“The Famous Collector of Russian Lands”: the Image of the Empress Catherine II in the Conservative Journalism of the Second Half of the 19th Century (On the Basis of the “Russian Vestnik” Magazine Materials)

Abstract

This article examines the publications of the “Russky Vestnik” journal – the leading organ of the Russian conservative press of the second half of the 19th century, devoted to the Empress Catherine II and her reign. On the basis of the analysis of the insufficiently studied speeches of P.K. Shchebalsky, E.M. Feoktistov, A.G. Brickner, A.N. Kulomzin, A.D. Gradovsky, F.A. Buhler, A.N. Mosolov, P.B. Blank, etc., the article author shows that the state strategy of Catherine II, focused on moderate transformations and educational ideas but not going beyond absolutism, largely corresponded to the political course of the Russian conservatives. For the authors of the magazine, she embodied the ideal of the wise statesman and far-sighted politician, personified the idea of the Russian Empire as mighty world power, its political traditions and political culture.