The Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878 in the letters of K.P. Pobedonostsev to E.F. Tyutcheva

Abstract

The  article  reflects  K.P.  Pobedonostsev’s  understanding  of the events of the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878. He noticed the spiritual division of the society in the face of wartime challenges. It was based on the Christian conscience of the individual, or its spiritual passivity. The war of 1877–1878 divided the Russian society into sincere figures who were ready to sacrifice their lives, property, time, and formal reputation for the sake of faith, the Tsar, the Fatherland, the suffering neighbors, and into those who preferred to put on self-interest and skepticism, and hide behind indifference and instructions. The more formalized an official’s activities are, the more harmful and less effective they are. Favoritism and theft were not harmed by this order. The less work you do for your conscience, for the sake of loving your neighbor and fulfilling your duty to God, the greater the need for fear of punishment. On the other hand, the more formalized an official’s activities are, the greater the fear of responsibility when taking the initiative. In the social activities of wartime, the thinker also saw a division into modest ascetics and noisy demonstrative personalities, who, acting for show, were more harmful to the cause. On the other hand, according to K.P. Pobedonostsev, the war had awakened many forces that were sleeping in the people’s environment.