Судан и Большой Ближний Восток

177 Alexander S. Zdanevich. The Crisis of Autocracy in Russia (the mid-19th — early 20th С.)... phenomenon of Russian volunteerism is interesting because, first of all, it combines the entire range of humanities from philosophy to political science. The participation of Russian volunteers in the Anglo-Boer War (1899−1902) has been well studied in our country and is gradually becoming more and more known abroad. Brief ly, it can be characterized as a fusion of political circumstances and the personal attitude of the participants to the processes that were the result of the “Great Game” — the strategic confrontation between Great Britain and Russia on the world stage, which arose at the very beginning of the 19th century. It should also be noted that assassination of Paul I in 1801, which became a turning point in the tragic event in the history of the fatherland, giving impetus to destructive processes. The breakdown of the traditional foundations of Russian society, which is known, but is by no means accepted by everyone, began in the era of Peter the Great. The penetration of new, according to some estimates, “alien” ideas fromEurope to Russia was perceived extremely ambiguously. Since the accession to the throne of Tsar the Reformer, the border between archaism and modernity has run through the very fabric of Russian traditional society, which has lived from time immemorial by faith, manner of living, and within the framework of the social contract of the ruling dynasty with the people. The traditions of rationality and pragmatism introduced by Peter the Great coexisted with deep religiosity and national tolerance. An example of the latter is the invitation to Russia of a huge number of foreign specialists, designed to breathe new things into various spheres of life in patriarchal society. Since the French Revolution, the tsar’s distancing from society and paradoxical “flirting” with the very idea of change have been added to the general liberal background, which replaced the foundations of faith and social order. Revolutionary impulses, which affected only a small layer of society were denied by the ruling dynasty in favor of the primacy of autocracy, which in itself speaks of the stability of the archaic idea of ​the form of power in Russia. Here it is necessary to make a reservation that we are by no means inclined to idealize or criticize the past. The task facing us is an attempt