RUSSIAN AUTOCRACY IN THE OPINION OF V.O. KLIUCHEVSKII
Keywords:
society, power, elitology, elites, political leadership, tsarism, kings, autocracy, historical science, historyAbstract
The history of the Russian autocracy, as well as the question of its character and historical significance, rests on the events of the Great Russian Revolution of 1917, which turned out to be an insurmountably fatal obstacle for it. A contemporary of the last Romanovs, the great Russian historian V.O. Kliuchevskii could observe and analyze the agony of the Russian autocracy, drawing on the experience of his academic knowledge of the history of Russian power and society. This part of his creative heritage should be considered as historical elitology, which directly follows from an analysis of the essence of the subjects of the highest power (elite), and in particular the ruling tsar’s dynasty in Russia.
