Issue ? 34. October 2012

Ethnic and Religious Principles in the System of Imperial Administration: An Analysis of Konstantin Pobedonostsev's Activity and Political Views

Ph.D., associate professor, School of Public Administration, Lomonosov Moscow State University.
E-mail: polunov@spa.msu.ru

The article is focused on interplay between the ethnic and religious principles in the Russian Imperial system of government. The author analyzes the views and activities of Konstantin Pobedonostsev (1827–1907), one of the most influential politicians of the late Imperial era, the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod, the tutor and advisor to two last tsars. Being a strongly conservative statesman, Pobedonostsev treated religion as the main component of social stability in Russia. This approach was intermingled in a very controversial manner with the assessment of national (ethnic) principle. The contradictions of Pobedonostsev’s worldview contributed strongly to the disorganization of the system of government in Russia. They revealed a highly complicated nature of the problems which Imperial Russia faced at the turn of the century.

Keywords

Ethnic and religious principles, ethno-confessional policy, Russian empire, foreign faiths, Chief Procurator, Konstantin Pobedonostsev, the Holy Synod, ethnic minorities.