Liberal subculture and cultural-enlightenment institutions in Siberia on the cusp of the 19th and 20th centuries

The article describes how the representatives of the Siberian liberal society participated in the educational activities on the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries which helps to close the historiographic gap on this topic. The author aims to trace continuity in the development of the liberal subculture’s traditions that were embodied in the routine practices of its representatives. The study is based on the press publications, unpublished records of cultural-enlightenment institutions, local authorities, and police. Using these primary sources, the author shows that many future members of the Cadets or Oktyabrists parties were initially involved in public activity through their work in educational and scientific organizations. Even though these people had different motives, social status, professional background, and political preferences, they were united by their belief that the full development of the personality was necessary to fulfill the ideal of civic liberty. After the Rescript of February 18, 1905, had been published, it became possible for the educational organization to take part in the development of projects for reforms. They actively participated in this process because they realized that, with the existing social and political structure, they had very limited opportunities to achieve their objectives. At the same time, among others, their work started developing in a new direction related to providing political education and forming strong legal awareness in society. But the reflection on the events of the First Russian Revolution and the reaction that followed these events became the impulse to restore the traditional priorities of the liberal enlightenment and to concentrate on the development of culture broadly speaking. Even though some new organizational forms of the educational work had appeared and the spheres of the social activity had broadened, the main motives, that shaped the essence and aims, remained unchanged. The author concludes that the continuity in the educational practices of the liberals was based on the core principle of the liberal world-view. Its invariant framework included the acknowledgment of the intrinsic value of personality and individual liberty as well as understanding that it was impossible to start social reconstruction according to these principles without a certain level of culture.

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