The Russian Movement of the 1960–1980s

This article is dedicated to the phenomenon of the Russian movement in the second half of the 20th century — the successors of the political programs of pre‑revolutionary conservatives and post‑revolutionary emigrant conservative thinkers that emerged in the 1960s in the USSR. In this sense, the Russian movement, mainly consisting of dissidents and having an anti‑communist orientation, is contrasted with the so‑called legal Russian party, which attempted to connect the values of pre‑revolutionary Russia with the Soviet period and see it as an organic continuation and embodiment of the former. The history and activities of the All‑Russian Society of Cultural and Historical Heritage and its members I. V. Ogurtsov, V. N. Osipov, and their self‑published journal “Veche”, as well as A.I. Solzhenitsyn and I. R. Shafarevich, are examined. The ideology of the All‑Russian Society of Cultural and Historical Heritage is analyzed, including its attitude towards revolution, economic positions, critique of Marxism‑Leninism, foundations of the desired Christian‑social corporative system, and program of Christianizing society. The key milestones in the history of the journal “Veche” and the almanac “Moscow Collection” are presented. The role of priest Dmitry Dudko in the development of the Russian movement is reviewed. Special attention in the article is given to A.I. Solzhenitsyn, whom the author considers the most influential and key figure in the Russian conservative movement of the second half of the 20th century. The ideological content of the collection “From Under the Rubble” is examined, with Solzhenitsyn and Shafarevich being the central authors. The author concludes that the organizational destruction of the Russian movement in the Soviet Union in the late 1970s and early 1980s predetermined the course of Russian history, paving the way for liberal‑Western forces preparing for the restructuring and radical reforms of the 1990s. As a result, during the critical period for the country from 1987 to 1993, the Russian movement did not produce any universally recognized leaders who could offer an alternative to the liberal course of the country. Nevertheless, the intellectual developments of the Russian movement in subsequent decades have been in demand within the conservative political camp and continue to be so to this day.

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