TY - JOUR

T1 - Why Did Russia Not Become a Composite State?

AU - Филюшкин, Александр Ильич

N1 - Filyushkin A. Why Did Russia Not Become a Composite State? // Russian History. 2020. Vol. 47. Nr. 3. P. 201–223. doi: 10.30965/18763316-12340006

PY - 2020

Y1 - 2020

N2 - The paper asks how the Russian Empire emerged. In the course of European monarchicalrise of the 16–17th centuries, composite monarchies turned into nation statesand then empires. Russia never became a composite; very soon after its emergence atthe end of the 15th century, it immediately moved to the imperial stage. The answerto why this happened is the key to understanding the Russian Empire’s history. Onefactor that prevented Russia from building a composite monarchy was the weaknessof political actors united under Moscow’s leadership. European composite monarchiesemerged when and where the dominant monarchy forcefully broke local laws,fought against local class and political systems. But Moscow’s rivals were too weak, andRussian monarchs did not need to compromise with them. A shared Orthodox faith,common culture, language, and economic structure, as well as the absence of naturalborders on the Eastern European plain were other factors that allowed Moscow toignore the rights of conquered regions. Russia’s background as a part of the MongolEmpire also played a role. By the time Russia faced strong European monarchical competitors,its imperial development path already formed. An important feature of theearly Muscovite Empire was the dominance of political practice over ideology. Theideological design of the Empire occurred only in the 18th and 19th century. In the 16thand 17th centuries, the imperial character of Muscovy was formed intuitively and spontaneously;one might call it a neonatal, rudimentary, infant empire

AB - The paper asks how the Russian Empire emerged. In the course of European monarchicalrise of the 16–17th centuries, composite monarchies turned into nation statesand then empires. Russia never became a composite; very soon after its emergence atthe end of the 15th century, it immediately moved to the imperial stage. The answerto why this happened is the key to understanding the Russian Empire’s history. Onefactor that prevented Russia from building a composite monarchy was the weaknessof political actors united under Moscow’s leadership. European composite monarchiesemerged when and where the dominant monarchy forcefully broke local laws,fought against local class and political systems. But Moscow’s rivals were too weak, andRussian monarchs did not need to compromise with them. A shared Orthodox faith,common culture, language, and economic structure, as well as the absence of naturalborders on the Eastern European plain were other factors that allowed Moscow toignore the rights of conquered regions. Russia’s background as a part of the MongolEmpire also played a role. By the time Russia faced strong European monarchical competitors,its imperial development path already formed. An important feature of theearly Muscovite Empire was the dominance of political practice over ideology. Theideological design of the Empire occurred only in the 18th and 19th century. In the 16thand 17th centuries, the imperial character of Muscovy was formed intuitively and spontaneously;one might call it a neonatal, rudimentary, infant empire

U2 - 10.30965/18763316-12340006

DO - 10.30965/18763316-12340006

M3 - Article

VL - 47

SP - 201

EP - 223

JO - Russian History

JF - Russian History

SN - 0094-288X

IS - 3

ER -