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The first decade of Alexander II's reign is known in Russian history as the Era of the Great Reforms, a time recognized as the major period of social, economic, and institutional transformation between the reign of Peter the Great and the Revolution of 1905. Coming directly after the notoriously repressive last decade of the Nicholas era, the appearance of such dramatic reform has led scholars to seek its causes in dramatic events. Surely some great, even cataclysmic, force must have driven Alexander II and his advisers to initiate what appears to be such an astonishing change in policy. In their search for the origins of these Great Reforms, historians generally have focused upon two phenomena. The first of these was Russia's defeat in the Crimean War by a relatively small, ineptly commanded Allied expeditionary force. The second was the serf revolts, which increased dramatically in the 1850s. From these events, most historians have concluded that the economic failings of serfdom, the problem of preserving domestic peace, and the need to restore Russia's tarnished military prestige were the major forces that convinced Alexander II's government to embark upon a new reformist path. As Lincoln's examination of the long-unstudied Russian archival evidence shows, there are good reasons to question whether such crises of policy and failings of Russia's servile economy impelled Alexander II and his advisers along a previously uncharted reformist path after the Crimean War. Further, in light of the Russian bureaucracy's slowness in drafting much less complex administrative reforms during the previous century, Lincoln argues that the Great Reform legislation simply was too complex and required too much sophisticated knowledge about the Empire's economic, administratvive, and judicial affairs to have been formulated in the brief half-decade after the war's end.

An exploration of conservatism in Russian thought, politics and culture at the start of the 19th century. Tracing origins of conservative ideology through a range of sources, it shows how the Russians reacted to threats posed by the egalitarianism of the French Revolution.

This study challenges traditional interpretations of the roles of royal women in a patriarchial society. Drawing upon sources in anthropology, sociology, art history and literature, the author demonstrates that the wives of the early tsars played complex roles in government.

Exploring the creation, transformation, and imagination of Russian space as a lens through which to understand Russia's development over the centuries, this volume makes an important contribution to Russian studies and the "new spatial history." It considers aspects of the relationship between place and power in Russia from the local level to...

This illuminating volume provides a new understanding of the subjective identity and public roles of Russia's Europeanized elite between the years of 1762 and 1825. Through a series of rich case studies, the editors reconstruct the social group's worldview, complex identities, conflicting loyalties, and evolving habits. The studies explore the...

Although the radical populist movement that arose in Russia during the reign of Tsar Alexander II has been well documented, this important study opens with questions that haven't yet been addressed: How did Russian radical populists manage to carry out a three-year campaign of revolutionary violence, killing or wounding scores of people...

This interdisciplinary volume is a new introduction to area studies in the framework of whole-world thinking. Emerging in the United States after World War II, area studies have proven indispensable to American integration in the world. They serve two main purposes: to equip future experts with rich cultural-historical and political-economic...

A courageous woman recounts her journey from aristocrat to revolutionary in nineteenth-century Russia.

The schism that split the Russian Orthodox Church in 1667 alienated thousands of devout men and women - the Old Believers - who practiced their faith as outsiders for more than two centuries. This book explores how the Old Believers adapted to rapid change in the early 20th century and reveals the many facets of Old Believer life.

For those who cannot read the language of the original texts, the lively and varied world of eighteenth-century Russian literature has been largely inaccessible. This translation presents three seminal tales that express the major literary, social, and philosophical concerns of late-eighteenth-century Russia.

A study of one of the major social reforms of 20th-century European history that presents an analysis built on hundreds of sources that include papers from state and municipal archives, material from the popular and professional press, legal tracts, films, novels, and personal accounts.

An English language work to analyze the Christian renewal in Crimea. Drawing on archives in Odessa, Simferopol, and St Petersburg, it provides both a case study of past and present religious nationalism in Eastern Europe and an examination of the political conflicts and compromises endemic to holy places.

Drawing on archival sources from Russia, Poland, and Ukraine, this work addresses the shifting identity and fate of Ruthenians on both sides of the Orthodox/Uniate divide during the politically charged era of the partitions of Poland. It is suitable for those studying the tensions between Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

Examines the position of women in early Soviet society through the lens of deviance, exploring how Soviet criminologists understood female crime and how their attitudes helped shape the development of Soviet social and behavioral norms. This title looks at the emergence of criminology in early Soviet Russia.

Based on statistical analyses and case studies, this book seeks to uncover how electoral rules are decided within the Russian Federation, and by whom. Aiming to enhance our understanding of electoral system choice, it investigates the origins of the legislative electoral systems in the different regions of the Russian Federation.

This work describes the interplay between peasant religious life and the broader social and cultural transformation of late tsarist Russia. Chulos challenges existing conceptions of religion in Russia and sheds light on the development of modern national identity.

How did Odessans understand the city and their place in it? What did modernization mean in Odessa? Answering such questions, this book reveals the inner life of Odessa, in the years before WWI from the perspective of those who lived there. It is useful for those interested in urban culture, social history, the Jewish experience, and modern Russia.

Violent movements opposing existing political orders erupted throughout nineteenth-century Europe, but nowhere was this revolutionary impulse made more dramatically visible than in Russia. This title presents English translations of the memoirs of five Russia's female revolutionaries.

Taking a look at the diverse nationalities inhabiting western provinces and the Kingdom of Poland during an era of intensifying national feeling, this book shows that the Russian government, even at the height of its empire, never came to terms with the question of nationality.

Lovers, companions, and husband and wife, Catherine and Prince Grigory Potemkin were also close political partners. This work reveals the complexity of Catherine and Potemkin's personal relationship in light of changes in matters of state, foreign relations, and military engagements. It gives insights into Catherine's passions, and her world.

A study on ideas of nationality and their use in the development of literary values. It examines fundamental developments in Russian and Czech literature and criticism from 1800 to 1830, a period that has largely been neglected in the English-language scholarship.

With topics ranging from fine art to architecture and the decorative arts, this collection of essays examines the ways Russian artists and craftsmen adopted and adapted Western forms, creating uniquely Russian visual expressions. The tin frame stretches from the end of the nineteenth century through Russia's Silver Age to the Khrushchev era.

Why did the imperial Russian government fail to prevent revolution in 1917? Were its security policies flawed? This broadly researched study of Russia's security police investigates the government's efforts to maintain order against political opposition and threats of violence during the decade before the Revolution.

Attempting to indoctrinate the public into a new society, the Bolsheviks staged "show trials" - legal trials that incorporated theatrical elements. This work examines how elements of theatre and film were incorporated into Soviet courtrooms, turning public trials into propaganda vehicles.

This study of drinking provides insights into changes and continuities in everyday life among St Petersburg's revolutionary workers. Drawing on a wide range of sources, it offers insight into issues of revolutionary change, class and gender probing the resiliency of alcohol-centred culture.