The Historical Background of Slavic Disputes

/kloc-in the first half of the 0/9th century, western European countries headed by Britain have entered the era of industrial revolution, while Russia is still a backward agricultural country. Russia's development lags behind its western European neighbors both economically and politically, and the sharp contrast makes Russia dissatisfied with the status quo. The December Uprising of 1825 "awakened a whole generation", and the survival of Russia has aroused widespread concern from all walks of life. In 1930s and 1940s, there was a debate about how Russia should develop and what road to take. Slavs who affirmed the historical characteristics of Russia were formed among the aristocratic bourgeoisie and liberal intellectuals. Cha Daieff, the founder of Westernization School, believes that Russia has never had "an era when energetic activities and moral forces played a noble role" like other ethnic groups, and that Russia's "social life is only excited because of humiliation, but only calm because of humiliation". He said: "There has never been an immortal theory in our national tradition", "Of all the nationalities in the world, only we have not contributed to the world, and we have not learned anything from this world". We have never made any contribution to the progress of the human spirit, and we have been tarnishing it. The Westernization School devalued Russian history to an immeasurable extent.

Chaadayev's remarks hurt Russian national dignity. "It is this damaged dignity and inferiority that makes Russians test their inheritance and hope to find something to restore their self-esteem and dignity in the eyes of foreigners." . Slavs tried their best to dig up excellent heritage from Russian history to prove that the Russian nation is not a degenerate nation. Slavic school and Westernization school discuss the historical and national characteristics of Russia and its future trend in a historical comparison way.

Slavic school and Westernization school both think that the historical characteristics of Russia are different from those of the West, but their attitudes are totally different. Slavic school basically affirmed Russia's own historical development experience, relying on the Russian nation's understanding and superiority, denied that Slavic civilization was inferior to Western civilization, and stressed that it was necessary to seek the motive force for Russia's development from Russian history, rather than taking the Western road. On the other hand, Westernization totally denies the historical heritage of Russia, holding that Western civilization is superior to Slavic civilization, and emphasizing that Slavic civilization is essentially oriental civilization, which has no advantage over Western civilization and can be inherited. The Westernization School recognized the western values, culture and liberal ideas, and believed that Russia could only learn from the west to have a future. The rise of Russia in history-the reform of Peter the Great was the product of imitating the west.