The Conservative Liberalism of E.N. Trubetskoy: Socio-Political Views of the Editor of the Journal “Moskovskii Ezhenedelnik”

Introduction. The publishing and journalistic activities by E.N. Trubetskoy left a noticeable mark on the history of Russian socio-political thought of the early twentieth century. Two original political and philosophical currents of thought, “mirnoobnovlenchestvo” and “vekhovstvo”, took shape on the pages of the journal “Moskovskii ezhenedelnik,” edited by him. The purpose of this publication is to clarify the socio-political views of E.N. Trubetskoy and to establish their classification. Methods and materials. To disclose the topic, general scientific and special historical methods were used, including comparative historical and historical typological methods. The research was based on a structural and semantic analysis of Trubetskoy’s journalistic materials published in the “Moskovskii ezhenedelnik” in 1906–1910. Analysis. In his journal articles, E.N. Trubetskoy expressed a critical attitude towards the autocratic-bureaucratic order in imperial Russia. The publicist recognized the inevitability of the fall of the autocratic system, which for many years trampled on two fundamental principles of social development – individual freedom and public independence. The editor of the “Moskovskii ezhenedelnik” presented on the pages of the periodical his own views on the events of the First Russian Revolution, the nature and reasons of the defeat of the popular uprising. In addition, Trubetskoy paid attention to the problem of the Russian intelligentsia and the role of the educated minority in the revolutionary upheavals of 1905–1907. Trubetskoy’s journalism reflects the main ideas and provisions of his original concept of “Mirnoe obnovlenie”, which contains a program of moderate progressive modernization of the state. Results. E.N. Trubetskoy’s affiliation to the ideological trend of conservative liberalism was established. The definition of this variation of liberal ideology is given. A general characteristic of Trubetskoy’s system of socio-political views is given.