Define what is meant by Westernism in the context of Russian history, state when it appeared and list the main example of its manifestation

RU3720.3 Tolstoy

Assignment Due: 24th of September to Professor Romana H. Bahry

Submitted by Yuri Davydov

Define what is meant by Westernism in the context of Russian history, state when it appeared and list the main example of its manifestation

The definition set forth by Friedrich Hegel states that Westernisation is a process, the consequence of which is that the whole world was engulfed and forced to accept the “universal” cultural, economic and political values, all of which have been invented and “perfected” in the central powers of Europe. Its values lie with rational and scientific thinking as well as bureaucracy, and even parts of Western art, culture, music and architecture. However, the Cultural Revolution was not as extensive as the economic and industrial ones at the time. Russia, although part of Europe, has bypassed many phases of development including classical antiquity, the Renaissance, the reformation and beginning of scientific thinking, including the industrial revolution. It is because of this Russia was stated as being a clean slate, upon which many ideas of the west can be implemented, in my opinion a code word for experimentation. Russia was heavily Westernised in the 18^th century by Peter the Great. It was submitted to cultural values, myths, prejudices, architecture, politics, science and mathematics from England, France, Scandinavian countries, and many other European nations. At the end of the 18^th century, French has been placed as a language of the educated and the nobility in Russia, once again showing the extent of Russian Westernisation. Peasantry, however, refused to submit to this call. This sprung up a dilemma between the Russian Nationalists, mainly peasants and those of the lower class, who believed in Slavophilism and kept Russia from any political, economic and cultural reforms, and those of the higher class, such as aristocrats, who firmly believed in the continued westernization of Russia. The nationalists gave a loud outcry, stating that the ideals of the western world have been founded on blood and oppression, social rebellions and class struggles in central Europe. This lead them to create an ideal of utopian, pre-Petrine Russia, in which life was simple, communities were united under Christianity, ruled over by the spirit of the Orthodox Church. In reality Russia was not much like this. Pyotr Chaadaev (1794-1856) has stated that Russia’s biggest problem was having been cut off from Roman-Mediterranean world of its time, having lost contact with classical Christian Europe and that only through Peter the Great can this window be reopened. During the times of the Russian revolution(s) in the early 20^th century, Lenin had used many Marxist ideas; however, there was a twist. Marxists ideas are universal, and the main point is that a people must overcome their past to endure their future, and the need for industrialization and rationalization. So technically, when we look at Soviet culture, it is a sort of irony that so much of it has been fused with a sort of hatred towards the west, strong nationalism, and all sorts of patriotic ideas, as well as the fear of the Russian past. Only a few sample points of the Westernization throughout the post-Petrian Russia have been stated, however the main ideas are expressed as a sort of chronological rundown.

Bibliography: Cyril Black, The Dynamics of Modernization. 1966. Martin Malia, Alexander Herzen and the Birth of Russian Socialism. 1961. Nadezhda Mandelstam, Hope Against Hope. 1970. Raymond McNally, The Major Works of Peter Chaadaev. 1969. Lewis Mumford, The Myth of the Machine: Volume 2. The Pentagon of Power. 1970. Andrei Sakharov, Progress, Coexistence and Intellectual Freedom. 1968. Benjamin Schwartz, In Search of Wealth and Power: Yen Fu and the West. 1964. Victor Terras, Belinskij and Russian Literary CriticismL The heritage of Organic Aesthetits. 1973. William Woehrlin, Chenyshevskii: The Man and the Journalist. 1971.

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