Political Development in Russia

The modern postmonarchical history of Russia is embedded in its monarchic past. To understand how and why sociocultural and sociopolitical change has so dramatically affected Russia from time to time, it is necessary to understand the forces militating both for and against such change throughout the country's history. And a decisive fact about that history is the massive scale of national experience where political and social structure are concerned. In this connection, framing the discussion from the period of Nicholas I to the current period makes sense because the manner in which Nicholas I and all rulers of Russia from the time of his reign assumed power illustrates a pattern of dramatic shifts in popular political experience. While the overarching pattern is one of competing despotic reigns, wherein one category of despotism succeeds another, there is also evidence of a social and philosophical culture of freedom that was specifically aimed at enlarging access to such familiar Western freedom

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e peasant did not become an individual property owner or possess full civil rights, but remained subject to the authority of the commune. Actually the peasants became dependent upon those bureaucratic government agencies which concerned themselves with peasant affairs. It should be added that outside of the commune each peasant could purchase land on the basis of full ownership. This whole situation is important for understanding future events. It explains the continued juridical isolation of the peasants even after the reform. It also preserved in their conscious ness the memory of serfdom. The firm bonds of the commune did not permit changes in the manner of owning land. The peasants never forgot that the commune had only half of the former estate. The reform of 1861 seemed incomplete and they dreamed of completing it. And from the conception that the land was not the property of individuals but was granted in the form of an allotment to serve the uses of the individual the peasants came to regard the land within the whole state as a fund which could be drawn upon for further allotments until it was used
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 3766
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page)