Could the Slavophiles Be Considered Liberals?

ABSTRACT The Slavophile movement cannot be properly understood and assessed without taking into account the movement to which it opposed itself, the Westernizers. It was in close contact with the Westernizers that the Slavophiles developed a clearer embodiment of their own ideas. The Slavophile ideology that actively manifested itself over a period of more than twenty years was a milestone in the history of Russian liberalism. The Slavophiles substantiated and defended liberal values and rights. Their liberal views had an economic basis: They adopted agricultural production and strove to make it more rational, productive, and market-based. Rejecting serfdom, they participated in preparing the reforms of February 19, 1861, alongside other liberal forces, including the Westernizers.