The names of M. Ilyin, N. Berdyaev, P. Sorokin, S. Bulgakov are world famous . All these are Russian people, thinkers and philosophers who became exiles of their homeland. They and many other representatives of the Russian intelligentsia left Russia in the fall of 1922 under duress. Philosophical steamboat - such a collective name was given to two ships that sailed from Russia to Germany, on board of which were representatives of the intelligentsia expelled from the country, who did not accept the Bolshevik ideology.
Recently, publications and documentaries have appeared that prove that the philosophical ship is an invention of the Bolsheviks, that in reality not many people were expelled. And the main purpose of the hype is for the West European governments to believe that opponents of the Bolshevik regime have gone to Europe. But in fact, there were spies, scouts who were supposed to set the stage for the world revolution, about which the Social Democrats of Russia dreamed then.
Let us turn to the facts. In the early 1920s, an
authoritarian regime headed by Lenin was established in Russia. Political life was under complete control, high-profile processes were carried out against the Socialist Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks, a unified ideological system was formed. But cultural and spiritual life seemed to go beyond the framework of this unified policy. The Silver Age, marked by a surge in art, philosophical and scientific thought, continued its development by inertia. The intelligentsia, free-thinking, capable of critically evaluating communist ideology, posed a danger to the emerging regime. Read “Dog Heart”, much will become clear to you about the situation of thinking people of that time.
In such an environment, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee adopts the law “On Administrative Expulsion,” the logical conclusion of which was the philosophical ship. The year 1922 was marked by the arrests of intellectuals suspected of counterrevolutionary inclinations, who faced a choice: either “voluntary” departure, or prison or even execution.
According to the memoirs of Nikolai Berdyaev, it was clear that the processing of "voluntary" emigrants was carried out. After spending a week in prison, Berdyaev signed a receipt that he would not return to his homeland. Otherwise, he would be shot. Many satellites of Nikolai Alexandrovich underwent similar processing.
Lists of people objectionable to the new government were formed throughout Russia. Among them were doctors, agronomists, engineers, artists and philosophers. The latter made a special contribution to the development of world philosophy, sociology, and political science.
In total, the philosophical ship took away from Russia about 200 of its best representatives. Having traced the life path of many, we will understand that they were honest people, far from rich, for most of them emigration was not easy, and until the end of their days they remained Russian in spirit. The difficult test that befell Russia in 1941-1945 did not leave indifferent expelled from the country. To the best of their ability, they helped the Motherland and the Soviet Army in the fight against fascism.
The ship on which the emigrants were expelled was called the “philosophical steamboat”. 1922 was the last year for them in Russia. The only exception is the religious philosopher and historian Lev Karsavin. In the late 1920s, he moved to Lithuania, which soon became part of the USSR. In 1950, Lev Platonovich was arrested at the age of 68 on charges of an anti-Soviet conspiracy and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He died in custody.
These are the facts. Perhaps the philosophical ship and carried a few people who played the role of double agents. However, this does not change the essence of the matter. It is important to understand that the philosophical steamer was the result of a struggle for managing society, as a result the best minds of Russia were eliminated.