Kolokol

Kolokol

 

the first Russian revolutionary newspaper, published abroad in Russian and French by A. I. Herzen and N. P. Ogarev (from 1857 to 1865 in London and from 1865 to 1867 in Geneva). Kolokol’s circulation reached 2,500. At first Kolokol was viewed by its publishers as “supplementary sheets” to Poliarnaia zvezda. However, it rather quickly assumed leadership over “the general democratic uncensored press” (V. I. Lenin, Poln. sobr. soch., 5th ed., vol. 25, p. 93). The newspapers Pod sud (1859–62) and Obshchee veche (1862–64) were put out as supplements to Kolokol.

At first, Kolokol’s program included democratic demands: the liberation of the peasants with land and the abolition of censorship and corporal punishments. It was based on a theory of Russian peasant socialism that had been elaborated by Herzen. At the same time liberal illusions were expressed in Kolokolbetween 1858 and 1861. In addition to articles by Herzen and Ogarev, Kolokol carried diverse articles about the condition of the people and about the social struggle in Russia, as well as information about the authorities’ abuse of power and secret plans.

During the revolutionary situation of 1859–61 the amount of information received by Kolokol from Russia increased significantly, reaching several hundred pieces of correspondence a month. Among the newspaper’s correspondents and disseminators were N. A. Dobroliubov, N. A. Serno-Solov’evich, and M. L. Mikhailov, Decembrists who had returned from exile, and later, members of the “young emigration,” including N. I. Utin, L. M. Mechnikov, and M. K. Elpidin. Kolokol also received information and articles from liberal figures and writers such as I. S. Aksakov, Iu. F. Samarin, A. I. Koshelev, and I. S. Turgenev. After the Peasant Reform of 1861, Kolokol resolutely took the side of revolutionary democracy against liberalism. The newspaper carried the texts of proclamations and other documents of the Russian revolutionary underground, as well as articles by Herzen and Ogarev sharply condemning the reform and exposing its inadequacy.

Contact with the Kolokol office contributed to the consolidation of the Russian underground and the formation of the Land and Freedom organization. Kolokol’s break with the liberals after the reform of 1861 became final when Herzen and Ogarev actively supported the Polish Uprising of 1863–64. To strengthen their ties with the “young emigration,” most of whom were in Switzerland, Kolokol’s publishers moved the newspaper from London to Geneva in 1865, but in 1867 unfavorable condi-tons led them to cease publication. However, from 1867 to 1869 a number of supplement were published: Kolokol: Pribavochnyi list k pervomu desiatiletiiu, six issues of Kolokol: Russkoe pribavlenie, and Supplément du Kolokol. In 1870, Ogarev and S. G. Nechaev published an additional six issues of Kolokol, but their newspaper differed significantly from Herzen’s.

PUBLICATIONS

Kolokol: Gazeta A. I. Gertsena i N. P. Ogareva. Free Russian Printing House, London and Geneva, 1857–67.
Faksimil’noe izd., nos. 1–10, vol. 11. (Index.) Moscow, 1962–64.

REFERENCES

Eidel’man, N. Ia. Gertsenovskii “Kolokol. “ Moscow, 1963.
Chernykh, V. A. “K voprosu o tirazhakh londonskikh izdanii Gertsena i Ogareva.” Arkheograficheskii ezhegodnik za 1969 g. Moscow, 1971. Pages 123–31.

N. IA. EIDEL’MAN

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Kolokol

 

a volcano on the island of Urup (Kuril Islands, USSR). Elevation, 1,328 m.

Kolokol was formed in the postglacial period above a base of older lava flows. Its name (Russian for “bell”) reflects the regularity of its cone, with a narrow plateaulike top on the site of a collapsed crater. There are thickets of alder, Japanese stone pine, and Kuril bamboo and some grassy areas on the slopes. There are hot mineral springs at the foot.