Klyuchevsky's essay "The Course of Russian History" is a scientific classic, which is still being published by both print and electronic publishing houses. The scientific contribution that the scientist made to the history of Russia cannot be overestimated.
"Course of Russian History" is the most complete study and presentation of political and economic facts from the history of the Russian state. Klyuchevsky is an outstanding and outstanding personality, a professor at the Faculty of History of Moscow University and a person with an active civic position. His scientific works are distinguished by a clear structure, logic and strict compliance with the facts.
Who is Klyuchevsky
Vasily Osipovich Klyuchevsky - the famous Russian historian, scientist, professor of the MoscowUniversity, as well as an academician of the Imperial Academy of Sciences of St. Petersburg. Born January 28, 1841.
Klyuchevsky is the author of numerous scientific works on the history of Russia, where he analyzes events and sheds light on entire eras.
Childhood and youth
The scientist was born in 1841 in the Penza province. His homeland is the village of Voznesenskoye. However, his family did not live there for very long. In 1850, after the death of his father, Osip Vasilievich, a poor parish priest, his family moved to Penza.
There Vasily entered the parochial school, which he successfully graduated in 1856. Then Klyuchevsky went to study at the theological seminary. And already from the second year he earned by giving private lessons. He spent money to support his family. Everyone thought that Vasily would become a clergyman. However, he dropped out of seminary before his senior year and began studying for university exams by studying on his own from books.
In 1861 he entered the Moscow University at the Faculty of History. There he met such prominent professors as Sergei Solovyov and Konstantin Pobedonostsev. Communication with them had a great impact not only on his scientific point of view, but also on his personality.
Klyuchevsky's graduation work was called "Tales of foreigners about the Muscovite state". He did a lot of research, studying many records of foreigners about Russia in the 15th-17th centuries. The work was appreciated and awarded a gold medal, and Vasily OsipovichKlyuchevsky became a candidate of sciences.
Scientific career
After defending his first work, the scientist was engaged in teaching activities, and also worked on a master's thesis. The dissertation was interesting and very useful. Its theme is "The Lives of the Saints as a Source of Historical Knowledge". He also did a great job gathering information.
Having defended his master's thesis in 1871, Klyuchevsky began to teach at higher educational institutions, having received the status of a master. He lectured on Russian history at the Moscow Theological Academy. He also continued teaching at the Alexander Military School and other educational institutions.
And since 1879, Vasily Osipovich began teaching at the Department of Russian History at Moscow University, adequately replacing his teacher Solovyov, who had died by that time. In parallel, he worked on his doctoral dissertation "Boyar Duma of Ancient Russia".
In 1882 it was adopted and published.
And in 1885, Klyuchevsky was admitted to the staff of Moscow University as a professor.
In 1887 he became the dean of the Faculty of History and Philology, where he began his studies once. Under his leadership, many master's theses were defended. However, he continued to engage in not only scientific, but also teaching activities, teaching history at various educational institutions in Moscow.
In 1900, Vasily Osipovich was elected a full member of the AcademySciences of St. Petersburg. In 1901 he was admitted to her staff. And in 1908 he became an honorary academician of belles-lettres.
In 1906, the professor received an offer to become a member of the State Council from the Academy of Sciences, but, oddly enough, Klyuchevsky refused this title without hesitation. He considered that his presence in the Council would interfere with the free discussion of state issues.
Klyuchevsky's personality and private life
Even during his lifetime, his figure was surrounded by a halo of various conjectures, as he spoke little about himself and was quite secretive in everything that concerned his personal life.
However, many contemporaries left notes about him in their memoirs, which can be used to make an approximate portrait of him. Also, the identity of the historian can be judged by his own memoirs and aphorisms. However, according to the professor's contemporaries, they were written by him with a he althy dose of humor.
Klyuchevsky was in all respects an outstanding personality. Even during his student days, he was distinguished by ascetic inclinations, trying to shoot the most modest rooms when he traveled on business. Already during his teaching career, Vasily Osipovich wore the same frock coat, by which students recognized him.
The professor was remarkable for his amazing performance and endurance. He could lecture for many hours in a row, without getting tired at all, until the very advanced years.
The professor did not shy away from female attention, his witty charm invariably attracting ladies.
Many memoirs of Klyuchevsky's contemporaries note his self-reflection, the desire to focus on his inner experiences and the tendency to leave society, seeking salvation in solitude and nature.
Vasily Osipovich was a man of a subtle psychological warehouse. Despite his relatively calm disposition, he perceived many phenomena very emotionally.
According to Milyukov, a student of Klyuchevsky, his teacher found it difficult to establish relationships with people because of his tendency to analyze everything and remain alone.
Contemporaries also noted in him the lack of desire to imitate anyone. As a professional, he was free from any dogmas and scientific stereotypes, which makes him a truly outstanding thinker.
Scientific works and publications of Klyuchevsky
The history of the Russian state has attracted a scientist since the seminary.
In parallel with his career at the university, Klyuchevsky was very actively engaged in research activities.
He published and published more than ten large-scale works covering various periods and issues of Russian history.
His work played an important role in the development of Russian historical science. Vasily Osipovich's research is distinguished by the depth of his judgments and the qualitative study of the material.
His works were popular with his contemporaries. And at present it is difficult to imagine historical science without the works of Vasily Osipovich.
Bibliography
In 1904Mr. Vasily Klyuchevsky began to publish the "Course of Russian History" - the most famous and large-scale work, which received worldwide recognition. He has been working on this study for more than thirty years. In the period from 1867 to 1904, he wrote more than ten works on various issues of the past of Russia.
In the presentation of the history of the Russian state, Klyuchevsky Vasily Osipovich was the first to single out the influence of economic and political factors on the life of the country. In his works, the professor shows a brilliant knowledge of Russian history. Looks at things from an unexpected angle, introduces new concepts.
Thus, his Ph. D. thesis is an example of a deep study of folk epos, church literature in terms of historical accuracy and the ability to get a clear idea of many historical events, as well as the way of life of Ancient Russia.
The most impressive and main work of his is the "Course of Russian History". This book is still being reprinted.
Merit of Klyuchevsky
Vasily Osipovich was a brilliant lecturer and teacher who could attract the attention and interest of almost every student. They went to his lectures with pleasure and tried not to miss it.
As a researcher of Russian history, Klyuchevsky collected a lot of factual material. These are traditions, features of life, as well as many different facts. He studied the activities and way of life of old monasteries, made portraits of historical figures. Klyuchevsky's researchare still included in the mandatory program for the study of Russian history at the faculties of history and the humanities.
The professor also had an active civic position, which he did not hesitate to express in his scientific papers, lectures and publications. Klyuchevsky was a liberal. However, the scientist was not engaged in active political activity.
Course of Russian history
The scientist started working on his book back in 1870, collecting a huge amount of facts and systematizing them.
Even while writing his Ph. D. thesis, he began to collect material for his most famous and large-scale publication, since many sources were outside the scope of his work. There was a lot of evidence left that was worth publishing in scientific circles.
Materials from chronicles, church documents and statutes - all this formed the basis of his book. He also relied on the works of other scientists, for example, Klyuchevsky learned a lot of facts in the "History of the Russian State" (author Nikolai Karamzin). This applies to events related to the end of the reign of Ivan the Terrible. And he developed many concepts using the thoughts of his teachers, for example, Sergei Solovyov, while introducing the author's point of view.
How are Klyuchevsky's "Course of Russian History" and Karamzin's "History of the Russian State" related
Nikolai Karamzin was a historian who fully outlined the history of Russia up to the 17th century, based on the scientific data of his predecessors, bringing them under his concept. According to Karamzin,the historical process is the natural course of human progress, during which knowledge struggles with ignorance. The main role in it is played by outstanding scientists and politicians, without whom there simply cannot be progress.
Klyuchevsky had a different view of the historical process. He saw the populace as his driving force. However, Vasily Osipovich took the analysis of the unification of Russian lands after feudal fragmentation and the formation of autocratic power, proposed by Karamzin, as the basis for describing this period in his course. After all, it was Karamzin who suggested using comparative historical analysis in developing concepts.
Klyuchevsky appreciated this approach in his own works, but he himself emphasized the study of the originality of Russian history and those of its phenomena that are not found in the development of other states. He also brought a lot of social and even socio-psychological to the vision of history.
Contents of the book "Course of Russian History"
The history of the Russian state according to Klyuchevsky is divided into 4 periods.
The first, the earliest, is when Russia was a loosely connected city along the banks of the Dnieper River. It lasted from the 8th to the 13th century.
The second is the period of specific principalities. Russia is still divided into many cities, which are now located on the banks of the Oka and Volga. There were many free peasants who produced agricultural goods that formed the basis of the then economy. The period went on13th to 15th century.
Third is the time of colonization. During this period, the Russian lands, previously scattered, began an active unification under the leadership of Moscow. Serfdom emerged. This period lasted from the 15th to the 17th century.
The fourth is the time of the formation of the Russian Empire, autocratic power. The basis of the economy is both the labor of the peasants and the emerging industry. The period lasted until the time of Klyuchevsky himself.
The content of the history of the Russian state, classified in this way, corresponds to the periods that the historian singled out in his course.
About the historical process
Klyuchevsky believed that without knowledge of history it is impossible to understand who we are and where we came from. And, accordingly, it is impossible to predict the direction of the path along which the state or even humanity is going. Vasily Osipovich understood the historical process itself as the interaction of unions and societies.
The infinite variety of unions that make up human society comes from the fact that the basic elements of community life in different places and at different times are not in the same selection, they come in different combinations, and the variety of these combinations is created in turn not only the number and selection of components, the greater or lesser complexity of human unions, but also the different ratio of the same elements, for example, the predominance of one of them over others.
This is exactly what Klyuchevsky writes in his work. The history of the Russian state for him is infirst of all, the process of forming relations between social groups.
It was public relations that the professor considered the engine of history and the catalyst for progress. For example, Klyuchevsky believed that serf labor was not as effective as the labor of free peasants. The professor claimed that he kills the initiative and corrupts the individual.
At the same time, the nature of social relations greatly affects the degree of progress of society. The history of the Russian state of Klyuchevsky, presented in 4 parts of the course, had positive reviews in scientific circles. Many generations of historians have been studying the Course of Russian History.
The significance of Klyuchevsky as a historian
In addition to providing a lot of scientific facts, the scientist was the first to abandon the chronological presentation of events from his writings, focusing on concepts. A brief summary of the history of the Russian state of Klyuchevsky can be found on many modern scientific Internet resources. His work is, of course, a step forward in comparison with the work of Karamzin N.
The work of the scientist had a great influence on the development of sociology, since many facts were presented within the framework of sociological paradigms. And also much in the works of Klyuchevsky influenced the formation and development of modern political science. The memory of the scientist is alive, in Russia there are many monuments to the scientist and museums introducing different periods of his life.
