Muscovy

Abstract

This chapter reviews the nature of the Russian polity in the early modern period and the nature and function of political thought within that polity. It looks at interpretations of the early modern period that became the subject of government supervision following the 1917 Revolution, which had the effect of imposing a crude Marxist framework on interpretations of Muscovite history and Muscovite political thought. It also cites texts on political subjects that were seen as products of a class war, chiefly between proponents of the centralizing government and supporters of a conservative boyar opposition. The chapter talks about historians in the West that oppose the formerly dominant image of an all-powerful government commanding a powerless, supine society. It analyses the cultural context for political thinking in Muscovy that was neglected by political necessity in the Soviet Union.