Michail Katkov (1818–1887) and his editions: a newspaper «Moskovskye vedomosty» and a magazine «Russky vestnik» —led active work for assertion Russia’s national interests on the world arena. An important place in his work and socio-political activity was occupied by the problems of the Balkans (the situation of the Orthodox Slavic peoples in the Ottoman Empire). Katkov used the popularity of his publications and editorials on topical issues to increase the civic activity of Russian society in these areas. The activities of M. N. Katkov had a powerful influence on public sentiment and eventually influenced the political decisions of the authorities (the Russian — Turkish War of 1877–1878). Subsequently (in the 1880s) Katkov, with the help of a network of correspondents, continued to provide substantial support for Russian policy in the Balkans.

The article examines the hidden controversy between the authors of two iconic works of Russian literature — the novel «What to do?» and the story «Notes from the underground». In these works N. G. Chernyshevsky and F. M. Dostoevsky expressed in many ways the quintessence of their own ideas about society and a man. Chernyshevsky created the utopia that combined criticism of bourgeois society with an ideal future world order, where a person would be free in his decisions and actions. If the first aspect was expressed in a voluminous, realistic and meaningful way, then the created variant of alternative social renewal, based on the theory of reasonable egoism, assumed an evolutionary change of a person with the aim of gradual transformation of modernity. In the criticism of the novel «What to do?» Dostoevsky put the main emphasis on the fallacy of Chernyshevsky’s ideas about the essence of a man and his destiny, on reckless fascination with speculative philosophical concepts and oblivion of moral and ethical norms that determined the existence of the human race in the past and should remain unshakable in the future.

The article is devoted to the study of little-known aspects of life and moral and psychological qualities of the outstanding representatives of the metropolitan intellectuals of late Imperial Russia: the spouses I.M. and M. A. Sechenovs, the historian V. S. Solovyov and the composer M. A. Balakirev. The authors conduct a historical and psychological analysis of the personalities of the «first plan» through the prism, first of all, of an unpublished ego source — diary notes of the academician A. N. Pypin’s daughter, the niece of N. G. Chernyshevsky Vera Alexandrovna Pypina, that she kept for several years. These memoirs are unique, bright and vivid memories of the contemporary about outstanding people who were frequent guests at her parents’ house, regulars of the «Weimar Circle», as well as «Tuesdays» by V. A. Pypina and F. G. Berenstam. The research material presented by the authors complements the already existing personal characteristics of famous representatives of the Russian intelligentsia such as I.M. and M. A. Sechenovs, V. S. Solovyov and M. A. Balakirev.

On the basis of printed and epistolary material the article examines the problems of information and communication support of terrorist activities of populist organizations. The author examines and analyzes one of the most important parts of this complex, namely prompt political statements on behalf of the party about the crime committed. It is noted that the populists created two main forms of such notices: a short, purely factual and extensive notice, resembling a proclamation in length. The analysis of the identified 19 party notices allowed us to conclude that the populists used this type of propaganda as productively as possible. The notice-proclamation, in addition to the actual events of the action, usually touched on topical topics of the revolutionary struggle, namely, the popular orientation of revolutionary activity, the repressiveness of the Tsarist regime, the forced nature of revolutionary extremism, threats to continue this struggle and the conditions for ending terror.

For the first time in historiography the article examines the biography of one of the peasant leaders of the «Chigirin Conspiracy» of 1877. This conspiracy was prepared among the former state peasants of Right- Bank Ukraine by revolutionaries I. V. Bokhanovsky, L. G. Deich and Ya. V. Stefanovich. The course of events is shown in their refraction in the fate of the ataman of the «Secret Squad» Yefim Oleinik. On the basis of archival documents the features of his life before the «Chigirin Conspiracy» and during the conspiracy itself are reconstructed. The rise and fall of the peasant leader is analyzed, up to imprisonment and sentencing.

The article considers the question of the influence of fiction on the formation of worldview attitudes of the generation of populists of the 1870s. The thesis is put forward that when studying the impact on radical youth of the 1870s. Literature should be taken as a starting point for the years of childhood, when the character of a person is becoming. It is during this time period that the teenage reading system plays a very important role. Later, on the basis of book impressions formed in childhood, the advanced part of the generation of the 1870s under the influence of democratic literary criticism began to get acquainted with foreign and domestic social novels, which ultimately led her to break down traditional worldview attitudes and adopt a new ethics preached by the characters of these works. This was an important step towards the further radicalization of youth consciousness, which was completed by acquaintance with new scientific theories of the materialist plan and the ideas of «progressive» social thinkers and revolutionaries.

The article is devoted to the development of the idea of the people in the ideology of revolutionary populism of 1870-early 1880-s. The problem is analyzed in the context of formation and development of the two major populism conceptions of revolutionary transformations of the country: social and political; the central place in them was taken by the question of the degree of revolutionary character of the Russian people. The analysis of works by M. A. Bakunin, P. L. Lavrova, and P. N. Tkachev, memoirs of the participants of the “March to the People”, and printed editions of “Land and Will” and “Narodnaya Volya” serve as a basis for identifying the main stages and main directions of the idea of involvement of people in the revolutionary movement. Finally, the author concludes that popular thought has evolved toward a more realistic understanding of the needs and hopes of the working masses, and their «revolutionary power». However, the direct correlation between the interpretation of the idea of “the people” and its place in the doctrine of revolutionary transformation, i. e. the idealism and dogmatism of the thinking of the populists of the 1870s, prevented them from becoming the true leaders of their people.

This article examines the underground printing activities of the South Russian organization of «People’s Will» by the leadership of B. D. Orzhikh in 1885–1887. The creation of underground printing houses is a characteristic activity attribute of every big group of «People’s Will». It correlates with one of the main paragraphs of the Executive Comitee program — propaganda and agitation activities.

The literature of the «People’s Will» party contributed to the promotion of this activity, supported the morale of revolutionaries, set guidelines, emphasized the continuity between all the «People’s Will» groups that existed in 1879–1887.

The South Russian organization followed the main tasks of the party and the established tradition. During its existence the organization has issued a number of famous party publications, such as «Narodnaya Volya» No. 11–12, «Narodnaya Volya Leaflet» No. 3 and other materials, including original brochures.

Personal motives for entering the path of revolutionary activity of officers of the Russian army and Navy of the post-reform period of the XIX century are the least studied part of the national political history. They became the subject of our research. This determines the novelty of this work. The aim of the work is to identify by analyzing the social reflection of the direct participants of the analyzed events, the interdependence of changes in the system of naval education in the post-reform period and the emergence of a wide range of naval officers who are ready to side with the fighters against the existing state regime. The novelty of the study also lies in the fact that it presents for the first time a comparative analysis of the diaries of M. O. Menshikov and the memoirs of I. P. Yuvachov in the context of the history of the emergence of the Military Organization «Narodnaya Volya». The main research methods were comparative historical, biographical and hermeneutic analysis. The source of the research was the published memoirs and documents of the People's Volunteers and their contemporaries. The conducted research allowed us to draw conclusions about the emergence of a new type of revolutionary organizations and a new type of naval officers at the same time. Both wanted to unite their efforts to fight for the future reconstruction of the state on a more equitable basis. A significant role in the formation of revolutionary sentiments of naval officers was played by the period of training in military institutions. There they had to face situations of injustice for the first time, and where they could read and discuss revolutionary propaganda literature for the first time. The situation was aggravated by the lack of effective ideological work on the part of the management and teachers of such educational institutions.

The personality of S. G. Nechaev has attracted the attention of researchers for more than a hundred years. Over the years assessments of its activities have changed several times. The article attempts to objectively consider the personality of S. G. Nechaev and the main results of his activities.

The article examines the political views and moods of Saratov students during the First World War and the February events of 1917. The author assigns an important role to the student masses in the socio-political life of the city. Within the framework of social history the author analyzes the change of patriotic increase, anti-government actions, and later the growth of apolitical sentiments among the students of Saratov.

The article attempts to study the causes, nature and features of peasant unrest during the First Russian Revolution. As an example for studying this problem, the authors chose the Saratov province, which in 1905 became the most "hot" region in the European part of Russia in terms of the number and scale of peasant unrest. Analyzing scientific literature, sources of personal origin and materials of trials in cases of pogroms, the authors identify the characteristic features and the inner nature of the peasant revolt. The article draws conclusions about the causes, features and nature of peasant pogroms private estates in the Saratov province in 1905.

The article is devoted to the study of the activities of the Barnaul group of pupils as a typical illegal pupils organization in Siberia of the early XX century and the determination of its political affiliation from the point of view of the official authorities and the participants of the events themselves. The basis for the study were the official documents of law enforcement agencies and the administration of the school district, sources of personal origin (memories of participants in the events), materials coming from the pupils themselves, publications in the periodical press. Consideration of the activities of the Barnaul group of pupils was carried out within the framework of a systematic approach using the problem-chronological method. As a result of the study, it was concluded that BGU sought to unite broad strata of pupils regardless of their political affiliation, while not identifying itself with any of the revolutionary parties, but experiencing the influence of their ideas

The history of the liberation movement in Russia in the XIX century was constantly in the focus of attention of the Soviet historians. The Saratov scientists I. V. Porokh and N. A. Troitsky made a significant contribution to its study. Their scientific works are well known not only to specialists, but also to everyone interested in history. The article attempts to examine the views of these venerable historians on the liberation movement, based on their correspondence with one of the luminaries of Soviet historical science, academician N. M. Druzhinin. They consulted with him on some aspects of their research, shared plans, tasks, and asked for assistance in publishing their works. The authors conclude that I. V. Porokh and N. A. Troitsky appreciated N. M. Druzhinin’s advice and comments, and he, in turn, spoke highly of their research. The analysis of the letters allows us to talk not only about business, but also about friendly relations between scientists.

In the article discussed soviet historiography addressed analysis V. V. Bervi-Flerovsky’s social-political activity. The author tried to analysis changes image of public person of second half XIX century V. V. Bervi-Flerovskiy, which exist in soviet historiography. Author comes to the conclusion about the versatile and detailed study of the activities and views of V. V. Bervi-Fleurovsky by soviet historians, while highlighting the tendency to exaggerate the revolutionary V. V. Bervi, the approach of his worldview to Marxist ideals. The author also notes that in some cases, the assessment by historians of the degree of proximity of V. V. Bervi-Fleurovsky to revolutionary populism influenced by the general ideological assessment of the populist movement, characteristic of a particular period of Soviet history.

The post-Soviet historiography of Russian revolutionary populism deserves the right to be called a separate research area. This applies to the study of both theory and practice. The comprehension of the revolutionary theory of P. N. Tkachov has a rich historiographical tradition that continues to the present. The purpose of the work is to analyze the views on the revolutionary theory of P. N. Tkachov in the post-Soviet historiography of 2020 and 2021. This period in the studies of the legacy of the Russian Blanquism founder has not been covered yet in the scientific and historical literature. Articles in various Russian scientific periodicals, collected works and materials of the collection of documents were used to disclose the topic. In the course of the study of the problem, it turned out that the consideration of P. N. Tkachov's socio-political views during this period mainly took place in the direction of the problem «Tkachov and Bolshevism». Much less often researchers turned to the questions «Tkachov and terrorism», «Tkachov and anarchism». The article also analyzes objectivity and argumentativeness of the authors’ positions, representativeness of the sources they propose, and points out some errors of judgment about certain stages of P. N. Tkachov's life and work. As a result, the conclusion is made about the ascertaining nature of the approaches of researchers in 2020 and 2021 to the assessment of the revolutionary theory of P. N. Tkachov. As a positive point, there is a noticeable decrease in the number of works claiming that Tkachov's teaching played a key role in the genesis of the foundations of Russian terrorism.