ABSTRACT
In February 1899, the first all-Russia nationwide student strike roused the whole country. It was the start of period when recurrent waves of student strikes and demonstrations disrupted Russian institutions of higher education, with tensions reaching a peak during the Revolution of 1905. The experience of student strikes remains a topical problem within the present-day search for collective identity in the modern Russian Federation. The students also stood out against the urban society background due to the specificity of their way of thinking, way of behaviour, and unsettled social status. During the first stage of the student movement, between 1899 and 1901, political aspirations were not a factor for the overwhelming majority of the revolting students, not even in the largest cities of Imperial Russia. The events of 1899 contributed to the development of a specific student revolt subculture, which complemented the whole picture of urban culture in fin de siecle Imperial Russia.
