Political Ideals and Loyalties of Some Russian Writers of the Early 1760s
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4209954 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Walter Gleason (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1975 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 560-575 |
| Publication date | 1975-09-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Slavic Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0037-6779 • E-ISSN: 2325-7784 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2495565 |
| OpenAlex | W2328775925 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 4 |
During the initial years of her reign, Catherine II had to contend with political criticism and expectation of reform among nobles such as Denis Fonvizin and Ippolit Bogdanovich. Many Soviet scholars, particularly Makogonenko, Gukovskii and Pigarev, argue that the political writings of these critics can be interpreted as the initial evidence of a "constitutional" movement in Russia similar to those of mid-seventeenth century England and late eighteenth century France. The goal was to force Catherine to share political power by accepting "fundamental laws" or a "constitution." Convinced of the need for such reforms, Fonvizin, Bogdanovich, and several other lesser known writers tried unsuccessfully in 1762 to win Catherine's approval of their projects. Failing to gain Catherine's support, the nobles became her political opponents -consistently and insistently advocating their political principles. This interpretation is valuable for its focus on the question of sovereignty and the individual's relation to the ruler as well as appealing for its attempt to integrate Russian events into a broader, European framework. Yet Soviet historians do not adequately specify and evaluate the theoretical origins of this "constitutional" opposition. General references to contemporary European thinkers (British, French or German political philosophers) obscure their differences and assume the transfer of western European political ideas into Russia intact and unaltered in content or understanding. It is necessary, therefore, to investigate carefully the theoretical origins of the Russian writers' political ideals, their own version of these ideals, and the implications these opinions had for the writers' relationship to the ruler during the early 1760s
Constitution · Criticism · Monarchy · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Reign · Ruler · Sociology · Sovereignty · American Constitutional Law and Politics · European Political History Analysis · History · Law · Rousseau and Enlightenment Thought
| Citations per year | 0.02 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1978 - 1978 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |