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What does "third element" mean?

Encyclopedic Dictionary, 1998

third element

in Russia, the conventional name for the democratic intelligentsia who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration (“1st element”) and zemstvo vowels (“2nd element”).

Third element

"The Third Element", the conventional name for the various intelligentsia who served as employees in zemstvo institutions (agronomists, statisticians, technicians, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, insurance agents, etc.). The term "T. e.”, in contrast to the “first element” (government and administrative) and the “second” (zemstvo elective), came into use in the 1900s. In 34 provinces of Russia there were at the end of the 19th century. 65≈70 thousand zemstvo employees. As part of "T. e." there were many bourgeois liberals, populists, and there were social democrats. Thanks to T. e." The cultural and economic activities of the zemstvo became widespread, especially in the field of medicine, sanitation and school affairs. Strengthening the role of "T. e." met with opposition from the tsarist administration and conservative zemstvo nobles.

The role of the “third element” in zemstvo self-government in Russia.

Key words: zemstvo officials, zemstvo, zemstvo reform, intelligentsia, “third element”

Abstract: the article is devoted to the issue of the formation of a social stratum, called the “third zemstvo element” in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, and also touches upon the aspect of the “special” position and role of the zemstvo intelligentsia in the state in this historical period. It was concluded that the “third element” predetermined the fate of the Russian zemstvo and played an important role in the development of such areas as statistics, education and health care.

Keywords: zemski state workers, zemstvo, zemskaya reform, intelligentsia, “tretiy element”

The article covers the formation of the social level, received the name “third element” in the second part of the XIXth-in the beginning of the XXd, as well as the aspect of the “special” status and the part of zemskoi intelligentsii is touched upon in the state at this historical period. The conclusion was made that “third element” predetermined the destiny of the Russian zemstvo and played a very important role in the development of such fields as statistics, education and health care.

“In Russia there are two ruling “classes”: 1) Administration and 2) Representatives of the estates. There is no place for the third element in a class monarchy. And if unruly economic development increasingly undermines class foundations by the very growth of capitalism and creates a need for “intellectuals”, the number of which is ever increasing, then one must inevitably expect that the third element will try to expand the narrow framework for it” 1, pointed out V.I. Lenin in the magazine "Zarya" in 1901. At the same time, B.B. Veselovsky, the greatest expert on zemstvo history, gave the following assessment of this social stratum: “Zemstvo employees were not only mercenaries, but also participants in the general zemstvo business. They connected their cultural and partly political aspirations with it; for them it was more than a field for “service” - they sought to work, not “serve” 2.

The appearance of zemstvo employees dates back to the time of the creation of zemstvos. In the “Regulations on Zemstvo Institutions” of 1864. states: “To perform such duties in zemstvo affairs, which by their nature require special knowledge and training, zemstvo councils can invite outsiders.” In 1899-1900 Samara vice-governor Kondoidi, at the opening of the session of the provincial zemstvo assembly, he called persons who did not belong either to the administration or to the representatives of the estates “the third element.” This term quickly spread and received all the rights of citizenship.

The analysis of this society is important both in terms of a definite summing up of the modernization of Russia, and in terms of a conceptual understanding of the role played by the socio-political and cultural activities of zemstvo employees, who for the first time worked in an organized manner in the Russian village and went down in history under the name of the “third element” 3 .

Among the authors of works devoted to the history of the zemstvo intelligentsia, one should name the pre-revolutionary researchers B.B. Veselovsky, N.I. Iordansky, F.A. Danilov, A.N. Potresov; Soviet historians N.M. Pirumov, V.R. Leikin-Svirskaya, E.G. Kornilov, A.V. Ushakov, G.A. Gerasimenko, V.A. Gornov, E.N. Morozov, T.A. Veprentsev and, of course, representatives of the latest Russian historiography L. A. Zhukov, A. G. Vazhenin, P. V. Galkin, L. E. Laptev, V. G. Badanov.

The range of sources containing certain data on the creation of the zemstvo intelligentsia and its professional activities is extremely diverse. Regulations on zemstvo institutions, decrees, legalizations, orders directly related to the emergence of zemstvo employees as a certain category of persons associated with “local benefits and needs,” as well as with the formation of the activities of individual professional associations (doctors, teachers, statisticians). This also includes government orders that relate not only to zemstvo employees, but also cover the scope of their activities.

The development and growth of the zemstvo intelligentsia, according to N.I. Iordansky, represented “a natural product of the entire development of the Russian zemstvo, an inevitable consequence of the growing importance of the middle classes and a necessary vital correction for the errors of the formal legal zemstvo organization” 4.

The appearance of zemstvo employees, as they are also called zemstvo intelligentsia, was one of the results of the implementation of the zemstvo reform of 1864. In Soviet times, the term “intelligentsia” underwent a radical semantic transformation. The starting point for historians was Lenin’s definition, according to which the intelligentsia is a social stratum of people engaged in mental work. We cannot but agree with E.V. Chernysheva that as a result of such a professional approach, the concepts of zemstvo employee, zemstvo intelligentsia, and “third element” have become identical 5 .

We can give the following definition of the zemstvo intelligentsia - this is a layer of qualified specialists in the service of zemstvo institutions. Their number constantly increased and over time reached impressive sizes, far exceeding the number of elected zemstvo vowels 6. The Great Soviet Encyclopedia defines the “third element” as “the conventional name for the common intelligentsia who served as employees in zemstvo institutions (agronomists, statisticians, technicians, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, insurance agents, etc.). The term “Third Element,” in contrast to the “first element” (government and administrative) and the “second” (zemstvo elective), came into use in the 1900s. The “third element” included many bourgeois liberals, populists, and there were also social democrats 7 .

From the end of the 19th century, namely from the 80s, the “third element” began to organize, gather its forces, in order to openly come out in the 90s with a claim to closer participation in the direction of zemstvo affairs. With the complication of zemstvo life, which was especially evident from the mid-90s, the influence of civilian specialists became greater, and A.I. Novikov quite rightly notes that at present “the center of gravity of the zemstvo organization lies not in elected people, but in “ third element"

Until the 90s, the provincial zemstvo economy was extremely poorly developed, the management of most counties was also not very complex, and elected officials of the councils (“the second element”) had the opportunity to stand closer to everyday work. But in the 90s, with the increase in estimates, with the development of credit and other operations, a completely different picture is observed. Number of elected elements of councils for 1886-1903. almost did not increase, but the army of hired employees more than doubled, and by 1908. it reached 65-70 thousand people 8.

Since the beginning of the 90s, there has been a general rise in mood. As a result of the aggravation of the agricultural crisis and the implementation of government policy in favor of industrialists, oppositional ferment intensified in the advanced strata of landowner circles and political aspirations revived, although at first only to a weak extent. These aspirations acquired a real character only under two conditions: firstly, it would be necessary to build them on a socio-economic basis - on the basis of protecting, to one degree or another, the cultural and material needs of the mass of the peasantry, and secondly, it should be one way or another approach these masses differently and secure their sympathy in the struggle that was to be waged against the “bureaucracy” 9 . On both sides, the “third element” acted as a mediator.

“The absence of interests among the zemstvo intelligentsia as a whole that contradicted the needs of the working classes,” writes Mr. Bilevsky, “allowed it to be in the semi-class, often selfishly and always timidly inclined zemstvo, a defender of the interests of the lower, underrepresented classes of the people, a defender of the rights of the individual citizen and the beginnings of the people.” amateur performances" 10. Thus, representatives of the zemstvo intelligentsia occupied a “special” position in the zemstvo. This is observed both in material terms (social benefits established in many zemstvos for zemstvo employees: free housing, the opportunity to undergo advanced training, provide their children with an education at the expense of the zemstvo, etc.), and in ideological terms. The “third element” is distinguished by a special worldview and an active social position. And it is absolutely true that there is a concept according to which the zemstvo intelligentsia represented a special social community, which, although it was part of the Russian intelligentsia, had, due to the specifics of its professional activity and social status, unique features 11 .

Working closely with the advanced layers of the “second element,” representatives of the “third element” democratized all zemstvo work, leading the zemstvo people themselves in the same direction.

Among the “second element” in the 90s, representatives of the intelligentsia - professors, scientists, doctors, engineers - were increasingly found. It must be recognized that ideologically and even personally, the line between the “second” and “third” elements was largely violated in the 90s 12 .

The concentration of forces of zemstvo doctors and statisticians dates back to the 80s. During the period of strengthening zemstvo reaction - when medical councils were liquidated and statisticians were persecuted - almost simultaneously centers for the association of zemstvo workers arose: the Pirogov Society and the statistical department of the Moscow Law Society.

The desire of the zemstvo intelligentsia (doctors, statisticians) to unite is one of the characteristic features of the 80s. It was at this time that that element began to take shape, which later acquired the name “third” and brightly appeared in the zemstvo field; in the 80s he was still rallying and gathering his strength. Already by the 80s, zemstvo employees had increased significantly in number; The mechanism of zemstvo work itself became more and more complicated, thereby strengthening the role of labor - the “third element”. Finally, we can conclude that the cadres of zemstvo employees increasingly began to be filled with ideological people who went to the zemstvo not only for “service”, but also for cultural work in the broad sense of the word.

Gradually, zemstvo interests captured an increasingly larger circle of non-licensed intelligentsia, including student youth, who set themselves the task of going to the zemstvo for cultural work.

In the 90s, the “third element” significantly strengthened its position, becoming stronger in various (sanitary, statistical, etc.) bureaus, in medical councils, in school commissions; At the same time, the number of regularly convened congresses is growing, and since the late 90s, teacher training courses have been organized in a number of provinces. The “third element” became more and more united, at the same time becoming closer to the guiding work of the zemstvo.

Of course, not in all zemstvos the “third element” received proper participation in the organization of zemstvo affairs; Moreover, there are a number of zemstvos in which this element was almost absent.

In the 90s, the “third element” appeared on the open stage. His activity is the component that deviated the resultant of zemstvo-cultural and political life towards democracy; In view of this, the attacks on the zemstvo intelligentsia, which intensified in the 90s from reactionary circles, become quite understandable.

K. Golovin, who had a very negative attitude towards zemstvo employees, noted that the center of political actions of the “third element” are mainly provincial cities, where “the majority of zemstvo undertakings were concentrated: pedagogical seminaries, from where people’s teachers and female teachers graduated; statistical bureaus, which were soon joined by agricultural and zemstvo technicians; all kinds of hospitals around which medical personnel were grouped 13.

The vanguard of the zemstvo intelligentsia were statisticians. The enormous work carried out by zemstvo statisticians on a detailed study of the life of the Russian village left a deep mark on science. Statisticians went to the vanguard of the “third element” and they played a prominent role in the development of the zemstvo movement.

A.I. Chuprov noted in the early 90s that “the study of a significant part of Russia, carried out on the initiative of zemstvo institutions, is perhaps the most important thing that has been done in our country to understand the country and people.” The zemstvo statisticians, who carried out this most important work for both the economic and political history of the country, represented a prominent and typical group of the zemstvo intelligentsia.

Along with statisticians, two other large groups of zemstvo intelligentsia worked in the zemstvo: medical personnel and teachers.

Since the beginning of the 90s, the activities of zemstvos in public education have become one of the main directions for reviving zemstvo activities in general. This revival was associated with the activities of literacy committees and with the general cultural movement that covered wide circles of the intelligentsia and especially student youth. The almost universal raising of the issue of universal primary education by zemstvo assemblies in the mid-90s, and the discussion in a number of zemstvos of issues of out-of-school education and book trade contributed to the growth of the cadre of teachers and expanded the scope of their activities.

From 1897 to 1901, 34 teacher seminars were opened in zemstvo provinces. District congresses of teachers, prohibited in 1885, were again allowed in 1889. And although the conditions for their holding were strictly regulated, they were able to become a meeting place for the rural intelligentsia. The most active social work of zemstvo teachers was carried out in provincial zemstvos, where they, participating in school bureaus and commissions, prepared materials for reports at zemstvo meetings on universal education, on the school network, on school buildings, on libraries, on raising the level of teaching staff, on his financial and legal situation.

“The proclamation of complete free schooling, bringing the school closer to the population, improving the position of teaching staff, the need for widespread out-of-school education - all this,” wrote L.D. Brukhatov, “...are, undoubtedly, matters of the “third element.”

Extracurricular education: public reading rooms, libraries, sale or free distribution of publications of the Literacy Committee were also the most important area of ​​activity, mainly for teachers of zemstvo schools 14.

Just as literacy committees united teachers, the Pirogov Society became the center of the social and professional organization of zemstvo doctors. The “Moscow-Petersburg Society of Doctors in Memory of N.I. Pirogov” was founded in 1885, but zemstvo doctors took a dominant position in it only in the early 90s of the 19th century 15.

Third element (“The third element”)

a conventional name for the various intelligentsia who served for hire in zemstvo institutions (agronomists, statisticians, technicians, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, insurance agents, etc.). The term "T. e.”, in contrast to the “first element” (government and administrative) and the “second” (zemstvo elective), came into use in the 1900s. In 34 provinces of Russia there were at the end of the 19th century. 65-70 thousand zemstvo employees. As part of "T. e." there were many bourgeois liberals, populists, and there were social democrats. Thanks to T. e." The cultural and economic activities of the zemstvo (See Zemstvo) became widespread, especially in the field of medicine, sanitation and school affairs. Strengthening the role of "T. e." met with opposition from the tsarist administration and conservative zemstvo nobles.

Great Soviet Encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1969-1978 .

See what the “Third Element” is in other dictionaries:

In Russia, the conventional name for the democratic intelligentsia who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration (1st element) and zemstvo vowels (2nd element) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

The conventional name for persons who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration (1st element) and zemstvo vowels (2nd element). Source: Encyclopedia Fatherland ... Russian history

- “THIRD ELEMENT”, in Russia the conventional name for the democratic intelligentsia who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration (“1st element”) and zemstvo vowels (“2nd element”) ... encyclopedic Dictionary

In Russia, the conventional name for the democratic intelligentsia who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration (“1st element”) and zemstvo vowels (“2nd element”). Political science: Dictionary reference book. composition... Political science. Dictionary.

In Russia, the conventional name for the democratic intelligentsia who served in the zemstvo for hire (doctors, teachers, statisticians, etc.), in contrast to the administration (“1st element”) and zemstvo vowels (“2nd element”)... encyclopedic Dictionary

The conventional name in Russia for the various intelligentsia who served as employees in zemstvo institutions (agronomists, statisticians, technicians, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, insurance agents, etc.). Expression T. e. , unlike the first (government and... ... Soviet historical encyclopedia

element- a, m. élément m., German. Element lat. elementum element, primary substance. 1. For the ancient Greek materialist philosophers, one of the constituent parts of nature (fire, water, air, earth) lies at the basis of all things and phenomena; element. BAS 1.… … Historical Dictionary of Gallicisms of the Russian Language

Ununtrium (Uut) Atomic number 113 Appearance of the element Unknown, but probably a gray metal Atomic properties Atomic mass (molar mass) (284) a. e.m. (g/mol) Atomic radius ... Wikipedia

Third World (South)- underdeveloped states belonging primarily to the geopolitical South. At the Bandung Conference in 1955, a movement of developing countries emerged as an alternative to the North. Thus, the South acted as a new element of the world order.... ... Geoeconomic dictionary-reference book

This term has other meanings, see Titan. 22 Scandium ← Titanium → Vanadium ... Wikipedia

Books

• State power and local (city and zemstvo) self-government. The third element (employees in city and zemstvo institutions), its meaning and organization. Issue No. 92
• State power and local (city and zemstvo) self-government. The third element (employees in city and zemstvo institutions), its meaning and organization. Issue 92, Achadov (Danilov F.A.). The book is recommended for political scientists, social scientists, lawyers, historians, as well as a wide range of readers interested in the history of social and political doctrines, patterns of development...

Full composition of writings. Volume 5. May-December 1901 Lenin Vladimir Ilyich

III. Third element

III. Third element

The expression “third element” or “third parties” was put into use, if we are not mistaken, by the Samara vice-governor, Mr. Kondoidi, in his speech at the opening of the Samara provincial zemstvo assembly in 1900, to designate persons “not belonging to any administration, nor among the representatives of the estates.” The growth in the number and influence of such persons serving in the zemstvo as doctors, technicians, statisticians, agronomists, teachers, etc., has long attracted the attention of our reactionaries, who also nicknamed these hated “third parties” “zemstvo bureaucracy.”

In general, it must be said that our reactionaries, including, of course, the entire higher bureaucracy, show good political instincts. They are so experienced in terms of all sorts of experience in the fight against the opposition, against popular “revolts,” against sectarians, against uprisings, against revolutionaries, that they keep themselves constantly “on the alert” and understand much better than any naive simpletons and “honest nags” the intransigence of the autocracy with whatever independence, honesty, independence of convictions, pride of real knowledge. Having perfectly absorbed the spirit of servility and paperwork attitude to business that reigns throughout the entire hierarchy of Russian officials, they are suspicious of everyone who does not resemble Gogol’s Akaki Akakievich(113) or, using a more modern comparison, a man in a case(114 ).

And in fact: if people performing certain public functions are valued not according to their official position, but according to their knowledge and merits, then doesn’t this logically inevitably lead to freedom of public opinion and public control discussing this knowledge and these advantages? Doesn’t this undermine at the root the privileges of classes and ranks that alone maintain autocratic Russia? Listen to how the same Mr. Kondoidi motivated his dissatisfaction:

“It happens,” he says, “that representatives of the classes, without sufficiently proven grounds, heed the word of intellectuals, even if they were nothing more than civilian employees in the government, only as a result of reference to science or to the teachings of newspaper and magazine writers.” What's it like? Simple “civil servants”, but they undertake to teach “representatives of the classes”! By the way: the zemstvo vowels that the vice-governor is talking about are actually members of the classless institution; but since in our country everything and everyone is imbued with class, since the zemstvos, according to the new situation, have lost a huge share of all their classlessness, then for the sake of brevity we can really say that in Russia there are two ruling “classes”: 1. administration and 2. representatives estates. There is no place for the third element in a class monarchy. And if unruly economic development increasingly undermines the foundations of class by the very growth of capitalism and creates a need for “intellectuals”, the number of which is ever increasing, then one must inevitably expect that the third element will try to expand the narrow boundaries for it.

“The dreams of persons who do not belong either to the administration or to representatives of the estates in the zemstvo,” said the same Mr. Kondoidi, “are only of a fantastic nature, but they can, if they assume political tendencies at their basis, have a harmful side.”

The assumption of “political tendencies” is only a diplomatic expression of the belief that they exist. And “dreams” are called here, if you like, all assumptions that arise for a doctor - from the interests of medicine, for a statistician - from the interests of statistics and do not take into account the interests of the ruling classes. In themselves, these dreams are fantastic, but they fuel political discontent, as you can see.

But here is an attempt by another administrator, the head of one of the central provinces, to give a different motivation for dissatisfaction with the third element. According to him, the activities of the zemstvo entrusted to him The province “every year is moving further and further away from the fundamental principles on which the Regulations on Zemstvo Institutions are based (115).” By this provision, the local population is called upon to manage the affairs of local benefits and needs; Meanwhile, due to the indifferent attitude of the majority of landowners to the right granted to them, “the zemstvo assemblies took on the character of one formalities, and affairs are carried out by councils, the character of which makes one desire very much.” This “resulted in the formation of extensive offices at the administrations and an invitation to the zemstvo service specialists, - statisticians, agronomists, teachers, sanitary doctors, etc. - who, feeling their educational, and sometimes and mental superiority over zemstvo leaders, began to show everything greater and greater independence, which is especially achieved by opening various congresses, and at the councils - councils. As a result, the entire zemstvo economy found itself in the hands of persons having nothing in common with the local population.” Although “among these people there are a lot of individuals who are quite well-intentioned and deserve full respect, they cannot look at their service other than as a means of subsistence, and they can only be interested in local benefits and needs to the extent that their personal well-being depends on them.” " - “In zemstvo affairs, according to the head of the province, the mercenary cannot replace the owner.” This motivation can be called both more cunning and more frank, depending on how you look at it. It is more cunning, since it is silent about political trends and tries to reduce the basis of its judgment exclusively to the interests of local benefits and needs. It is more frank, because it directly contrasts the “mercenary” to the owner. This is the original point of view of the Russian Kit Kitichs (116), who, when hiring some “teacher,” are guided first of all and most of all by market prices for this type of professional services. The real masters of everything are the owners, so speaks a representative of the very camp from which praises of Russia are constantly flowing with its firm power, independent of anyone and above the classes, freed, thank God, from the domination of selfish interests over the people's life that we see in Western countries corrupted by parliamentarism. And since the owner is the master, then he must be the master of the medical, statistical, and educational “business”: our pompadour does not hesitate to draw this conclusion, which contains a direct recognition of the political supremacy of the propertied classes. Moreover, he is not embarrassed - and this is especially curious - to admit that these “specialists” feel their educational and sometimes mental superiority over zemstvo leaders. Yes, of course, there are no means against mental superiority, except for strict measures...

And recently our reactionary press had a particularly opportune opportunity to repeat the call for these measures of severity. The reluctance of intellectuals to allow themselves to be treated as simple mercenaries, as sellers of labor (and not as citizens performing certain public functions), has always led, from time to time, to conflicts between administrative tycoons, either with doctors, who collectively resigned, or with technicians etc. Recently, conflicts between government departments and statisticians have taken on an epidemic character.

It was noted in Iskra back in May (No. 4) that the local authorities (in Yaroslavl) had long been looking askance at the statistics and, after the March events in St. Petersburg, they did “clean up” the bureau and suggested that the head “from now on accept students from a strict choice, so that one cannot even think about them that they could ever turn out to be unreliable.” The correspondence “Sedition in Vladimir on the Klyazma” (Iskra, No. 5, June) outlined the general situation of the suspected statistics and the reasons for the dislike of them on the part of the governor, factory owners and landowners. The dismissal of Vladimir statisticians for submitting a telegram expressing sympathy for Annensky (beaten on Kazan Square on March 4) led to the actual closure of the bureau, and since non-resident statisticians refused to serve in the zemstvo, which does not know how to defend the interests of its employees, the local gendarmerie had to act in role as a mediator between the fired statisticians and the governor. “The gendarme came to the apartments of some statisticians and invited them to apply again to join the bureau,” but his mission was a complete failure. Finally, in the August issue (No. 7) of Iskra, an “incident in the Yekaterinoslav zemstvo” was described, in which the “pasha” of Mr. Rodzianko (chairman of the provincial zemstvo administration) fired the statisticians for failure to comply with the “instruction” to keep a diary and with this dismissal caused the resignation of all other members of the bureau and protest letters from Kharkov statisticians (cited in the same issue of Iskra). Further into the forest there is more firewood. The Kharkov pasha, Mr. Gordeenko (also the chairman of the provincial zemstvo council), intervened and told the statisticians of “his” zemstvo that he would not tolerate “any meetings of employees within the walls of the council on issues not related to official duties.” Further, the Kharkov statisticians did not have time to fulfill their intention to demand the dismissal of the spy who was among them (Antonovich), when the administration fired the head of statistics. bureau, again causing the departure of all statisticians.

The extent to which these incidents agitated the entire mass of zemstvo statistical officials can be seen, for example, from the letter of the Vyatka statisticians, who tried to thoroughly motivate their reluctance to join the movement and for this were rightly called in Iskra (No. 9) “Vyatka strikebreakers.” "

But Iskra, of course, noted only some cases, far from all the conflicts that occurred, according to legal newspapers, in addition in the provinces of St. Petersburg, Olonetsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Tavricheskaya, Samara (to the conflicts we add here cases of dismissal of several at once statisticians, since these cases aroused strong discontent and ferment). The general level of suspicion and shamelessness of the provincial authorities can be seen, for example, from the following:

“Head of the Tauride Bureau S. M. Blekloe in the submitted government “Report on the survey of the Dnieper district during May and June 1901” says that work in this district was accompanied by previously unprecedented conditions: although they were allowed to perform their duties by the governor, provided with the appropriate documents and had, on the basis of orders from the provincial authorities, the right to assistance from local authorities, the researchers were surrounded by extreme suspicion district police who were monitoring on their heels, expressing their distrust in the most rough form it got to the point that, according to one peasant, a police officer rode behind the statisticians and asked the peasants “whether the statisticians are propagating harmful ideas against the state and the fatherland.” The statisticians had, according to Mr. Bleklov, “to encounter various obstacles and difficulties that not only interfered with their work, but also deeply affected self-esteem... Often statisticians find themselves in the position of some persons under investigation about which a secret inquiry was carried out, which, however, was well known to everyone, and about which it was considered necessary to warn. From here, everyone can understand what an unbearably difficult moral state they often had to endure.”

Not a bad illustration of the history of zemstvo-statistical conflicts and the characteristics of supervision of the “third element” in general!

It is not surprising that the reactionary press attacked the new “rebels.” "Moskovskie Vedomosti" published a thunderous editorial "Strike of Zemstvo Statisticians." (No. 263, September 24) and a special article “The Third Element” by N.A. Znamensky (No. 279, October 10). The “third element” is “arrogant,” the newspaper wrote, and responds with “systematic opposition and strikes” to attempts to introduce “necessary service discipline.” The fault lies with the zemstvo liberals who dismissed the employees.

“There is no doubt that some streamlining of zemstvo assessment and statistical work was undertaken by the most sober and reasonable zemstvo leaders, who did not want to allow management licentiousness further and under liberal opposition flag. Both the opposition and strikes must finally open their eyes to who they are dealing with in person of that mental proletariat who, staggering from one province to another, was not engaged in statistical research, or by educating local teenagers in a social-democratic spirit.

In any case, in the form of “zemstvo statistical conflicts,” the prudent part of zemstvo leaders receive a useful lesson for themselves. We believe that she will now see quite clearly what kind of snake, under the guise "third element" zemstvo institutions warmed themselves in their chests.”

We, for our part, also have no doubt that these screams and howls of the faithful watchdog of the autocracy (it is known that Katkov “himself” called himself this way, who managed to “charge” “M. Ved.” with his spirit for so long) “will open eyes" to many who did not yet fully understand the irreconcilability of autocracy with the interests of social development, with the interests of the intelligentsia in general, with the interests of any real social cause that does not consist of embezzlement and betrayal.

For us, Social Democrats, this small picture of the campaign against the “third element” and “zemstvo-statistical conflicts” should serve as an important lesson. We must gain new faith in the omnipotence of the working-class movement we lead, seeing that the excitement in the advanced revolutionary class is being transmitted to other classes and strata of society, that it has led not only to an unprecedented rise in the revolutionary spirit among students, but also to the beginning awakening of the countryside, and to strengthening self-confidence and readiness to fight in such social groups that (as groups) have hitherto remained little responsive.

Social excitement is growing in Russia among all the people, in all their classes, and it is our duty, the duty of revolutionary Social Democrats, to direct all efforts to be able to use it to explain to the advanced working intelligentsia what kind of ally they have both in the peasantry and among students, and among the intelligentsia in general, to teach them to use the lights of public protest that flare up here and there. We will be able to fulfill the role of the foremost freedom fighter only when the working class, led by a militant revolutionary party, without forgetting for a moment its special position in modern society and its special world-historical tasks of liberating humanity from economic slavery, at the same time raises national banner of struggle for freedom and will attract under this banner all those whom Messrs. The Sipyagins, Kondoidis and this whole gang are so diligently pushing into the ranks of the dissatisfied from the most diverse strata of society.

For this, it is only necessary that we take into our movement not only the inexorably revolutionary theory developed by the centuries-long development of European thought, but also the revolutionary energy and revolutionary experience bequeathed to us by our Western European and Russian predecessors, and not slavishly adopt all sorts of forms of opportunism from which we begin Our Western comrades who have suffered from them and who are so greatly delaying our path to victory are already getting off with relatively little.

The Russian proletariat now faces the most difficult, but also the most rewarding revolutionary task: to crush the enemy, which the long-suffering Russian intelligentsia could not overcome, and to take a place in the ranks of the international army of socialism.

The Third Rome is dead, long live the Third Rome! Every nation has a certain stable set of ideas about itself, about its own character, its history, its purpose - all this is called national self-awareness. It is not at all surprising that every people sees itself