Nachalo
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''Nachalo'' (''The Beginning'') was a Russian Marxist monthly magazine published in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Russia, in 1899.


Origins

When ''
Novoye Slovo ''Novoye Slovo'' (russian: Новое слово; meaning: ''New Word'') was the title of two separate Russian magazines published in Saint Petersburg, the first appearing between 1893 or 1895, and 1897 and the second in the fall of 1917. The fir ...
'', the flagship magazine of the Saint Petersburg-based Legal Marxists, was suppressed by the
Czarist Tsarist autocracy (russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. ''tsarskoye samoderzhaviye''), also called Tsarism, was a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow and its successor states th ...
government in December 1897, their leaders began planning a new magazine. At first, the idea was to have Vladimir Posse (who was close to the Legal Marxists as well as to the narodnik populists) take over '' Zhizn'' (''Life''), a moderate populist magazine, and use it as a platform for Legal Marxism. However, when Posse became ''Zhizn'''s editor in early 1899, the Legal Marxists' plans suddenly changed and they started their own magazine, ''Nachalo'', in January 1899 .


History

''Nachalo'''s editorial board consisted of
Peter Struve Peter (or Pyotr or Petr) Berngardovich Struve (russian: Пётр Бернга́рдович Стру́ве; pronounced ; 26 January 1870 in Perm – 22 February 1944 in Paris) was a Russian political economist, philosopher, historian and editor. ...
,
Mikhail Tugan-Baranovsky Mikhail Tugan-Baranovsky (russian: Михаил Иванович Туган-Барановский, uk, Михайло Іванович Туган-Барановський, romanized: ''Mykhailo Ivanovych Tuhan-Baranovskyi'') was a Ukrainian eco ...
, V. G. Veresayev, V. Ya. Bogucharsky, and A. M. Kalmykova. Contributors included Legal Marxists as well as revolutionary Marxists living in exile or abroad like
Georgy Plekhanov Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (; rus, Гео́ргий Валенти́нович Плеха́нов, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj vəlʲɪnˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ plʲɪˈxanəf, a=Ru-Georgi Plekhanov-JermyRei.ogg; – 30 May 1918) was a Russian revoluti ...
,
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
,
Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian ...
and
Vera Zasulich Vera Ivanovna Zasulich (russian: link=no, Ве́ра Ива́новна Засу́лич; – 8 May 1919) was a Russian socialist activist, Menshevik writer and revolutionary. Radical beginnings Zasulich was born in Mikhaylovka, in the Smol ...
. In all, there were five issues published between January and May 1899, although the April issue was confiscated by the censors. Starting with issue 2, the magazine was supportive of Eduard Bernstein's
revision Revision is the process of revising. More specifically, it may refer to: * Update, a modification of software or a database * Revision control, the management of changes to sets of computer files * ''ReVisions'', a 2004 anthology of alternate hi ...
of Marxism, which caused frictions with Plekhanov, an opponent of Bernstein's and the leader of orthodox Marxism in Russia. The editors also made an attempt to build up a literary section in collaboration with Anton Chekhov and Russian Symbolists, but were unsuccessful, which made them turn to
Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в;  – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
and early Russian
Modernists Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
. The magazine was closed down by the government in June 1899, and the Legal Marxists were forced to join Posse's '' Zhizn'' as originally planned. There was a Marxist journal with the same name in 1906, referred to by Lenin in his Report On The Unity Congress Of The R.S.D.L.P., written in May 1906. Lenin says that "Comrades Parvus and
Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein. ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky; uk, link= no, Лев Давидович Троцький; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trotskij'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky''. (), was a Russian M ...
" were associated with this paper.


Influences

The last issue (1972) of the '' Situationist International'' magazine, featured an editorial analyzing the events of
May 1968 The following events occurred in May 1968: May 1, 1968 (Wednesday) * CARIFTA, the Caribbean Free Trade Association, was formally created as an agreement between Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago. * RAF Strike ...
. The editorial, written by Guy Debord, was title ''The Beginning of an Era'',''The Beginning of an Era''
/ref> probably as a detournement reference of ''Nachalo'' (''The Beginning'').


Notes

* See Maxim Gorky's letter to Chekhov dated ca. January 13, 1899 in Maxim Gorky. ''Selected Letters'', tr. and ed. by Andrew Barratt and Barry P. Scherr, Oxford University Press, 1997, pp. 33–34


References


Further reading

* Leopold H. Haimson. ''The Making of Three Russian Revolutionaries: Voices from the Menshevik Past'', Cambridge University Press, 1987, p. 468. *Shmuel Galai. ''The Liberation Movement in Russia 1900-1905'', Cambridge University Press, 1973, (paperback edition 2002), p. 96-97. {{italic title Defunct magazines published in Russia Magazines established in 1899 Magazines disestablished in 1899 Marxist magazines Magazines published in Saint Petersburg Russian-language magazines Monthly magazines published in Russia Political magazines published in Russia Defunct political magazines