The ideas of a Russian Empire came from Europe
идеи русской империи происходили из Европы
Le idee dell' impero russo provenivano dall' Europa
Les idées d'un empire russe provenaient de l' Europe
Die Ideen eines russischen Kaiserreichs stammten aus Europa.
1. The Greek Project
Not just the religious engagement of Russia and of peoples of the Balkans, as parts of a sole Orthodox Church, prompted a strong interest for Russia, but also the diffusion of Enlightenment as an all-European ideology.
One could even say that the formation of the Russian Empire is distinctly interlinked with the ideas and objectives of European Enlightenment. In the XVII and XVIII Century, many European intellectuals intervened with the Zars for persuading them to undertake the conquest of the Ottoman Empire, so re-establishing the unity of Christendom and of the Orthodox World. Especially, in the XVIII Century, Katherine II, urged, i.a., by Herder, worked out an ambitious plan (the “Greek Project”, that the Greeks called “I Megàli Idèa”), for transforming the Ottoman Empire into a Christian Kingdom, governed by a son of herself. During the Independence Wars of the Balkanic States, Russia was without exitation at the side of the Balkanic peoples.
The idea of a Third Rome was not simply an empty slogan. The Tsars shared the Millenaristic faith of West European Rulers, clergymen and intellectuals of their times, such as Columbus, Dom Sebastião, Vieira, Jan Komenský, Campanella, Winstanley or Cotton Mather.
Moreover, they were subject to pressure of intellectuals like Krizanic urging them to attack the infidels of the Ottoman Empire, as a whole Balkanic clergy,.
2. The Perpetual Peace
As it is well known, the intellectuals of early Modernity were very much attracted by the demiurgic powers of “Enlightened Despotism”. Erasmus, Luther, Machiavelli, Bodin, Grotius, Hobbes, Leibniz, Kant, Voltaire, were all puzzled by the possibility to materialize, via the Prince, their auspices as to the best organization of the State.
Also the idea of a “Perpetual Peace” was influenced, from one side, from the idea of a Crusade against the Turks, and, from another side, by the idea that, after the fall of the Sacred Roman Empire and the defeat of the Invincible Armada, a New World Order had to be restored.
Philip II and Louis XIV had tried, uselessly, to re-create a “Universal Monarchy”. Thus, the attentions of many began to concentrate on Russia and America, the countries where, as Tocqueville noted, Europe’s utopias could have materialized.
When Peter 1st, at the beginning of the 18th Century, showed an unusually strong capability to modernize its Empire according to European standards, hiring the best technicians, architects and artists from all over Europe, this fact became an irresistible enticement for all intellectuals in Europe, and Peter was exalted by them as the founder of a new Golden Age.
For this purpose,according to Leibniz, the capital of the Russian Empire should have been transferred into the newly built town of Odessa, situated in the newly conquered Southern Ukraine, and, hence, at midway between Northern Europe and the Middle East. In fact, according to him, the Eurasiatic Continent should have been dominated by two large empires: the Chinese and the Russian. This project was shared by Voltaire, who expressed this point of view in several occasions, and, with special vibrancy, through his satirical pèiece “Le Rescrit de l’Empereur de la Chine”, which constitutes an ironical comment to the comment of Rousseau to St. Pierre’s “Project pour une paix perpetuelle” (in which, in any case, as in the preceding and following “Projects”, the presence of Russia was contemplated). By the way, we consider this “Rescrit” a document having a stringent contemporary value, taking into account the past, and present, role of China.
The idea itself of the conquest of the Baltic Coast, of the construction of St. Petersburg and of the re-baptization of the “Tsar” as “Imperator” was a precise choice in the direction of Europe. But for the Europe of “Enlightened Despotism”, non, surely, for “liberalism”.
Moreover, Peter was too despotic a nature for tolerating too stringent invasions on this decision sphere. On the contrary, Catherine 2nd albeit a quintessentially despotic ruler, was a very curious and intellectual woman, which, on the other side, mixed with ease their romances with the affairs of State. So, she raised still more the attention of European intellectuals, such as Leibniz, Diderot, Muratori and Voltaire, the latter describing Catherine as the most enlightened sovereign from the times of Solon.
3. The “Legislative Commission”
Under Peter and Katherine, Russia succeeded in its ambitions to become a European Power, having conquered Estonia, Latvia, the Eastern part of Poland, Belarus’ and Ukraine. The emissaries of Katherine influenced the politics of Poland, Germany, Turkey, England, and even the Kingdom of Naples and the United States.
The accomplishment of this objective was celebrated by Catherine with the well-known monument to Paul 1st in St. Petersburg. On the Pedestal of the monument, a riding Peter looking at the Baltic from his rampant horse, he let the following phrase, in Latin, be written: “Paulo I, Catherina Secunda”.
The political reforms undertaken under his guidance, such as the “Legislative Commission” which was supposed to introduce, into Russia, the principles of Enlightenment, constituted an excellent example, more than for its contents, for its methodology, since the Commission involved all social resources and all ethnic groups of the Empire. As such, it constituted de facto a precedent for the Politics of Nationalities in XIX Century’s Europe and in XX Century’s federations.
Many commentators maintain that the creation of the Legislative Commission, as well as the text of the Instructions, which it wrote to the members of the Commission, itself, were not genuine, and they should explain why they were not implemented. However, these objections could be raised also against the reforms of all reformistic Monarch of the XVIII Century. They wanted to abolish the irrational or absolute aspects of the preceding societies, not at all abolish their own power, nor the position of ruling classes. On the contrary, their logic was precisely the one of restraining the elements of Ancien Régime for enhancing the absolute power of the Crown.
As it is known, Katherine was a German aristocrat. Albeit she was perfectly Russian-speaking and an Orthodox believer, she had constantly privileged relationships with subjects of other nationalities, such as August Poniatowsky, a young Polish aristocrat, which, after having been her lover, she promoted to become the King of Poland, as well with the Khan of Crimea, and, finally, with Diderot, whom she sustained heavily from the financial point of view.
Katherine was involved also (as almost all Enlightened Princes)in. American Independence Wars In fact, she promoted the creation of the so-called “Armed Neutrality”, an alliance among European Powers, aiming at preventing the King of England to carry out his embargo to the United States. However, in the last years of her life, after the Pugačiov Revolt, and, especially after the French Revolution, she withdraw many of her proposals, being afraid, before of any other thing, of the risk to undergo the same fate as Louis XVI (who had also enthusiastically supported the American Revolution).
In any case, Catherine was always consistent with her absolutistic creed, which she draw from the reading the works of the enlightened writers to which she was linked, and who were all firm tenants of the Ancien Régime. Just at the beginning of the “Instructions to the Legislative Commission”, where she fixed the terms of engagement of the members of the Commission, she declared that she would have continued to govern Russia in a “despotic” manner (“samodieržavie”) because, as Montesquieu had written, a State of larger scale may be governed only in this way. It is also known that also Hamilton’s Federalist Papers pretended to be based on Montesquieu’s teaching, and, precisely, on the same passage of “De l’Esprit des Lois”, where Montesquieu completes his affirmation concerning the “States of large extension”, saying that they may have governed not just in an autocratic manner, but also by federalism.
This observation shows how much Russia and the United States constitute, so to say, two “mirror images” of Europe. Moreover, it is not even true that the American Federalism is integrally decentralized, whilst Russian centralism is forthwith despotic. In fact, in America, Hamilton’s “federalism” was seen, and correctly, as a trend towards centralization, whilst the idea itself of the Legislative Commission was based on the cooperation of local entities, a cooperation which, in a way or another, never ceased in Russia.
Catherine was the most known and successful German princess at the St. Petersburg’s court. However, she was not the only one. In fact, Martha Skavronskaja became Catherine 1st, Augustina Wilhelmina von Hessen-Damstadt and Sophia Dorothea von Württemberg married Peter the Great, Luisa Maria Augusta von Baden Baden married Alexander 1st; Federica Luisa Sharlota Wilhelmina of Prussia married Nicolas 1st; Maximiliana Wilhelnmina Augusta Sofia Maria von Damstadt married Alexander 2nd; Maria Sophia Federica Dagmar of Denmark married Alexander III, and Alisa Victoria Melana Beatris von Damstadt married Nicolas II, being killed by the Bolsheviks together with her husband.
4. Europeans in Russia
Saint Petersburg was filled by Europeans, like the Italians (“Friaziny”), northern (protestant) Europeans, who lived in Kukuj/Svoboda.
Many important characters of Peter’s and Catherine’s St. Petersburg were western Europeans. Such as the Danish Vitus Bering, the discoverer of Alaska; the historian Gerard Miller; the Italian architects Aristotele Fioravanti, Domenico Trezzini, Giuseppe Bove, Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, Artuto Rinaldi, Giacomo Quarenghi, Carlo Rossi; the French Jean Baptiste Le Blond and Jean Vallin de la Mothe; the English Charles Cameron; the German sculptor Peter Clodt; the Swedish painter Alexander Reslin; and, especially, the French sculptor Etienne Frelcemiet (author of the monument to Peter the Great).
Herder thought that the real focal point of Russia was the newly built Odessa, in Ukraine, since, from that town, it could have dominated both the East and the West (a thought which is shared by many anti-Russian of today, who, precisely for this reason, make any efforts as possible for separating Ukraine from Russia).
Melchior von Grimm foreshadow to Catherine II the subdivision of the world hegemony between Russia and America. This idea will be developed, among others, by Tocqueville. According to Grimm, the strength of Russia derived from the fact of not having suffered a revolution.
During the Reign of Catherine, Russia is really a European State, having a German Empress, a capital similar to Venice, speaking French and with an aristocracy being, to a large extent, Polish, German and Swedish. Large minorities of Balts, Poles, Ucrainians, Greeks, Romanians, Tatars, Georgians and Armenians live inside its southern borders.
Under Catherine, a large wave of German immigrantsentered the country In reality, Catherine invited immigrants of all nationalities, to whom she offered free land, which, after one hundred years, would have become their full property. The colonists flocked towards several destinations, and, in particular, towards Saratov on the River Don. However, with the passing of time, the conditions of German immigrants worsened and worsened, following to the consequences of the abolition of serfdom, to the expiration of the first 100 years privileges, of the russification policies.
During the Bolshevik Revolution, the German immigrants were granted the right to create their own Republic of the Volga Germans. Unfortunately, also in this regions, the problems of land collectivization, of “dekulakisation” and of “Golodomor” were felt.
During World War II, all Volga Germans were deported to Kazakhistan or Siberia.
During the Perestrojka period, they received the right to quit Russia, so that the majority has come back to Germany.
During the Reign of Catherine, the Ermitage was created, which, in Sakurov’s film, has been pertinently defined as “the Russian Arch”, where many and many artistic treasures of the European culture have been stored, for preserving them against the upheavals of history.
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