The Great Reforms: Autocracy, Bureaucracy & the Politics of Change in Imperial Russia

303 Pages·1990·5.866 MB·English

by  W. Bruce Lincoln

THE GREAT
R EFORMS

ALSO BY W. BRUCE LINCOLN
NIKOLAI MILIUTIN
An Enlightened Russian Bureaucrat
NICHOLAS I
Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias
PETR SEMENOV-TIAN-SHANSKII
The Life of a Russian Geographer
THE ROMANOVS
Autocrats of All the Russias
IN THE VANGUARD OF REFORM
Russia's Enlightened Bureaucrats
IN WAR'S DARK SHADOW
The Russians Before the Great War
PASSAGE THROUGH ARMAGEDDON
The Russians in War and Revolution
RED VICTORY
A History of the Russian Civil War

THE GREAT
R
eforms
AUTOCRACY,
BUREAUCRACY,
AND THE POLITICS OF CHANGE IN
IMPERIAL
RUSSIA
Bruce Lincoln
W .
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY PRESS DEKALB, ILLINOIS
© 1990 by W. Bruce Lincoln
Published by the Northern Illinois University Press,
DeKalb, Illinois 60115
@ Manufactured in the United States using acid-free paper
Design by Julia Fauci
Typeset by Deborah Thomas ^
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lincoln, W. Bruce.
The great reforms: autocracy, bureaucracy, and the politics of
change in imperial Russia / W. Bruce Lincoln,
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ).
ISBN 0-87580-155-2. — ISBN 0-87580-549-3 (pbk.)
1. Soviet Union—Politics and government—1855-1881.
2. Soviet Union—Politics and government—1881-1894.
3. Soviet Union—Politics and government—1894-1917. I. Title
DK220.L56 1990
947.08—dc20 90-7186
CIP
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
For Marc Raeff

CONTENTS
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xix
I. AUTOCRACY, BUREAUCRACY, AND REFORM 3
II. THE IMPACT OF DEFEAT 36
III. BEGINNING RUSSIA'S RENOVATION 61
Emancipating Russia's Serfs 64
The Zemstvo Statutes 90
Reforming Russia's Courts 105
IV. THE GREAT REFORM ERA 118
The Censorship Reform 121
Reforming City Government 134
The Military Reforms 143
V. TESTING THE GREAT REFORMS 159
VI. AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY 192
Notes 205
Works Cited 249
Index 271