Russia under the Old Regime Second Edition

by Pipes, Richard

• ISBN13: 9780140247688
• ISBN10: 0140247688
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-01-01
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

This study analyzes the evolution of the Russian state from the 9th century to the 1880s, and its unique role in managing Russian society. The development of Russia was different from that of the rest of Europe. The natural poverty of geographical conditions made it extremely difficult to construct an effective regime, and a "patrimonial" state arose in which the country was conceived as the personal property of the tsar. The book describes the evolution of this regime, and analyzes the political behaviour of the principal social groupings, peasantry, nobility, bourgeoisie and clergy, and accounts for their failure to stand up to the increasing absolutism of the tsar. Only the intelligentsia were able to make such a stand, and the book shows how in countering this challenge, Russia developed into a bureaucratic police state.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the Second Edition
Foreword
The Environment and its Consequences	p. 1
The Genesis of the Patrimonial State in Russia	p. 27
The Triumph of Patrimonialism	p. 58
The Anatomy of the Patrimonial Regime	p. 85
The Partial Dismantling of the Patrimonial state	p. 112
The Peasantry	p. 141
Dvorianstvo	p. 171
The Missing Bourgeoisie	p. 191
The Church as Servant of the State	p. 221
The Intelligentsia	p. 249
Towards the Police State	p. 281
Concluding remarks	p. 316
Notes	p. 319
Chronology	p. 333
Index	p. 343
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