“Triumph of Pobedonostsev and Katkov…”: the Ideological differences among conservatives about the convening of Zemsky sobor 1882 (in correspondence by I. S. Aksakov with his wife)

The article highlights some nuances of the ideological confrontation between supporters and opponents of the convening of Zemsky Sobor on the eve of the coronation of Alexander III. Attention is drawn, that the basic struggle has been unfolded on a conservative field: between supporters of state-conservative position of K. P. Pobedonostsev and M. N. Katkov, on the one hand, and the democratic-conservative position of N. P. Ignatiev and I. S. Aksakov, on the other. The article involved previously underutilized sources, primarily I. S. Aksakov’s correspondence with his wife, that includes materials, provoking curious thoughts both about the situation as such and about fundamental views of Aksakov and his relation to Katkov and Pobedonoscev. In addition, the essay by the French publicist A. Leroy-Beaulieu devoted to the reign of Alexander III was used, in which the question of Zemsky Sobors was raised.