Petr Bernhardovich Struve (1870-1944) - one of the prominent Russian public and political figures. His areas of interest included economics, journalism, history and philosophy.
Peter Bernhardovich Struve: a brief biography
Born into the family of Bernhard Struve, who was the governor of Perm, Peter received an excellent education.
His first educational institution was a gymnasium in St. Petersburg. After the young man decided to leave his parental home and settle in the house of A.M. Kalmykova, who replaced his mother, he entered a university in the same city.
Initially, Peter attended the Faculty of Natural Sciences, then (after one year) switched to law.
His passion for Marxist theories was so strong that it resulted in the organization of a thematic circle. Peter Berngardovich Struve studied at the university until 1894, during which time he managed to visit Austria, where L. Gumplovich was his professor of sociology. It was here that Peter decided to become an economist.
The beginning of journalistic activity
The first articles that Peter Bernhardovich Struve wrote and published were published in one of the German Social Democratic newspapers during his stay in Austria.
Summarizing Struve’s activities as a publicist, it can be divided into two successive stages:
- Pre-revolutionary. Correspondence, articles, and essays written before 1907 were part of the process of studying and criticizing the theories of Marx. They also reflect the evolution of Peter's ideas in economics and sociology.
- Post-revolutionary. Struve's activities during this period consisted in the struggle to preserve the unity of Russia. There is also criticism aimed at revolutionary maximalism.
In general, the journalistic works of this figure are a large-scale work, setting forth and analyzing the internal processes that took place in Russian society of that time, from the point of view of sociology.
Struve's political views and their evolution
Being an ardent admirer of Marxism in his youth, Struve Peter Bernhardovich after the revolutionary events of 1907 took the position of conservative liberalism. The process of his political transformation is unprecedented, however, his works in economics, sociology, philology and philosophy served as a counterweight to Peter's political qualities. Speaking about himself, Pyotr Berngardovich Struve noticed that his place could not be determined by orientation to party-political meridians.
Due to his political convictions and active social activities, V.I. Lenin gave Struve an extremely negative assessment, which influenced his reputation for many years. In Soviet times, the mention of the merits of a figure in social science was exclusively negative, and the works were not published. The situation has changed in the last years of the existence of the Soviet Union, and today its development and the grandeur of its contribution to the intellectual and political heritage of our country can be fully covered.
From Marxism to the Liberal Movement
In ideological searches, Marxist views are being replaced by philosophical idealism and liberal conservatism, which Peter Bervehardovich Struve fiercely defended. The biography of the leader includes a lot of famous names that help him in exposing the Russian regime. To this end, in 1900, the publishing house "Modern Review" was organized. His main task was the publication of various documents that could compromise the current regime.
After participating in a mass demonstration, Peter was exiled; he had to leave for Tver. Using the finances of the publisher D.E. Zhukovsky, who was his fan, Struve was able to organize the release of the Liberation magazine in Germany. To obtain permission to travel, the journalist turned for help to influential acquaintances.
However, the link could not prevent the writing of literary works to substantiate the philosophical foundations of liberal politics. The return to their homeland took place only five years later, when, using the help of one of the fans, under an amnesty, Pyotr Bernhardovich Struve was released from political charges. The biography of the philosopher and journalist over the next ten years of his life describes his activities at the Polytechnic Institute of St. Petersburg. Being initially a teacher, associate professor and an extraordinary professor, he eventually became the head of the department of political economy.
During this period, Peter's main economic work was written ("Economy and Price"), various volumes of which became his master's and doctoral dissertation.
The fight against Bolshevism
The Bolshevik coup evoked an extremely negative attitude in Struve. Pretty soon, a few months after these events, Pyotr Berngardovich Struve and G.N. Trubetskoy went to the Don. By that time, both of them were members of the Right Center (illegal organization). The activist actively participated in the formation of the Volunteer Army. There, Peter became an elected member of the Don Civil Council, which acted as a political meeting and acted under General Alekseev.
After the army was forced to take part in the so-called Ice Campaign, Struve secretly arrived in the capital. He had to live in illegal status for more than six months. During this period, Peter took part in the process of creating one of the most powerful underground anti-Bolshevik organizations, called the "National Center". His place of work was the Moscow branch of this association.
The unfolding red terror provoked by the assassination attempt on Lenin forced the activist to leave the capital. His hiding place was the Alatino estate in the Vologda province.
Activities in Europe
Later, after traveling through the northern Russian lands, Struve managed to travel to Finland. Here he and A. V. Kartashov (another member of the center) met with General N. N. Yudenich and held negotiations regarding the organization of joint activities. Thanks to the coordinated and skillful work of the members of the anti-Bolshevik group, Yudenich headed the military-political center in Finland.
The attention of Peter was also awarded the "Committee for the Liberation of Russia." This organization was founded in 1919 and was engaged in the revival of Russia, as well as raising its prestige among other states. The committee's activities consisted in the daily publication of printed newsletters illustrating actual events in Russia. The establishment of relations with Admiral A. V. Kolchak and his government contributed to the allocation of subsidies for the “National Center”.
Struve acted no less actively while in France: he worked with participants in the Russian Political Conference.
For his activities, the philosopher and publicist was sentenced to death by a court of the RSFSR. Despite this fact, Peter continues his cooperation with white generals, as well as active journalistic activities.
Peter Struve died in Paris in 1944, where he lived with his family since 1942.
The views of the philosopher on political theory
Struve was a representative of the so-called legal Marxism in Russia. This term is used to refer to the social movement, which, from a theoretical and ideological point of view, recognizes the correctness of K. Marx with his economic doctrine of the historical inevitability of the capitalist system.
The activist recognized the capitalist path of economic development as a possible basis for the economic prosperity of Russia. The effective implementation of social reforms and the cultivation of the conditions under which the individual could develop are the important factors that Peter Berneovich Struve singled out. The ideas of this figure also concerned the principles of the organization of the bourgeois state. Struve assigned him an extremely significant role, calling him “the organizer of order”, which is able to eliminate conflict situations of a social nature, as well as regulate the life of society economically and politically.
Innovation of Peter Struve
Struve's methodology rejected three main components that existed in the ideology of political economy :
- Labor theory of value.
- Theory of marginal utility.
- Historical school.
This figure was one of the first to apply and develop the foundations of the systemic method with which he built the categories of political economy. He was offered a three-level system of relations:
- Household.
- Inter-farm.
- Social production.
He also holds the assertion that reforms should not go against the living traditions of the people and their cultural values. They should rely on this foundation.
Peter Bernhardovich Struve: contribution to sociology
It is worth mentioning the socio-economic system described by the philosopher. It is based on concepts such as “price”, “economic good”, “money” and “value”. The peculiarity of the system is that the category “price” is given the status of the base. It is intended to build the entire socio-economic reality. Struve also intended this category as the foundation for any socio-economic write-off, while Marx used the theory of surplus value for this purpose .
The justification of the need for a "conservative revolution" for Russia is one of the main ideas that was developed by Pyotr Bernhardovich Struve. Sociology, which is taught in modern universities, studies the theory of democratization of society in Russia, proposed by the figure. In his opinion, she required the following resources:
- Personal resource.
- The diagnostic component.
- Intentional component.
- Subject resource.
- Cultural and historical resource.
- Functional resource.
The significance of Struve's activities for the development of cultural theory
The actor made his contribution to this area through the use of semantic analysis, using literary texts. His idols were N. Leskov, N. Gogol, F. Dostoevsky and other prominent writers. In addition, Struve closely studied the work and activities of Pushkin, calling him the ideal of personality in the socio-political aspect of life.
The philosopher professed the principle of recognition of the protection of individual freedoms, and also maintained a stable state order and firm power. He argued that a person of Russian culture is a connecting link and a means uniting a decaying state and uniting a nation. Culture for it has its own meaning: the use of its creative and unifying capabilities. Struve believed that all spheres (labor, political, national relations) should be permeated with culture.
Literary heritage
One of the most significant literary works created by Pyotr Bernhardovich Struve is “Intelligentsia and Revolution” (1909). In fact, this work is an article included in the collection "Milestones".
Struve's collection, which included his reviews of all the significant political and cultural events that took place in Russia and other countries, was published in 2004 and was called the “Political Diary”.