In Petrashevsky's time, "Russian liberals" was an oxymoron. However, the leaders of both White Russia and Red Russia had to pretend that the literary circles. then popular in both groups were counter-revolutionary, at least so far as the other side's was. This contributed to a general anti[intellectual environment that swept through what are now Ukraine and Belarus.
I don't think most people in the U.S. realize that Russia's 1861 freeing their serfs--who were treated terribly-- coincided with the U.S. civil war. Prior to that one of the early ways to show there was a lessening of serfdom was to forbid the cat-o-nine-tails on serfs and use a less harsh whip for routine beatings. You are right, what was liberal in the 1840s in Russia was not what we think of today.
In Petrashevsky's time, "Russian liberals" was an oxymoron. However, the leaders of both White Russia and Red Russia had to pretend that the literary circles. then popular in both groups were counter-revolutionary, at least so far as the other side's was. This contributed to a general anti[intellectual environment that swept through what are now Ukraine and Belarus.
I don't think most people in the U.S. realize that Russia's 1861 freeing their serfs--who were treated terribly-- coincided with the U.S. civil war. Prior to that one of the early ways to show there was a lessening of serfdom was to forbid the cat-o-nine-tails on serfs and use a less harsh whip for routine beatings. You are right, what was liberal in the 1840s in Russia was not what we think of today.