Where did the modern fashion for conservatism in Russia come from and how is it rooted in the European conservative tradition? It is believed that the term itself was first used in the early 19th century by the French romantic writer François René de Chateaubriand, although by that time the founder of conservative thought was considered to be the Englishman Edmund Burke, who in his book Reflections on the French Revolution expressed the main provisions of conservative criticism of revolutionary attempts to change society. Burke described the bloody nature of the French Revolution as a consequence of the unrealistic claims of revolutionaries to change culture with the help of weapons and new laws.

That is why conservatism was initially opposed to revolutionism or radicalism - the revolutionary desire to change the world with one's own hands. Conservatism emphasized the value of tradition and the fact that it is impossible to hope to change the world created by God without taking into account religion and the divine. Only later, in the middle and end of the 19th century, did it begin to oppose liberalism (as an ideology of big capital, based on the desire for change and a free market, laissez faire). In the 20th century, when the main ideological struggle was between liberalism and Marxism, conservatism retreated into the background and was seen as the position of the aristocracy and the church, supporting traditional orders.

In Russia, Count Sergei Uvarov, who came up with the triad of “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality” (or rather, who adapted for Russia the ideas of the French conservatives Joseph-Marie de Maistre and Louis-Gabriel de Bonald), or such a newly popular figure in the Kremlin as the chief prosecutor of the Holy Synod under Alexander III, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, were considered conservatives.

But perhaps the closest to home in the current situation, judging by the content of Vladimir Putin's recent speeches, would be Konstantin Leontiev, a conservative theorist from the late 19th century who called for "freezing Russia" after Alexander II gave it too much freedom and, so to speak, the thaw gave birth to slush. The analogy with the wild 1990s is clear here: the revolution of 1989-1991 supposedly led to an almost complete "unfreezing" of the system, liberated the worst sides of the human soul, gave birth to chaos, banditry, and an unlimited thirst for profit. In this situation, it was urgently necessary to restore order, which is what Putin did.

Quoting Nikolai Berdyaev is a step forward compared to the fact that in the late 2000s Putin quoted Ivan Ilyin (ideologist of the White movement, died in 1954) in his messages to the Federal Assembly. Ilyin was the only Russian conservative who emphasized not only the role of morality and God in Russian history, but also put forward the idea of non-dismemberment of Russia as a priority of state policy. At that time, this was probably the main moral bond and the key theme that inspired many in the Kremlin. Now Vladislav Surkov, who loved Ilyin, is out of fashion and more insightful people have begun to write, who appeal to philosophers who do not attract attention to themselves with excessive anti-liberalism. That is why Berdyaev came in very handy with his book against revolutionism (and the “swamp” impulse as a manifestation of it).

Of course, even under Surkov they appealed to liberal conservatives like Pyotr Stolypin (he also successfully froze Russia, but it's a pity he was shot at the wrong time - that's how his role is usually portrayed), they organized thematic clubs and round tables in the United Russia party. But the term "conservatism" got into the mouth of Putin himself, and not into the documents of United Russia, is a consequence of December 2011. That December, the authorities realized that 100,000 people taking to the streets with posters and pictures is a force, and the silent majority of the authorities can't be brought out into the streets. Because it is inert, doesn't realize that it is the majority, etc. Pussy Riot and the anti-homosexual laws in St. Petersburg were therefore a real help: with their help, Putin was able to consolidate the conservative base of his rule - normal men and women who understand what family and decency are. Well, some time later, after Syria and the successful defense of the norms of international law, which prohibits any supranational unions and coalitions from interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states, the term made its way into Putin’s own speech.

It should be emphasized that the conservatives themselves do not consider themselves reactionaries, i.e. they do not fight only for the restoration of what was. Nor do they consider themselves fighters for the suspension of all and any changes. They only strive to strengthen and consolidate the good that is. A conservative in England is a person who, before paving the paths on the university campus in Cambridge, will look where the crowds have trodden the paths. It is not for nothing that the host of the program "Vesti Nedeli" Dmitry Kiselev quotes Winston Churchill: "He who in his youth was not a revolutionary has no heart; he who in old age has not become a conservative has no mind." The Kremlin suddenly found Berdyaev useful with his phrase: "The meaning of conservatism is in the obstacles it places to the manifestations of the bestial-chaotic elements in human societies." Who, it seems, would disagree with this? But there is another question: who will then deal with the angelic, and not the animal nature of man?

Oleg Kharkhordin: Who is a Conservative?