Роль вузовской интеллигенции в Первой русской революции (по материалам сенаторских ревизий)

The article is devoted to the study of the problem of the participation of teachers and students of the Novorossiysk and Kiev universities, as well as the Kiev Polytechnic Institute in anti-government protests during the First Russian revolution. Its relevance is due to the fact that the mechanism of organizing anti-government protests in the universities of the empire has not been sufficiently studied. The materials of senatorial audits conducted hot on the trail by the Governing Senate contribute to the deepening of existing ideas about the forms and methods of their preparation by revolutionaries. It is important to note that the events that took place in Kiev and Odessa in October 1905, as a whole, reflected the general laws of the development of the revolutionary movement throughout the country. An investigation by the senators allowed the government to obtain objective information about anti-government demonstrations in these cities. In fact, the senators’ reports to the Emperor became the first “historical” sources, which contained reliable information about the preconditions for their occurrence and the nature of their implementation in the two most important cities of Little Russia. The article also focuses on the participation in anti-government speeches of the rector of Novorossiysk University, professor I. M. Zanchevsky, professors E. N. Schepkin, S. P. Yaroshenko, N. N. Lange, students studying in higher and secondary specialized educational institutions. The fates of I. M. Zanchevsky and E. N. Schepkin, who became the organizers of the movement for political reforms in the Russian Empire in 1905, are reflected. The characteristic of the forms and methods of struggle approved by the revolutionaries in Russia in this period is given. Analysis of the audit materials allows us to identify the reasons for the active participation of students in the revolutionary struggle. The article draws the conclusion about the leading role of the university intelligentsia in organizing anti-government protests in the cities of Kiev and Odessa.