Russian Enlightenment
The Russian Age of Enlightenment was a period in the 18th century in which the government began to actively encourage the proliferation of arts and sciences, which had a profound impact on Russian culture. During this time, the first Russian university was founded, a library, a theatre, a public museum, as well as relatively independent press. Like other enlightened despots, Catherine the Great played a key role in fostering the arts, sciences, and education. The national Enlightenment in the
Catherine the Great personally wrote the words for her ambassadors and consuls in order to compile a Comparative dictionary.
Early developments
The ideas of the Russian Enlightenment were first espoused by the "learned
During the reign of Peter's daughter
Shuvalov was also the patron of the greatest Russian polymath– Mikhail Lomonosov– who left his mark in various branches of science, religious philosophy, poetry, and fine arts.[1]
Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great considered herself an
Many of Catherine's contemporaries questioned her adherence to Enlightenment ideals and thought she was an egoist, merely using concepts from the Age of Enlightenment to further her selfish gains.[4] Gender played a primary role in these criticisms. Contemporaries interpreted her personality as combining masculine strength with feminine vanity.[4]
"Westernization" carries different meanings in different countries over varying time periods. But in relation to Russia during the 18th century, the term meant legislative changes to economics, politics and culture. It also entails the Russian gentry's adherence to a set standard and its imitation of the Western values.[5] Westernization in Russia included the modernization of machinery, the refinement of a more efficient bureaucracy, and the acceptance of Western European tastes.[5]
Russia produced more goods, and enlisted thousands of troops during Catherine's reign. While she acquired new lands, including Crimea and Poland, updated the army, and supported burgeoning manufactures, she really wanted to westernize Russia by reforming it, specifically the lives of the gentry, qualitatively. Bringing Russia to an equal level with the rest of Europe intellectually was a major concern of Catherine's. For this reason she created laws that justified her rule.
Foreign policy
Almost every Russian ruler has sought to conquer ports in warm waters.
Catherine returned to the Crimea in November 1776, and imposed a ruler for the reoccupation of the peninsula because of disturbances there.[7] The Crimeans revolted in 1778, after which the Russians went in the same year and installed their own leader to the throne.[7]
Because she gained significant diplomatic power in the early 1770s Catherine considered something called the "Greek Project".
Retaking
Catherine's land acquisitions show the quantitative changes she made to the Russian Empire. But she went far beyond this type of modernization that Peter the Great used in Russia. The institution of laws and importation of liberal Western European thought served as means of expanding the state.
Politics
At the advice of her learned correspondents, Catherine introduced a number of changes, ranging from the vast secularization of monastic properties to the domestic reform which envisioned more rational planning for the Russian towns.
Catherine believed in Enlightenment political thought. She reformed the strong and powerful bureaucracy
Catherine's political reforms went beyond perfecting Russia's bureaucracy. Her Catherine kept the power to pass laws.
She realized the need for the establishment of laws.[13] Some argue that Catherine used the Enlightenment as a way of placing "her rule on firm philosophic foundations and providing a national guide for the moral leadership of Europe."[3] Others say she used her laws for purely practical reasons. She established a civil law code in January 1774 and a criminal code during the second half of the 1770s, but never finished a unitary code.[15] She drew heavily in the Nakaz from the latest continental jurisprudence but ignored references to natural law.[15]
Criticism of the Empress's reforms abounded. Professor
To understand the significance of Catherine's rule, one must look back on Peter the Great's reign. Peter established the idea of a "reforming tsar." He broke away from the old
Russia became a major European power because of Peter's reforms. From Peter's rule set the precedent for succeeding leaders. For the next 150 years, Russian rulers followed "reform conservatism" which consisted of maintaining the state's power, fighting off fundamental change, but also adopting progressive changes that gave the autocracy a feature of liberalism, which was actually conservative in practice.[13]
Culture
Considered the "only articulate ideologist to rule Russia between
In contrast to Peter I, who regulated Russian society through public ceremony and legislation, Catherine promoted "the internal mechanisms of behavior regulation."[16] She attempted to achieve this remarkable goal through education. Russia set up state-run schools that provided students with learning in the three Rs, as well as about behavior proper for citizenship.[16] The schools stressed two principles above all else: the need to be patriotic, and the need to accept innovation.[16]
The
Catherine called the gentry, in her Nakaz as "an Appellation of Honour, which distinguishes all those who are adorned with it from every other Person of Inferior Rank."[16] In 1785, she fused the notion of reward for service with the idea of inherited rank in "Declaration of the Rights, Freedom and Privileges of the Well-Born Russian Nobility": "The right to the name of dvoryanin (gentry) comes down from the quality and virtue of those men who took the lead in ancient times and distinguished themselves by particular service."[16] She codified this by ordering assemblies of the gentry in regional centers to keep genealogical records.[16] Catherine's reforms allowed those with historically powerful families to keep their status in society, and others to rise due to service.[16] A nobleman no longer showed his refinement through his servitude to the court but through what he owned and what company he kept.[16]
Catherine's
Her Sub-Commission on Education concerned itself not with the subtleties of sciences, but with primary, secondary, and higher education. The idea was to teach children the duties required of those who live in society.[14] The Sub-Commission began its work in May 1768 and used English universities, the Prussian system of national education and "Irish school" as models.[14] The state then established free, co-educational high schools and primary schools in provincial towns in 1786.[15] By 1764, district towns received primary schools however; rural schools did not come into existence.[15] Few children attended public schools. Around 176,000 children passed through Russian public school between 1786 and 1796.[15] Russia lacked the finances and teachers to run schools properly.[15]
Secularization, a "western" principle, officially came to Russia through monetary necessity. Of course Enlightenment ideas about religion influenced the gentry but Catherine established the Commission on Church Lands on February 6, 1764 to support the finances of the state.[15] The appropriation of Church lands to the state brought a substantial amount of money, land, and peasants under Catherine's control.[15]
Economics
The state's efforts to "westernize" Russia's gentry greatly affected their economic cirmcumstances. The wealthiest classes gained more income in order to afford education and western habits.
The upper classes of Russia put more money into manufacturing, which grew during Catherine's reign.[15] The number of enterprises increased from 600 to 700 in 1762 to over 2,000 when her reign ended.[7] Russian agriculture grew during Catherine's reign due to the economic pressure put upon the gentry that needed more wealth in order to indulge in Western European tastes.[5] The gentry used potentially arable land in old areas as well as new land on the peripheries of the empire.[5] This expansion occurred during the 1780s and 90s.[5]
Throughout Catherine's reign she tried to find a balance between liberal
Mining was a source of Russian wealth. Catherine invited German mineralogy expert
In the 1762, the Church owned two-thirds of ploughed land.[15] After Catherine's reform, secularized Church land brought the state "an annual income of 1,370,000 rubles, of which less than 463,000 was returned to the Church each year between 1764 and 1768."[15]
Catherine and Voltaire
Catherine first initiated the relationship between herself and Voltaire, and she went to very great lengths to make his acquaintance. In the autumn of 1763, Catherine arranged for her Genevan secretary François-Pierre Pictet, an acquaintance of Voltaire, to send Voltaire a letter (supposedly written by Catherine herself) in which Pictet praised her at great length.[17] Catherine made many other attempts to link herself to the French philosophes: she offered to publish the Encyclopédie in Russia, arranged for several of Voltaire's plays to be produced at the Court of St. Petersburg, asked for copies of his complete works, and invited him to come to Russia. Her flattery eventually won over Voltaire, and they began writing letters to each other in the autumn of 1763, continuing to do so until Voltaire's death fifteen years later.
A relationship with Voltaire benefited Catherine for several reasons. Firstly, Catherine felt the need to strengthen her claim to power, having only recently taken the throne from her husband in a
Voltaire likewise benefited from Catherine's friendship. Long an admirer of
Voltaire played an important role in promoting Catherine's image in Europe. He has been described as Catherine's "most distinguished western partisan, her most enthusiastic devotee, and her most indefatigable and eloquent propagandist."
Voltaire as propagandist
A foreign-born woman and usurper of the Russian throne, Catherine the Great held no legitimate claim to the crown. Her sole connection with the house of Romanov derived from her marriage to the late Emperor, Peter III, whose murder she was widely known to have orchestrated. The royals who held genealogical claims to the throne overtly devised plots to replace the new Tsarina. Both
Catherine's letters to Voltaire often served as a means to woo the influential philosopher to her cause. Rather than pursue intellectual subjects, Catherine utilized her letters to flatter and cajole the philosopher. While Voltaire often attempted to initiate the Empress in an intellectual dialogue, Catherine often sidestepped his inquiries.[21] For example, "Voltaire did try to start a discussion…in the case of the [Claude Adrien] Helvetius translation by Golitsuin. In response to Voltaire's comments…Catherine blithely agrees…but confesses she has not read the book yet,".[22] One has the impression that Voltaire would have liked to dwell on literary, philosophic or artistic subjects as he did with his other correspondents. However, Catherine was far more interested in winning the philosopher's approval than in entering a philosophical dialogue. The content of her letters does not permit one to see her primary motives as anything other than propagandistic. She is not at all interested in broadening her cultural and intellectual horizons. Catherine seeks no advice from Voltaire on how to rule Russia.... Instead Catherine tries to impose her views, justify her policies and explain away her failures. Voltaire is, for Catherine, the best method of diffusing favorable information in Europe.[23] As a testament to Catherine's political ingenuity, she skillfully kept Voltaire at arm's length, feigning a belief in absolute liberalism in her letters while, in practice, implementing repressive reforms in her country. For example, the opinion she shares with Voltaire regarding serfdom did not always correspond with the laws she passed. "The Empress turned over 800,000 peasants to private proprietors. The 1763 law limiting freedom of movement by requiring the peasant to get a permit from the landlord before he/she could leave the property has been cited as evidence that Catherine enserfed peasants in the name of fiscal expediency,".[24] Catherine's correspondence largely acted as propaganda intended to assure Voltaire (and Europe) of Russia's prosperity.[22] Handicapped by distance and a lack of information, Voltaire was simply too willing to believe in Catherine's liberalism.
Despite her impure intentions, Catherine remained a loyal and unwavering disciple of Voltaire. Catherine revered the philosopher whose work she had read since her youth. Upon receiving a poem from Voltaire dedicated to her, the empress was "totally overwhelmed by her emotions…In a letter full of flattery and profound respect…Catherine announced that she had no desire to read any literary works that were not written as well as Voltaire's,".[25] She often called Voltaire her "teacher", her "thinking instructor", and her "master of thought,".[26] After his death in 1778, Catherine wrote letters to her contemporaries imploring them to study and memorize his works. "She believed that the study of his work educated citizens, that it helped to form geniuses, heroes and writers, and that it would help to develop thousands of talents,".[27] Her devotion to Voltaire after his death remains evident of her sincere and genuine reverence of him.
Throughout her reign, Catherine remained committed to intellectual pursuits and encouraged members of her court to engage in them as well. The empress provided her palace staff with a library and reportedly spent an average of 80,000 rubles annually on books.[28] In his essay, "Catherine the Great: Enlightened Empress?" Simon Henderson implores the reader to consider the constraints the empress faced when deciding if she was truly an enlightened despot. Henderson asserts that despite her deceptive tactics, she always possessed an "unswerving commitment to modernizing Russia,".[28] Early on, Catherine concerned herself with the philosophies and culture of the enlightenment. Though she often agreed with their liberal positions, her status in court was entirely reliant upon the support of noble families. As a result, the Empress could not always implement reforms the way she would have liked. For example, when confronted with the issue of serfdom, Catherine initially suggested in her proposal of "the Instruction" that landowners offer serfs the option to "purchase their freedom" [29] or that the government limit the period of servitude to six years.[29] However, the nobles omitted this section from the document as it did not benefit them. "Rather than seeing her as insincere in her concern for the peasantry, historians have recently highlighted…what she might have achieved had the circumstances been different,".[24] Despite the constraints, Catherine did manage to implement few policies that benefitted the serfs. In 1767 it was forbidden for foster parents to enserf illegitimate children and in 1781 enserfment of prisoners of war was prohibited and a law passes that saw marriage of a free man to a serf woman emancipate the woman. Catherine is known to have investigated and then bought out landowners who were reported to ill-treat their serfs,.[24] Voltaire outwardly supported emancipation of the serfs. The philosopher believed that the Russian aristocracy "should not permit the vast majority of the people to go on suffering from the arbitrariness of [the] very laws who ought to be to afford protection to each and all,".[30] Furthermore, in an attempt to create a more educated bureaucracy, Catherine moved to bring better education to her people. In 1786, she established the Russian Statute of National Education to launch a national school system.[24] As a result of her campaign to modify Russia, Catherine successfully introduced the tsardom to the Western world and furthered the degree to which it was involved in European affairs. While Catherine worked to bring enlightenment principles to Russia, Voltaire worked to improve her reputation in Europe. The philosopher enthusiastically adopted her cause, commending her to friends in high places, advising her in politics, and distributing her texts to the liberal media, thereby cementing her title as an enlightened despot. "Voltaire participated in a campaign to protect Catherine's reputation…he wrote pamphlets in support of her policies…[and] published her pronouncements in the western press,".[31] In a letter to Marquis D'Argenson, a French statesman, Voltaire asked him to help "re-establish [Catherine's] reputation in Paris", (Lentin 13). Catherine, happy with rise to popularity, admits to Prince De Ligne: "It was certainly Voltaire who brought me into fashion,".[31]
However, Voltaire certainly recognized the benefits of fraternizing with the Empress of Russia. The philosopher enjoyed socializing with Europe's elite and often boasted of his influential friends. "He avowed the usefulness of having a crowned up [his] sleeve…".[32] Furthermore, as a result of his association with Catherine, Voltaire saw it beneficial for his own reputation to rid the Empress of her disparaging image. "As Catherine's name was linked more and more to that of the philosophes, it became important that she be cleared of such any unsavory charges,".[33] Thus neither pen pal was possessed entirely "pure" intentions. Yet, despite their ulterior motives, the correspondence remains an important document recording the political pursuits of an Empire. Catherine's alignment with Voltaire acted as an early indication of the Russian tsardom moving towards closer relations with Europe.
Correspondence
The main topics of discussion in the Voltaire-Catherine letters were Russia's foreign and domestic affairs. Despite their mutual affection for literature, art and philosophy, very rarely did Catherine and Voltaire discuss such topics. One scholar has suggested that Catherine did not have the intellectual capacity to have such discussions with Voltaire, and that Catherine brought up primarily political affairs in her letters in order to impart her political ideas onto Voltaire.
Both Catherine and Voltaire wrote to each other in generally approbatory tones. Voltaire's letters to Catherine have been described as "a catalogue of extravagant and unqualified compliments, and fulsome approbation of her policies."[35] He even addressed her as "my Catherine." While Catherine also flattered Voltaire in her letters, she wrote in a more contrived manner, perhaps due to the fact that her secretary Pictet thoroughly revised the letters (unlike the letters she wrote to Frederick the Great) prior to sending them.[19] The main difference between the two sets of letters seems to be that "[Catherine] compliments Voltaire, to tickle his vanity and play on his prejudices", while Voltaire's compliments "convey undertones of hero-worship."[19]
Domestic affairs
In their discussions of Russia's domestic affairs, Catherine only exchanged news with Voltaire that would cast Russia and her rule in a positive light. She sent him news that depicted Russia as an economically stable and prosperous country and to depict herself as the epitome of an enlightened despot.
Catherine greatly exaggerated Russia's economic stability and greatly misinformed Voltaire on the subject. For instance, Catherine in the correspondence never mentioned Pugachev's Rebellion of 1773–74. When Voltaire brought up the subject, Catherine brushed it off by simply saying that she had it under control. As a result, Voltaire never realized the significant economic hardship of Russia's peasant class that had triggered the revolt.[36]
They often discussed legislation, as both strongly advocated for the absolute power of the law. Voltaire asked for information on Catherine's regulations, and Catherine sent Voltaire a copy of her Instructions, which he read twice. The subject of serfdom, in regard to which Voltaire advocated emancipation, also figured prominently in their correspondence. Although Voltaire sent Catherine advice on the subject, he never pushed his ideas, nor did he condemn Catherine for not taking more progressive action against the institution.
Nevertheless, Voltaire made clear his stance regarding serfdom in his submission for an essay competition held by the Free Economic Society of St. Petersburg in 1767. For the subject topic of the contest, Catherine chose "the merits of private ownership of land by the peasants." Voltaire's essay, to his disappointment, only received an honorable mention.[37]
Foreign affairs
The majority of Catherine and Voltaire's correspondence took place during the years 1769–1778, a period in which Catherine found herself largely involved with foreign affairs. Thus, much of their correspondence focuses on Russia's wars in Poland and Turkey and on the themes of religion and civilization.[38]
When Catherine first invaded Poland, Voltaire believed, contrary to popular opinion, that she had done so based on religious tolerance. He believed that she wanted to restore the rights of the non-Catholic Polish minorities rather than to acquire Polish land. Voltaire was proven wrong in 1772, after Catherine's
Another major topic of conversation was Russia's
Education
A more conservative approach was taken by
On a related note,
Catherine II could be considered the founder of the
Catherine's friend
Even the monolith of the Russian Orthodox Church seemed to succumb to the influences of the Enlightenment. The teachings of Platon Levshin, Metropolitan of Moscow, underlined the need for tolerance and encouraged the advancement of ecclesiastical education.
Arts
Enlightenment ideas were popularized by the nascent Russian theatre. The first Russian theater group of this kind was established in
During Catherine's reign the leading playwrights included Denis Fonvizin, who ridiculed the rusticity of provincial gentry and their thoughtless imitation of all things French; Vladislav Ozerov, who authored a great number of Neoclassical tragedies with touches of sentimentalism; and Yakov Knyazhnin, whose drama about a popular uprising against Rurik's rule was declared Jacobin and publicly burnt in 1791.
Even Catherine's favourite poet, Gavrila Derzhavin—who sought in his odes to combine amusement with instruction—would see some of his poems banned from print during the last years of her reign.
Opera
Foreign composers like
Catherine II sent some domestic composers like
The most important contribution in the opera genre were made by Vasily Pashkevich with his The Carriage Accident (Neschastye ot karety, 1779), The Miser to the text by Yakov Knyazhnin after Molière (1782), and Fevey to the libretto by Catherine II (1786), as well as by Italian trained Yevstigney Fomin with his The Coachmen at the Relay Station (Yamshchiki na podstave, 1787), Orfey i Evridika, opera-melodrama to the text by Yakov Knyazhnin (1792), and The Americans (Amerikantsy, comic opera, 1800).
Other music
In 1746 the first public concert took place in Russia. This soon became a tradition. Concert life was dominated by foreign musicians before Russian virtuosos appeared in the 1780–1790s; these included the violinist
The overture and songs from Ivan Kerzelli's opera Derevenskiy vorozheya (The Village Wizard) were printed in Moscow 1778; they were the first opera fragments printed in Russia. Sales of musical instruments (like keyboards, guitars and harps) were also growing. Sacred music genres were transformed under the foreign influences. The Italian operatic composers such as Galuppi and Sarti were involved in producing liturgies for the church service. The genre of the choral concerto (the cycle of three–four contrast movements) became traditional in liturgic music of Degtyaryov, Vedel, Bortnyansky, Berezovsky, Davydov, and Turchaninov.
Freemasonry
Some of the leading figures of the Russian Enlightenment are associated with
Aftermath
By 1796, when
The
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Valeriani: Sets for the "first Russian opera" Tsefal i Prokris by Araja, 1755.
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Foundling Home in Moscow, c. 1764.
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Title page of Catherine II's Nakaz, 1767.
References
- ^ ISBN 9785276014753.
- ^ ФИЛОСОФСКИЙ ВЕК ИВАН ИВАНОВИЧ ШУВАЛОВ (1727–1797) ПРОСВЕЩЕННАЯ ЛИЧНОСТЬ В РОССИЙСКОЙ ИСТОРИИ (PDF). Saint Petersburg: Russian Academy of Sciences. 1998.
- ^ a b c Billington, James H. The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretive History of Russian Culture. Toronto: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1966. pp. 217–26. Print.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark D. Steinberg. A History of Russia. 8th ed. Vol. 1. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011. n.p. Print.
- ^ a b c d e f g Kahan, Aracadius. "The Costs of "Westernization" in Russia: The Gentry and the Economy in the Eighteenth Century." Slavic Review 25.1 (1966): 40–66.
- ^ a b Troyat, Henri. Catherine the Great. New York: Penguin Books, 1980. n.p. Print.
- ^ a b c d de Madariaga, Isabel. Catherine the Great: A Short History. Vol. 1. n.p.: Yale University, 1990. N. pag. 1 vols. Print.
- ISBN 0-8039-9019-7, p.121.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Whittaker, Cynthia H. "The Reforming Tsar: The Redefinition of Autocratic Duty in Eighteenth-Century Russia." Slavic Review 51.1 (1992): 77–98. Print.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i de Madariaga, Isabela. Politics and Culture in Eighteenth-century Russia. New York: Addison Wesley Longman Inc., 1998.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Dixon, Simon. The Modernisation of Russia 1676–1825. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kelly, Catriona. Refining Russia: Advice Literature, Polite Culture, and Gender from Catherine to Yeltsin. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.
- ^ Catherine II, Empress of Russia, Voltaire. Voltaire and Catherine the Great: Selected Correspondence, trans. A. Lentin (Cambridge: Oriental Research Partners, 1974), 33.
- ^ For an overview of Catherine's many intellectual interests, see: Frank T Brechka, "Catherine the Great: The Books She Read", The Journal of Library History 4, no. 1 (Jan. 1969): 39–52.
- ^ a b c Catherine II, Empress of Russia, Voltaire. Voltaire and Catherine the Great: Selected Correspondence, trans. A. Lentin (Cambridge: Oriental Research Partners, 1974), 12.
- ^ (Lentin 9)
- ^ (Wilberger 19)
- ^ a b (Wilberger 157)
- ^ (Wilberger 182)
- ^ a b c d (Henderson 17)
- ^ (Gorbatov 74)
- ^ (Gorbatov 65)
- ^ (Gorbatov 66)
- ^ a b (Henderson 15)
- ^ a b (Henderson 16)
- ^ (Neserius 36)
- ^ a b (Lentin 14)
- ^ (Lentin 16)
- ^ (Wilberger 147)
- ^ a b Carolyn H. Wilberger, "Voltaire and Catherine the Great." in Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, ed. Theodore Besterman (Oxford: The Voltaire Foundation, 1976), 159.
- ^ Catherine II, Empress of Russia, Voltaire. Voltaire and Catherine the Great: Selected Correspondence, trans. A. Lentin (Cambridge: Oriental Research Partners, 1974), 11.
- ^ Carolyn H. Wilberger, "Voltaire and Catherine the Great." in Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, ed. Theodore Besterman (Oxford: The Voltaire Foundation, 1976), 150.
- ^ Carolyn H. Wilberger, "Voltaire and Catherine the Great." in Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, ed. Theodore Besterman (Oxford: The Voltaire Foundation, 1976), 153.
- ^ Carolyn H. Wilberger, "Voltaire and Catherine the Great." in Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, ed. Theodore Besterman (Oxford: The Voltaire Foundation, 1976), 160.
- ^ Carolyn H. Wilberger, "Voltaire and Catherine the Great." in Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, ed. Theodore Besterman (Oxford: The Voltaire Foundation, 1976), 163.
- ^ Colum Leckey, "What is Prosveshchenie? Nikolai Novikov's Historical Dictionary of Russian Writers Revisited." Russian History 37.4 (2010): 360-377.
- A. Lentin. Voltaire and Catherine the Great: Selected Correspondence. 1974. p. 9.
- Wilberger, Carolyn. Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century. 1976. p. 158.
- Henderson, Simon. "Catherine the Great: Enlightened Empress?" 2005. p. 15.
Bibliography
- Billington, James H. The Icon and the Axe: An Interpretive History of Russian Culture (Alfred A. Knopf, 1966)
- Dixon, Simon. The Modernisation of Russia 1676–1825 (Cambridge University Press, 1999)
- Frolova-Walker, Marina: Russian Federation, 1730–1860, (Opera, Concert life, Domestic music making, Sacred music), ISBN 0-333-60800-3
- Kahan, Aracadius. "The Costs of "Westernization" in Russia: The Gentry and the Economy in the Eighteenth Century." Slavic Review 25.1 (1966): 40–66.
- Kelly, Catriona. Refining Russia: Advice Literature, Polite Culture, and Gender from Catherine to Yeltsin (Oxford University Press, 2001).
- Lentin, A. "Catherine the Great and Denis Diderot" History Today (May 1972), pp 313–320 online.
- Riasanovsky, Nicholas V., and Mark D. Steinberg. A History of Russia (8th ed. 2011)
- ISBN 0-333-73432-7
- Wirtschafter, Elise Kimerling. "Thoughts on the Enlightenment and Enlightenment in Russia", Modern Russian History & Historiography, 2009, Vol. 2 Issue 2, pp. 1–26
- Wirtschafter, Elise Kimerling. "Religion and Enlightenment in Eighteenth-Century Russia: Father Platon at the Court of Catherine II", Slavonic & East European Review, Jan–April 2010, Vol. 88 Issue 1/2, pp. 180–203
- Zhivov, Viktor M. "The Myth of the State in the Age of Enlightenment and Its Destruction in Late Eighteenth-Century Russia", Russian Studies in History, Winter 2009/2010, Vol. 48 Issue 3, pp. 10–29