Editing Fyodor Dostoevsky (section)

=== Political beliefs ===
In his youth, Dostoevsky enjoyed reading [[Nikolai Karamzin]]'s ''History of the Russian State'' (published 1818–1829), which praised conservatism and Russian independence, ideas that Dostoevsky would embrace later in life. Before his arrest for participating in the Petrashevsky Circle in 1849, Dostoevsky remarked, "As far as I am concerned, nothing was ever more ridiculous than the idea of a [[Republicanism|republican]] government in Russia." In an 1881 edition of his ''Diaries'', Dostoevsky <!-- "favoured republicanism" Contradictory? --> stated that the Tsar and the people should form a unity: "For the people, the tsar is not an external power, not the power of some conqueror&nbsp;... but a power of all the people, an all-unifying power the people themselves desired."{{sfnp|Lantz|2004|pp=183–89}}

While critical of serfdom, Dostoevsky was skeptical about the creation of a [[constitutional monarchy|constitution]], a concept he viewed as unrelated to Russia's history. He described it as a mere "gentleman's rule" and believed that "a constitution would simply enslave the people".{{citation needed|date=September 2024}} He advocated social change instead, for example removal of the feudal system and a weakening of the divisions between the peasantry and the affluent classes. His ideal was a [[utopia]]n, Christianized Russia where "if everyone were actively Christian, not a single social question would come up&nbsp;... If they were Christians they would settle everything".{{sfnp|Lantz|2004|pp=323–27}} He thought democracy and [[oligarchy]] were poor systems; of France he wrote, "the oligarchs are only concerned with the interest of the wealthy; the democrats, only with the interest of the poor; but the interests of society, the interest of all and the future of France as a whole—no one there bothers about these things."{{sfnp|Lantz|2004|pp=323–27}} He maintained that [[political party|political parties]] ultimately led to social discord. In the 1860s, he discovered ''[[Pochvennichestvo]]'', a movement similar to [[Slavophilism]] in that it [[Anti-Europeanism|rejected Europe's culture]] and contemporary philosophical movements, such as [[Russian nihilist movement|nihilism]] and materialism. ''Pochvennichestvo'' differed from Slavophilism in aiming to establish, not an isolated Russia, but a more open state modelled on the Russia of [[Peter the Great]].{{sfnp|Lantz|2004|pp=323–27}}

In his incomplete article "Socialism and Christianity", Dostoevsky claimed that civilisation ("the second stage in human history") had become degraded, and that it was moving towards liberalism and losing its faith in God. He asserted that the traditional concept of Christianity should be recovered. He thought that contemporary western Europe had "rejected the single formula for their salvation that came from God and was proclaimed through revelation, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself', and replaced it with practical conclusions such as, {{'}}''Chacun pour soi et Dieu pour tous''{{'}} [Every man for himself and God for all], or "scientific" slogans like '[[Survival of the fittest|the struggle for survival]].{{'"}}{{sfnp|Lantz|2004|pp= 183–89}} He considered this crisis to be the consequence of the collision between communal and individual interests, brought about by a decline in religious and moral principles.

Dostoevsky distinguished three "enormous world ideas" prevalent in his time: [[Roman Catholicism]], [[Protestantism]] and [[Russian Orthodox|(Russian) Orthodox]]y. He claimed that Catholicism had continued the tradition of [[Roman Empire|Imperial Rome]] and had thus become anti-Christian and proto-socialist,<ref>
{{cite book
 |last1                = Blake
 |first1               = Elizabeth Ann
 |date                 = 30 April 2014
 |chapter              = Dostoevsky's Portrayal of Transnational Catholicism in ''Demons''
 |title                = Dostoevsky and the Catholic Underground
 |url                  = https://books.google.com/books?id=aQA3AwAAQBAJ
 |series               = Studies in Russian Literature and Theory
 |publication-place    = Evanston, Illinois
 |publisher            = Northwestern University Press
 |page                 = 122
 |isbn                 = 9780810167568
 |access-date          = 17 September 2024
 |quote                = Dostoevsky underscores a link between Catholicism and socialism while asserting his belief in the coercive nature of their statecraft . 
}} 
</ref>
inasmuch as the Church's interest in political and mundane affairs led it to abandon the idea of Christ. For Dostoevsky, [[socialism]] was "the latest incarnation of the Catholic idea" and its "natural ally".{{sfnp|Lantz|2004|p=185}} He found Protestantism self-contradictory and claimed that it would ultimately lose power and spirituality. He deemed (Russian) Orthodoxy to be the ideal form of Christianity.

For all that, to place Dostoevsky politically is not simple: as a Christian, he rejected atheistic socialism; as a traditionalist, he rejected the destruction of the institutions; and, as a pacifist, he rejected any violent method or upheaval led by either progressives or reactionaries. He supported private property and business rights, and did not agree with many criticisms of the free market from the socialist utopians of his time.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Dostoevsky | first1=Fyodor | title=A Writer's Diary | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38xQHS4h0yEC | date=20 July 1997 | publisher=Northwestern University Press | isbn=9780810115163 | access-date=3 July 2019}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=September 2024}}<ref>{{cite book | last1=Ward | first1=Bruce K. | date=30 October 2010 | title=Dostoyevsky's Critique of the West: The Quest for the Earthly Paradise | publisher=[[Wilfrid Laurier University Press|Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press]] | isbn=9781554588169 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bt3fAgAAQBAJ&q=property&pg=PT23 | access-date=3 July 2019 }}</ref>{{Page needed|date=November 2023}}

During the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War]] of 1877–1878, Dostoevsky asserted that war might be necessary if salvation were to be granted. He wanted the Muslim [[Ottoman Empire]] eliminated and the Christian [[Byzantine Empire]] restored, and he hoped for the liberation of [[Balkan]] Slavs and their unification with the Russian Empire.{{sfnp|Lantz|2004|pp=183–89}}