The Russian Bulletin, 1863

This book details the career of the 'professors' newspaper', The Russian Bulletin, which served as a spokesman of Russian liberalism for over fifty years. It defended the legacy of Alexander II's Great Reforms, jury courts, and the zemstvo, and called for the rule of law and, eventually, a constitution and Duma for Russia. It combined this liberal position with a defense of the peasant commune and its egalitarianism and a critical attitude toward factories, business, and the free market. After 1905 the newspaper's views evolved; it slowly began to reconsider its egalitarian liberal populist views and its sympathy toward socialists. Before the fall of Tsarism, it accepted the novelty of individual farming and the benefits of industry and foreign investments.