The idea of slavic unity in the works of Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Abstract

Background: Throughout the ХІХ century, Panslavism actually determined the foreign policy of the Russian Empire, and at the same time was a topic to which Russian intellectuals often referred in their works. And although in the ХХ century the ideas of Panslavism lost their significance, they did not disappear and continued to remain a topic for intellectual discussions and debates in scientific and literary circles. Thus, the Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) repeatedly referred to the analysis of the Slavic idea in his works, trying to find out what influence it had on the development of Russia. Purpose: Objectively cover the views of Solzhenitsyn on the idea of Slavic unity and its role in the development of Russia. It is necessary to analyze the journalistic works of O. Solzhenitsyn, in which he considered issues important to our study. Moreover, the article is an analysis of the reaction to the idea of O. Solzhenitsyn, as well as the impact of the idea on the development of Russia's intellectual environment. Results: An analysis of O. Solzhenitsyn’s works gives grounds to conclude that the theme of Slavic unity did not occupy a central place in his work. The writer considered it only in the context of his concept of the historical development of Russia. According to this concept, first the Russian Empire, and later the USSR, constantly interfered in unnecessary foreign policy adventures, ignoring domestic development. In fact, O. Solzhenitsyn mainly mentioned Panslavism in his essay “The Russian Question until the End of the Twentieth Century”, in which he gave a brief overview of Russian history. The idea of Slavic unity and its role in the history of Russia was negatively assessed by the writer, because the Russian Empire, trying to implement it, spent too many resources, which in turn had a very bad effect on the development of the Russian people. Accordingly, the author warned against repeating such mistakes in the future. However, in the works of O. Solzhenitsyn there is a certain inconsistency when it comes to the Eastern Slavs. This situation can be explained by the writer's ideological convictions as a Russian nationalist: all his proposals, including the unity of the Eastern Slavs within one state, were attempts to theoretically substantiate Russia's right to own East Slavic lands. However, Solzhenitsyn's ideas did not have a significant impact on Russian society and government, as the proposal to focus on domestic development, abandoning constant foreign policy adventures, did not correlate with the imperial character of the Russian people. Keywords: O. Solzhenitsyn, Slavic idea, Panslavism, history of Russia. Dyakov, V., 1994. On the historical and sociological concept of A. Solzhenitsyn. Social Sciences and Modernity, 1, pp.64–76. (In Russian) Dugin, A., 2000. Foundations of Geopolitics. Moscow: Vector–Eurasia. (In Russian) Nizhnikov, S., 2014. Socio-political views of A. I. Solzhenitsyn. Philosophical Sciences, 2, pp.64–74. (In Russian) Thompson, E., 2008. Troubadours of the Empire: Russian Literature and Colonialism. Kyiv: Osnova. (In Ukrainian) Saraskina, L., 2008. Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Moscow: Molodaya gvardiya. (In Russian) Saraskina, L., 2010. Frontline fate of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Public Education, 4, pp.59–64. (In Russian) Solzhenitsyn, A., 1995. To the All-Russian Patriarch Pimen. In: Solzhenitsyn, A. I. Publicism, 1. Yaroslavl: Verhnyaya Volga, pp.133–137. (In Russian) Solzhenitsyn, A., 1995a. Letter to the leaders of the Soviet Union. In: Solzhenitsyn, A. I. Publicism, 1. Yaroslavl: Verhnyaya Volga, pp.148–186. (In Russian) Solzhenitsyn, A., 1995b. How can we equip Russia?. In: Solzhenitsyn, A. I. Publicism, 1. Yaroslavl: Verhnyaya Volga, pp.538–598. (In Russian) Solzhenitsyn, A., 1995c. The Russian Question by the End of the 20th Century. In: Solzhenitsyn, A. I. Publicism, 1. Yaroslavl: Verhnyaya Volga, pp.616–702. (In Russian) Solzhenitsyn, A., 1997. Television interview with the Ostankino company. In: Solzhenitsyn, A. I. Publicism, 3. Yaroslavl: Verhnyaya Volga, pp.361–382. (In Russian) Solzhenitsyn, A., 1997. Interview with Rudolf Augstein for the magazine “Der Spiegel”. In: Solzhenitsyn, A. I. Publicism, 3. Yaroslavl: Verhnyaya Volga, pp.285–320. (In Russian) Solzhenitsyn, A., 1997. Interview with Forbes magazine. In: Solzhenitsyn, A. I. Publicism, 3. Yaroslavl: Verhnyaya Volga, pp.474–482. (In Russian) Solzhenitsyn, A., 2003. A grain was pleased between two millstones. Novyi myr, 11, pp.33–97. (In Russian) Solzhenitsyn, A., 2006. Russia in a landslide. Moscow: Russkij put'. (In Russian) Message from the President to the Federal Assembly [online]. President of Russia. Available: http://www.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/messages/65418 [Accessed: 20 September 2021] (In Russian)