Transformations of Regional Governance on the Nomadic Periphery (Siberia, Kazakh Steppes) of the Russian Empire in the Last Quarter of the 18th Century

Author(s):  
A.A. Borisov
Author(s):  
Maksim Anisimov

Heinrich Gross was a diplomat of the Empress of Russia Elizabeth Petrovna, a foreigner on the Russian service who held some of the most important diplomatic posts of her reign. As the head of Russian diplomatic missions in European countries, he was an immediate participant in the rupture of both Franco-Russian and Russo-Prussian diplomatic relations and witnessed the beginning of the Seven Years' War, while in the capital of Saxony, besieged by Prussian troops. After that H. Gross was one of the members of the collective leadership of the Russian Collegium of Foreign Affairs. So far there is only one biographic essay about him written in the 19th century. The aims of this article are threefold. Using both published foreign affairs-related documentation and diplomatic documents stored in the Archive of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Empire, it attempts to systematize the materials of the biography of this important participant in international events. It also seeks to assess his professional qualities and get valuable insight into his role both in the major events of European politics and in the implementation of the foreign policy of the Russian Empire in the mid-18th century. Moreover, the account of the diplomatic career of H. Gross presented in this essay aims to generate genuine interest among researchers in the personality and professional activities of one of the most brilliant Russian diplomats of the Enlightenment Era.


Author(s):  
K.Yu. Anders-Namzhilova

The article describes the problem of searching for unknown manuscripts in the study of new spiritual literature that occurred in the Russian Empire at the turn of 18th century. The documents of Moscow Ecclesiastical Censor’s Archive are the main information source of church and religious materials written during that period. The Moscow Ecclesiastical Censor was the first specialized authority established by Synod in 1799 for considering the religious compositions. Compositions which were banned by censors couldn’t be printed and for this reason they become unknown even for modern scientific society. However, a lot of these compositions weren’t lost: they are kept in manuscripts which are dispersed throughout different archive and library funds, that’s why they cannot be attributed without the engagement of the censor committee’s archive documents.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 122-126
Author(s):  
Gulbanu Bolatovna Izbassarova

The Kazakhs Junior Horde, due to external - internal political reasons was the first one who became the part of Russian Empire. Chinggizid Abulkhair was an initiator of the Kazakh society incorporation into the structure of the Russian Empire. The aggravation of the Kazakh-Bashkir, Kazakh-Kalmyk, Kazakh-Dzungar relations leads to a search for a strong overlord. At the beginning of the 18th century, after the Prut campaign, the interests of the Russian Empire moved from the Black Sea to Asia, which is south-east direction. Formation of the imperial concept, change in the concept of Russias historical mission on the international scene forms new strategic and political aims of the Russian Empire. The Academy of Sciences founded in 1724 by the emperor Peter I as well as representatives of local administrations started to explain to the Russian public the acquisition of new lands policy. The reflection of this event to the Russian historiography of the XVIII-XIX centuries is studied in this article. The attention is paid to the study of a concept of citizenship, an interpretation of its character, assessment of the Kazakh khan Abulkhair, the accession initiator by pre-revolutionary historiography representatives. The article considers views of P.I. Rychkov, A.I. Levshin, who are for the first time in their writings, on the basis of archival, authentic sources, gathered a wealth of factual material, scientifically substantiated opinions on the issue of incorporation.


Author(s):  
Nathan Spannaus

Following the Russian conquests of the 16th century, ulama became the foremost social authorities for Volga-Ural Muslims. Tsarist efforts at governing the Muslim population increasingly focused on them in the 18th century, with greater tolerance and state support for Islamic institutions alongside a co-optation of scholars’ authority. In 1788, the Orenburg Spiritual Assembly was founded, placing all ulama under a hierarchy controlled by the state. The Spiritual Assembly offered stability and permanence to Islamic institutions, allowing for a flourishing in Islamic scholarship, but it also transformed the ulama and application of Islamic law. This chapter addresses Muslims’ shifting relationship to the Russian state and the structural changes to Islamic institutions, and how this impacted scholarship. Focusing specifically on ulama in the 18th and early 19th centuries, it places Qursawi’s life and career within this context, particularly his education, the formation of his thought, and his condemnation in Bukhara for heresy.


Author(s):  
Adrian Brisku

Four-centuries-long encounters between the Ottoman Empire and the Grand Duchy of Muscovy/Russian Empire point to complex relations that have been triggered and defined mostly by territorial, trade disputes, and wars, and maintained by diplomatic rivalry and occasional military alliances. Starting as friendly encounters during Sultan Bayezid II reign at the beginning of the 16th century, these relations, essentially and persistently asymmetrical, reveal an initial and long Ottoman dominance over the Muscovy/Russian side; one that lasted from the early 16th to the late 18th century—whereby the two sides shared no direct borders, traded and did not fight each other until the late 17th century—followed by a late 18th-century and mid-19th-century Russian ascendency. This ascendency was achieved largely thanks to the military reform that Tsar/Emperor Peter the Great undertook, namely, the establishment of a standing and professional army and consequentially due to the many wars that Russia won throughout the 19th century; the decisive ones being those fought during the reign of Empress Catherine the Great. The mid-19th century and the early 20th century—which witnessed the implosion of the Russian Empire due to the Bolshevik Revolution and the break-up of the Ottoman Empire by Britain and France—was a long period that saw few and brief military alliances, contested trade relations and yet continued wars. It was ultimately marred by an Ottoman drive to counterbalance Russia’s dominance, while the latter sought to preserve it, by involving other European powers (British and French)—the most crucial moment being the British, French, and Ottoman armies defeating the Russian one in the Crimean War (1853–1856)—transforming their bilateral interactions into multilateral but unsustainable relations.


Neophilology ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 413-418
Author(s):  
Theodosius Vasnev

Tambov Governorate in the Russian Empire until the beginning of the XX century was the largest region of the country. The borders of the Tambov diocese and the Tambov Governorate coincided with the end of the 18th century. There were 16 monasteries and monastic communities. Bishop Theophan paid special attention to the development of spiritual life in the Tambov Governorate. He fed seminars and schools for girls (the diocesan women's school). Saint Theophan founded the first periodical journal in the diocese, the Tambov Eparchial Journal. For a short period of stay in Tambov, he proved himself to be an active organizer of various areas of church life, including missionary and educational significance. Bishop Theophan was keenly interested in all questions that were connected with the activities of the clergy, their behavior and relations among themselves. The Saint always showed love and compassion for his flock, and especially in the days of severe trials. Bishop Theophan left a bright mark in the history of the Tambov diocese as a trustee of the theological seminary and diocesan schools, the founder of temples and the organizer of decency in the cloisters, a writer and a teacher of morality, caring for the spiritual education, education and perfection of the inhabitants of the Tambov territory.


Author(s):  
Andrey S. Ryazhev ◽  

Introduction. The article concentrates on the religious policy of the Russian Empire in the Early Modern Time. For the first time in historiography, a study was carried out concerning the activities of Catholic missionaries in relation to the Kalmyk Khanate, the attempts of the Capuchin Order to establish contacts with the Kalmyk Khan Donduk-Dashi. Materials and methods. The study is based on mostly unpublished materials from the political and diplomatic correspondence of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs and the legislation of the first half of the 1760s, characterizing the methods and territorial scope of the missionaries activity, in particular, their penetration into the Kalmyk steppe. The methodology of the study has been determined by the structural and functional approach to the system of state bodies of Russia. In combination with this approach, a historical-genetic method was used, which is optimal for the study of changes in the power system of the Russian Empire from the beginning of the 18th century through the first half of the 1760s. Results. The section demonstrates the reasons for the aspiration of the Capuchin Order to the North Caucasus and the place of the Kalmyk Khanate in missionary plans, describes the standard epoch-specific missionary techniques for influencing the non-Catholic population. It has been determined that the Capuchins, relying on the support of Austrian diplomacy, bypassed the formal restrictions on missionary activity in the studied region, which could not but cause religious friction. The activity of Russian institutions to resolve differences of this kind is traced, the difficulties encountered by the authorities in the capital and especially at the local level in connection with the need for an appropriate settlement are shown. At the same time, it is emphasized that the specific interests of secular and spiritual bodies in such cases did not coincide, which had a long-standing and stable character in the south. The dynamics of the attitude of the Russian authorities towards missionaries in the Russian south is outlined. If under the conditions of the “Austrian system” — orientation towards the Austrian court, which had been in Russian diplomacy since the times of Peter the Great and under Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, their position was favorable, then after the accession of Catherine II and the crisis in Russian-Austrian relations, the possibilities of missionaries in the North Caucasus and the Kalmyk steppes were significantly limited. The author states that in the process of settling religious tensions, the Russian authorities in the early 1760s faced a weak legal framework both in relation to non-Orthodox religions and in general. The solution to the problem was outlined with the accession of Catherine II and in connection with the empress’s policy in the spheres of religion and law.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 45-49
Author(s):  
Victor Tvircun ◽  

Thе present publication is the first in historiography to highlight the unknown pages from the biography of Maria Andreevna Kantakuzino, wife of Foma (Toma) Kantakuzino, Major General of the Russian Army, an associate of Peter the Great. The research is based on documents discovered by the author in the State archives of the Russian Federation. The hallmark of this article is the fact, that the biographical data of Maria Cantacuzino are disclosed in the context of the political events of the 1st quarter of the 18th century, as well as her personal ties and correspondence with statesmen of the Russian Empire, the author reflects the issue of the financial situation of the countess in Russia. At the same time, the publication sheds light on the previously unknown biographical data of Maria Cantacuzino – the time and conditions of her arrival in Russia, the place of residence, as well as the date of her death. This publication, on the basis of archival documents discovered and introduced into scientific circulation, makes it possible to show the property status and possessions of the Cantacuzino family in Russia in the first half of the 18th century, as well as their fate after the death of the owners.


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