Until the 17th century, Russian law did not clearly define who was a Russian subject and who was a foreigner.
Ordinary people even considered any Orthodox Christian to be one of their own, and anyone could become a Russian subject if they just accepted the Orthodox faith. Russian history knows many examples when foreigners served our Fatherland with faith and truth.
Franz Lefort
The first intellectual of Russia, who was hated by many Russians, Lefort was able to become not only an indispensable assistant to Peter the Great, but also his best friend, with whom the tsar cried when parting. It was Lefort who persuaded Peter to go abroad, encouraged him to go on the Azov campaign, and through his efforts foreigners received visa-free entry and exit from Russia.
And Lefort also suggested to Peter that he lay the foundation for a new capital on the Neva. Despite the hatred that he felt from the Russians, who accused him of the terrible sin of forced barber shaving and smoking tobacco, Lefort loved the country in which he lived no less than its people.
We can say that it was he who saved Princess Sophia from execution, persuading the Tsar to exile her to the Novodevichy Convent. Through the efforts of this old rogue, some archer conspirators were also saved from execution - they were simply exiled to Siberia. And what kind of feasts Lefort knew how to organize - no modern agency for organizing holidays could ever dream of!
Vitus Bering
The Russians addressed Vitus Jonassen, a Dane by birth, as “Ivan Ivanovich.” After graduating from the Amsterdam Naval Cadet Corps in 1703, he began serving in the Russian Baltic Fleet with the rank of lieutenant. He went down in history as the leader of two Kamchatka expeditions.
Most people know the name Bering from the name of the Bering Strait, which is located between Alaska and Chukotka. In addition, an island and a sea in the Pacific Ocean are named after him, and North-Eastern Siberia, Alaska and Chukotka are today simply called Beringia.
By the way, Bering’s real appearance was restored only in 1992, at which time it was also proven that the obese man, whose portrait is usually placed on the walls in geography classrooms, was not Ivan Ivanovich at all, but his uncle, the poet Vitus Pedersen Bering.
Immanuel Kant
As you know, Kant lived most of his life in Königsberg, a city that was captured by the Russians during the Seven Years' War. Among others, the philosopher swore allegiance to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. His service to Russia was manifested in giving lectures on pyrotechnics and fortification for army officers. Due to his heavy workload, Kant was unable to write a single work at this time.
A little later, Kant has a chance to get a place at the Koenigsberg Academy - an appointment that would free him from financial dependence. True, there are five more people vying for the position. Then Kant writes a message to Empress Elizabeth with a request to appoint him to the position of professor of metaphysics and logic. However, the queen remains indifferent to the requests of her subject, and the place goes to the more mature and experienced mathematician Bucca.
Thaddeus Bellingshausen
The famous Russian navigator and discoverer of Antarctica named Fabian Gottlieb Thaddeus von Bellingshausen was born into a family of Baltic German nobles. At the age of 10 he was enrolled in the Naval Cadet Corps in Kronstadt, and after 6 years he was promoted to midshipman. Participated in the first Russian circumnavigation under the leadership of Krusenstern.
His independent expedition is recognized as one of the most difficult and important in history. It is interesting that it was then that Bellingshausen refuted the delusion of Cook, who argued that movement beyond the south polar seas was impossible. Bellingshausen not only continued to move on two small sailing ships, completely unsuitable for movement in ice, but also made many discoveries during the expedition.
By annexing Poland, the Russian Empire became the country with the largest Jewish population: by the end of the 19th century, more than half (56%) of all Jews in the world lived here. For the previous century, Jews had inhabited European countries chaotically, with governments trying not to interfere in their internal lives. Therefore, such Jewish communities became unique miniature states, which sometimes suffered a lot from oppression and social injustice.
There was an opinion in society that Jews had lost their loyalty to the state
The movement for national identity and equality was formed in Prussia in the mid-18th century by the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, who put forward the ideology of “all rights as citizens, no special rights as Jews.” This slogan was taken up by German educators, including the playwright and theorist Lessing, and thus was born the movement for Jewish rights, the Haskalah, whose influence later led to a significant expansion of civil liberties for European Jews.
Having significantly expanded the territory of his empire, Alexander I was forced to deal with the solution of the Jewish question, however, the matter did not come to concrete action, being mired in conflicts both within the Jewish community itself and those associated with the resistance of officials and senior dignitaries. The next emperor, Nicholas I, was more determined and even proposed a project for the resettlement of all Jews to Siberia, which, however, received a sharp rebuke from two of the most prominent ministers of the 1830s and 40s, Pavel Dmitrievich Kiselev (author of the state village reform) and Sergei Semenovich Uvarov (creator of the “theory of official nationality”). On the other hand, still fearing possible reprisals, some Jews took advantage of a loophole in Russian legislation that nationality was established in accordance with religion, which means that by accepting Christianity, a Jew was freed from all legal and civil restrictions and became a legally capable subject of the empire. This is how “crosses” appeared - Jews who abandoned the faith of their ancestors, converting to Orthodoxy or Lutheranism.
The reformer Tsar Alexander II was inclined to the idea of liberalizing legal norms in relation to the Jewish population. Thus, in 1859, the Pale of Settlement (the border beyond which Jews were forbidden to settle) was abolished for the wealthiest representatives - merchants of the 1st guild and foreigners.
Jews were allowed to live in special cities and towns
In 1861, Jews received the right to take government jobs, and the richest city of Kyiv became the center of Jewish trade. The solution to the Jewish question is carried out progressively: in 1865, all Jewish artisans and their families could move beyond the Pale of Settlement, and in 1867, everyone who served in the army received such privileges. However, the emperor never decided on the most expected measure - the complete abolition of the Pale of Settlement.
After ascending the throne, the new Emperor Alexander III significantly limits all privileges granted by the previous ruler. A mandatory condition became living within the Pale of Settlement without the right to own land, in isolated settlements - shtetls or shtetls. A strict quota was introduced for education in higher educational institutions and gymnasiums of the empire - 10% within the Pale of Settlement, 5% throughout the rest of the country, with the exception of St. Petersburg and Moscow, where the quota was set at a meager 3%. Against the backdrop of the infamous circular “on cooks’ children” adopted in the same year (limiting the possibility of education for the “ignoble” sections of the population and the children of commoners), conservative sentiments in Russian society intensified, giving rise to a lot of acts of resistance and violent discontent among the intelligentsia.
Increased taxes and persecution led to the impoverishment of the Jewish population
Deprived of the opportunity to receive higher education in their homeland, the children of many wealthy Jews went to European universities, then returning to Russia as well-educated specialists, determined to achieve equality and civil liberties for their compatriots. Perhaps this circumstance can partially explain why many talented Jewish youths became greatly radicalized and began to take an active part in the activities of various revolutionary groups and circles. In response to this, the government adopted a number of other restrictions for the Jewish population: the issuance of licenses to practice law was stopped, and Jews were prohibited from participating in zemstvo elections. Of course, all responsibilities towards the state (collection of taxes and taxes) were retained in full. A number of the most liberal dignitaries, led by a member of the State Council, Count Konstantin Ivanovich Palen, presented a report to the emperor in 1888, which strongly recommended that 5 million Jews be given full civil rights in order to avoid the radicalization of their mood. However, Alexander III did not heed the advice of his entourage and ignored the recommendations set out in the report.
Against this reactionary and negative background, socio-political organizations begin to form among Jews, in particular, the “General Jewish Workers' Union” (Bund), which counts among its members many Jewish artisans from the western provinces of the empire. The ideological basis of the emerging national movement was “Zionism,” which spread from Austria-Hungary, preaching the ideas of creating an independent Jewish state on the territory of Palestine, and many Jewish intellectuals were inclined to the socialist basis for building the future of Israel. After the creation of the organization for the protection of the rights of Jewish workers, Poalei Zion (Workers of Zion), in 1899, it entered into open confrontation with the more conservative Bund, thereby causing a split in the Jewish movement. This confrontation ended with the defeat of radical ideas about building a socialist society in favor of the struggle for the safety of the Jewish population and the right to practice their religion.
An important stage that significantly strengthened revolutionary sentiments in the ranks of Russian Jewry was a series of Jewish pogroms (the most tragic of them in Chisinau in 1903), which caused the widest public outcry. There were two further paths to the final solution to the Jewish question: either the use of the most brutal methods to win back their rights, including terrorist ones, or active participation in the activities of the newly emerged estate-representative body - the State Duma.
The leader of Jewish intellectuals in the liberal strata of the political elite was Maxim (Mordechai) Moiseevich Vinaver, a talented lawyer and public speaker. Having become a member of the First State Duma from the Cadet Party, he began to advocate for the widespread education of Jews, collecting under the auspices of the “Jewish Historical and Ethnographic Society” various materials about the traditions and life of Russian Jewry. By the way, it was thanks to Vinaver’s donations that the young genius Marc Chagall received a scholarship to study in Paris, which became the impetus for his career as a painter. Until 1919, Vinaver participated in the activities of the white movement, working as Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Crimean government. However, disillusioned, he emigrated to Paris, where he published the popular newspaper Latest News, which tried to refute the then prevailing opinion about the mass support of Jews for the Bolshevik government. Later, a lawyer and active figure in the Jewish movement of the early 20th century, Heinrich Sliozberg, would write: “Since childhood, I have become accustomed to recognizing myself primarily as a Jew, but from the very beginning of my adult life I also felt like a son of Russia... Being a good Jew does not mean being a good Russian citizen.” .
In 1756-1762, Central and Northern Europe became another battlefield. Prussia decided to expand its borders, and its claims also extended to Russian lands. As a result, Saxony, Austria, Sweden, England, France, Russia and, naturally, Prussia, led by Frederick II the Invincible, joined the war, called the Seven Years.
Despite the fact that the Russians achieved great success on the territory of Prussia, won a number of victories, occupied Berlin and Koenigsberg, we did not have to take advantage of the victories. The war began under Elizabeth Petrovna, and ended under Peter III, who was an ardent admirer of Frederick II. In the spring of 1762, the new Russian emperor made peace between Russia and Prussia and voluntarily returned the entire territory of Prussia, which was occupied by Russian troops. Nevertheless, Friedrich did not go to Königsberg again until the end of his life - apparently, he was very offended that the city surrendered to Russian troops.
Between January 1758 and July 1762, East Prussia and the city of Königsberg became part of the Russian Empire. And, naturally, all classes of East Prussia swore allegiance to the Russian crown, and this was in January 1758. The philosopher Immanuel Kant, who lived and worked at the University of Königsberg at that time, also swore allegiance.
Kant was the most famous citizen of this city in its entire history. Neither the rulers, nor the participants in the wars in these lands, nor the traders of this Hanseatic city, located at the intersection of important trade routes, could either surpass or repeat this glory.
Then the city again became Prussian, but historians did not find evidence that Immanuel Kant renounced Russian citizenship. And today the philosopher’s grave is located on the territory of Russia: in 1945, following the end of World War II, this land of East Prussia passed to the Soviet Union. Koenigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad. In the center of the city lies the world-famous philosopher.
“Two things strike my imagination: the starry sky above and the moral law inside us"
Immanuel Kant was born in Königsberg and was the son of poor parents. Having received a prestigious education, he began to write multi-volume works that made a great revolution in the field of philosophy. Now it was not the environment that shaped a person, but the personality itself created a world commensurate with it. Kant was living proof of his theory. He led a very orderly and measured lifestyle, without deviating from his usual routine for years. However, several interesting facts are associated with his personality:
Exact time 15 hours 30 minutes
Kant's daily routine did not change for years and was distinguished by perfectly calculated details. After lunch, Kant invariably went on his famous promenades. As soon as the workers saw the philosopher in the park, they realized that it was exactly 15:30 and it was time to start work again. They say that even the watchman of the Königsberg Cathedral also checked the time of the tower clock. Kant was no stranger to punctuality.
Recluse
Kant never left his hometown. For this habit, the philosopher was nicknamed the “Prussian recluse.” Later, when M. Bulgakov in “The Master and Margarita” described the joint meal of Woland and Kant, critics joked that on this occasion Satan himself took the trouble to come to the genius for breakfast in Königsberg.
The mystery of the seven bridges
Kant, due to his methodical walks around the city, knew exactly how many streets and bridges there were in Königsberg. So, he calculated that it was impossible to cross all the bridges without passing over one of them twice. This was Kant's favorite riddle, which he asked all his guests. Many scientists tried to solve the philosopher's charade, but no one succeeded. In 1905, on the orders of the Kaiser himself, who became the next victim of the puzzle, the eighth Imperial Bridge was built. It was destroyed during World War II, and later the Jubilee Bridge was built on its pillars, which still exists today.
Subject of the Russian Empire
Despite the fact that Kant lived all his life on the territory of Prussia, by the end of his life he turned out to be a Russian subject. When Königsberg was taken by Russian troops during the Seven Years' War, Kant swore allegiance to the Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Later, when Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad and annexed to Russia, it turned out that the great German philosopher was buried on Russian soil.
"Kant is a sucker"
In mid-March of this year, an inscription was discovered on Kant’s house. As it turned out, the act of vandalism was committed by a 17-year-old girl. The motives for her actions have not yet been revealed. The building is in disrepair; it was built on the foundation of the house in which the philosopher lived and worked. Authorities promised to restore the building and include it in the route of memorial sites of the great German.
Grave secret
Despite the fact that Kant’s funeral procedure was solemn and pompous, there was no personal tomb for him, and the philosopher was buried in the common crypt of the professors of the local university. Only 76 years later it was decided to remove the scientist’s ashes from the scientists’ mass grave and identify him. At the resting place of Kant, the remains of his contemporary, professor of theology Johann Schulz, were discovered. According to eyewitnesses, Kant was buried to the right of Schultz, but searches in this direction did not yield any results. Having started digging in the opposite direction, the commission came across a skeleton. It was later established that these were the remains that belonged to Kant, but some Kant scholars still dispute the commission’s decision.
Kant Island
Kant Island, or Kneiphov, is located in the very center of Kaliningrad, in the middle of the Pregel River. It was there that the great philosopher lived and counted bridges. Today Kant Island is a favorite vacation spot for city residents. Cultural figures periodically organize events there dedicated to the memory of the scientist. So, on Kant’s birthday in 1996, St. Petersburg art critics held the “Kant’s Jacket” campaign. Wooden posts were placed on the island, equal in height to 157 cm - the height of Immanuel Kant. They had black bows and posters with quotes from the philosopher. The arrangement of the posts marked Kant's usual route from his home to the Albertina University, where he lectured.
Returning to the quote given at the beginning, I would like to dilute the process of comprehending the complex thoughts of the philosopher with a bearded, but quite appropriate joke:
Home economics lesson for girls in sixth grade. The teacher says:
– Girls, today we have a very difficult topic: turning the edge inside out.
One student raises her hand and asks:
– Marvanna, what does this mean – the starry sky inside us and the moral law above our heads?
Text: Irina Grigoryan