The Imperial Tide behind a Modern State

October 11, 2016

Where to start when describing my adventure in Russia? I’ve had a few glimpses of the biggest country in the world and learned it is not single-faceted. Most of my time has been in St. Petersburg, but I’ve also visited Veliky Novgorod, an old haven of Russian Orthodoxy, now an industrial powerhouse. I see an eerie mix of modernist European ideals buffered by imperial and authoritarian episodes.


Russia is home to over 185 different ethnicities. At the Ethnography Museum, we experienced ancient cultures from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Chechnya, Circassia, and more. This diversity is one of many legacies left by Russia’s imperial days. Like every former empire, Russia bears the marks of post-colonial effects, though they do not appear as segregation. We learned that this is because of Russia’s territorial proximity to its colonies/provinces. Although Russians greatly outnumbered all other ethnic groups (70 percent to roughly 85 percent of the population), all people coexisted because the metropolis was not far away, as was the case with the British or French empires.

Russia declared itself an empire under Peter the Great. To prove himself to French and British royalty, Peter paved a path of modernization that was continued by Catherine the Great. Until Peter and Catherine, Russia was known for military expansionism and traditional values hinged on Russian Orthodoxy. Built from scratch, Saint Petersburg mixed ancient religious traditions with bourgeois liberalism on a majestic scale. The great czar’s namesake arose on a swamp edging Swedish territories, demonstrating Russia’s ability to challenge and dominate both the international arena and natural constraints. Peter wanted to do this lavishly, and nothing exemplifies this more than the Peterhoff Gardens and royal palace that mimic Louis XIV’s Versailles. A key factor in which they surpass the French royal gardens is that the fountains work on nothing but the natural laws of gravity and spew over 70,000 gallons of water per second.

Peter put Russia on the map among established European powers, but at the same time relinquished parts of traditional Russian identity. He forced people to shave their beards, wear different clothes, and learn French. At the same time, the Russian gentry was dominated by English and German wealth. Peter’s efforts show Russia’s openness to foreign cultures but still did not purge a reputation of brutishness. Lackluster cultural contributions were from within because cultural operations were purely official endeavors. This changed drastically at the turn of the nineteenth century.

Throughout the 1800s, the empire’s important architects and scientists came from serfdom, and old Russia left its mark on the glittering new city of Saint Petersburg. I see this everyday in the extraordinary Kazan Cathedral. This broad, beautiful building, located on famous Niefsky Prospekt, is the work of former serf Andrey Voronikhin. It holds an important place in the hearts of Russians, as it was the departure point for troops during the Second World War and is now the museum of the history of religion. Under the reigns of Alexander the First and Nicholas the First, the rules of an empire made way for the development of a modern state. The first forms of local self-governance (zemstvo) appeared, the beginnings of bloodlines unbridled by archaic hierarchies imposed by birth.

Simultaneously, Russia was not hindered by pride when dealing with other nations. Recognizing it lagged in industrial innovation, hundreds of American engineers and scientists were invited. The first Russian railroad was supervised by George Washington Whistler. This first half of the nineteenth century was the peak of Russia-U.S. relations. The empire was a burgeoning member of the international arena, and it was the taking of Constantinople that painted Russia as an aggressor for the first time in the eyes of many European countries.

The empire is one facet of Russian life. Two others are religion and communism. All three created the giant country that floods our news feeds today. It is not easy to forget artifacts that are over 100 years old when they are in classroom walls, where fictional characters such as Dostoevsky’s Raskolnikov and very real characters such as Lenin and Putin studied not long ago. I am exploring this in-depth through a project with the Ministry of Culture, transcribing unpublished correspondence involving Karl Nesselrode (Карл Васильевич Нессельроде), a Russian nineteenth century minister of foreign affairs and chancellor of the empire. This imperial heritage is often the root of what puts Russia on contemporary news radars: U.S. relations, tensions with Ukraine, Chechnya, or interactions with Turkey.

Look for posts about two other facets of the Russian soul: religion and past Communist identity. I am exploring the significance of religious identity, and I am particularly interested in the Jesuit presence here despite Russia’s overwhelming Orthodoxy. Most of the schools and theaters owe their existence to Jesuit patronage. I will learn more about the country’s Soviet legacy as I explore Moscow, and Russia’s most recent city, Murmansk, in the coming weeks.

Media easily spreads misconceptions about places that we adopt without ever witnessing the community in question ourselves. These arguments come from sources that distort, abuse, and reinforce historical narratives. U.S.-Russia relations go much deeper than a NowThis video can explain. I am not an expert, nor can claim to be. I am just a student living in Russia, meeting people, and experiencing Russian life for myself. I hope you find this interesting, though I know I cannot do justice to this mystical place in a blog post. You should visit if ever given the opportunity.
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