The names of M. Ilyin, N. Berdyaev, P. Sorokin, S. Bulgakov are world famous. All these are Russian people, thinkers and philosophers who became exiles from their Motherland. They and many other representatives of the Russian intelligentsia left Russia in the autumn of 1922 under duress. Philosophical ship - this is the collective name given to two ships that set off from Russia to Germany, on board of which were representatives of the intelligentsia expelled from the country who did not accept the Bolshevik ideology.
Recently there have been publications and documentaries proving that the philosophical ship is an invention of the Bolsheviks, that in fact not so many people were deported. And the main purpose of the hype is to make Western European governments believe that opponents of the Bolshevik regime have gone to Europe. But in fact, there were spies, intelligence officers who were supposed to prepare the ground for the world revolution, which the Social Democrats of Russia then dreamed about.
Let's turn tofacts. In the early 1920s, an authoritarian regime was established in Russia, headed by Lenin. Political life was under complete control, high-profile trials were held against the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, and a single ideological system was formed. But cultural and spiritual life seemed to go beyond the framework of this unified policy. The Silver Age, which was marked by a surge in art, philosophical and scientific thought, continued its development by inertia. The intelligentsia, free-thinking, capable of critically evaluating communist ideology, posed a danger to the emerging regime. Read "The Heart of a Dog", you will understand much about the situation of thinking people of that time.
In such circumstances, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopts the law "On administrative expulsion", the logical conclusion of which was the philosophical ship. The year 1922 was marked by the arrests of intellectuals suspected of counter-revolutionary inclinations, who were faced with a choice: either “voluntary” departure, or prison, or even execution.
According to the memoirs of Nikolai Berdyaev, it is clear that "voluntary" emigrants were processed. After spending a week in prison, Berdyaev signed a receipt stating that he would not return to his homeland. Otherwise, he would have been shot. Many satellites of Nikolai Alexandrovich underwent similar processing.
Across Russia, lists were formed objectionable to the new government. Among them were doctors, agronomists, engineers, artists and philosophers. The latter have made a special contribution to the development of the worldphilosophy, sociology, political science.
In total, the philosophical ship took away from Russia about 200 of its best representatives. Having traced the life path of many, we will understand that they were honest people, far from rich, for most of them emigration was not easy, and until the end of their days they remained Russian in spirit. The ordeal that befell Russia in 1941-1945 did not leave indifferent those expelled from the country. To the best of their ability, they helped the Motherland and the Soviet army in the fight against fascism.
The ship on which the emigrants were expelled was called the “philosophical ship”. 1922 was the last year for them in Russia. The only exception is the religious philosopher and historian Lev Karsavin. In the late 1920s, he moved to Lithuania, which soon became part of the USSR. In 1950, Lev Platonovich was arrested at the age of 68 on charges of anti-Soviet conspiracy and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Died in custody.
These are the facts. Perhaps the philosophical steamer was carrying several people who played the role of double agents. However, this does not change the essence of the matter. It is important to understand that the philosophical ship was the result of a struggle to manage society, as a result, the best minds of Russia were eliminated.
