Gendarm Theophil Rozhanov and his «History»

Abstract

The article deals with the personnel policy of the political investigation of the Russian Empire on the example of one of its officers – Theophil Rozhanov. In the same context, political and legal views prevailing in the Russian special services are analyzed, based on the example of the History of the Revolutionary Movement, written by Th. Rozhanov. The author presents the history of the development of opposition social movement in Russia from Alexander I to Nicholas II. The book is an interesting reflection of the gendarme's outlook and changes in views on the political situation and public attitudes. The author emphasized that an important component of the political search is the monitoring of public attitudes. So, in fact, he urged not only to identify opposition figures and revolutionaries, but to carry out total surveillance of society. He reasoned his opinion with the need to study the environment in which the revolutionaries operate and influence.

The biography of the author of this book itself is atypical in the sense of reproduction of the prosopographic portrait of the Russian gendarme, and his book differs significantly from the works of other historians who worked in the tsarist repressive and punitive system. It is possible that also in this environment, forces that were thinking about finding ways of understanding with society began to mature.

The authors relied on a wide range of sources, among which archival-documentary materials occupy a prominent place, some of which were first introduced into scientific circulation.