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What the Decembrists knew, thought, and spoke about rights and freedoms

Liberal Arts in Russia. 2018. Vol. 7. No. 6. Pp. 435-451.
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Utyashev M. M.
Bashkir State University, Institute of Law
131 Dostoyevsky Street, 450005 Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia
Email: marat_ut@rambler.ru

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the social, political, and legal views of the Decembrists, their understanding of constitutionalism, individual rights, and civil liberties. It also explains the reasons of public sentiment of Russian public life. The true patriots of Russia supposed that the country was ready for the introduction of the constitutional rule; therefore, the Decembrists developed two projects of the Constitution, the first was created by Pavel Pestel, the second - by Nikita Muravyov. The author of the article briefly reviews summary the content of the constitutional projects in which, according to the author, the importance of constitutional rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen was shown like in the Declaration of Independence of the United States and in the French Declaration of Human Rights. The author proves that the Decembrists were patriots of their country: well educated humanists, good-minded and compassionate citizens of their country, they realized all political, legal, social, personal troubles of the existing situation. The Decembrists considered the intolerant evil of the serfdom law that, according to their opinion, was necessary to annul, as well as to prohibit the physical punishments. It may seem that the author abuses poetic forms of narration, but it can be understood and recognized as normal, as it is impossible to narrate the poetry and among the Decembrists there were such remarkable individual as Wilhelm Küchelbecker, Kondraty Ryleyev, Alexander Odoevsky, the poets of Pushkin’s time, geniuses and patriots.

Keywords

  • • Decembrists
  • • natural rights
  • • constitution
  • • human rights
  • • civil liberties
  • • political rights
  • • serfdom
  • • physical punishment
  • • Pestel
  • • Muravyov
  • • Ryleyev
  • • humanism

References

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