From supplication to revolution : a documentary social history of imperial Russia

This volume presents a unique documentary history of the development of the social order in Imperial Russia, by printing translations of representative statements from the main social categories of Russian society.

The first authoritative collection of primary documents on the social history of Imperial Russia, this volume delineates the basic issues of social structure and change in pre-revolutionary Russian society as it headed toward the cataclysm of 1917. Gregory Freeze has collected and translated original materials from the Soviet archives, including many never before published, in which members of the major social groups of Russian society—the nobility, military and civil service groups, clergy, townspeople, peasantry, workers, professionals and educated elites, and minorities—articulate their experiences. Organized into three chronological sections—the reign of Catherine the Great in the 1760s, the reform movements of the 1860s, and the rising tide of revolution in 1905-06—the book offers a unique and valuable comparative analysis of various groups with each other, of a single group over time, and of the relative patterns of change among several groups over time. As the collective statements change in form, tone, and substance, they provide a dramatic sense of how Russian society evolved and why the Imperial autocracy collapsed.

Freeze's book is the first authoritative collection of primary materials on the social history of Imperial Russia.

A collection of translated sources on Russian social history from three periods of unrest and demands for reform - the 1760s, the 1860s, and the 1905-6 revolution. On the status of Jews and on antisemitism see a ritual murder accusation in the town of Brusilov, Kiev province, in 1768 (p. 96); a press response to anti-Jewish attacks in a Moscow journal in 1862 (pp. 190-197); and material on demands for Jewish legal equality in 1905-6 (pp. 299-301). Refers also to antisemitic demands made by the peasants and townspeople during the 1905-6 revolution protesting against "domination" by the Jews. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism) Preface Contents Introduction Part One. The Catherinean Era A. NOBILITY B. BUREAUCRACY AND ARMY C. THE ORTHODOX CLERGY D. PROFESSIONS AND EDUCATED ELITES E. URBAN SOCIETY F. PEASANTRY G. INDUSTRIAL WORKERS H. MINORITIES AND WOMEN Part Two. The Era of Great Reforms: Society in the 1860s A. NOBILITY B. BUREAUCRACY AND ARMY C. THE ORTHODOX CLERGY D. PROFESSIONS AND EDUCATED ELITES K URBAN SOCIETY F. PEASANTRY G. INDUSTRIAL WORKERS H. MINORITIES AND WOMEN Part Three. Society in Revolution, 1905-1906 A. NOBILITY B. BUREAUCRACY AND ARMY C. THE ORTHODOX CLERGY D. PROFESSIONS AND EDUCATED ELITES F. PEASANTRY G. INDUSTRIAL WORKERS H. MINORITIES AND WOMEN Sources Bibliography Index