"Enlightened monarchy" in Russia is called the state policy, which was led by Empress Catherine II, who ruled in 1762-1796. In the style of her leadership of the country, she was guided by the then Western standards. What was the policy of enlightened absolutism? Prussia, the Habsburg monarchy, France - all these countries, like Russia, then adhered to this course. It consisted in carrying out reforms that updated the state structure and abolished some feudal vestiges.
Power in the country remained exclusively in the hands of the autocratic ruler. This feature was the main contradiction that distinguished the policy of enlightened absolutism. The Habsburg monarchy, Russia and other major European powers embarked on a path of reform as a result of the birth of capitalism. The changes were tightly controlled from above and therefore never became full-fledged
Origins
The Russian enlightened monarchy arose under the influence of French culture, which shaped the views of Catherine II, her entourage and a significant part of the country's educated people. On the one hand, it was the fashion of aristocrats for etiquette,European dresses, hairstyles and hats. However, the French trends were reflected in the spiritual climate of the nobility.
We althy merchants and merchants, as well as high-ranking officials, began to get acquainted with Western European humanitarian culture, history, philosophy, art and literature under Peter I. In the era of Catherine, this process reached its peak. It is the educated aristocracy that is the social support of the monarchy in the period of enlightened absolutism. Books and visiting foreigners laid progressive ideas in the representatives of the nobility. Rich people began to travel frequently to Europe, to explore the world, to compare Western orders and customs with Russian ones.
"Order" of Catherine
Catherine II came to power in 1762. She was of German origin, had a European education and habits, and corresponded with the great French enlighteners. This "intellectual baggage" affected the style of government. The empress wanted to reform the state, make it more efficient and modern. This is how the enlightened monarchy of Catherine II appeared.
Already in the same 1762, the adviser to the Empress Nikita Panin presented her with a draft reform of the imperial council. The statesman argued that the old system of governing the country was ineffective due to the fact that it allowed the emergence of influential favorites. The transition from absolutism to an enlightened monarchy also consisted in the fact that Catherine opposed herself to the former rulers of the post-Petrine era, when all sorts of courtiers controlled politics.
In general, Panin proposed to create an advisory body. Catherine rejected his project, deciding to supplement this document. Thus was born a plan for a complete restructuring of the former legislation. The main thing that the empress wanted to achieve was order in governing the country. To do this, it was necessary to completely rework the old laws and add new ones.
Soon, Catherine established a Commission to create a draft of a new Code. As a recommendation for her, the Empress composed the "Instruction". It contained more than 500 articles, which formulated the basic principles of the Russian legal system. Catherine's document referred to the writings of the great thinkers of that time: Montesquieu, Beccaria, Just, Bielfeld. The "Instruction" reflected everything that was an enlightened monarchy in Russia. Features, content, meaning of this document went back to the ideology of advanced enlighteners.
Ekaterina's theoretical reasoning was even too liberal and therefore not applicable to the then Russian reality, as it de alt a blow to the interests of the privileged nobility - the main pillar of state power. One way or another, but many of the empress's reasoning remained only within the limits of good wishes. On the other hand, in the "Instruction" Catherine stated that Russia is a European power. So she confirmed the political course laid down by Peter I.
Sections of the Russian population
Catherine II believed that the enlightened monarchy in Russia was based on the class division of society. perfectshe called the state the absolutist model. The empress explained her loy alty by the “natural” right of some to rule, and others to be ruled. Catherine's postulates were substantiated by references to the history of Russia, where the autocracy had the most ancient roots.
The monarch was called not only a source of power, but also a figure consolidating the whole society. He had no restrictions other than ethical ones. The monarch, Catherine believed, had to show indulgence and ensure "the bliss of everyone and everyone." The enlightened monarchy set as its goal not the restriction of people's freedom, but the direction of their energy and activity to achieve common prosperity.
The Empress divided Russian society into three main strata: the nobility, the bourgeoisie and the peasantry. Freedom she called the right to do what remains within the law. Laws were declared the main instrument of the state. They were built and formulated according to the "spirit of the people", that is, the mentality. All this was to be ensured by the enlightened monarchy of the second half of the 18th century. Catherine II was the first of the Russian rulers to speak about the need to humanize criminal law. She considered the main goal of the state not to punish criminals, but to prevent their crimes.
Economy
The economic pillars on which the enlightened monarchy rested were property rights and agriculture. The main condition for the prosperity of the country, Catherine called the hard work of all Russian classes. Calling agriculture the basis of the country's economy, the Empress did not dissemble. Russia in the second half of the 18th centuryremained a deep agrarian country, in which the industry lagged noticeably behind the European one.
Many villages during the reign of Catherine II were declared cities, but in fact they remained the same villages with the same occupations of the population and appearance. This contradiction was the agrarian and patriarchal nature of Russia. Even with imaginary cities, the country's urban population was no more than 5%.
Russian industry, like agriculture, remained serfdom. Forced labor was widely used in factories and manufactories, since the labor of civilian workers cost enterprises an order of magnitude more. Meanwhile, the Industrial Revolution had already begun in England. Russia exported mainly semi-finished products and natural raw materials. The economy almost did not produce finished products for the foreign market.
Court and religion
The last chapters of Catherine's "Instruction" were devoted to the courts. The enlightened monarchy in Russia, in short, could not interact with society without this arbiter. Legal proceedings were of fundamental importance, which the empress could not help but understand. Catherine delegated many functions to this institution. In particular, the court had to protect the principle of freedom of religion, which extended to any residents of Russia. Catherine also touched on the topic of religion in her correspondence. She was opposed to the forced conversion to Christianity of the non-Russian peoples of the country.
An enlightened monarchy is a state firmly based on following rules and laws. That is why Catherine's Legislative Commissionbanned emergency hearings. The empress also opposed the oppression of freedom of speech. However, this did not stop her from bringing down repressions on those who, in her opinion, encroached on the state order with their publications.
The Peasant Question
The main dilemma faced by the enlightened monarchy in Russia was the future of serfdom. In the era of Catherine II, the slave position of the peasants was never abolished. But it was serfdom that was most criticized by the progressive strata of society. This social evil became the object of attack by Nikolai Novikov's satirical magazines (Purse, Drone, Painter). Like Radishchev, he did not wait for the cardinal changes initiated from above, but was imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress.
The fallacy of serfdom was not only in the most inhumane slave position of the peasants, but also in the fact that it hindered the economic development of the Empire. The estates needed freedom in order to work for their own benefit. Working for a landowner who took away crops and earnings, a priori, could not be effective. The enrichment of the peasantry took place only after its liberation in 1861. The enlightened monarchy of Catherine 2, in short, did not dare to take this step for the sake of maintaining internal stability, which consisted in the absence of conflict between the authorities and the landlords. The rest of the transformations of the empress in the village in this case remained only decorations. It was her period of rule - the era of the greatest serfdom of the peasants. Already under Catherine's son PavelI corvee decreased, becoming a three-day.
Criticism of autocracy
French rationalism and the ideas of the Enlightenment pointed to the shortcomings of feudal forms of government. Thus was born the first criticism of the autocracy. The enlightened monarchy, however, was precisely the unlimited form of power. The state welcomed the reforms, but they had to come from above and not affect the main thing - the autocracy. That is why the era of Catherine II and her contemporaries is called the era of enlightened absolutism.
The writer Alexander Radishchev was the first to publicly criticize the autocracy. His ode "Liberty" turned out to be the first revolutionary poem in Russia. After the publication of Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow, Radishchev was sent into exile. Thus, the enlightened monarchy of Catherine II, although positioned as a progressive state, did not at all allow freethinkers to change the political system.
Education
In many ways, the transition from absolutism to an enlightened monarchy occurred due to the activities of prominent scientists. Mikhail Lomonosov was the main luminary of Russian science in the 18th century. In 1755 he founded Moscow University. At the same time, educational utopianism was promoted in the Masonic lodges, which became extremely popular among the nobles.
In the second half of the 18th century, a new network of closed educational institutions appeared, in which the children of the nobility, merchants,clergy, soldiers, raznochintsy. All of them had a pronounced class character. Here, as elsewhere, the advantage was in the hands of the nobility. All sorts of buildings were opened for them, where teaching was conducted according to Western European standards.
Reform rollback
The activity of the Legislative Commission of Catherine II best demonstrates the relationship between the concepts of "absolute monarchy" and "enlightened absolutism". The Empress tried to create a state that would resemble those models that were described by the main European thinkers of the 18th century. However, the contradiction was that the Enlightenment and absolute monarchy could not be compatible. While retaining autocratic power, Catherine herself hindered the development of state institutions. However, not a single European monarch of the Enlightenment era decided on radical reforms.
Perhaps Catherine would have gone for further transformations, if not for several dramatic events of the second half of the 18th century. The first happened in Russia itself. We are talking about the Pugachev uprising, which engulfed the Urals and the Volga region in 1773–1775. The rebellion began among the Cossacks. Then he embraced the national and peasant strata. The serfs smashed the estates of the nobles, killed yesterday's oppressors. At the peak of the uprising, many large cities were under the control of Yemelyan Pugachev, including Orenburg and Ufa. Catherine was seriously frightened by the largest riot in the last century. When the troops defeated the Pugachevites, there was a reaction from the authorities, andreforms stopped. In the future, the era of Catherine became the "golden age" of the nobility, when their privileges reached their maximum.
Other events that influenced the views of the Empress were two revolutions: the war for the independence of the American colonies and the revolution in France. The latter overthrew the Bourbon monarchy. Catherine initiated the creation of an anti-French coalition, which included all the major European powers with the former absolutist way of life.
Cities and citizens
In 1785, the Letter of Complaint to the cities was issued, in which Catherine regulated the status of city residents. They were divided into several categories according to social and property characteristics. The first class of "real city inhabitants" included the nobles who owned real estate, as well as the clergy and officials. This was followed by guild merchants, guild artisans, non-residents, foreigners, residents of the town. Eminent citizens were singled out separately. They were people with university degrees, owners of large capitals, bankers, ship owners.
The privileges of a person depended on the status. For example, eminent citizens received the right to have their own garden, country yard and carriage. Also in the charter were defined people with voting rights. Philistinism and merchants received the beginnings of self-government. The charter ordered to organize meetings of the we althiest and most influential citizens once every 3 years. Elective judicial institutions - magistrates - were founded. A position created by literacyremained until 1870, that is, until the reforms of Alexander II.
Noble privileges
Simultaneously with the Charter to the cities, an even more important Charter to the nobility was issued. This document became a symbol of the entire era of Catherine II and the enlightened monarchy as a whole. He developed the ideas laid down in the Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility, adopted in 1762 under Peter III. Catherine's letter of commendation stated that the landowners were the only legitimate elite of Russian society.
The title of nobility was made hereditary, inalienable and extended to the entire noble family. An aristocrat could lose it only in the event of a criminal offense. So Catherine consolidated in practice her own thesis that the behavior of all nobles without exception should have corresponded to their high position.
Because of their "noble birth" the landowners were exempted from corporal punishment. Their ownership extended to various types of property and, most importantly, to serfs. Nobles could become entrepreneurs at will, such as maritime trade. Persons of noble birth were allowed to have plants and factories. Aristocrats were not subject to personal taxes.
Nobles could create their own societies - Noble Assemblies, which had political rights and their own finances. Such organizations were allowed to send projects of reforms and transformations to the monarch. The meetings were organized on a territorial basis andattached to the province. These self-government bodies had marshals of the nobility, whose appointment was carried out by the governors.
The Letter of Complaint completed the long process of ex alting the class of landowners. The document recorded that it was the nobles who were considered the main driving force in Russia. The entire domestic enlightened monarchy was based on this principle. The influence of the nobility gradually began to decline already under Catherine's successor, Paul I. This emperor, being the heir who was in conflict with his mother, tried to cancel all her innovations. Paul allowed corporal punishment to be applied to the nobles, forbade them to contact him personally. Many decisions of Paul were canceled under his son Alexander I. However, in the new 19th century, Russia had already entered a new step in its development. Enlightened absolutism remained a symbol of one era - the reign of Catherine II.
