Stepan Timofeevich Razin: a state criminal or a national hero?

In 1670-1671, S.T. Razin led a revolt with the aim of social revolution. The present article examines the personality of S.T. Razin based on two blocks of the sources: the works of local historians of the pre-revolutionary period and folk songs of Ste-pan Razin. The historiography of the pre-revolutionary period of the works is represented by the following works. The book of the first Russian hydrographer Fedor Ivanovich Soymonov Opisanie Kaspiyskago morya i chinennykh na onom rossiyskikh zavoevaniy, yako chast' istorii gosudarya imperatora Petra Velikago [Description of the Caspian Sea and of the Russian Conquests in it as Part of the History of Emperor Peter the Great] was written in 1723 (it was published only forty years later in 1763). In this book F.I. Soymonov negatively characterizes S.T. Razin, vividly describing scenes of his cruelty. The idea that the death of his elder brother could not be the real reason for Razin's actions is expressed in A.P. Sumarokov's Sokrashchennaya povest' o Sten 'ke Razine [A Reduced Tale of Stenka Razin] (1774). N.I. Fomin is the only author who gives a physical description of S.T. Razin in Stenka Razin (Rus., 1836), reducing it to the image of a charismatic military man. In addition, only N.I. Fomin's book has a story about a certain prophecy which was given to S.T. Razin by a stranger in Cherkassk. A.N. Popov's Istoriya vozmushcheniya Sten 'ki Razina [The Story of Stenka Razin's Rebellion] (1857) is the first major book on the subject of Razin's Movement, which the author published together with a collection of sources on this issue. The works of S.M. Solovyov, N.I. Kostomarov and S.F. Platonov are characterized by liberality and fundamentalism; the historians study the subject of Rasin's Movement as part of the history of the Russian state. Solovyov characterizes the actions of the rebels as hopeless: due to the closure of the Azov and the Black Seas in the thirteen-year war with Poland, Cossacks needed money and food. According to S.F. Platonov, Rasin's Movement was prepared by the government by its actions in legislation, namely, by the publication of Ulozhenie 1648 goda [The Code of 1648]. Thus, according to S.F. Platonov, S.T. Razin's motives did not affect the developing actions. Songs about Razin were taken from the collection Russkie pesni [Russian Songs] compiled by Professor I.N. Rozanov in 1952. All information of historians can be reduced to a generalized image of S.T. Razin. He was prudent, cruel and treacherous. He skillfully manipulated people of different social classes and nationalities in accordance with the situation in the country. In addition, Razin had military experience and certain prestige. The main motive of S.T. Razin was economic. But the opposite is the image of Razin in folk songs. Razin as the image created in folk songs is a prototype of the epic hero, defender of the Russian people. But this image appeared because people needed hope that this character could help them in the deteriorating living conditions.

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