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The Modernisation of Russia, 1676-1825 PDF

286 Pages·1999·5.649 MB·English
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The Modernisation of Russia 1676–1825 Simon Dixon CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS The Modernisation of Russia 1676–1825 ThisimportantnewadditiontotheNewApproachestoEuropeanHistory series is the first book to place Russia’s ‘long’ eighteenth century squarelyinitsEuropeancontext.Theconceptualframeworkissetout in an opening critique of modernisation theory which, while rejecting itslinear implications,maintainsitsfocusontherelationshipbetween government, economy, and society. Following a chronological intro- duction, a series of thematic chapters emphasise the ways in which Russia’sinternationalambitionsasanemerginggreatpowerprovoked administrative and fiscal reforms with wide-ranging (and often un- anticipated) social consequences. Russia’s kinship-dominated peasant communities were not the casual detritus of government-inspired reform, but rather its direct consequence: the more the tsars tried to modernise their state, the more backward their empire became. Though social and political history are naturally crucial to such a study, the thematic treatment adopted here also permits an unusually full discussion of the intellectual developments that helped to give educated Russians a sense of cultural autonomy even as their minds were opened to an unprecedented range of Western influences. In order to help the reader further, a chronology and a critical biblio- graphyarealsoprovidedtoallowstudentstodiscovermoreaboutthis colourfulperiodofRussianhistory. Simon Dixon isSenior Lecturer in ModernHistory at theUniver- sity of Glasgow. He has written a number of articles on the Russian OrthodoxchurchandonRussiannationalism, andiseditorofBritain andRussiaintheAgeofPetertheGreat:HistoricalDocuments(1998). This page intentionally left blank NEWAPPROACHES TO EUROPEAN HISTORY Serieseditors WILLIAM BEIK EmoryUniversity T. C. W. BLANNING SidneySussexCollege,Cambridge New Approaches to European History is an important new textbook initiative, intended to provide concise but authoritative surveys of majorthemesandproblemsinEuropeanhistorysincetheRenaissance. Written at a level and length accessible to advanced school students and undergraduates, each book in the series will address topics or themes that students of European history encounter daily: the series willembracebothsomeofthemore‘traditional’subjectsofstudy,and thoseculturalandsocialissuestowhichincreasingnumbersofschool and college courses are devoted. A particular effort will be made to consider the wider international implications of the subject under scrutiny. Toaidthestudentreaderscholarlyapparatusandannotationwillbe light, but each work will have full supplementary bibliographies and notes for further reading: where appropriate chronologies, maps, diagramsandotherillustrativematerialwillalsobeprovided. Foralistoftitlespublishedintheseries,pleaseseeendofbook. This page intentionally left blank The Modernisation of Russia 1676–1825 Simon Dixon PUBLISHED BY CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS (VIRTUAL PUBLISHING) FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE PRESS SYNDICATE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 IRP 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211, USA 477 Williamstown Road, Port Melbourne, VIC 3207, Australia http://www.cambridge.org © Cambridge University Press 1999 This edition © Cambridge University Press (Virtual Publishing) 2003 First published in printed format 1999 A catalogue record for the original printed book is available from the British Library and from the Library of Congress Original ISBN 0 521 37100 7 hardback Original ISBN 0 521 37961 X paperback ISBN 0 511 01905 X virtual (netLibrary Edition) Contents Listofmaps page ix Preface xi Chronology xiii Listofabbreviations xvii 1 ModernisationtheoryandRussianhistory 1 Modernisationtheory 1 Russianhistory,1676–1825 7 2 Imperialgreatpower 27 Ambitionsandachievements 27 Militaryandnavalreform 34 Theprimacyofforeignpolicy 42 Theconsequencesofimperialexpansion 50 3 Financeandtaxation 57 Muscovitetaxation 57 Warandfinancialmodernisation,1700–1762 61 Warandfinancialmodernisation,1762–1825 67 Theburdenoftaxation 74 Thepoliticalandsocialimpactoftaxation 76 4 Society 80 Socialpolicy 80 Socialidentities:thepeasantry 84 Socialidentities:thenobility 93 Socialmobility 96 Socialconflict 105 5 Governmentandjustice 118 Thecourt 118 Centralandlocalgovernment 126 Patrons,clients,andbureaucrats 132 vii viii Contents Thechurchingovernment 139 Justice 141 6 Culture 152 Educationandliteracy 152 Hierarchiesofculture 157 Cosmopolitanismandnationalconsciousness 160 Centreandperiphery 170 Scienceandsuperstition 175 Religionandsecularisation 180 Privateandpublic,amateurandprofessional 182 7 Ideology 189 Tsarandstate 189 Stateandnation 198 Churchandstate 209 8 Theeconomy 221 Economicideasandeconomicpolicy 222 Populationandnaturalresources 230 Transportandtechnology 239 Tradeandcommerce 243 Agricultureandindustry,townandcountry 248 Economicgrowth 249 Conclusion 256 Index 258 Maps 1 TheexpansionofRussia,lateseventeenthtoearly page 31 nineteenthcenturies 2 TheRusso-Polishborderlandsto1795.Source: HughSeton-Watson,TheRussianEmpire1801–1917, OxfordUniversityPress,1967,p.772. 47 ix

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