A. I. Herzen and England: “The Free Russian Tribune” on the Banks of the Thames Introduction: “London — the Only Place” For Alexander Ivanovich Herzen (1812-1870), a revolutionary democrat, philosopher, and publicist, England became not just a country of exile but a unique historical and intellectual laboratory where he lived for 12 years (1852-1864) — the most productive period of his life. His attitude toward England was deeply ambivalent: it was both the citadel of the bourgeois world he hated and at the same time a refuge that provided him freedom of speech unavailable in continental Europe. England became both a physical and symbolic place from which he broadcast to Russia, creating the phenomenon of the “Free Russian Press.” England as a “Political Ark” and Refuge After the defeat of the 1848-1849 revolutions in Europe, Herzen, disillusioned and persecuted, found himself in a political dead end. England, with its law on the right of asylum and lack of censorship, became his salvation. Precedent: The British government, despite its conservatism, refused to extradite Herzen to the Russian authorities despite diplomatic pressure. This aligned with the tradition of granting asylum to political émigrés (as had been done earlier for Carbonari or participants in Polish uprisings). Significance: This security was the foundation for all his subsequent activity. In a letter, he noted: “London is the only place where one can live nowadays... here there is freedom to speak, and no one pays attention to it.” Critique of the “Shopkeeper’s World”: Herzen as an Analyst of English Society Herzen approached England as an insightful social thinker. His assessments, expressed in letters and essays (later included in “Past and Thoughts”), were merciless. Property fetishism and “philistinism”: He saw in the English, especially the middle class, the triumph of “philistinism” on a global scale. For him, England was a kingdom of utilitarian calculation, a cult of comfort, and sacred p ... Read more