ABSTRACT
The Russian masses had been shaken by two revolutionary crises prior to our recent revolution, which was related to the outcome of the Russo-Japanese War. They were the Time of Troubles, with the Razin rebellion as its aftermath, and the Pugachev uprising. These were great upheavals in our national life, but we would search them in vain for any religious or political idea that would make them comparable to the great turning points in the West. Cannot the participation of the Schismatics in the Pugachev revolt be ascribed to a religious idea? No, rather, these revolutions demonstrated the destructive force of the struggle of class interests, and since they could not counterpose any alternative to the historical principle of the state they dashed themselves to pieces against it. 1
