Description
Book Synopsis“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
Table of ContentsChapter 1 The environment and its consequences: The geographic setting - vegetation, soils, climate, precipitation and waterways; The influence of Russia's northern location on her economy - short farming season, poor yields, lack of markets, unprofitability of farming, industrial side-occupations (promysly); Influence on population movement; Influence on social organization - joint family, peasant commune (obshchina); Influence on political organization - incompatibility of means and ends, the "patrimonial" system as solution. PART 1 THE STATE: Chapter 2 The genesis of the patrimonial state in Russia: Slav colonization of Russian territory; The Norman (Kievan) state - the commercial nature of the state, succession pattern, assimilation of Normans, origins of the name Rus'-Rossiia, the Norman legacy; The dissolution of the Kievan state - centrifugal forces, north-west - Novgorod, Lithuania and Poland; The appanage (patrimonial) principality of the north-east: the colonization of the Volga-Oka region, new political attitudes, the appanage principality as property, the prince's domain, the princely administration within and without, Boyars and boyar land, "Black land"; The problem of feudalism in appanage Russia - political decentralization, vassalage, conditional land tenure, the political consequences of the absence in Russia of feudal tradition; Mongol conquest and domination - the invasion, character of rule and its influence on Russian politics. Chapter 3 The Triumph of patrimonialism: The rise of Moscow - "monocracy" and "autocracy", the great principality of Vladimir and the Nevsky clan, Ivan I. Kalita, succession by primogeniture; The patrimonial principality - confusion of dominium and imperium, domainial origin of Russia's administration, failure to distinguish crown and state properties; The politicization of Moscow's patrimonial rulers - dissolution of the Golden Horde and collapse of Byzantium, the Mongol-Tatar sources of the Russian idea of kingship, Gosudar' as sovereign; The expansion of Moscow - its psychological effects, the conquest of Novgorod by Ivan III, subsequent acquisitions. Chapter 4 The anatomy of the patrimonial regime: Servitors and commoners; The service estate - Boyars lose-right of free departure, Mestnichestvo as last Boyar weapon, the rise of dvoriane, the oprichnina, terms and forms of service; Commoners - Tiaglo, serfdom - its rise and spread; The administration - Duma, Sobor, bureaucracy; Mechanism of control and repression - denunciation as civic duty, closed frontiers. Chapter 5 The partial dismantling of the patrimonial state: The crisis of the patrimonial system; The military reforms of Peter I - shortcomings of the old army, creation of a standing army, effect on commoners - soul tax and conscription, effect on servitors - compulsory schooling and table of ranks; Construction of St Petersburg; The idea of "public good" and its implications; Creation of a political police under Peter I. (Part contents).
