Social and Political Views of Alexey Filippov and Russian National Democrats

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze the social and political views of Alexey Filippov during the years of his cooperation with the Russian National Democrats. It reveals the achievements and gaps in the historiography of Filippov’s ideological biography. Considerable attention is paid to the formation of the thinker’s original views on the construction of the greatness of Russia by the hands of non-Russians. The reasons for the unpopularity of Filippov’s “progressive nationalism” and the conditions of his activity in St Petersburg since 1912 are considered. The article analyzes the collaboration of Filippov with Alexander Gariazin; the chronology and circumstances of their publication of the weekly “Dym Otechestva” and the monthly “Zhurnal Dlia Vsekh” (“The Journal for All”). Filippov’s sharp criticism of the leaders of the right-wing parties in Russia, the aristocracy, the ruling dynasty, ministers, the Holy Synod is emphasized. His loyalty to the monarchy as a form of government, and personally to Nicholas II, as well as the loyalty of other National Democrats, which they tried to use in confrontation with the All-Russian National Union and the Union of the Russian People, is pointed out. The positions of Filippov and his associates on Russian foreign policy, the reasons for their calls for the immediate war against Germany and Austria-Hungary are demonstrated. It is concluded that behind the eclecticism of Filippov’s views was hidden his sincere conviction in the necessity of combining democracy, rights and freedoms with strong imperial power and national patriotism. The article demonstrates the continuity of Filippov’s views throughout his life, including the Soviet period.