Glasnost and Censorship: Aspects of the Early Reign of Alexander II

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine the background and preparation process of the censorship reform made during Alexander II. The defeat in the Crimean War was an opportunity to awaken Russia’s reality and urge a reset of its future course. Alexander II, who succeeded Nikolai I during this period, was forced to take the path of reform to prevent revolution from below and overcome Russia's backwardness. The impact of the reform policy was also linked to changes in press publishing. Reform across the country required more information, and social discussions about the object and scope of reform were inevitable. As a result, the role of media publishing as an information supply and public sphere has increased. On the other hand, state censorship, which requires regulating and controlling information in circulation, has fluctuated between existing laws and the illegal disclosure of reality. In the period of so-called ‘explosive disclosure,’ censorship could not block the distribution of information by using the same repressive means as before. From the standpoint of state power, censorship has sought ways to discriminate between useful and harmful disclosures and to prevent the distribution of harmful information. Various discussions related to censorship during this period eventually result in a shift to punitive censorship.