Russia Under the Old Regime: Second Edition“For anyone who wants an insight into the nature of Russian society before the revolution, there is no doubt that Professor Pipes has written the book.”—Lionel Kochan, Jewish Chronicle This highly acclaimed study from Richard Pipes analyzes the evolution of the Russian state from the ninth century to the 1880s and its unique role in managing Russian society. The harsh geographical conditions and sheer size of the country prevented the creation of participatory government, and a “patrimonial” state emerged in which Russia was transformed into a gigantic royal domain. Richard Pipes traces these developments and goes on to analyze the political behavior of the principal social groupings—peasantry, nobility, middle-class, and clergy—and their failure to stand up to the increasing absolutism of the tsar. In order to strengthen his powers, legal and institutional bases were set up that led to the creation of a bureaucratic police state under the Communists. “A brilliant and provocative analysis . . . learned, judicious, witty and full of common sense.”—John Keep, The Times Literary Supplement “A lively, profound, often extremely subtle account of the making of the Russian state . . . For the serious student it is required reading which is also a delight. For the general reader with a minimal knowledge of Russian history and puzzled as to what makes the Russians tick, it lights up the whole field.”—Edward Crankshaw, The Observer “An excellent introduction, painstaking and enjoyable.”—The New York Review of Books “Pipes has produced a masterly interpretative history of tsarist Russa.”—Choice |
Contents
The Genesis of the Patrimonial State in Russia 27 288 | 27 |
The appanage patrimonial principality of | 39 |
The Triumph of Patrimonialism | 58 |
Copyright | |
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administration Alexander appanage appanage princes authority became began boyars bureaucracy Catherine cent central CHAPTER cities civil clans clergy Code common constituted country's crown dvoriane dvorianstvo economic eighteenth century élite Emancipation empire estates families feudal foreign forest Golden Horde historians household imperial Russia industry inhabitants institutions intelligentsia Ivan Ivan III Ivan Iv Kiev Kievan labour land landlords living major manufacture merchants mestnichestvo middle military monarchy monasteries Mongol Moscow Muscovite Russia Nicholas nineteenth century Normans Novgorod officials oprichnina Orthodox patrimonial peasants Peter police political pomestia population posad Prikaz principal provinces radical ranks reforms regime reign Rossii rulers rural Russian peasant serfdom serfs service class servitors seventeenth century sixteenth century slaves Slavophiles Slavs social society soul tax sovereign St Petersburg status steppe Table of Ranks territory tiaglo tion trade tsar villages Vladimir votchina western Europe zemstva