Catherine the Great's Instruction: Enlightened Despotism or Propaganda

In 1767, Catherine the Great convened a Legislative Commission to produce a new law code for the Russian Empire. The Empress herself penned the Instruction, or Nakaz, a document that drew heavily from Montesquieu, Beccaria, and other Enlightenment thinkers, calling for legal equality, due process, and limits on serfdom—at least on paper. But what happened when the 564 delegates—nobles, townspeople, state peasants, and non-Russian minorities—actually gathered in Moscow? Why did Catherine dissolve the commission after only a year and a half, never to enact her reforms? This episode explores the gap between Catherine's enlightened rhetoric and the reality of autocratic rule, the debates over serfdom and peasant rights, the role of the Orthodox Church, and how the Pugachev Rebellion of 1773–1775 made reform impossible. We also look at the legacy of the Nakaz in Russia and abroad, from Voltaire's praise to its influence on later Russian legal thinkers. A story of ambition, censorship, and the limits of enlightenment under absolute monarchy. #CatherineTheGreat #Nakaz #LegislativeCommission #Enlightenment #RussianHistory #Serfdom #Montesquieu #Beccaria #PugachevRebellion #Despotism #Moscow #OrthodoxChurch #Voltaire #Empress #FexingoHistory #History #Podcast #RomanovDynasty #TsarNicholasII #PeterTheGreat Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo