Latest / The Romanov Dynasty: Rise, Power, and Bloody End — Fexingo History
Catherine the Great's Instruction: Enlightened Despotism or Propaganda
In 1767, Catherine the Great convened a Legislative Commission to produce a new law code for the Russian Empire. The Empress herself penned the Instruction, or Nakaz, a document that drew heavily from Montesquieu, Beccaria, and other Enlightenment thinkers, calling for legal equality, due process, and limits on serfdom—at least on paper. But what happened when the 564 delegates—nobles, townspeople, state peasants, and non-Russian minorities—actually gathered in Moscow? Why did Catherine dissolve the commission after only a year and a half, never to enact her reforms? This episode explores the…
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