“People of the twenties”: Pavel Pestel and Ivan Burtsov

Abstract

The article deals with the everyday life of participants in secret political organizations of the 1820s, Decembrists. To characterize the generation to which the Decembrists belonged, the definition of Yuri N. Tynyanov is used: “people of the twenties”. It is noted that this generation primarily belonged to young noblemen who took part in the war of 1812 and whose political views were formalized in the postwar period. The main conflict experienced by the Decembrists is formulated: between romantic ideas about life and the harsh reality of political conspiracy. The article describes the main milestones in the biography of P.I. Pestel - the head of the Southern society, one of the brightest representatives of the radical wing of the conspiracy. At the same time it is emphasized that the author of these lines has already repeatedly described his biography, and the difference in the attitude of critics to the assessments made by the author and to Pestel’s personality is revealed. It is formulated that this difference is due to the difference in attitude towards Pestel of his contemporaries. The political confrontation between Pestel and the representative of the “liberal wing” of the conspirators, I.G. Burtsov, is analyzed. It describes Pestel’s opponent, his attitude to the problem of interaction between society and the authorities, and his activity in secret society. The conclusion is made that it is impossible for Burtsov’s “line” to defeat Pestel’s “line” under specific historical conditions of the 1820s.