Russian autocracy

A tradition of highly centralized rule in Russia, in which political authority is concentrated in a ruler and weakly constrained by representative institutions.

Grand Duchy of Moscow: A medieval East Slavic principality that grew into the core of the Russian state. Moscow’s rulers consolidated lands and authority that later underpinned tsarist centralization.
Russian monarchy: The hereditary institution through which Russia’s rulers held sovereign power before the monarchy ended in 1917. Tsarist autocracy was the monarchy’s dominant political form.
Peter the Great: The Russian ruler from 1682 to 1725 who transformed the state and founded the Russian Empire. His reforms strengthened centralized government and the monarch’s control over service elites.
Constitutional monarchy: A monarchy in which a constitution limits the sovereign’s political powers. It contrasts with tsarist rule, where the monarch claimed broad, legally unconstrained authority.
Decembrist revolt: An 1825 uprising by Russian army officers seeking political reforms after Alexander I’s death. Its suppression demonstrated the monarchy’s resistance to constitutional change.
Ivan the Terrible: The first ruler crowned tsar of Russia, reigning from 1547 to 1584. His reign strengthened the ruler’s authority and expanded coercive government.
Russian Orthodox Church: The principal Eastern Orthodox church in Russia, historically intertwined with the state. Religious authority helped legitimate the ruler and support a shared political order.
Catherine the Great: Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796, known for territorial expansion and administrative reform. Her reign combined enlightened political language with the preservation of imperial autocracy.
Russian constitutionalism: Movements and institutions seeking to govern Russia through constitutional limits and representative bodies. Its recurring struggles exposed the gap between reform promises and autocratic practice.
Russian Revolution: The upheavals of 1917 that ended the Russian monarchy and brought the Bolsheviks to power. It destroyed tsarist autocracy but did not end centralized rule.

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