''Beseda'' ( rus, Беседа, p=bʲɪˈsʲedə, a=Ru-беседа.ogg, t=debate) was a clandestine discussion circle consisting of

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

zemstvo A zemstvo (, , , ''zemstva'') was an institution of local government set up in consequence of the emancipation reform of 1861 of Imperial Russia by Emperor Alexander II of Russia. Nikolay Milyutin elaborated the idea of the zemstvo, and the fi ...

men", among them prominent and grand names of the

Russian aristocracy The Russian nobility or ''dvoryanstvo'' () arose in the Middle Ages. In 1914, it consisted of approximately 1,900,000 members, out of a total population of 138,200,000. Up until the February Revolution of 1917, the Russian noble estates staffed ...

.Figes, p. 165 The

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the i ...

discussion group was formed in the wake of resumed persecution of the zemstvos after increased liberties during the

Russian famine of 1891–92 Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

. Beseda was formed in November 1899 and gathered 3 or 4 times a year. Founders of the circle were

Dmitry Shakhovskoy Prince Dmitry Ivanovich Shakhovskoy (; 1861, Tsarskoye Selo – 1939, Moscow) was a Russian liberal politician. Life Active participant in zemstvo congresses, 1904–1905; one of the organizers of the Union of Liberation. One of the founders o ...

Pavel Dolgorukov Prince Pavel Dmitrievich Dolgorukov (, tr. ; 21 Nay 1866 – June 9, 1927) was a Russian landowner and aristocrat who was executed by the Bolsheviks in 1927. Biography Prince Pavel Dolgorukov was born in 1866. He was a member of the Dolgo ...

, and Prince

Sergei Nikolaevich Trubetskoy Prince Sergei Nikolaevich Trubetskoy (; 4 August ld Style and New Style dates, O. S. 23 June1862 – 23 September 1905) was a List of Russian philosophers, Russian Christian philosophy, religious philosopher. He was the son of Prince Nikolai P ...

. It gradually lost its significance and the last meeting was held in October 1905.Kröner, A.W. (1998) "The Debate Between Miliukov and Maklakov on the Chances for Russian Liberalism", p. 23-25 The members, which included among others

Prince Lvov The House of Lvov () is a princely Russian family of Rurikid stock. The family is descended from the princes (''knyazes'') of Yaroslavl where early members of the family are buried.https://russiannobility.org/princes-of-the-russian-empire/ Not ...

, met in the palace of the Princes Dolgorukov in Moscow, and initially restricted discussion strictly to the affairs of the zemstvos. After the persecution of the zemstvos was increased in 1900, when it dismissed several hundreds of liberals from the elected zemstvo boards, the circle was forced to confront political issues and questions. In the following two years, the Beseda would become the "leading force of the Russian

constitutionalists Constitutionalism is "a compound of ideas, attitudes, and patterns of behavior elaborating the principle that the authority of government derives from and is limited by a body of fundamental law". Political organizations are constitutional to ...

movement", with a wide spectrum of public men, from industrial

magnate The term magnate, from the late Latin ''magnas'', a great man, itself from Latin ''magnus'', "great", means a man from the higher nobility, a man who belongs to the high office-holders or a man in a high social position, by birth, wealth or ot ...

s and

slavophiles Slavophilia () was a movement originating from the 19th century that wanted the Russian Empire to be developed on the basis of values and institutions derived from Russia's early history. Slavophiles opposed the influences of Western Europe in Rus ...

to civic leaders, supporting it, and its calls for reform. Most members joined the

Constitutional Democratic Party The Constitutional Democratic Party (, K-D), also called Constitutional Democrats and formally the Party of People's Freedom (), was a political party in the Russian Empire that promoted Western constitutional monarchy—among other policies� ...

. The resumed persecution in 1900 had also banned

Dmitry Shipov Dmitry Nikolaevich Shipov (14 May 1851 – 14 January 1920) was a Russian liberal Slavophile politician of the 19th and 20th centuries.Figes, pp. 164–5 Shipov acted as a political mentor of Georgy Lvov, Russia's future first Prime Minister.Fig ...

's Moscow Provincial Zemstvo Council, formed 1896 and closed shortly after, which drove him, "a reluctant revolutionary", into the circles of the radical constitutionalists.

References

Bibliography

* {{Russia-hist-stub Russian Empire Liberalism in Russia