The Russian Feminist Movement and the Roots of Its Social Mobility 1797-1858

Abstract

The research clarifies Russian women's activity in the social field, by relying on the descriptive approach in reading the events that shaped the path women followed to prove their existence, which was represented by the charitable works undertaken by Empress Maria Feodorovna since 1797, and the activities provided by the Women's National Society, which was formed during the Russo-French War of 1812, and the assistance women provided to affected families, and in their orientations, which witnessed a major transformation after the December 1825 coup, with many of them announcing their secession from the Women's National Society and joining the brothers and husbands who were exiled to Siberia, and then their activity that crystallized through their volunteering in the Holy Cross Organization, which was formed during the outbreak of the Crimean War (1853-1856), and the change that this participation brought about in views on the necessity of granting Russian women their rights in light of the sacrifices and activities they made throughout that period.