Slavophile

Slavophile, in Russian history, member of a 19th-century intellectual movement that wanted Russia’s future development to be based on values and institutions derived from the country’s early history. Developing in the 1830s from study circles concerned with German philosophy, the Slavophiles were influenced greatly by Friedrich Schelling. The movement was centred in Moscow and attracted wealthy, well-educated, well-traveled members of the old aristocracy. Among its leaders were Aleksey S. Khomyakov, the brothers Konstantin S. and Ivan S. Aksakov, the brothers Ivan V. and Pyotr V. Kireyevsky, and Yury F. Samarin. Their individual interests covered a broad range of topics, including philosophy, history, theology, philology, and folklore; but they all concluded that Russia should not use western Europe as a model for its development and modernization but should follow a course determined by its own character and history.

They considered western Europe, which had adopted the Roman Catholic and Protestant religions, as morally bankrupt and regarded Western political and economic institutions (e.g., constitutional government and capitalism) as outgrowths of a deficient society. The Russian people, by contrast, adhered to the Russian Orthodox faith; thus, according to the Slavophiles, through their common faith and church, the Russian people were united in a “Christian community,” which defined natural, harmonious, human relationships.

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Russian Empire: Slavophiles and Westernizers

The Slavophiles considered the Russian peasant commune an uncorrupted representation of the “Christian community.” They also believed that the autocratic form of government was well suited to a people spiritually bound together. Viewing Russia as potentially able to develop according to the “Christian community” model, the Slavophiles also thought that once such a society was established, Russia’s duty would be to revitalize the West by reintroducing spiritual values there to replace rationalism, materialism, and individualism.

But the Slavophiles also realized that their contemporary society did not represent their ideal. They believed that Peter I the Great (reigned 1682–1725), by introducing reforms imitating the West, had corrupted Russia, driven a wedge between the nobility and the peasantry, and upset the natural social relationships. They despised the state bureaucracy organized under Peter and his church reforms that had undermined spiritual authority.

In order to perfect Russian society and to restore the autocracy and the church in their ideal forms, the Slavophiles urged extensive reforms, including the emancipation of serfs, curtailment of the bureaucracy, the granting of civil liberties (i.e., freedom of speech, press, and conscience), and the establishment of an institution representing the whole people (similar to the veche or the zemsky sobor of pre-Petrine Russia).

Although they enthusiastically approved some facets of Russian society and held views resembling the government’s official doctrine of narodnost (“nationality”), which emphasized the superior character of the Russian people, Nicholas I objected to their criticism of his regime (which, of course, was based on Peter’s reforms). His government censored their journals and generally tried to suppress the movement. The Slavophiles were also opposed intellectually by the Westernizers, a group that developed simultaneously with them but insisted that Russia imitate the Western pattern of modernization and introduce constitutional government into the tsarist autocracy.

The Slavophiles were most active during the 1840s and ’50s. After the Crimean War (1853–56), the death of its foremost leaders (1856 and 1860), and the promulgation of the reforms of Alexander II (1860s), the movement declined. Its principles were adapted and simplified by extreme nationalists, Pan-Slavists, and revolutionary Populists (Narodniki). In addition to their influence on those movements, the Slavophiles individually made significant contributions to their various fields of study, particularly theology (with Khomyakov’s theory of sobornost, a spiritual unity and religious community based on a free commitment to Orthodoxy), Russian history, and folklore.