The explanatory dictionary of D. N. Ushakova explains the meaning of the word as a political conspiracy, rebellion, revolutionary activity. S.I. Ozhegov in his Explanatory Dictionary interprets the term as a conspiracy, rebellion, something illegal. The Russian historian and statesman of the XVIII century V.N. Tatishchev uses the term in relation to troublemakers.
Kramola: the meaning of the word in Old Russian law
In ancient Russian law sedition is called unrest, unrest, rebellion, that is, a crime of a political nature. The word is borrowed from the Church Slavonic language, which calls sedition any intrigue and intrigue. In the Ipatiev and Novgorod annals, monuments of Russian writing of the XII-XIV centuries, the word is used in the meaning of "criminal conspiracy."
Kramola as a crime against the state
The value is preserved in the sources of medieval Russian law, published during the centralization of the Moscow state. The suicide bombers of 1497 and 1550, who for the first time delimited the types of crimes, called sedition crimes against the government, that is, political crimes. Under sedition was meant acts committed mainly by representatives of the nobility. For example, the so-called departure of the boyars under the protection of another ruler. Kramolnikami called representatives of the lower classes, calling for an uprising. The Council Code of 1649 retains the concept of “sedition” as a crime directed against the state.
In later Codes, the concept of “sedition” in the meaning of “crime against power” was replaced by the legal term “state crime”. In everyday life and literature, as often happens, the word "sedition" was still used in the meaning of "dissent".
Examples of dissent
The most striking example of sedition is the creation of secret societies, which led to the uprising of the Decembrists in 1825. The process was the result of the development of social thought after the Patriotic War of 1812.
The Cyril and Methodius Brotherhood, which brought together teachers and students of Kiev and Kharkov universities in 1845, set the task of changing the political and social structure of the Russian Empire in the framework of the Slavic Union of States. A member of the society was the Ukrainian writer Taras Shevchenko.
One of the most famous "seditious" cases was the case of "Petrashevists". Members of the association have gathered since 1844 in the house of M. Butashevich-Petrashevsky, discussed political literature banned by censorship and ideas for reforming society. The most famous participant in these discussions was F. M. Dostoevsky.
The February Revolution of 1917 arose not least as a result of the actions of the elite, according to some historians, who plotted against the autocratic government.
To summarize what is known about sedition. The meaning of the word and its interpretation is always associated with state power, crimes against it and imply actions aimed at undermining the foundations of the existing social system.