The Formation of Feudal and Christian Socialism in British Public Thought in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century

Abstract

The article is devoted to posing the question of the formation of feudal and/or Christian socialism in the first half and middle of the 19th century in Great Britain in an All- European context. The doctrine of K. Marx and F. Engels about feudal socialism and its lack of clarity in Soviet historiography are considered. The question is raised as to which of the thinkers before 1848 the characteristics of feudal socialism from the “Manifesto of the Communist Party” could refer. The article focuses on the formation of the socio-economic and political views of W. Cobbet and representatives of the “Lake School”: W. Wordsworth, S.T. Coleridge, R. Southey. An assessment is made of the combination of their patriarchal landowner conservatism with peasant radicalism and the protection of workers’ rights, as well as their reception in Russia. The socio-economic doctrine of T. Carlyle and the question of the relationship between his early and late works are being addressed in a broad historiographical context. The work of Carlyle is regarded as a turning point in the history of British feudal socialism, and the activities of the “Cambridge Apostles” in 1848–1854 (F.D. Maurice, C. Kingsley, J.M. Ludlow) are interpreted as the transition of Christian socialism to the stage of institutionalization with serious practical results