Provincial traditions of public service and preservation of spiritual and moral values (based on the epistolary heritage of the family of Prince N. N. Cholokaev)

This article analyzes the letters of the provincial leader of the nobility, the chamberlain of the court of His Imperial Majesty Prince N. N. Cholokaev and his wife Princess E. V. Cholokaeva to their friends and associates B. N. Chicherin and A. A. Chicherina in the period from 1893 to 1915 in order to identify the moral foundations of the worldview of individual representatives of the nobility and their relevance in the context of the growing revolutionary movement. The work provides brief biographical data, some information about the social and state activities of the authors of the letters. Scientific results are obtained through the interaction of the method of diachronic analysis, analysis of historical sources, secondary sources, comparative historical method with the corresponding subjects of research. The object of research in the study of the epistolary heritage of the family of princes Cholokaevs was the ideas of public service during the revolutionary events in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. Of particular interest is the attitude of the nobility to the reforms of Alexander II, the so-called counter-reforms of Alexander III, the movement for the introduction of a constitution and a parliamentary system of government in 1905-1907 in the capital and the provinces, the personal attitude of noblewomen to these events and the prediction of the prospects of the historical process. As a result of the analysis of the contents of the letters of the Princes Cholokaevs, the contradictory social position of the representatives of the aristocracy in relation to the ongoing historical processes is shown, based on their misunderstanding and the futility of their efforts to maintain stability in the country and prevent tragic revolutionary events.