Michael Speransky. Statesman of Imperial Russia, 1772–1839 - Marc Raeff

"CONSTITUTIONALISM" 31

century. The nobles would not easily let go their hard-won privileges

and "corporate status".l Paul's disregard of the interests of the

nobility, coupled with the superficial annoyances with which he beset

his officers and courtiers, proved too much. By 1800 already, the violent

end of the reign was a foreseeable conclusion.

The four years of imperial terror served as catalytic agent for the

political maturation of the Russian nobility. The seeds of political

consciousness, in a Western sense, had been planted in their minds

by the policies of Catherine II and the penetration of French philo-

sophic and literary works. It is, of course, quite true that Catherine's

engoument with the Enlightenment and liberalism a la Diderot and

Voltaire had been mainly window dressing and propaganda. Yet, her
intention to give Russia a clear and orderly administration, consistent
with the requirements of progress and civilization and the Empire's
newly won position in Europe, had been genuine enough. In any case,
both the propaganda and the practical efforts at "modem" legislation
had greatly influenced the educated portions of the nobility. The
glory and prosperity of her reign had enhanced the prestige of the
tenets of the Enlightenment, and it established in many minds a direct
connection between the country's progress and the implementation of
Western ideologies in Russia. The excesses of the French Revolution
turned many a Russian "liberal" aristocrat from the radical consequences
of the philosophes' creed, but they could not, and did not, destroy
the newly gained beliefs and social consciousness. Repelled by the
extremism and brutality of the French course, the Russian nobility
turned to the example provided by England. In England the "progres-
sive" aristocracy of Russia found an impressive respect for a gentleman's

liberty and dignity, and it could also observe how the "best" men

participated in the administration of county and country.
At the time of Catherine's death in 1796, the educated nobleman
who served and lived in St. Petersburg or Moscow was thoroughly
conscious of his dignity and worth as an individual; he had come a
long way from the timidity and cringiness of his forebears, the servants

• kholopy - of the Tsars of Moscow. Now, he expected the government
  to treat him like a human being; he believed that he was entitled to
  feel secure in his life and property. But not alone as an individual
  had the educated Russian nobleman achieved self-respect and dignity,
  he also considered himself a member of the first "estate" (soslovie)
  of the realm - an estate that had earned a privileged position by its
  1 S. A. Korf, Dvorianstvo i ego soslovnoe upravlenie za stoletie 1762-1855, pp.
  220-275 passim.