Russia under the Old regime

FOREWORD

conditions, authority over people and over objects is combined, and it required an extraordinarily complex evolution of law and institutions which began in ancient Rome for it to be split into authority exercised as sovereignty and authority exercised as ownership. It is my central thesis that in Russia this separation occurred very late and very imperfectly. Russia belongs par excellence to that category of states which in the political and sociological literature it has become customary to refer to as 'patrimonial'. In such states political authority is conceived and exercised as an extension of the rights of ownership, the ruler (or rulers) being both sovereigns of the realm and its proprietors. The difficulty of maintaining Dais type of regime in the face of steadily increased contact and rivalry with a differently governed west has brought about in Russia a condition of permanent internal tension.

The format of this book precludes thorough documentation. By and large, I confine my references to direct quotations and statistical facts. But any specialist will readily recognize how deep is my debt to other, uncited historians.

I should like to express my appreciation to Professor Leonard Schapiro who has read the manuscript and given me the benefit of his advice. Richard Pipes London, 6 March 1974 xxii