/ 
The devotees’ struggle: educational alternatives at the beginning of the reign of Nicholas II
Abstract
The article analyzes two public initiatives in the area of public education in the mid - late 1890s. One of them was an attempt to transform the Literacy Committees, which had been already existed before Nicholas II’s accession to the throne and pursued the liberal and even radical liberal policy, into the country-wide organization called The Russian Society of the Devotees of Public Education. The author elaborates the conclusion previously reached in the historiography that the Literacy Committees’ activities were curtailed mainly due to political reasons. Additionally he proves that the inter-institutional contradictions played an important role in this process. Another initiative consisted in the attempt to form a mass educational structure under the name of the Society of the Devotees of Russian Historical Education. The author explores previously unknown information on the development of this organization as well as analyzes the causes of its failure.
Keywords
emperor Alexander III, emperor Nicholas II, grand duke Sergei Alexandrovich, grand duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, chairman of the Council of ministers, minister of the interior, procurator-general of the Holy Synod, minister of finance, N. Kh. Bunge