accompanied by a dull and stubborn internal struggle: four mutinies and several conspiracies. Their members opposed innovation. Peter cruelly dealt with the bearers of antiquity: archers, Old Believers churchmen and even the heir to the throne who did not want to follow in his father's footsteps. And since the old boyars, clergy, archers, exhibited some external features (beard, long-length dress) as a sign of their opposition, Peter ardently took up arms even against these trifles.

At the end of the 17th century, after returning to Moscow from abroad, Peter immediately began to trim his beards and cut long single-row hem, and he introduced wigs from his entourage. It is difficult to imagine what legislative and police uproar and clamor was raised because of this rearrangement and re-costume of the Russian people in a foreign way. The clergy and peasants were not touched: they retained the estate privilege of remaining Orthodox and old-fashioned; bearded men and carriers of the "illegal" dress were fined. The nobles who appeared at the sovereign's review with an unhaven beard and mustache were mercilessly beaten with batogs.

Disregard for the heritage of the historical experience of their own people was typical for other Russian reforms. Often the Russian reform carried a destructive rather than constructive charge.

The consequence of this was the accumulation in the process of reforms of the potential of their denial, the state of internal tension, conflict in society.

Reformism in Russia was very often based on uncritical perception, and at times on direct borrowing of ideas and views.

A characteristic feature of many reforms in Russia was also the fact that the state, as the initiator of reforms, could not rely on the old bureaucracy, therefore, the modernization of the administrative apparatus, that is, administrative reforms, was the main component of the transformations.

Constant modifications of state institutions inevitably expanded the layer of bureaucracy. It flexibly responded to changes, transformed, poured from one structure to another, but survived and became stronger. The bureaucracy in Russia grew rapidly. Only for the first half of XIX v. the number of government officials has more than quadrupled.

The special role of the state in the process of Russian reforms "from above" turned the bureaucracy into their sole developer and leader. Therefore, its significance in the fate of Russian reforms was enormous. The final fate of reforms in Russia depended on the position of the ruling elite, on the results of the struggle of various groups and clans of the bureaucracy. In addition, a constant series of reforms and counterreforms, innovations and backward movement is a characteristic feature of the Russian reform process. Finally, it should be noted that Russian reformers quite often ignored the rights of the population, thinking primarily about the rulers and the state.

Topic 4. Conflict nature of the Russian historical process.

One of the features of Russian history is the extreme inconsistency, conflict development, the predisposition of Russian society to extremes. This feature lies at the heart of Russian instability, which, in turn, is associated with the contradictory image of Russian society.

Russia, as you know, has developed in interaction and in the struggle with Europe, then with Asia. Both Eastern and Western elements are present in Russian life, in Russian history.

Social and political thought in Russia constantly turned to this contradictory phenomenon of historical reality. The concepts of Westernizers and Slavophiles reflected the exaggeration of one of the sides that make up the complex civilized image of Russia. Westerners believed that the Russian way was the Western European way. They attributed the distinctive elements of Russian life to manifestations of backwardness. The Slavophiles, on the other hand, developed the idea of the fundamental difference between Russian development and Western European development, in every possible way highlighted the exclusive originality of communal, patriarchal, Orthodox Russia.

N. Berdyaev also emphasized the dual, contradictory nature of Russian life. In his work "The Fate of Russia" he developed the idea that the Russian people simultaneously coexist both with the Eastern adherence to the state principle and the Western ideal of freedom. In the history of Russia, this duality was expressed, as he believed, in the constant alternation of destructive riots of the freemen and periods of strengthening of power, restraining it with an iron hand.

Adding more and more territories, the empire became a multiethnic society, a conglomerate of many peoples. It was replenished with a variety of ethnic groups - from Tatars and Kazakhs to Chechens and Armenians, from Poles and Latvians to Chukchi and Yakuts. It was a fusion of Indo-European, Ural-Altai, Mongolian, Turkic and other ethnic lines. Moreover, the old lands were not monopolies, and the new ones could not be called colonies. The peculiarity of Russia was that the old and new lands were like a common living space with a single economic and political life, a single administrative division, office work, court, legislation. But within this single society, completely different types of societies, different socio-cultural formations were constantly intertwined and influenced each other. Along with the bourgeois relations developed in the western and southwestern regions, patriarchal and clan relations persisted.

Russian feudalism was less inclined towards social progress. It was characterized by more despotic forms of monarchy than in Europe. The medieval population (the ruling class and commoners) was more dependent on the supreme power than in the West. The exploitation of the peasantry was extremely high. There was a long, for several centuries, conservation of the personal serfdom of the peasants.

The Russian type of evolution of feudal land ownership was also specific. Private land ownership by the nobility was never the predominant form of land ownership. The main trend was the system of "state feudalism", in which the supreme ownership of land remained with the state, and feudal land ownership was granted by the state and was conditioned by the service of the king. The peasants were the "holders" of the land with taxes, dues and duties obligatory before the state. In certain regions, at certain epochs, such "state land" could turn into the actual property of the "state peasants". The specific features of feudal land tenure in Russia did not contribute to any firm position of the institution of private land ownership. The rural community stood as a solid barrier to the development of private property. Thus, a feature of the Russian type of feudalism was the traditionally weak development of private land ownership and individual economic activity of the peasantry.

Researchers believe that in the context of a "lagging" type of historical evolution, the process of bourgeoisization of Russian society was incomplete.

Russia is characterized by a rearrangement of the phases of the genesis of capitalism. If in the countries of Europe the bourgeois-agrarian coup preceded the bourgeois revolutions, then in Russia agricultural sector remained, in fact, feudal until 1917. Only after the reform of 1861 did the beginnings of an agrarian market begin to appear, and the peasantry remained largely dependent on the landowners' latifundia.

In Russia, there was no long incubation period for the development of machine production and a long period of formation of the mechanism of capitalist exchange. The industrial revolution was ensured to a large extent by the import of foreign technology. There was a rapid development of railways and steamship lines. Russian “primitive accumulation” did not produce a free hired worker. It was mainly a "otkhodnik" who had not yet broken with agriculture and "his" master. The peasant reform of 1861 and the abolition of serfdom together with the Stolypin reforms at the beginning of the 20th century. moved forward the process of formation of the market for hired labor, but the final completion of the "initial accumulation" of capital in Russia in the first quarter of the XX century. it didn't work out. The country continued to remain agrarian-industrial with a huge predominance of the agricultural population.

A feature of Russian bourgeois evolution was the delay in the social development of the state. Almost nowhere in modern times has there been such a deep chasm between the poor and the rich as in Russia. This objective basis, which has been preserved for two centuries and is reviving in modern reality, has been and remains an objective ground for social schism, a breeding ground for extreme currents that are organically incapable of synthesis.

The centuries-old serfdom, oppression, powerlessness and oppression of the Russian population formed radical thinking, ignoring any moderate decisions. Reforms, invading the very core of society, usually ignored the interests of those social groups and forces that adhered to the established traditional values of modernization (“great reforms” of the 1860s, Stolypin reform, NEP). They destroyed the Russian patriarchal integrity and led to social stratification, the displacement of entire popular strata to the social periphery. Often these strata became the social base of the counter-reforms, revolutions, and civil wars that followed the reform. So, the abolition of serfdom turned into terrorist activities of the People's Will and the revolution of 1905-1907. The Stolypin reforms, which accelerated the stratification of the peasant country, pushed for the 1917 revolution and civil war... And the NEP, which drove millions of peasants into the proletarianized cities, gave rise to a powerful response of totalitarianism, which took shape in the brutal Stalinist dictatorship.

The history of Russia has been filled with transitional, critical periods. The people lived in an atmosphere of emergency and civil war.

Many roots of Russian conflicts lie in the peculiarities of the Russian government with its absolutist nature, monopoly and powerful interference in the life of society.

The tragedy of the country was that there were no full-fledged estates, classes, free and free citizens in it. In the era of Ivan the Terrible or Peter the Great, during the reign of I. Stalin, N. Khrushchev, L. Brezhnev or M. Gorbachev, a person's position was determined exclusively by his duties and the absence of real rights, which at best were only declared.

In Russia, mythological rather than critical type of thinking has always dominated. From generation to generation, a simplified idea of how to achieve the goals of social progress and the belief that struggle, the destruction of the enemy, the violent and mechanical destruction of old forms of life will by themselves ensure the realization of the social ideal was passed on. Of all the possible options for transforming society, the Russian people were most impressed by the methods of revolutionary logic, rebellion, explosion. It is no coincidence that the Russian intelligentsia was distinguished by its radicalism, a tendency to see in political struggle the closest path to the people's welfare.

The concept of the "social split" of Russian society by now is not yet finalized and integral. However, the modern development of Russian society allows us to represent it as the dominant of historical development.

1. Educational and methodological support of the discipline.

9.1 Basic Literature

1. Artamonov V Catastrophes in the history of Russian statehood // Social sciences and modernity.-1994.-№ 3

2. Baluev B.P. Disputes about the fate of Russia // Domestic history. - 2000 - No. 1

3. Beelnky V.Kh. On the paradigm of Russia // Social and humanitarian knowledge. - 2002 - No. 3

4. Berdyaev N. The fate of Russia.-M., 1990; He is. The origins and meaning of Russian communism. -M., 1990.

5. Bessonova O. Distribution economy as a Russian tradition // Social sciences and modernity.-1994 -№ 3

6. Milestones. Intelligentsia in Russia: Sat. Articles 1909 –1910 / Compiled by N. Kazakov –M .: Mol.Gvardia, 1991.

7. Igritskiy Yu.I. Russia against Russia, West against the West // Russia and modern world... - 2002 - No. 3

8. Capto A .; Serebryanikov V. Wars of Russia // Dialogue - 2002 –– №6

9. Klimenko V. Energy, climate and historical perspective of Russia // Social sciences and modernity. –1999. -No. 1

10. Klyuchevsky V.O. History of estates in Russia. Special course // Works: In 9 volumes - T. 6.-M., 1989.

11. Kulpin E. S. Socio-ecological crisis of the 15th century and the formation of Russian civilization // Social sciences and modernity. –1995.-№1

12. Kulpin E.S The origins of the Russian state: from the church cathedral of 1503 to the oprichnina // Social sciences and the present. -1997.- No. 1,2

13. Midushevsky A. Reforms of Peter the Great in a comparative historical perspective // Bulletin high school.- 1999.-№ 2 –3.

14. Midushevsky A. Russian statehood of the pre-Petrine era // Bulletin of the higher school. - 1999.-№ 1.

15. Milov L. Influence of the natural and geographical factor on the historical development of Russia // Questions of history. - 1992. - № 4-5.

16. Milov L.V. Natural and climatic factor and the mentality of the Russian peasantry. // Social sciences and modernity. –1995.- No. 1.

17. Soloviev S.M. History of Russia since ancient times –M. 1993 - I T

18. Toynbee A.J. Civilization before the Court of History. - M., 1995

19. Universal and specific in Russian history (round table) // Social sciences and modernity - 1999 - №3

20. Khoros V.G. Russian history in comparative coverage. - M., 1996

21. Yakovenko I.G. The Russian State: National Interests, Borders, Prospects Novosibirsk, 1999

22. Yakovenko I.G. Civilization and barbarism in the history of Russia // Social sciences and modernity. –1995.-№ 4, 1996 -№ 3-4

9. Questions for credit

1. Russian historical school about the peculiarities of the development of Russia (S.M. Soloviev, V.O. Klyuchevsky)

2. Special natural and climatic factors of the development of Russia.

3. Territorial expansion of the country. Stages of colonization of Russia. The impact of colonization on the economic and social life of society.

4. Features of the folding of the Russian statehood.

5. The special character of the Russian centralized state of the XIV-XVI centuries.

6. History of Russian absolutism. Peter I and Catherine II.

7. Social processes and the nature of the Russian state in the XX centuries.

8. The structure of the regime of power in the 20-30s of the XX centuries. Totalitarianism in Europe and in the USSR: general and special.

9. The history of the reform of Russia. Types of reforms: general and specific.

10. Modernization development of Russia in the XIX century. "The era of great reforms" - Alexander II

11. Reforms and counter-reforms of the XIX century. The role of bureaucracy in the reform process.

12. Methods for carrying out reforms. The degree of public participation in the reform process.

13. Conflict development as a feature of Russian history.

14. Socio-cultural splits in Russian society and conflict development.

15. Features of the formation of the Russian intelligentsia.

16. Russian national character and mentality of the Russian people.

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Home> Abstract> History

1. Introduction

Requirements for the level of mastering the content of the discipline:

The history of Russia is an integral part of world history. The problem of the general and the particular in the historical process. Russian historical school (S.M.Soloviev, V.O. Klyuchevsky) about the identity and the most important dominants of national history. The problem of features in the historiography of the Soviet and post-Soviet period.

Geopolitical factors of the development of Russia. Border geographic location of Russia. Influence of the East and West. The flat character of the area, its openness, the absence of natural geographical boundaries. The special role of invasions, invasions, war in Russian history. Continuous expansion of the country's territory (colonization) is a distinctive feature of geopolitical development. Stages of territorial acquisitions of Russia in the XII-XX centuries. The influence of this process on the economic and social life of society, on the psychology of the Russian.

1.2. The elective discipline "Peculiarities of the Historical Development of Russia" is based on the knowledge gained by students in the course of "National History".

2. Goals and objectives.

To give an idea of the climatic, geopolitical, religious factors that influenced Russian history.

Show the main points of view on the problem of the peculiarities of Russian history.

Pay attention to the special role of the "state principle", the specifics of Russian reforms, the conflicting nature of social processes.

Introduction.

Topic 1. Natural, climatic and geopolitical conditions for the development of Russia.

In the history of Russia, natural and geopolitical conditions have always influenced the formation and development of society, the form of its statehood and management, certain historical processes. The flat character of the area, its openness, the absence of natural borders - these are the main specific geographic features of Russia. They did not allow the national community to be protected from invasions, raids, invasions, wars. These features were emphasized by the largest Russian pre-revolutionary historians of Russia - SM. Soloviev, V.O. Klyuchevsky and others. And indeed, already in the first centuries of Russian history, the territory of the Slavic tribes was subjected to constant raids by the Khazars, Pechenegs, and Polovtsians. The Mongol-Tatar invasion and the two-century Horde yoke had grave consequences.

An important feature of Russian history was the continuous expansion of the country's territory. It went in different ways. One of them is the development of new desert territories by the peasant population. So, as a result of agricultural colonization in the XII-XIII centuries. the fertile lands of Vladimir-Suzdal and other principalities of North-Eastern Russia, the Zamoskovny Territory were developed. In the XVI-XVII centuries. peasant colonization covered the territory of the Ukrainian and South Russian steps between the Don, the upper Oka, the left tributaries of the Dnieper and Desna, the territory of the so-called "Wild Field".

But more often Russia “won back” the territories they had seized from other states. So, as a result of the Northern War, the Baltic was "taken away" from Sweden, from Turkey - its fortresses - outposts in the Northern Black Sea region and Bessarabia, from Iran - Armenia. The Caucasian wars ended with the subjugation of the North Caucasian tribes. In the 60s. XIX century. the entry of Kazakh lands into Russia was completed. After the defeat of the Kokand Khanate by the tsarist troops, the Kyrgyz lands were annexed. From the side of the Caspian Sea and Central Asia, the lands of the Turkmen tribes were annexed to Russia.

Continuous territorial expansion predetermined a number of historical features of Russia.

The scattering and inaccessibility of many settlements, long distances did not contribute to effective, profitable management. The high cost of transport, bad roads, poor development of trade and communications were largely associated with this.

The peculiarities of the Russian historical process were to a large extent determined by the originality of the natural and climatic conditions and the related specifics of agricultural production.

With a large area of land on the territory that constituted the historical core of the Russian state, there was an extremely small amount of good arable land. The predominant soil type in Russia was podzolic, clayey, swampy or sandy, poorly provided with natural nutrients. Siberia, with its potentially inexhaustible supply of arable land, was largely unsuitable for land tenure. This was due to the fact that the warm air produced by the Gulf Stream cooled as it moved away from the Atlantic coast and moved inland.

Another feature of the natural and climatic conditions was the unusually short cycle of agricultural work. It only took 125-130 business days (roughly April to September). Thus, the Russian peasant was in difficult production conditions: thin soils inevitably required high-quality, nutritious processing, and natural conditions did not provide sufficient time for agricultural work.

Average yields in Russia were low and labor costs exceptionally high. In order to get the harvest, the peasant had to work literally without sleep or rest. At the same time, all the reserves of the family were used, even children and the elderly. Women were fully employed in all male jobs. Severe agricultural conditions, overstrain and the inclusion in the work of everyone, from small to large, predetermined the specific way of life of the Russian landowner. In contrast to him, the European peasant, neither in the Middle Ages, nor in modern times, did not require such a exertion of strength, for the agricultural season was much longer. This ensured a more favorable rhythm of work and the entire way of life of the European peasant.

A characteristic feature of peasant production in Russia was an extremely weak base of animal husbandry. Procurement of feed for livestock became a big problem every year. The period for storing feed in the historical center of Russia was extremely limited (only 20-30 days). During this time, the peasant needed to stock up on a sufficient amount of feed.

Foreign trade did not stimulate the development of agricultural production. Russia stood far from the great trade routes and until the middle of the 19th century. could not sell grain abroad. And the gap in labor productivity between Western Europe and Russia was significant. According to the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary, at the end of the 19th century. one acre of wheat in Russia brought in only one-seventh of the English crop and less than half of the French and Austrian crops.

Unlike Europe, the community in Russia did not disappear, but began to develop. From about the XVI century. Russian peasants are increasingly parting with the farm settlement system (it is preserved mainly in the southern regions) and concentrating their yards and farms in multiyard villages and villages. With the strengthening of personal serfdom from the end of the XVI century. the protective functions of the neighboring community, its democracy and leveling tendencies are increasing.

In addition to organizing sowing, mowing and other collective field work, the community has developed a set of measures to help impoverished and ruined peasants. The arable land was divided by the community into plots of different soil quality and distance from the village. Every courtyard had the right to receive one or more strips of land on each of these plots. Periodically, as the situation within the neighboring community changed, redistributions took place as a way to achieve intra-community “social justice”.

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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Ural State Economic University

TEST
on history

Topic: The role of geopolitical and natural-climatic
factors in the development of Russia

Artist: student gr.

Yekaterinburg
2011

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………… .3

1 The geopolitical position of Russia and its role in shaping the peculiarities of the state's development …………………………………………… .. .5

2 Influence of natural and climatic conditions on the economic and socio-political development of Russia ………………………………… ..8

3 The role of the natural and climatic factor in the formation of the Russian national character ……………………………………………………… ... 12

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………… .14

List of sources used ……………………………………… ..... .15

Introduction

In Russian and world historiography, there are three main points of view on the problem of the peculiarities of Russian history. Supporters of the first of them, adhering to the concept of one-line world history, believe that all countries and peoples, including Russia and the Russian nation, go through the same stages in their evolution, common to all, moving along one common path for all. Professional historians who proceed from that methodological premise, as a rule, avoid using the concept of "backwardness" in relation to the history of Russia, preferring another term - "delay" in the movement of Russian history; accordingly, the center of research is transferred by them to identifying the reasons that slowed down the course of the historical evolution of Russia.
Supporters of the second approach to the study of Russian history proceed from the concept of the multilinearity of historical development. They believe that the history of mankind consists of the histories of a number of distinctive civilizations, each of which mainly develops (developed) one (or a specific combination of several) aspects of human nature, evolves along its own path; one of these civilizations is the Russian (Slavic) civilization.
The third group of authors tries to reconcile both of these approaches. The prominent Russian historian and public figure Pavel Nikolaevich Milyukov belonged to the representatives of this trend. In his opinion, the historical result distinguishes three main groups of conditions that produce it: “The first condition consists in an internal tendency, an internal law of development, inherent in every society and for every society the same. The second condition lies in the peculiarities of the material environment, the environment, among which this society is destined to develop. Finally, the third condition is the influence of the individual human personality on the course of the historical process. The first condition imparts to various historical processes a character of similarity in the basic course of development; the second condition gives them the character of diversity; the third, the most limited in its action, introduces the character of chance into historical phenomena ”. The internal course of Russia's development “was modified under the powerful influence of the second condition, the historical situation. If it could be assumed that this condition produced only a retarding effect, that it stopped the growth of Russia at one of the early stages of life, then we would still have the right to compare the state of Russia with the state of Europe, as two different ages. But no, the historical life of Russia has not stopped; it proceeded on its own, perhaps more slowly, but uninterruptedly, and, consequently, experienced certain moments of development - experienced by Europe as well - in its own way. The conditions of historical life delayed the development of the Russian population; but the further process, if necessary, will consist in reproduction and increase in the density of this population. The conditions of the situation delayed economic evolution at the lower stages, but its further course in our country, as elsewhere, will proceed in the same order, in the direction of greater intensity, greater differentiation and greater socialization of labor.
So, representatives of the three approaches interpret the problem of the peculiarities of Russian history in different ways. Nevertheless, they all recognize the impact on the development of Russia of certain powerful factors (causes, conditions), which determine the significant difference between the history of Russia and the history of Western societies. What are these conditions? In Russian and foreign historiography, four factors are usually distinguished, which determined the features (backwardness, delay, originality, originality) of Russian history: natural and climatic; geopolitical; confessional (religious); social organization.
Starting the study of the history of any nation, we meet the force that holds in its hands the cradle of each nation - the nature of its country. The influence of climatic and geographical factors on the specifics of Russian history was noted by almost all researchers of the originality of the Russian historical process.

1. The geopolitical position of Russia and its role in the formation of the peculiarities of the development of the state.

It has been pointed out more than once that geographical factors, its position on earth, and its vast expanses were of great importance in the fate of Russia. The geographical position of Russia was such that the Russian people were forced to form a huge state. On the Russian plains, a great East-West, a united and organized state entity, was to be formed. Huge spaces were easily given to the Russian people, but it was not easy for them to organize these spaces into the world's greatest state, to maintain and maintain order in it. Most of the forces of the Russian people went to this.
Geography is the most important factor that determines the economic, political, cultural and historical development of a particular people. It is impossible to understand why Russians in character have become exactly what they are now, without considering the geographical landscape in which we live.
Geography determined the character of the Russian people and the historical path of development followed by the Russian Civilization.
The Russians, unlike many other peoples, were not squeezed by the seas, impenetrable mountain ranges, other nations and could freely explore new territories. This geographical reason led to the fact that the Russians adopted an extensive civilization model, unlike, for example, the Europeans or the Japanese, who, due to the geography of their habitat, were forced to develop intensively.
It is known that the geographical position of a country influences the character of the people living on its territory. The southern peoples, who have a lot of sun, are temperamental by their nature, while the northern peoples are cold, Nordic and calm. Russia, the places where the Russian ethnos was formed, stretched from north to south from Arkhangelsk to the Caucasus, and, therefore, the Russian genotype contains both hot Cossack manners, expressed in dashing dances and horse riding, and the gravity of the north, expressed in leisurely round dances and drawn-out folk singing. The geographical position of Russia has ensured the presence of such a combination of character traits in our people, which is unthinkable among peoples who know how to have a small geographical area of settlement.
The huge size of the territories, the superiority in the population, inexhaustible natural resources - these factors more than once determined the political and military choices that the country made. Such a tactic as the surrender of Moscow to French troops by M. Kutuzov could not be used by any other state except Russia, due to its geographical features. Should these events take place in any other, smaller country, the tactical scheme would be doomed to failure, and the country itself would be doomed to defeat.
When, in 1936-1941, Stalin was preparing for war with Germany, he saw precisely the geopolitical features as one of the guarantees of our Victory - the USSR had an advantage in human potential, in the stock of strategic materials, food, etc. our territory. A long war of attrition guaranteed Russia Victory, but for this it was necessary to wage a war near the borders, or on foreign territory. However, by the summer of 1942, it became clear that the Germans had pushed us far from the borders, occupied such a significant part of Russian territory that the strategic advantages given to us by geography had been exhausted. Understanding of this fact is reflected in the famous Stalinist order No. 227 "Not a step back": that we will always have an abundance of bread, the order says. - The territory of the USSR, which the enemy seized and seeks to seize, is bread and other products for the army and rear, metal and fuel for industry, factories, factories supplying the army with weapons and ammunition, railways... After the loss of Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltics, Donbass and other regions, we have less territory, which means that there are much fewer people, bread, metal, factories and factories. We have lost more than 70 million people, more than 80 million poods of grain per year and more than 10 million tons of metal per year. We no longer have a preponderance over the Germans either in human resources or in grain reserves. Retreating further means ruining yourself and ruining our Motherland at the same time. "
In this way, geographic features can be a strategic advantage and unique characteristics for a particular country.
Geopolitics subdivides the types of development that a country moves according to its geographic location. It is generally accepted that a country can belong either to the continental type of civilization, or to the sea. The pronounced maritime powers are modern England, formerly the British Empire, or was the ancient Greek civilization. If for land countries the sea is an insurmountable obstacle to expansion, a border, then for maritime civilizations the sea is the invisible center of the state, communication routes connecting cities or colonies located along the shores. Trade is especially important for the maritime powers, in any case, much more important than for the land powers.
Russia, of course, belongs to a continental state, our communication routes are overland. This geographical position determines a number of important differences between Russia and Europe, both politically and economically. Since most of the land routes within the country are often inaccessible during the year (muddy roads in spring and autumn, drifts in winter), trade in Russia is less developed and less important in the life of the country. It follows from this that in order to maintain the unity of the country, which in the West is ensured by trade ties, other methods must be applied in Russia. The role of braces in Russia is played by the state, which controls the territory by administrative measures.
From the same basis, one can see the different roles of cities in Europe and Russia. If in Europe cities most often arose as settlements around places for bargaining, and the population of cities were free independent figures, then in Russia cities most often arise by order of the Ruler, as defensive or administrative centers inhabited by sovereign people. Cities arose as military fortresses in which people could safely settle under the protection of walls and a garrison.
The special role of the state in Russia, different from the role that the state plays in Europe, has determined the entire political system of our country from ancient times to the present day. And this special role of the state is determined, in turn, by the geographic location of Russia.
Under the pressure of their vital energy, the Russians are leading their expansion to the natural boundaries, which in the east today is Pacific Ocean, and in the south - the Caucasus and the Pamirs. The wide geographical settlement of the Russians led to the inclusion of other ethnic groups and peoples in the Russian Empire, and divided the territory of the Russian state into sovereign lands - the Caucasus, Turkestan, Siberia and others, while the unique central part of Russia - the edge of fields and birches - was preserved.
Geographical differences in the way of life of the sovereign lands, way of life, way of life are leveled by the presence of a single control center, but at the same time, the geographical features of the regions and peoples inhabiting them give a certain uniqueness and stability to Russia.
Geographical position, size of the state, stock of its strategic resources, development of communication lines are the most important factors shaping the image of a state, its historical path development, civilizational characteristics and tactical political decisions. Political geography- the most important discipline, without understanding which it is impossible to correctly imagine neither the character of the people, nor its history, nor the present, it is impossible to predict the future.

2. The influence of natural and climatic conditions on the economic and socio-political development of Russia.

LV Milov was one of the last to dwell on this problem. In his opinion, in central Russia, which formed the historical core of the Russian state (after its movement from Kiev to North-Eastern Russia), with all the fluctuations in the climate, the cycle of agricultural work was unusually short, taking only 125-130 working days.
East European Plain: the climate is sharply continental, harsh. And the soil is unfavorable - only 3% of chernozem, mainly clay and other infertile soils. Soloviev said that Russian nature became a stepmother for the Russian people. What is the unkindness here? First, the quality of the soil is very poor. However, the quality of the soil is not yet important. Most of us have suburban areas, we do not like to go there. However, the yield depends not so much on the quality of the soil as on the quality of processing.
The Russian did not have time for high-quality processing. Because the agricultural year lasted 135-147 days a year on average. From the 12th to the 18th century, there was a so-called Little Ice Age on the territory of Europe. The average monthly temperature was minus 37 degrees (in Moscow).
During the feudal era, the agricultural year was 140 days a year. Therefore, it was necessary to hurry, which led to a change, to the uniqueness of the structure of the economy. Only the most necessary things were grown. Therefore, cereal growing becomes the main one. Those. crops were grown that are drought tolerant and do not require maintenance.
Gardening was not practiced. They planted only what would grow by itself: turnips, rutabagas, peas.
Cities have always been surrounded by gardens (dachas). The townspeople in the summer were gardeners - they themselves took care of food. This influenced the nature of the craft. In Russia, a gardener in summer and a craftsman in winter.
For at least four centuries, the Russian peasant was in a situation where the thin soils required careful cultivation, and he simply did not have enough time for it, as well as for the preparation of feed for livestock. Using primitive tools, the peasant could only cultivate his arable land with minimal intensity, and his life most often directly depended only on the fertility of the soil and the vagaries of the weather.
In reality, with a given budget of working time, the quality of his farming was such that he could not always return even seeds to the harvest. In practice, this meant for the peasant the inevitability of labor without sleep and rest, day and night, using all the family's reserves. A peasant in the west of Europe, neither in the Middle Ages, nor in the new time, did not need such a exertion of strength, because the season of work there was much longer. The break in fieldwork in some countries was surprisingly short (December-January). Of course, this provided a much more favorable work rhythm. And the arable land could be worked much more thoroughly (4-6 times). This is the fundamental difference between Russia and the West, which can be traced back for centuries.
Low productivity, the dependence of labor results on weather conditions led to the extraordinary stability of communal institutions in Russia, which are a certain social guarantor of the survival of the bulk of the population. Land redistribution and equalization, various kinds of peasant "help" survived in Russia until 1917. The communal equalizing traditions survived after the First World War; they existed in the 1920s, right up to collectivization.
For three months a year he was a peasant, and the rest of the time he was a craftsman. Hence the quality and character of the craft. The trade was razor-sharp. The shops appeared only at the end of the 18th century. Those. before that, merchants went, changed, carried. Therefore, each handicraft was made for an abstract consumer.
In Europe, if you make a bad, low-quality product, then you disgrace your shop, brand.
The natural and climatic factor also influenced the unprofitableness of animal husbandry. Spring begins, there is nothing to sow, the peasant harnesses himself. Agriculture provided a low surplus product. That is, there was a low cost of living.
This gave rise to a peculiarity of the state structure. How does the state live? At the expense of taxes. If there is no surplus product, it means that it is difficult to take taxes, it must be a strong state, therefore a despotic state existed in Russia.
The social structure is changing. There is no surplus product, therefore, society cannot support the intelligentsia. However, there are needs for health care, art, science. And since there is no intelligentsia, then these functions are performed by religion.
Therefore, in Russia, until the surplus product began to grow, there was no intelligentsia, there was no secular literature or music. Russian culture until the 18th century had a religious character.
The natural and climatic factor also influenced the social structure. The countries of the first echelon left primitiveness by the 11th century, the community was outlived, and an individual economy came. In Russia, however, the communal structure survived until the 20th century. Even Stolypin's reform could not change anything. In other words, there was a communal organization in Russia. In these difficult conditions, the efforts of our reformers aimed at creating farms have come to nothing.
Also, the natural and climatic factor influenced psychology - community psychology is taking shape in Russia. So in Russian history there is a pull. This is from the times of Kievan Rus. Everyone struggled with it. There is a nourishment for this phenomenon - community psychology. Griboyedov expressed this well in Woe from Wit.
Another consequence of community psychology is egalitarianism. She has always been. Equalization is a lever for the self-preservation of communities. The community breaks down if the neighbor gets rich.
Since the Russian person was dependent on nature and weather (it was possible to work on arable land from morning to evening, however, an early drought or frost could ruin all work). Therefore, people believed in a miracle. Belief in miracles also manifested itself in folklore. All Russian characters in fairy tales miraculously received the joys of life. This hope for a miracle is, in general, characteristic of the Russian character, hence the unique, untranslatable words: perhaps, I suppose.
The natural and climatic factor largely determined the peculiarities of the national character of the Russians. First of all, we are talking about the ability of a Russian person to exert extreme strength, to concentrate for a relatively long period of time with all his physical and spiritual potency. At the same time, the eternal shortage of time, the absence of a correlation between the quality of agricultural work and the yield of grain for centuries did not develop in it a pronounced habit of thoroughness, accuracy in work, etc.
The extensive nature of agriculture, its riskiness played a significant role in the development in the Russian man of ease to change places, the eternal craving for the "sub-paradise land", for the white water, etc., to which Russia owes not least its vast territory, and at the same time multiplied in him a craving for traditionalism, rooting of habits. On the other hand, the difficult working conditions, the strength of communal traditions, and the inner feeling of the danger of pauperization threatening society, gave rise to the development of a sense of kindness, collectivism, and readiness for help in the Russian people. We can say that the Russian patriarchal, not in terms of economics, but in terms of its mentality, the peasantry did not accept capitalism.
Usually, the following geopolitical conditions are noted that influenced the specifics of Russian history: a vast, sparsely populated territory, a border unprotected by natural barriers, isolation (throughout almost all history) from the seas (and, accordingly, from sea trade), a river network favorable to the territorial unity of the historical core of Russia, the position of the Russian territories between Europe and Asia.
The poorly populated lands of the East European Plain and Siberia, which became the object of the application of the forces of the Russian people, had diverse consequences for its history. Vast land reserves provided favorable conditions for the outflow of the agricultural population from the historical center of Russia. This circumstance forced the state to strengthen control over the personality of the farmer (so as not to lose sources of income). The more in the course of historical development the needs of the state and society for a surplus product increased, the more rigid control became, leading in the 17th century to enslavement of a significant mass of the Russian peasantry.
On the other hand, due to the low population of the country, the Russians in the process of colonization had no need to win a "place in the sun" in the struggle against the indigenous peoples of Central Russia (Finno-Ugrians) and Siberia: there was enough land for everyone. "The Slavic tribes spread over vast spaces, along the banks of large rivers; when moving from south to north, they were supposed to meet with the Finnish tribes, but no legends have survived about hostile clashes between them: it can easily be assumed that the tribes did not quarrel much for the land, which there were so many and along which it was possible to settle so spaciously without resenting each other. "
The historical life of the Russian people was extremely complicated by such a factor as the natural openness of the borders of the Russian lands for foreign invasions from the West and the East. Russian territories were not protected by natural barriers: they were not protected by either the seas or mountain ranges. Naturally, this circumstance was used by neighboring peoples and states: Catholic Poland, Sweden, Germany (Livonian and Teutonic orders of knighthood in the Baltic States, Germany in the 1st and 2nd world wars) and even France (under Napoleon I), on the one hand, the nomads of the Great Steppe , with another.
The constant threat of military incursions and the openness of the border lines demanded colossal efforts from the Russian and other peoples of Russia to ensure their security: significant material costs, human resources (and this with a small and rare population). Moreover, security interests demanded a concentration of popular efforts: as a result, the role of the state should have increased enormously. The location between Europe and Asia made Russia open to influence from both the West and the East. Until the 13th century, development proceeded in a manner similar to and parallel to the European one. However, the active invasion of the West with the aim of seizing lands and planting Catholicism, which took place simultaneously with the Tatar-Mongol invasion, forced Russia to turn towards the East, which seemed to be a lesser evil.
Asian despotism as a form of state structure of the society of the emerging Moscow principality was determined by external, military circumstances, as well as internal, natural-geographical and socio-political factors. Therefore, when choosing forms of government, such democratic options as the Novgorod Republic or a representative monarchy with Zemsky Sobors were discarded in favor of autocracy.
In addition to the unfavorable ones, there were also geopolitical factors favorable for the historical development of Russia. The first of them is the specificity of the river network of the East European Plain, on which the Greek historian Herodotus drew attention: "In addition to many huge rivers, there is nothing more interesting in this country."
In fact, Soloviev echoes him, the vast expanse of ancient Scythia corresponds to gigantic systems of rivers that almost intertwine with each other, thus making up a water network throughout the country, from which it was difficult for the population to free itself for a special life; as everywhere, so here rivers served as guides for the first population: the tribes settled along them, the first cities appeared on them. Since the largest of them flow to the east or southeast, this also agreed on the predominant spread of the Russian state region in the indicated direction; rivers contributed much to the unity of the people and the state, and with all this, special river systems determined at the beginning special systems of regions and principalities. Thus, the river network united the country both politically and economically.
Another factor favorable for the history of Russia is that a significant part of the "Great Silk Road" from China to Europe passed through its territory. This circumstance created an objective interest of many countries and peoples in maintaining political stability along this great highway of antiquity, i.e. in the existence of the Eurasian Empire: first, the state of Genghis Khan became such an empire, then Russia.

3. The role of the natural and climatic factor in the formation of the Russian national character.

The influence of the natural and climatic factor on the specifics of Russian history was noted by many researchers of the originality of the Russian historical process (for example, the approach to this problem in the works of Russian historians Soloviev S.M., Klyuchevsky V.O., American Pipes R.).
The last one to dwell on this problem was LV Milov, who, in solving it, relied, perhaps, on the most solid factual basis. In his opinion, in Central Russia, which formed the historical core of the Russian state (after its movement from Kiev to North-Eastern Russia), “with all the fluctuations in the climate, the cycle of agricultural work was unusually short, taking only 125 - 130 working days (from about the middle April to mid-September according to the old style.) For at least four centuries, the Russian peasant could cultivate his arable land with only minimal intensity, and his life often directly depended only on soil fertility and the vagaries of the weather. time, the quality of his farming was such that he could not always return even seeds in the harvest ... In practice, this meant for the peasant the inevitability of work literally without sleep and rest, work day and night, using all the reserves of the family (labor of children and the elderly, for men's works of women, etc.). The peasant in the west of Europe, neither in the Middle Ages, nor in the new time, did not need such a exertion of strength, for this work zones was there much longer. The hiatus from field work in some countries was surprisingly short (December - January). Of course, this provided a more favorable work rhythm. And the arable land was worked much more thoroughly (4-6 times). This is the fundamental difference between Russia and the West, which can be traced back for centuries. "
The unfavorable conditions for farming, Milov believes, had a huge impact on the type of Russian statehood. With a relatively low volume of aggregate product, the ruling class created "rigid levers of the state mechanism aimed at withdrawing that share of the aggregate surplus product that went to the consumption of the state itself, the ruling class, society as a whole. This is where the centuries-old tradition of the despotic power of the Russian autocrat comes from. ultimately the origins of the serfdom regime in Russia ... ".
etc.................

Features of the historical development of Russia. Factors that determined the uniqueness of the development of Russia

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Topic: Natural and climatic conditions and their impact on Russian history and the mentality of Russians.

2012

Introduction

Conclusions.

List of used literature

Introduction

The conditions of the situation delayed economic evolution at the lower stages, but its further course in our country, as elsewhere, will proceed in the same order, in the direction of greater intensity, greater differentiation and greater socialization of labor.

historical evolution identity mentality

Natural and climatic conditions affecting the history of Russia

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