Во имя нигилизма. Американское общество друзей русской свободы и русская революционная эмиграция (1890-1930 гг.)

The introduction provides an analysis of the historiography and the historical sources of the research. It explains that the main method of the research is prosopography. Prosopography is the study of the biographical data of individuals, who have firm social ties. A prosopographical approach helps historians to elucidate the social context of a group of people as well as the external individual characteristics of a person. The SAFRF was a small group of American reformers who actively supported the Russian opposition, which was fighting for political rights in the Russian empire. All SAFRF members enjoyed common social features, shared similar political views and cultural values, and belonged to one geographical region. The majority of the Americans were former abolitionist activists and social reformers. In 1891 SAFRF received support mainly from the American Northeast. 37 signatures represented 5 states: Massachusetts (17 people), New York (13), Connecticut (2), Pennsylvania (2), Rhode Island (2) as well as Washington, D. C. (1). One signature represented the support from Omaha. This was the signature of Dr. Joseph T. Duryea, who moved to the Midwest from Boston, where he had spent ten years as a pastor of the Central Congregational Church, in late 1890.

The first chapter, “Beginnings,” opens with an analysis of the preconditions for the appearance of the SAFRF. In particular, attention is paid to the influence of S. Stepniak’s revolutionary agitation abroad among American and English friends of Russian Freedom. Stepniak stressed in his works that Russian nihilism was a moderate movement demanding political freedom and rights by radical means. Stepniak’s personal contacts with Americans played a crucial role in establishing the SAFRF.

The formation of the SAFRF and the publication of the American edition of “Free Russia” took place in close collaboration with Russian political emigrants, who later joined the SRs – Felix Volkhovsky and Egor Lazarev. Although the American editor of “Free Russia,” L. Goldenberg, was a non-party revolutionist, he kept the tight personal connections with the Russian socialist-revolutionists throughout his life.

Russian revolutionaries also planned to help of political exiles escape from Siberia to the USA through Japan and Canada to provide the public with obvious evidence of the abuses of the Tzarist government. Nevertheless, the plan had completely failed by 1892. Moreover, one of the organizers of this illegal enterprise, N. Baranov (Perekrestoff), was exposed by the secret agent of the Russian police, A. M. Evalenko.

The second chapter, “Agitation,” examines the attempts of the SAFRF to incite incite agitation in support of Russian nihilists in North America. The main outcome of the SAFRF’s activities in 1891-1894 was the formation of the image of “despotic Russia” on the pages of the “Free Russia” magazine. According to this interpretation, Russia would have to free itself from “barbaric” power and choose a “civilized” way of development. Criticizing the Russian autocracy, the American friends of Russian Freedom drew parallels with American history, and argued that Russian nihilists were almost identical to the American colonists of the eighteenth century who fought against British rule. The members of the SAFRF proffered to readers of the magazine their own ideas about how to free Russia, viewing the Russian Empire as a mission object to civilize according to American values. The second chapter also deals with the public campaigning of the SAFRF to raise funds for starving Russian peasants in 1892 and to abrogate of ratification of the Russian-American extradition treaty (1887) in 1893-1894. However, the resources of the SAFRF were too modest to allow for a large-scale campaign. The modest savings of the SAFRF had run out by the summer of 1894 and in June the organization ceased to publish the American edition and activity ceased.

The third chapter, “Resurrection and Disillusionment,” studies the renewal of the activity of the American friends of Russian Freedom at the beginning of the twentieth century. The resumption of agitation for Free Russia occurred at the same time as the establishment of the American Committee of the SRs. This committee organized an American tour for one of the prominent socialist-revolutionaries, Ekaterina Breshko-Breshkovskaia. The Russian Revolution of 1905 and the successful lectures of Breshko-Breshkovskaia in the large cities of the American Northeast led to the formation of Societies of Friends of Russian Freedom in New York, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Haven, and Cincinnati. The most active society was in New York, while other societies ceased to exist after the defeat of the 1905 revolution.