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Russia from the Rise of Moscow to the Revolution of 1917, 2nd Edition is
based on a series of lectures read to the faculty and students of the History and
Sociology Faculties of Moscow Pedagogical State University over a three-year period between November 1996
and 1999. Three enduring themes cover the period between 1328 and 1917: unity, modernization, and
constitutionalism.
The rise of Moscow and reign of Ivan the Great covered by the first lectures concern the restoration
of the unity of the Russian land. Two centuries of Tatar rule could not destroy the concept of "Mother Russia"
or "Rus," in the hearts of the people preserved by a common Orthodox faith and reborn in the
Muscovite state. The close collaboration between the Metropolitans, who headed the Church and
symbolized the spiritual unity of the nation, and the secular Grand Princes who gathered the
Russian lands around Moscow promoted unification. The great law codes of Ivan III and IV enhanced
Russia's unity by giving it a common law enforced throughout the realm.
Constitutionalism is a recurring theme. Like other medieval states Muscovy had an unwritten
Constitution with a limited monarch. The fifth, sixth, and seventh lectures examine the most important
political institutions: the Tsar, Boyar Council and Assembly of the Land. The Russian autocrats between
Ivan III and Peter the Great were limited by tradition and the code of precedence that required state
appointments to be made on the basis of genealogical seniority. The Constitution of 1905 discussed in
the last lecture represents a return to earlier constitutionalism. The Tsar was still Autocrat because
he ruled a sovereign state. But he was no longer the unlimited absolute monarch described in the
Fundamental State Laws of 1832. He shared his legislative authority with a bicameral parliament and
could change neither the Constitution nor the Succession Statute without parliamentary approval.
Modernization is an important theme. Her location has always exposed Russia to invasion from
both the East and West. The great rulers of the past knew that national survival required modernization.
Peter the Great, discussed in lectures eight and nine, was determined to save Russia's Orthodox faith and
civilization by adopting more advanced western technology. His sincere love of western culture was less
important than state security. The failure of foreign invaders to conquer Russia testifies to his success.
 Hammond, Vincent Elwood (1947
– ) Ph.D. in Russian, British, and Modern European
History, University of Illinois. Associate Professor of History,
University of Central Arkansas. In addition to Russia
from the Rise of Moscow to the Revolution of 1917 (2003),
author of One World (2003) and
State Service in Sixteenth Century Novgorod:
The First Century of the Pomestie System (forthcoming).
Translator and editor of A.A. Danilov and A.N. Souzdaltsev's From
the Great Patriotic War to the New Russia (2003) and A.A.
Danilov's History of Russia: The Twentieth
Century (1996). Other edited and annotated translations
include A.F. Kiselev's The Trade Unions
and the Soviet State (2001) and A.V. Lubkov's War,
Revolution and the Cooperative (2002).
Galkina, A.N.
Author of Forward to Russia from the Rise of Moscow to the Revolution of 1917. Ph.D. in English,
Professor and Head of the Chair of English Lexicology, Moscow Pedagogical State University.
As Vice-President for International Programs sponsored participation in TEMPUS/TACIS and organized
the exchange that included reading the lectures in this book to the MPSU History and Sociology Faculties.
Doubovitski, Roman (1979 – )
Author of MPSU student essay, "Ivan the Terrible: Autocrat
or Lunatic?" B.A. in History and Sociology, M.A. and Ph.D. Candidate
in Sociology, Moscow Pedagogical State University, participant
in the academic exchange between UCA and MPSU and Certified Translator.
Author, "The Human Being as a Business Factor," in Philosophical
Sciences Magazine #2 (2003).
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