THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENLIGHTENED ABSOLUTISM IN THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

The article is dedicated to the generation of the Enlightened Absolutism concept within the Russian realm in the period of the XVII- XVIII centuries. The relevance of this research topic is determined by the need to retain the historical heritage and the governance experience of the past generations. The main problem, that was the occasion of the research in question, is the lack of systematization and analysis of that big amount of diverse issues, problems and foreground activities in the political and legal fields of the chosen time-period from the ideological point of view. The purpose of this work is to analyze the influence of the Enlightened Absolutism ideology on the political and legal aspects of the historical events happened in the second half of the XVIII century. In the research there were used empirical methods such as description and comparison, as well as general scientific theoretical methods - analysis, synthesis, induction and deduction. Within the carried research the period of Catherine II’s rule was analyzed in detail, the course of the reforms, the main directions of domestic policy were systematized, and there are the conclusions about the influence of the Enlightened Absolutism ideology on the events’ development of those years.

Enlightened Absolutism, Symeon Polotsky, Catherine II, Legislative Commission, Provincial reform, Charters to the nobility and the towns