The history and politics of civilisation : the debate about Russia in French and German historical scholarship from Voltaire to Herder
During the second half of the 18th century, a debate about Russia developed in France and Germany. Spurred on by a preoccupation with Peter Iâs project to swiftly civilise his country through Europeanisation, and by the evolving idea of a philosophic history with its concern to explain the historical process of civilisation in general, and Europeâs historical journey out of a state of barbarism in particular, an array of thinkers turned to the example of Russia with a set of interrelated historiographical and political questions: Does Russia share a history with Europe, and if so, how can its particular history be related to generalised accounts of the development of civilisation? What was the role of Peter I in fostering civilisation in Russia, and what political lessons can be learned from his reign? Can the historical process of civilisation be accelerated through willed, top-down reform and through wholesale importation of ideas and models from without as Peter attempted, or are there unsurpassable limits to such a project? The present thesis reconstructs this central Enlightenment debate, which has so far only received scant attention in modern scholarship, by providing an in-depth analysis of the
Speck, Reto Peter
History
The history and politics of civilisation : the debate about Russia in French and German historical scholarship from Voltaire to Herder. During the second half of the 18th century, a debate about Russia developed in France and Germany. Spurred on by a preoccupation with Peter Iâs project to swiftly civilise his country through Europeanisation, and by the evolving idea of a philosophic history with its concern to explain the historical process of civilisation in general, and Europeâs historical journey out of a state of barbarism in particular, an array of thinkers turned to the example of Russia with a set of interrelated historiographical and political questions: Does Russia share a history with Europe, and if so, how can its particular history be related to generalised accounts of the development of civilisation? What was the role of Peter I in fostering civilisation in Russia, and what political lessons can be learned from his reign? Can the historical process of civilisation be accelerated through willed, top-down reform and through wholesale importation of ideas and models from without as Peter attempted, or are there unsurpassable limits to such a project? The present thesis reconstructs this central Enlightenment debate, which has so far only received scant attention in modern scholarship, by providing an in-depth analysis of the
history politics civilisation debate russia french_german historical scholarship voltaire herder debate russia develop france germany preoccupation peter project swiftly civilise country evolve idea philosophic history concern explain historical_process civilisation general europe historical journey state barbarism particular array thinker turn example russia set interrelate historiographical political question russia share history europe particular history relate generalised account development civilisation role peter foster civilisation russia political lesson learn reign historical_process civilisation accelerate top_down reform wholesale importation idea model without peter attempt limit project present reconstructs central enlightenment debate far_receive scant attention modern_scholarship provide depth_analysis