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KHALTURIN A very interesting surname. In some dialects of the Russian language, a wake, a funeral, a free meal for the priest who performed the funeral service for the deceased was called hack. In any village there were, and still are, people who never missed a single funeral or wake. These lovers

Danilov Stepan Nikolaevich

Khalturin (city in Kirov region)

Khalturin Stepan Nikolaevich

Stepan Khalturin, whose brief biography will be presented below, is known for his participation in organizing the explosion in the Winter Palace in 1880. In addition, he was one of the leaders of the Northern Russian Workers' Union movement.

Stepan Khalturin: biography

The future revolutionary was born in the village of Khalevinskaya in 1856, on December 21, into the family of a wealthy peasant. In 1871, Khalturin Stepan Nikolaevich graduated from the district school in the Oryol region. In 1874, he entered the zemstvo teachers' seminary, but the following year, 1875, he was expelled for poor academic performance.

First job

In 1875, together with several like-minded people, Stepan Khalturin wanted to go to America to create his own commune there. However, on the way to Moscow, his fellow travelers stole his passport and went abroad through St. Petersburg. Khalturin tried to catch up with them, but could not. Arriving in St. Petersburg, he did a variety of jobs in order to feed himself and get comfortable at least for the night. In the fall of 1875, he managed to establish contacts with the populist revolutionaries, among whom was G. V. Plekhanov. Some time later, Stepan Khalturin met by chance with Kotelnikov, a teacher at the zemstvo school. The latter moved to St. Petersburg and participated in underground organizations. He helped Khalturin get a job as a carpenter in the railway workshops. Subsequently, Kotelnikov recommended him to political circles in St. Petersburg.

Revolutionary activities

Having joined the underground political movement, Stepan Khalturin quickly gained popularity among the circle members. This is where his propaganda talents showed. He participated in the formation of the first workers' organization in Russia. Later, V. G. Korolenko said in his memoirs (according to Alexander Pavlov) that Khalturin “with tears in his eyes convinced his followers not to take the path of terror,” saying that there was no return from this road. In the last quarter of the 19th century, many capitalist industrial enterprises were concentrated in St. Petersburg. The number of proletarian population in the city increased rapidly. The literature of Russian emigrant revolutionaries penetrated into the city through the port. In December 1878, the charter and program of the Northern Russian Workers' Union were adopted. The organizers of the movement were A. E. Gorodnichy, S. I. Volkov, V. I. Savelyev. The society gathered on the 15th line of Vasilievsky Island, 20. After some time, Khalturin Stepan Nikolaevich and Obnorsky Viktor Pavlovich began to lead the movement. In 1879, the approved program and charter were published in the form of a leaflet with the slogan “To the Russian workers!” It is worth noting that the organization of the "Union" was quite archaic - it was not a party, but rather a secret society. Nevertheless, his education is a significant step forward for socialist propaganda among the working people.

Structure and operation of the organization

The Union began to expand rapidly. Soon its branches began to form in working-class areas of St. Petersburg. Each of them was led by a worker who was a member of the “Central Circle”. The association had its own illegal library, which worked in February 1880. Members of the “Union” managed to design and launch it and began to use it for the production of leaflets. It was also where the first issue of Rabochaya Zarya (a revolutionary newspaper) was printed. In total, there were about 200 people in the Soyuz. They sought to create an all-Russian organization and tried to lead political strikes. Branches of the organization operated in Helsingfors and Moscow. In 1880 the movement was crushed by the authorities. Some of its members managed to escape.

Khalturin Stepan Nikolaevich: popular reprisal against tsarism

In September 1879, the revolutionary, using forged documents, got a job as a carpenter in the Winter Palace. They put him in the basement. By the beginning of February of the following year, he was able to transfer dynamite made in an underground laboratory to the premises where he lived. The guardhouse was located directly above the room where Stepan Khalturin settled. The terrorist hoped that the force of the explosion would reach the dining room where Alexander II and the Prince of Hesse were planning to have lunch. It was located on the second floor, above the guardhouse. However, the prince's train was 30 minutes late. The explosion occurred when the emperor was greeting a guest in the Field Marshal's Hall, far from the dining room. The shock wave destroyed the floors between the first and basement floors. The floors of the guardhouse (modern Hall No. 26 of the Hermitage) collapsed. There were double brick vaults between the second and first floors. They survived the explosion. The people in the mezzanine were not injured, but the floors were lifted and the glass in the windows was broken. In the dining room (Hall 160 of the Hermitage today) a crack appeared along the wall.

As a result of the explosion, 11 soldiers who were on guard duty in the palace that day were killed, and 56 people were injured. The surviving sentries, despite their injuries and wounds, continued to remain at their posts. They did not give up their places even after the arrival of a replacement of the Life Guards until they were relieved by the breeding corporal, who was also wounded in the explosion. All the servicemen who died that day were heroes of the Russian-Turkish war, which ended quite recently. The sentries were buried in a mass grave in St. Petersburg, at the Smolensk cemetery. A monument to the Finnish Heroes was erected on a granite-lined platform. By decree of the emperor, all those who died were presented with cash payments, awards and other incentives. The families of those killed were transferred by the same order “to eternal boarding school.” Despite the cold and the threat of a new terrorist attack, on February 7, Alexander I went to the funeral. 5 days later, the Supreme Administrative Commission was established - an emergency government body to combat revolutionary aggression. After the explosion in the Winter Palace, Stepan Khalturin was sent by the People's Will to Moscow.

Murder of prosecutor Strelnikov

In 1882, on March 18, Stepan Khalturin, together with N.A. Zhelvakov, was in Odessa. Here he participated in the murder of the prosecutor. Zhelvakov inflicted a fatal wound on Strelnikov with a pistol shot. Khalturin was supposed to take him away from the crime scene, disguised as a cab driver. However, they were unable to escape: they were detained by passers-by. Having given other names to the investigation, Khalturin and Zhelvakov, by order of Alexander III, were put on trial and hanged unidentified in 1882, March 22.

Conclusion

During the years of Soviet power, Khalturin was ranked among the most revered revolutionaries. Lenin spoke very highly of him and his work in creating underground organizations. In 1923, a monument to Stepan Khalturin was erected in Kirov. In addition, sculptures of the revolutionary are present in the city of Orlov, Zaton village (Kirov region). The ship is also named after Stepan Khalturin.

As a child he attended school and was then apprenticed to a carpenter.

Stepan Khalturin was born in Vyatka into a family of poor townspeople. In the early 1870s he came to St. Petersburg, where he entered the factory. It is unknown exactly when and under what circumstances he became interested in revolutionary ideas. In 1875-1876 he was already an active propagandist... “He was one of those people whose appearance does not give even an approximately correct idea of ​​​​their character... It was possible to get close to him only in practice... Stepan Khalturin began to get carried away terror. Already in the autumn of 1879 he entered into business relations with the Narodnaya Volya members.”

“Alexander II should be killed by a worker,” Khalturin believed, “let the Russian tsars not think that the workers are idiots who do not understand their true importance for the people.”

It was about the explosion of the entire royal family in the Winter Palace. The Executive Committee agreed to his proposal; Khalturin entered the palace as a carpenter. He conducted relations with the Executive Committee mainly through Zhelyabov; in addition, he was helped by Kibalchich, Kvyatkovsky and Isaev. From October 1879 until the explosion on February 5, 1880, Khalturin was engaged in mining the Winter Palace.

On February 5, the Winter Palace was rocked by a terrible explosion: a mine exploded. The lights in the palace went out. The black Admiralty Square seemed to become even darker. But what was hidden behind that darkness there - at the other end of the square? Neither Zhelyabov nor Khalturin could wait for clarification, despite their burning curiosity. People converged on the palace, firefighters came running. The corpses and wounded were taken out from there. There seemed to be an awful lot of them. But what about the culprit of this massacre, Alexander II?

“Zhelyabov and Khalturin quickly left. For the latter, a sure refuge was already ready, as far as, of course, they generally exist in Russia. And only upon arrival there did Khalturin’s nerves immediately soften. Tired, sick, he could barely stand and only immediately inquired whether there were enough weapons in the apartment. “I won’t give myself up alive!” - he said. They reassured him: the apartment was protected with the same dynamite bombs.”

“The news that the king had escaped had a most depressing effect on Khalturin. He fell completely ill and only stories about the enormous impression made on February 5 on all of Russia could console him somewhat, although he could never come to terms with his failure and did not forgive Zhelyabov for calling him a mistake.”

Depressed by his failure, Khalturin left for the south of Russia, where for about two years he was engaged in propaganda among the workers, but the state of siege imposed in Odessa, and especially the activities of Strelnikov, appointed by Alexander III to carry out investigations into political affairs throughout the south of Russia and provided with special powers, Soon it began to greatly disturb Stepan. He notified the “Executive Committee” about this, which instructed him to organize the murder of the all-powerful and hated prosecutor. This order was successfully completed on March 18, 1882 by Khalturin and his comrade Zhelvakov.

Details about this murder are described in correspondence from Odessa, published in No. 3 “At Homeland,” in 1883.

“On March 18, Mr. Strelnikov, having had lunch as usual at a French restaurant, went out onto the boulevard for his usual afternoon walk and, having walked several times along the middle alley, sat down on a bench near the passage from the outer alley to the middle alley, from which it is separated by a fence surrounding a row of trees. Next to him sat a suspicious person who, at Novorossiysk University, posed as either a student of Engelhard or a volunteer Smirnov. When Zhelvakov, who had been watching Strelnikov all the time, approached the bench, groping for the revolver in his pocket, Strelnikov stood up and moved to the next bench, looking halfway around the middle alleys. Zhelvakov stopped at the end of the fence, behind which Strelnikov was sitting, took out a revolver and, aiming at the right side of the back of his head, pulled the trigger. Strelnikov's head instantly bent to the right side and leaned against the back of the bench. The audience froze in place: no one moved even when a moment later a man with a revolver in his hand appeared on the outer alley and, jumping over the fence, set off down the steep descent to Havannaya Street. He had already reached the Duma building when Smirnov, running to the edge of the alley and waving his arms, began shouting down: “Catch! Hold it!.. They killed you in broad daylight!..” Then the public on the boulevard came to life; voices were heard: “get the doctor!”... One lady even decided to go up to Strelnikov and apply a handkerchief to the wound, but her worries were in vain: he was already dead. A few minutes later, Gurko appeared (the fatal bench stands just opposite his palace) and exclaimed: “What a riot!” He ordered Strelnikov’s still warm corpse to be taken to the nearest hospital. Finally, the police appeared, beginning their activities by taking away the addresses of those present.”

“Meanwhile, Zhelvakov ran down, firing back at those who were catching up with him or trying to block his path. All who saw this run and this extraordinary defense on a narrow and steep descent could not speak calmly about the strength, dexterity and self-control of the young hero. Having fired all the charges from two revolvers, he grabbed a dagger and, continuing to fight back, approached more and more towards a white horse harnessed to a carriage, on which Khalturin was waiting for him at the end of the narrow slope overlooking Gavannaya Street. Meanwhile, a group of passers-by had already gathered below before the descent. They did not know, of course, what had happened up there, but they looked in amazement at the armed man rushing towards them, who had already injured many who tried to detain him. The purpose of this desperate flight soon became apparent to them; many rushed to the exit of the descent in order to detain the fleeing people in this narrow place, and surrounded the carriage. At this critical moment, Khalturin, making sure that it was impossible for Zhelvakov to get through to the carriage, jumped off it and, snatching a revolver, wanted to rush to the aid of his comrade, but at the very first steps he stumbled. A Jew, a clerk from the coal depot, a police officer and several quarantine workers rushed to detain him. “Leave it alone! I'm a socialist! I'm for you! - Khalturin shouted. The workers instinctively stopped. “So that you live as you do for us!” - answered the clerk, a hefty scoundrel, who, together with the policeman, leaned all his weight on Khalturin. “Of course, not for scoundrels like you, but for the unfortunate working people!” - he said, barely catching his breath. The police arrived in time and helped them tie up Khalturin and brutally twist his hands with ropes dug deep into his body.

Zhelvakov saw what was happening near the carriage and, almost at the very passage, turned to the side towards Quarantine Square, still continuing to run, although his strength must have already begun to leave him. Faced with the official Ignatovich, who also rushed to block his path, he paused a little; then the chase instantly surrounded him and disarmed him, knocked him down and tied him up. Both arrested were immediately taken to the police. And the crowd that remained in place, breaking into groups, talked about the incident. “What happened here?” - asked the newcomers. “Yes, they killed a girl on the boulevard,” they answered in one place; “One killed some old man,” they said in another; “One young man killed his bride,” reported the third. No one yet knew the true meaning of the incident.

But gradually spreading from the boulevard, the news reached the lower streets. At first, contradictory: “Strelnikov has been killed!” - “The mayor was shot!” - “Gurko himself.” But by nightfall it was already known everywhere that the murder was “political” and it was Strelnikov who was killed. The attitude immediately changed: “If they had known, they would have fought them off,” said the quarantine workers. They say that even Ignatovich himself fell ill from remorse for helping to detain Strelnikov’s killer. There was a noticeable excitement in the city. Some hurried to the boulevard to see the scene of the crime, the blood, the bench; others crowded near the police, where the arrested were brought. Sympathetic attitude towards the event could be seen everywhere. Not to mention the exclamations: “It’s a dog’s death for a dog!” - “That’s what the son of a bitch needs!” - I happened to come across such scenes: on the boulevard, at the very descent, a group of the public surrounds an eyewitness to the incident. He eagerly and waving his arms tells how Zhelvakov fought back, how he ran, and in delight constantly interrupts his speech with exclamations: “What a hero! Well done!" The audience listens sympathetically, holding their breath.

At the kvass shop, opposite the police, I noticed a small circle consisting of a shopkeeper, several apprentice shoemakers and a gray peasant whispering something to the others. As I approach, the conversation stops. "What's happened?" - I ask. - “The general was killed.” - "Who?" - “Yes, two of them... young.” - “Did you catch it?” “They caught the poor,” the peasant replies and, immediately catching himself, adds, changing his tone: “Well, they caught it... they’ve already brought it.” - “Why did they kill him?” - I ask. The little man looked at me intently and quietly said: “Yes, you know... it’s impossible to talk today,” and he mysteriously fell silent. Everyone has sad faces...

The police are all on their feet. Foot and horse patrols are encountered at every turn. It is prohibited to walk on the sidewalk in front of the police building; People holding power come here every now and then: the governor-general, the mayor and others. And interrogations are taking place in the building itself. Zhelvakov refused to answer until he was told whether Strelnikov had been killed. “Killed,” they answered him. - “Now do with me what you want.” The interrogations led nowhere. They found out where the horse was bought, and they also found out the apartments of those arrested, since they had passports with them, but neither their identities nor their real names were established. Late at night, under heavy escort, they were transferred to the prison and placed in the basement. The interrogations went on continuously, and until the execution the prisoners were not given a single hour of rest. There were rumors around the city that they were being tortured, but we have no actual evidence of this.

On the night of the 20th to the 21st, we held a court unprecedented even in Russia. Imagine the dead of night, the court site unknown to the public, and in the hearing there was no one except Gurko, the judges himself elected, and the defendants. Even the highest ranks of the military and judicial departments were not allowed. And yet we know in general terms what happened at the trial, what the defendants said. Khalturin stated that he came to Odessa with the goal of organizing workers, but encountered strong obstacles in Strelnikov’s activities. He reported this to the Executive Committee and received instructions from it to organize the murder of Strelnikov, which he carried out.

Zhelvakov is said to have said: “They will hang me, but there will be others. You can't outweigh everyone. Nothing can save you from the end that awaits you!”

An order was received from Gatchina to immediately hang Strelnikov’s murderers, and in view of such haste, Gurko decided, without disturbing Frolov, to choose an executioner from the prisoners sentenced to hard labor held in the Odessa prison. The details of this choice are interesting.

The news that Strelnikov was killed and the arrested murderers were brought to prison quickly spread among the criminal prisoners. The fact of the murder was met with universal approval, and those arrested aroused the warmest sympathy, especially Zhelvakov with his daring and youth. Therefore, the proposal to hang Strelnikov’s killers for a certain reward was met with a decisive refusal by the prisoners. Some expressed it in the harshest form: “I won’t leave this place, I’ll die completely if I touch them even that much.” - “I’d sooner strangle all the generals than touch their throne with my little finger!” - was heard in response to the shameful proposal.

Finally they attacked one, who apparently began to hesitate, seduced by promises of benefits and gifts. “I just don’t know how to hang,” he also made an excuse. “Well, this is nothing,” they objected to him, “the doctor (prison doctor Rosen) will teach you how to hang.”

Society was not supposed to know about the trial, the verdict, or the execution itself until it was all over, but nevertheless, the presence of its representatives was required during the hanging. This dilemma was resolved as follows: two or three trustworthy members of the Duma and the famous editor of the Novorossiysk Telegraph, Ozmidov, were sent a laconic order: to appear at 5 o’clock in the morning before the mayor. The unfortunate representatives of glasnost spent a very anxious night and at dawn they came to Marazli (the mayor), who took them straight to prison.

At 6 o'clock Khalturin and Zhelvakov were taken out. The latter quickly climbed the steps of the scaffold and counted them: “Fourteen, oh, how high!” - he said. He put the noose around his neck and hung. The consumptive, sick Khalturin had to be supported. The executioner, who had drunk too much to be cheerful, fumbled for a long time, putting the noose on him, and adjusted it several times. Thanks to his ineptitude, Khalturin suffered for a terribly long time before being finally strangled. The police chief, who was present at the execution, turned away so as not to see his convulsions, and the officer in charge of the procedure became ill.”

(1880). Organizer of the North Russian Workers' Union.

Start of activity. Workers' organizations

Stepan Khalturin was born on December 21, 1856 (January 2) in the village of Khalevinskaya (now the village of Zhuravli, Oryol district, Kirov region), Oryol district, Vyatka province, into a family of wealthy peasants. In 1871 he graduated from the Oryol district school, during his studies he read a lot and became interested in populist literature. In 1874-1875 he studied at the Vyatka Zemstvo Teachers' Seminary; was expelled for poor academic performance on August 14, 1875.

At the beginning of 1875, with a group of like-minded people, he planned to go to America and found a commune there. On the way to Moscow, fellow travelers tricked him into taking possession of his passport and went abroad through St. Petersburg. Khalturin tried to catch up with them in St. Petersburg, but did not have time. He was forced to take on different jobs in order to feed himself and provide himself with a place to sleep. Working in St. Petersburg since the fall of 1875, he established connections with revolutionary populists (G.V. Plekhanov and others), and soon accidentally met a teacher at the Zemstvo School, Kotelnikov, who moved to St. Petersburg, who helped him get a job as a carpenter in the railway workshops and recommended Stepan to the St. Petersburg political circles.

Very soon, the provincial worker not only got comfortable among the circle members, but moved to the forefront as a talented propagandist. He took part in the creation of the first political organization of workers in Russia - the Northern Workers' Union. Later, V. G. Korolenko, in his memoirs, recounted from the words of worker Alexander Pavlov that Khalturin “convinced, with tears in the eyes of his student workers, to continue propaganda, but under no circumstances take the path of terror. “There is no turning back from this path,” he said.”

Having worked at the Admiralty Shipyards already under the name of Stepan Batyshkov, he was hired to work on board the imperial yacht Livadia. An official of the palace department liked the young, diligent carpenter, and in September 1879 he was hired for carpentry work in the palace, settling him in the basement.

Explosion in the Winter Palace

The memory of Stepan Khalturin was immortalized in the name of the steamship "Stepan Khalturin" and in a sculpture:

• monument to Stepan Khalturin in Kirov, 1923 (sculptor - N. I. Shilnikov)
• monument-bust to Stepan Khalturin in Orlov, st. Lenin, square near house No. 73
• bust of Stepan Khalturin in the village of Zhuravli, Oryol district, Kirov region, in front of the museum “Peasant Life” (demolished in 2010)
• monument-bust to Stepan Khalturin in the village of Zaton named after Stepan Khalturin, Kotelnichsky district, Kirov region

Films about Stepan Khalturin

Toponymy

Streets in many cities of the former Soviet Union were named after him.

Russia

In his honor, from 1923 to 1992, the city of Orlov, Kirov Region, was named, near which he was born.

• Khalturina Street(now again Millionnaya) in St. Petersburg, overlooking Palace Square, where the Winter Palace is located, in which the attempt on the life of the emperor was actually made)
• Khalturinskaya street in Moscow
• Stepan Khalturin Street(now again Pyatnitskaya) in Kirov

• Khalturina Street in settlements: Armavir (Krasnodar Territory), Astrakhan (from 1922 to 2008), Labinsk (Krasnodar Territory), Berezniki, Solikamsk (Perm Territory), Bryansk, town. Vakhrushi (Kirov region), Volgograd, Voronezh, Nikolaevsk (Volgograd region), Gavrilov-Yam (Yaroslavl region), Gelendzhik, Evpatoria, Yegoryevsk (Moscow region), Ekaterinburg, Ivanovo, Izhevsk, Irkutsk, Yoshkar-Ola, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Kemerovo, Kurgan (Ryabkovo district), Kursk, Maloyaroslavets, Murashi (Kirov region), Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Morozovsk (Rostov region), Murmansk, Novosibirsk, Oktyabrsky (Bashkortostan), Omsk, Orenburg, Perm, Peterhof, Petrozavodsk, Pushkino (Moscow region) region, microdistrict Zavety Ilyich), Rybinsk, Ryazan, Samara, Saransk, Slobodskoy, Spassk-Dalniy, Sterlitamak, Sudogda, Taganrog, Tver, Tula, Tuapse, Ulyanovsk, Tyumen, Ufa, Khabarovsk, Cheboksary, Chelyabinsk, Shakhty, Engels, Yakutsk , Yaroslavl, Yartsevo (Smolensk region), Shumerlya (Chuvash Republic), Volzhsk (Republic of Mari El),
• Lane Khalturinsky in Rostov-on-Don
• Passage of Stepan Khalturin in Tambov and Tver.

Ukraine

• Khalturin streets in settlements: Berdyansk, Zaporozhye, Krivoy Rog, Makeevka (Donetsk region), Pokrovsk (Donetsk region), Mariupol, Poltava, Sverdlovsk (Lugansk region), Kharkov, Chernivtsi, Nizhyn, Uman (Cherkassy region).
• Khalturina Lane in Sumy, Izyum (Kharkiv region), Znamenka (Kirovograd region), Uman (Cherkasy region).

Renamed:

• Khalturina Street in Kyiv (now Pankovskaya Street), Odessa (now Gavannaya Street again);
• Khalturin descent in Kharkov (now Soborny).

In Crimea

Belarus

• Khalturina street in Minsk, Brest, Rogachev, Gomel region.
• Furniture factory named after S. N. Khalturin in Bobruisk

Kazakhstan

• Khalturin Street in Shymkent (now Omirbek Zholdasbekov Street)
• Khalturina Street in Semey
• Khalturina Street in Petropavlovsk

Addresses in St. Petersburg

04. - 06.1879 - dormitory house of the Higher Women's (Bestuzhev) Courses - 10th line, 39.

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Notes

1. His brother, Pyotr Khalturin, successfully graduated from the same school.
2. Valentin Sergeev. Truth and myth about Stepan Khalturin. 2005. - P. 62 - 63. - .
3. A. G. Latyshev. Declassified Lenin. - 1st. - M.: March, 1996. - P. 115. - 336 p. - 15,000 copies. - ISBN 5-88505-011-2.
5. This facility is located on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula, most of which is the subject of territorial disputes between Russia, which controls the disputed territory, and Ukraine. According to Russia, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Crimea, and the federal city of Sevastopol are located on the peninsula. According to the administrative-territorial division of Ukraine, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city with a special status of Sevastopol, which are part of Ukraine, are located on the territory of Crimea.

Literature

• Prokofiev V. A. Stepan Khalturin. - M.: Young Guard, 1958. - (Life of wonderful people).
• Nagaev G. D. Executed by an unidentified...: The Tale of Stepan Khalturin. - M.: Politizdat, 1970. - (Fiery revolutionaries). - 367 p., ill.
• Stepnyak-Kravchinsky S. M. Collected works. Part 5: Sketches and silhouettes. Olga Lyubatovich. No. 39. Life in a small town. Stepan Khalturin. To the wizard. Garibaldi / Stepnyak-Kravchinsky S. M. - St. Petersburg: b. i., 1907.
• D. Valovaya, M. Valovaya, G. Lapshina. Boldness. - M.: Young Guard, 1989. - 314 p., ill. - pp. 264-272.
• Nevsky V.I. History of the RCP(b). Brief essay. - Reprint of the 2nd edition of 1926 “Surf”. - St. Petersburg. : New Prometheus, 2009. - 752 p. - 1,000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9901606-1-3.

Links

• // Prokofiev V. A. Stepan Khalturin. M.: Publishing house of the Central Committee of the Komsomol “Young Guard”, 1958. (Life of remarkable people).

An excerpt characterizing Khalturin, Stepan Nikolaevich

If we assume, as historians do, that great people lead humanity to achieve certain goals, which consist either in the greatness of Russia or France, or in the balance of Europe, or in spreading the ideas of revolution, or in general progress, or whatever it may be, it is impossible to explain the phenomena of history without the concepts of chance and genius.
If the goal of the European wars at the beginning of this century was the greatness of Russia, then this goal could be achieved without all the previous wars and without an invasion. If the goal is the greatness of France, then this goal could be achieved without revolution and without empire. If the goal is the dissemination of ideas, then printing would accomplish this much better than soldiers. If the goal is the progress of civilization, then it is very easy to assume that, besides the extermination of people and their wealth, there are other more expedient ways for the spread of civilization.
Why did it happen this way and not otherwise?
Because that's how it happened. “Chance made the situation; genius took advantage of it,” says history.
But what is a case? What is a genius?
The words chance and genius do not mean anything that really exists and therefore cannot be defined. These words only denote a certain degree of understanding of phenomena. I don't know why this phenomenon happens; I don't think I can know; That’s why I don’t want to know and say: chance. I see a force producing an action disproportionate to universal human properties; I don’t understand why this happens, and I say: genius.
For a herd of rams, the ram that is driven every evening by the shepherd into a special stall to feed and becomes twice as thick as the others must seem like a genius. And the fact that every evening this very same ram ends up not in a common sheepfold, but in a special stall for oats, and that this very same ram, doused in fat, is killed for meat, should seem like an amazing combination of genius with a whole series of extraordinary accidents .
But the rams just have to stop thinking that everything that is done to them happens only to achieve their ram goals; it is worth admitting that the events happening to them may also have goals that are incomprehensible to them, and they will immediately see unity, consistency in what happens to the fattened ram. Even if they do not know for what purpose he was fattened, then at least they will know that everything that happened to the ram did not happen by accident, and they will no longer need the concept of either chance or genius.
Only by renouncing the knowledge of a close, understandable goal and recognizing that the final goal is inaccessible to us, will we see consistency and purposefulness in the lives of historical persons; the reason for the action they produce, disproportionate to universal human properties, will be revealed to us, and we will not need the words chance and genius.
One has only to admit that the purpose of the unrest of the European peoples is unknown to us, and only the facts are known, consisting of murders, first in France, then in Italy, in Africa, in Prussia, in Austria, in Spain, in Russia, and that movements from the West to the east and from east to west constitute the essence and purpose of these events, and not only will we not need to see exclusivity and genius in the characters of Napoleon and Alexander, but it will be impossible to imagine these persons otherwise than as the same people as everyone else; and not only will it not be necessary to explain by chance those small events that made these people what they were, but it will be clear that all these small events were necessary.
Having detached ourselves from knowledge of the ultimate goal, we will clearly understand that just as it is impossible for any plant to come up with other colors and seeds that are more appropriate to it than those that it produces, in the same way it is impossible to come up with two other people, with all their past, which would correspond to such an extent, to such the smallest details, to the purpose that they were to fulfill.

The main, essential meaning of European events at the beginning of this century is the militant movement of the masses of European peoples from West to East and then from East to West. The first instigator of this movement was the movement from west to east. In order for the peoples of the West to be able to make the warlike movement to Moscow that they made, it was necessary: ​​1) for them to form into a warlike group of such a size that would be able to withstand a clash with the warlike group of the East; 2) so that they renounce all established traditions and habits and 3) so that, when making their militant movement, they have at their head a person who, both for himself and for them, could justify the deceptions, robberies and murders that were accompanied this movement.