Catherine the Great and the 1767 Legislative Commission

In 1767, Empress Catherine the Great convened a landmark assembly: the Legislative Commission. Drawing on Enlightenment thinkers like Montesquieu and Beccaria, she drafted the Nakaz, or Instruction, a radical document that proposed legal reforms and questioned serfdom. The commission brought together nobles, townspeople, state peasants, and non-Russian minorities to discuss legislation. But internal divisions and the outbreak of the Pugachev Rebellion doomed the effort. This episode explores what the commission hoped to achieve, why it failed, and how it shaped Russian autocracy. Featuring debates over serfdom, the role of the Zemsky Sobor, and the contrasting voices of conservative noble Mikhail Shcherbatov and liberal deputy Grigory Korobin. We also touch on Catherine's balancing act between reform and control, and the lasting impact on Russian legal thought. #CatherineTheGreat #LegislativeCommission #Nakaz #RussianHistory #Enlightenment #Montesquieu #Beccaria #Serfdom #MikhailShcherbatov #GrigoryKorobin #PugachevRebellion #ZemskySobor #1767 #RussianEmpire #LegalReform #Autocracy #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo