Vittenberg Ye.Ya. The Russian Rulers: The Problem of Social Responsibility in a Historical Retrospective

Abstract

One of the specific features of the Russian power holding mode was that most modernizing projects were implemented with huge human and material expenses, many of them vain. Numerically great population and rich natural resources were the reasons why the Russian rulers  have not cared for both human lives and material wealth. “The state got mighty, the people got downgraded” - this thesis by V.Klyuchevsky sheds light on the social politics of the Russian power holders throughout centuries.