| Summary/Abstract |
The article is devoted to an analysis of the attitudes of the different social groups of Russian society toward the Russian-Turkish war of 1877–1878. The author based her analysis on the memoirs, diaries, and epistolary heritage of contemporaries. The author reveals the attitudes of Russian society on the eve of and during the war. The author emphasizes the support of the war by the Russian peasants and the common people, who expressed their deepest sympathy to the suffering of the South Slavs under the Turks, as their brothers in faith. The author gives the analysis of the attitudes of the Russian nobility and the clergy toward the events in the Balkans. According to the author, the attitude of the nobility was controversial and also included personal motivations. The author reveals the opinions of contemporaries, which differ from the views of some modern historians who base their assessments on the statements of the members of the volunteer movements and data from police reports. On the other hand, one can suppose that for the majority of Russian volunteers in the Balkans, personal gain was quite compatible with a sincere desire to help Slavs as brothers in blood and most likely, as suffering fellow believers.
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