Sysoeva E.K. Public Schools and Zemstvo in Russia. Second half of the 19th – beginning of the 20th centuries

Abstract: This article is devoted to the activity of the Zemstvo in the sphere of public education. The author reviews the relation between the organs of local government with the central authorities, the changes in local governments regarding the problems of theoretical and practical works, and their involvement in financing this sphere. The study of this topic allows to enter the wider discussion concerning the question of public education in the post-reform period, the role of the Zemstvo in the formation of a new kind of public school, and the relationship between government and society. The attempts at introducing a general primary education became one of the most important events of the early 20th century. The position of the ruling circle was significantly determined by the mobilisation of social forces. The most radical project of introducing a general primary education was developed by the Ministry of National Education in 1905 – during the period of the relative equilibrium between revolutionary forces and the government. With the strengthening of the government’s position the degree of radicalisation among the ministry officials subsided and the budgets of local programs were cut. As a result the question of the general primary education had not been resolved, but the 50-year activity of the Zemstvo in the sphere of public education nonetheless bore its fruits having increased the level of literacy in the rural population.

Keywords: