Russian Legalism: Historiography from the 20th to the Early 21st Century
https://doi.org/10.21603/sibscript-2026-28-3-442-453
EDN: GXNYWW
Abstract
The legalists were liberal reformist jurists, legal scholars, and progressive bureaucrats in the Russian Empire. This historiographical research identifies their political role, drawing on extensive historical, philosophical, and legal literature. The movement emerged under the influence of the Great Reforms, primarily the Judicial Reform. It united legal professionals who supported the idea of a constitutional monarchy and liberal ideology. They advocated the theory of human rights, the rule of law, the legal order, and constitutionalism. While liberal theorists receive substantial scholarly attention, the legal dimension of their work is often overlooked. Contemporaries were aware of these "people of the legal order", as they called themselves, but the liberal legalists were largely forgotten after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Modern historians have been slow to recognize the legalist movement in Russia. First, they established the role of lawyers in the imperial liberation movement, and subsequently identified elements of their ideology and organization. In the early 21st century, the scholarly community finally came close to uncovering the legalist movement as a socio-political phenomenon that exerted a significant ideological influence on liberalism in Russia. This research utilizes a wide range of historical sources and contemporary studies to compare different perspectives on the essence and development of the legalist movement in the Russian Empire.
About the Author
Danil V. Rybin
St. Petersburg Branch of the All-Russian State University of Justice (Russian Law Academy of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation)
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Scopus Author ID: 57220865715
St. Petersburg
Competing Interests:
The author declared no potential conflict of interests regarding the research, authorship, and / or publication of this article.
References
1. Adoneva I. G. "The great semi-reform" of the transformation of the judicial authority in Western Siberia as assessed by the local legal intelligentsia (late 19th – early 20th centuries). Novosibirsk: NSTU, 2010, 224. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qrsijl
2. Adoneva I. G. "I remained at the law faculty": Professional development in the autobiographical texts of Russian lawyers of the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. History is in the person who crosses its path. Novosibirsk: NSPU, 2018, 64–81. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/ylodjr
3. Adoneva I. G. Law intellectual elite as the subject of legal discourse of Russian "fat" magazines in the second half of 19th – begining 20th centuries. Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin, 2016, (5): 107–111. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/xvknph
4. Adoneva I. G. Legal topics of "Russkiy Vestnik" (Russian News) magazine of the liberal period (1856–1862). Vestnik NSU. Series: History and Philology, 2013a, 12(6): 5–11. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/rbsftj
5. Adoneva I. G. Lawyers in the author's housing journal "Vestnik Evropy" ("Herald of Europe") (1866–1904). Bulletin of Leningrad State University A. S. Pushkin, 2013b, 4(4): 7–16. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/rhcpud
6. Adoneva I. G. Lawyers in the authors of journal "Russian Idea" (Russkaya Mysl’) (1880–1905). Vestnik NSU. Series: History and Philology, 2016, 15(1): 95–106. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/vkesfv
7. Akashkin I. A. The political and legal doctrine of Russian liberalism (second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries). Moscow: Sovremennyi gumanitarnyi universitet, 2009, 194. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qrkswb
8. Blagodeteleva E. D. Civic and professional identity of the Russian bar in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. Civic identity of the Russian intelligentsia in the late 19th – early 20th centuries, ed. Proskuryakova N. A. Moscow: Novyi Hronograf, 2013, 163–201. (In Russ.)
9. Burdukova I. I. The formation and development of constitutional ideas in Russia. St. Petersburg: SPbSUCI, 1999, 253. (In Russ.)
10. Walicki A. The Legal Philosophies of Russian Liberalism. Moscow: Mysl, 2012, 566. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qsmtoz
11. Vedernikov V. V., Kitaev V. A., Lunochkin A. V. The constitutional question in Russian liberal journalism of the 1960s–80s. Moscow: Magistr, 1997, 40. (In Russ.)
12. Glushkova S. I. The problem of the legal ideal in Russian liberalism. Ekaterinburg: Gumanitarnyi un-t, 2001, 466. (In Russ.)
13. Gritsenko N. F. Changes in the composition and activation of the free economic society at the end of the 19th century. Moscow University Bulletin. Series 8: History, 1996, (4): 67–78. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/ulsret
14. Gusev K. A. Russian social liberalism in the beginning of the XXth century: General and particular. Problemnyi analiz i gosudarstvenno-upravlencheskoe proektirovanie, 2010, 3(5): 103–108. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/ncpqux
15. Egorov A. N. The problem of relations between Russian liberals of the early twentieth century and the authorities in modern historiography. Cherepovets State University Bulletin, 2008, (2): 116–122. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/mvhtaz
16. Zharikov A. A. Idea of the legal order protection by the representatives of the liberal philosophy of law in pre-revolutionary Russia. International Research Journal, 2016, (11-1): 84–86. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.18454/IRJ.2016.53.070
17. Zhukov V. N. Russian philosophy of law: From rationalism to mysticism. Moscow: Yurlitinform, 2013, 400. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/tevrdp
18. Kalugin P. A. Court system reform in programs of liberal parties of Russia in the early XXth century. University proceedings. Volga region. Humanities, 2013, (1): 44–51. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qchhvb
19. Kelner V. E. A man of his time: M. M. Stasyulevich: Publishing and the liberal opposition. St. Petersburg: Ros. nac. b-ka, 1993, 316. (In Russ.)
20. Kitaev V. A. On the characteristics of constitutional sentiments in the Russian society in the early 1880s (newspaper "Poryadok"). Vestnik of Lobachevsky University of Nizhni Novgorod, 2012, (2-1): 220–225. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/owufwv
21. Kicheev V. G. The Russian right liberals in the mirror of the soviet historiography. Izvestiya of Altai State University, 2009, (4-1): 109–114. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/kzitcp
22. Konovalova M. A. "Yuridicheskiy Vestnik" magazine in the history of Moscow law society in the second half of the 19th century (1867–1892). Istoriya gosudarstva i prava, 2015, (16): 53–57. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/unokbv
23. Konovalova M. A. The reform of the local court in writings of members of law societies (1907–1912). University proceedings. Volga region. Humanities, 2016, (1): 23–31. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/wbpdgr
24. Konovalova M. A. Participation of members of the law societies in the development of projects the basic law of the Russian Empire. Sovremennoe obshchestvo i pravo, 2017, (2): 20–24. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/yruktt
25. Kornev A. V. Conservative and liberal theories of state and law in Russia (19th – early 20th centuries). Moscow: Akad. upr. MVD Rossii, 2003, 194. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/qvsnlp
26. Korotkikh M. G. The judicial reform of 1864 in Russia: The essence and social and legal mechanism of formation. Voronezh: VSU, 1994, 240. (In Russ.)
27. Legkiy D. M. D. V. Stasov in the cultural life of Russia in the 1860s–1880s. Issues of national and world history. Saratov: SSU, 1990, 33–39. (In Russ.)
28. Legkiy D. M. Dmitry Vasilievich Stasov – a forgotten author of court statutes 1864. Izvestiya vysshih uchebnyh zavedenij. Pravovedenie, 2002, (3): 201–217. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/tlgaip
29. Legkiy D. M. Dmitry Vasilyevich Stasov: The judicial reform of 1864 and the formation of the bar in the Russian Empire. St. Petersburg: Dmitrii Bulanin, 2011, 422. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/pavcqw
30. Legkiy D. M. Students’ "Petition to the Emperor" in the autumn of 1861. Voprosy istorii, 2000, (10): 144–149. (In Russ.)
31. Makarov N. V. Problems of the history of Russian liberalism (1907–1914) in the works of contemporary Anglo-American researchers. Tomsk State University Journal, 2015, (393): 134–140. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.17223/15617793/393/20
32. Miridonova V. S. Research activities of the St. Petersburg law society. Vestnik of Lobachevsky University of Nizhni Novgorod, 2002, (1): 59–66. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/hqldrp
33. Nekrylov S. A. Scientific societies at Tomsk University in the prerevolutionary period. Tomsk: TSU, 2013, 258. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/snwpav
34. Niks N. N. On the formation of the civic identity of Moscow professors in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. Civic identity of the Russian intelligentsia in the late 19th – early 20th centuries, ed. Proskuryakova N. A. Moscow: Novyi Hronograf, 2013, 59–100. (In Russ.)
35. Obninskii V. P. Chapt. 5. Courts. In: Obninskii V. P. New order. Pt. 2. Reaction. Moscow: Obrazovanie, 1911, 263–273. (In Russ.)
36. Omelaenko V. V. The development of public self-organization in the Russian political and legal space on the example of the activity of Moscow law society (1865–1899). Law and Politics, 2020, (1): 52–64. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.7256/2454-0706.2020.1.32011
37. Petrov F. A. Illegal zemstvo conferences and congresses in the late 1870s and early 1880s. Voprosy istorii, 1977, (9): 33–44. (In Russ.)
38. Repinetsky S. A. English-language historiography of Russian liberalism in the middle of XIX century. Izvestiya of Samara Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences History Sciences, 2011, 13(3-2): 516–519. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/pcnrrz
39. Rybin D. V. Ideology of the movement of liberal legalists and the theory of conservative liberalism. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History, 2023, 68(2): 304–316. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu02.2023.201
40. Rybin D. V. The history of early conservative liberalism and its movements in the Russian Empire in the works of modern Russian scientists. Historical Search, 2025a, 6(3): 77–94. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.47026/2712-9454-2025-6-3-77-94
41. Rybin D. V. Conservative-liberal terminology and legalism in the works of Russian and foreign researchers in the second half of the 19th – 20th centuries. RGGU Bulletin. "Political Science. History. International Relations" Series, 2025b, (5): 48–69. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2073-6339-2025-5-48-69
42. Rybin D. V. Conservative liberalism and legalism in late Soviet historiography. Russian Journal of the Humanities, 2025c, 25(3): 224–235. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/puhjgs
43. Rybin D. V. Constitutional projects of legalists during the reign of Alexander II. Via in Tempore. History and Political Science, 2024a, 51(4): 970–979. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.52575/2687-0967-2024-51-4-970-979
44. Rybin D. V. Liberal lawyers of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th century in the memories of contemporaries. Tambov University Review. Series: Humanities, 2024b, 29(6): 1745–1759. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.20310/1810-0201-2024-29-6-1745-1759
45. Rybin D. V. Persecution of legalists and legalist organizations in the Russian Empire at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries. Vestnik TVGU. Seriya "Istoriya", 2024c, (1): 31–47. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/iieiij
46. Sereda N. D. The role of the liberal press in shaping public discourse in post-reform Russia (based on the activities of the Russkie Vedomosti newspaper in the 1860s–1870s). Vologda: VolSU, 2015, 212. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/usjrhd
47. Smagina S. M. Russian liberalism of the early 20th century: Theory and practice. Historiographic themes. Humanities and law research, 2015, (2): 36–43. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/ukowet
48. Solovev K. A. Legal corporation of the Russian Empire in the late 19th – early 20th centuries: In power, near power, against power. Historia Provinciae – the Journal of Regional History, 2024, 8(3): 759–794. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.23859/2587-8344-2024-8-3-1
49. Surkov O. S. The organization of state power in liberal legal thought in Russia in the early XX century. Science. Society. State, 2018, 6(1): 5–13. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/lzawzv
50. Taimasova Ya. V. Issues of the Judicial and Educational Systems Modernisation in Post-Reform Russia in "Russkiye Vedomosti" Newspaper in 1870s. RUDN Journal of Russian History, 2017, 16(1): 34–48. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-8674-2017-16-1-34-48
51. Toropov M. V. Professorial corporation during 60–70-ies of XIX century and its contribution to formation of legal culture of society. Tambov University Review. Series: Humanities, 2008, (12): 564–567. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/knpapl
52. Tulskaya S. A. Moscow law society 1865–1899. from the history of the development of law and legal science in Russia in the second half of the 19th century. Moscow: Prometei, 2011, 144. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/razitz
53. Khailova N. B. The fiftieth anniversary of the 1864 judicial reform in Russia: The view of centrist liberals of the early twentieth century. Cherepovets State University Bulletin, 2014, (7): 49–53. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/tomykp
54. Kharus O. A. Liberalism in Siberia at the beginning of the twentieth century: Ideology and politics. Tomsk: TSU, 1996, 227. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/stcrud
55. Shatsillo K. F. Russian liberalism on the eve of the revolution of 1905–1907. Organization, programs, tactics. Moscow: Nauka, 1985, 346. (In Russ.)
56. Shelokhaev V. V. Russian liberalism as a historiographic and historiosophical problem. Voprosy istorii, 1998, (4): 26–42. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/syokdf
57. Schneyder K. I. Political program of Russian liberals in the middle of the XIX century. Perm University Herald. History, 2011, (2): 95–108. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/nyfcff
58. Schneider K. I. Early Russian liberalism in Russian and Western historiographies. Rossiiskaya istoriya, 2010, (4): 177–187. (In Russ.) https://elibrary.ru/msnsbh
59. Hamburg G. M. Boris Chicherin and early Russian liberalism, 1828–1866. Stanford: Stanford University, 1992, 457.
60. Hamburg G. M. Freedom and unfreedom in the Russian Empire in the debate between Chicherin and Rennenkampf at the end of the nineteenth century. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. History, 2024, 69(2): 291–306. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu02.2024.203
Review
For citations:
Rybin D.V. Russian Legalism: Historiography from the 20th to the Early 21st Century. SibScript. 2026;28(3):442–453. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.21603/sibscript-2026-28-3-442-453. EDN: GXNYWW
Views:
13
JATS XML
Email this article 