Federal State Educational Budgetary Institution of Higher Education
"FINANCIAL UNIVERSITY UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF THE
RUSSIAN FEDERATION"
(Financial University)
Department of Sociology, History and Philosophy
Essay in History
“Russian Empire in the Second Half of the 18th Century: Economics, Society,
Culture, Political Institutions, Foreign and Domestic Policy”
Student: Ksenia Aleynikova
Group: IFF19-5
Teacher: A.S.Kislyakov
“11” October, 2019
Moscow – 2019
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Table of contents
Introduction………………………………………………………………3 page
Main Part…………………………………………………………………4-7 page
Conclusion………………………………………………………………..8 page
Bibliography………………………………………………………………9 page
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Introduction
Actuality:
The Second Half of the 18th Century in Russian Empire can be identified as a
period of Catherine the Great. Her policy influenced the future development of the
Russian State in a significant way. Just like Peter I she tried to build a strong state
with a governed, structured society which would obey reasonable laws. However,
the Second Half of the 18th century is also characterized by the further
development of absolutism in the Russian Empire, that is why the domestic policy
of this period is called “Enlightened Absolutism”.
Objectives:
To understand the main trends and reasons in foreign and domestic policy of
Catherine the Great.
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Main Part
1. Economics
In the second half of the 18th century Russia was a typical agrarian country
dominated by feudal relations. During the period of Palace Coups, landlord tenure
increased significantly and the number of serfs rose. At the same time, there was a
process of strengthening serf oppression.
The government sought to introduce the landowners to new methods and forms of
farming. To this end, in 1765, the Free Economic Society was created, which
turned out to be one of the most successful projects of the policy of “enlightened
absolutism”. It existed until 1917.
The reforms of Peter I gave a significant impetus to the development of industrial
production. The number of large factories supplying the army and navy with their
products increased. By the middle of the 18th century Russia took the first place in
Europe in the production of pig iron, which it exported to European countries. New
industries emerged: cotton, porcelain, gold mining.
The development and expansion of commodity-money relations continued. In
1769, Catherine II carried out a financial reform, which resulted in the introduction
of paper money.
2. Society
The reign of Catherine II was not only a period of “enlightened absolutism”, but
also the “golden age” of the Russian nobility. The participants of the Palace Coup
in 1762 traditionally received new lands and serfs. In 1765 a decree was passed
allowing the nobles to give their serfs to hard labor. In 1767, two Catherines’
decrees forbade serfs to complain about the landowner under the threat of exile.
What is more, serfdom trade flourished.
In the early 1770s social tension has seriously increased in the country. The
escapes of serfs from the landlords acquired a mass character, also there were open
riots of peasants and the urban lower classes. A new phenomenon was the unrest of
working people and peasants in the Ural factories, caused by the hard labor
conditions.
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At the beginning of 1773 a man who called himself Emperor Peter III appeared in
a Cossack army. Under this name was the Don Cossack Emelian Pugachev. He and
his supporters launched the largest-scale peasant war, which lasted until 1774 and
finally ended with the execution of Pugachev in 1775.
3. Culture
In the 18th century the process of development of Russian culture enters a new
stage of evolution. A national culture is being formed, the centuries-old process of
accumulating knowledge is entering the stage of science formation, literary
Russian language is being formed, national literature is appearing, the number of
print publications is increasing, architectural masterpieces are being built, painting
and sculpture are developing.
In these years, classicism exists as a dominant style which is closely connected
with the ideas of European Enlightenment.
A huge role in the development of Russian culture was played by M.V.
Lomonosov, who was both a chemist, historian, poet and artist. It was he who
initiated the creation of Moscow State University in 1755.
4. Political Institutions
As I said above, the reign of Catherine II is called enlightened absolutism. The 18th
century is the time of the dominance of enlightenment ideology in Europe: authors
such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Didro, Rousseau have formulated the main
provisions of the enlightening concept of social development in their works. They
believed that monarchs can enlighten the society and establish justice using their
power and wisdom.
The state was presented as the main instrument for achieving public well-being and
the ideal state was a constitutional monarchy with a clear separation of the
legislative, executive and judicial powers. Catherine the Great in her policy tried to
implement these theoretical provisions, but she could not go against the nobility
and serfdom. Thus, the policy of enlightened absolutism in Russia was to use the
provisions of educational ideology to strengthen the feudal system.
5. Foreign Policy
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In foreign policy, the following main tasks can be distinguished: providing access
to the Black Sea and the Polish question.
a) The territories of the Black Sea region, the North Caucasus and Crimea
were under Turkish rule. In 1768 on a far-fetched pretext the Sultan of
Turkey announced the beginning of the Russo-Turkish War which
lasted 6 years.However, Russia won the war and the territory of the
Crimean Khanate formally became independent, but in fact they fell
into dependence on Russia. In addition, under the terms of the peace
treaty, the northern coast of the Black Sea went to Russia. In an attempt
to return these territories, Turkey launched another war (1787 – 1792),
which it also lost, and was forced to give Russia Ochakov and Crimea.
b) The formal reason for interfering in the internal affairs of the PolishLithuanian Commonwealth, which included the Kingdom of Poland,
was the requirement to equalize the rights of Orthodox and Protestants
with Catholics. Prussia and Austria, realizing that Russian influence in
Poland had significantly increased, suggested the Russian Empire to
carry out the partition of the Commonwealth. The first division took
place in 1772, as a result, Russia received part of the Latvian lands and
the eastern part of Belarus. The next partition occurred after citizens of
the Commonwealth asked Russia for help because they were against of
the adoption of the Constitution in 1791. As a result of the division
approved at the Grodno Diet in 1793, Russia received Right-Bank
Ukraine and Central Belarus, including Minsk. And finally, after the
uprising of T. Kosciuszko, in 1795 the last, third partition occurred, as a
result of which the Commonwealth ceased to exist, and Russia
expanded its territory through the annexation of Western Belarus,
Courland, Lithuania and Volhynia.
6. Domestic Policy
Penetrated by some ideas of Montesquieu and other enlighteners, the empress
pursued a policy of strengthening absolutism, strengthening the bureaucratic
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apparatus, and unified the management system and centralized the state. However,
the thoughts of freedom and equality of all people were unacceptable to Catherine
II, which led to the deterioration of the position of serfs and the endowment of the
nobility with even greater privileges, although in words she strove to “care for the
welfare of all lieges”.
As a result of the reform of 1763, the Senate was transformed, and its powers were
reduced. Since that time, the Senate has become the highest court and exercised
control over the activities of the state apparatus. From now on, only the Empress
had legislative power.
In response to the Peasant War (1773–75), a decision was made to change the
administrative division of the state: the provinces were abolished, the territory was
divided into gubernies, which in turn were divided into counties. Also, a system of
administrative management was created – provincial boards, orders of public
charity, courts for nobles and peasants, magistrates.
The Constituted Commission was to systematize laws, find out the needs of
various classes and carry out reforms in accordance with them. It included
representatives of the nobility and the townspeople, as well as the rural population
and the Orthodox clergy. The decision to convene a commission was made in
1776, its work lasted a year and a half, after which it was dissolved.
The annexation of new territories entailed the expansion of the national
composition of the Russian Empire, and for each nationality a special
administrative, tax, and economic regime was introduced: the Pale of Settlement
for Jews, half taxes for Ukrainians and Belarusians, and tax exemptions for
Germans. Moreover, the rights of the indigenous population were most infringed.
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Conclusion
At the end of the ruler’s life, the country was in an economic and social crisis; the
Russian nobility was dissatisfied with the infringement of their rights and
requested “to record them in the Germans”; short-sighted administrative reform;
discontent of the peasants resulted in the Peasant War. Nevertheless, there were
achievements, because it was during her reign that the Hermitage, the capital’s
pedagogical schools, the Public Library in St. Petersburg, and the Smolny Institute
for Noble Maidens were opened.
Catherine’s position on the question of the serf peasantry is very indicative. There
is no doubt about the empress’s negative attitude towards serfdom. She repeatedly
thought about how to cancel it. But things didn’t go beyond careful thinking.
Catherine II clearly realized that the elimination of serfdom with indignation would
be perceived by the nobles.
Catherine II continued the foreign policy line of Peter the Great and managed to
realize the centuries-old aspirations of Moscow sovereigns.
This period of Russian history laid the foundation for a new form of government
that will develop over the next years.
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Bibliography
1. Орлов А.С., Георгиев В.А., Георгиева Н.Г., Сивохина Т.А. История
России. Учебник. 4-е издание;
2. The Cambridge History of Russia. Volume II;
3. В.О. Ключевский Исторические Портреты;
4. Website https://geomap.com.ua/ru-wh8/1210.html;
Moscow – 2019
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