Nobility and Privilege in Late Imperial Russia (Niu Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies)

Dekalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 1985. — 259 p. This book is an examination of several crucial aspects of the history of the nobility during that period of rapid social change; the changing relationships of the nobility to the land and to traditional occupational roles, the significance of the campaign waged by the self-appointed traditionalist defenders of noble interests and of the response they evoked from both the nobility and the state, and the emergence of a class of substantial landed proprietors out of the noble estate. Contents Preface "The Decline of the Nobility" The Nobility and the Land: A Reappraisal The Traditionalist Counterattack Exercises in Futility: Attempts to Stabilize Noble Landownership Sharing Noble Status: Problems of Membership Changing Career and Educational Patterns Further Exercises in Futility: Attempts to Restore Noble Leadership in the Countryside The Birth of a Class: Noble Landowners in Revolution and After Conclusion: Nobility, Autocracy, and Revolution Appendices Notes Glossary Bibliography Index The transformation of the Russian nobility between 1861 and 1914 has often been attributed to the anachronistic attitudes of its members and their failure to adapt to social change. Becker challenges this idea of "the decline of the nobility." He argues that the privileged estate responded positively to change and greatly influenced their nation's political and economic destiny.