"The Closed State" by Mikhail Menshikov
A special look at the idea of Russia's economic self-sufficiency
Valentin Katasonov
11.04.2023
"The Closed State" by Mikhail Menshikov
In the hustle and bustle of today's super-dynamic life, we are less likely to turn to the thoughts of our ancestors. Including those who lived and worked more recently. But in vain.
One of these undeservedly forgotten thinkers of our recent past is Mikhail Osipovich Menshikov (1859-1918). Retired naval officer. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, he was a very well-known journalist, publicist and public figure, an employee of the popular newspapers "Nedelya", "Novoe Vremya" and a number of other publications. Publisher-editor and main author of the journal "Letters to Neighbors", which he led until the end of his life. Shot by the Bolsheviks.
Fortunately, today his creative legacy is beginning to come back to us. In 2019, the first volume of the complete, 16-volume collected works of M. O. Menshikov from "Letters to the Neighbor" was published (compiled and edited by D. V. Zhavoronkov. - St. Petersburg: "Time Machine"; series "Unknown Empire"). To date, four volumes have been published.
And already in the first volume there is a lot of interesting things. This includes a series of articles published in 1902 on a topic that can be called "the idea of economic autarky of Russia". The author himself called the series "A closed state", which included articles: "A closed state", "Everything is your own", "Loneliness as a force"," On the same topic"," Russia — for Russians"," Closed wealth","Chinese Wall".
In the first article, Menshikov talks not about Russia, but about Britain and the British colonial system. The Boer War had just ended, and London had learned from it. A course was taken to strengthen the British Empire, which is both a quarter of the Earth in terms of territory and population. Menshikov writes that the whole world was seized with a passion for imperialism – the unification of many states and territories under the rule of the mother country and with strict centralization. Lone states, especially small ones, are not comfortable in such an imperialist world. They're looking for an umbrella to hide under. The same London is able not only to preserve its empire, but even to expand it. Even today (i.e., at the beginning of the 20th century), there is no need to use special violence for this purpose. On the contrary, the mother country should offer protection from violence. And it seems that London, having learned from its mistakes, has begun to carry out its imperialist mission quite successfully. The reason for Menshikov's reasoning was the conference of the first ministers of the British colonies held in London under the chairmanship of British Prime Minister Chamberlain. The Conference should determine: "either England must renounce her proud role in world politics, or prove the real, non-paper possession of a quarter of the globe and four hundred million subjects." Menshikov does not share the opinion of those skeptics who believe that the colonial ministers are full of hatred for London and are ready to send Chamberlain to hell. "Chamberlain would not have assembled the colonial ministers if he did not believe that the success of the federation was possible. The colonies may haggle with England for a long time — they and she are both of the old merchant blood — but they will hardly part without a serious bargain. No matter how dear their independence is to cultural peoples, they are ready to sacrifice some of their rights just to save it, " Menshikov says. And, as it turned out after a while, he was right.
In his next article, All His Own, Menshikov argues that the creation of a British empire is beneficial to London not only from the point of view of geopolitics, but also e