Pochvennichestvo

Pochvennichestvo - A.K.A. ("Return to the Soil") was a late 19th century Russian nativist movement tied in closely with its contemporary ideology, the Slavophile movement. Both were for the complete emancipation of serfdom, and both campaigns stressed a strong desire to return to the idealized past of Russia's history, and both were driven towards anti-Europeanization. In addition, they also chose a complete rejection of the Nihilist and radical movements of the time. The primary focus was instead to change Russian society through the humbling of the self, and social reform through the Russian Orthodox church, rather than the radical implementations of the intelligentsia.

The major differences between the Slavophiles and the "Pochvennichestvo" were that the prior detested the reforms of Peter the Great while the latter recognized the benefits of the notorious ruler, while still maintaining a strong patriotic mentality for the Russian people. Another major difference was that some of the movement's supporters adopted a strong anti-semitic stance.

The concept had its roots in the works of the German philosopher Johann Gottfried Herder which focused primarily on emphasizing the differences amongst people and regional cultures. In addition it rejected the universalism of the enlightenment period. The most prominent Russian intellectuals who founded this ideology were Nikolay Strakhov, Nikolay Danilevsky and Konstantin Leontyev. The ideology was later adopted by Alexander III and Nicholas II.

See also

*Ivan Ilyin
*Fyodor Dostoevsky
*Nicholas II
*Narodism

References

1. [http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/RethinkingSciCiv/ "Loose and Baggy Spirits: Reading Dostoevsky and Mendeleev."] - Michael Gordin May-June 1999. Stanford University.