Introduction: Russia’s Dramatic Cultural Transformation

The 18th century marked one of the most remarkable periods of cultural transformation in Russian history. This era witnessed Russia’s dramatic pivot from its medieval Muscovite traditions toward Western European models of thought, education, and artistic expression. Under the forceful leadership of Peter the Great and later Catherine the Great, Russian society underwent what can only be described as a cultural revolution – adopting Western technologies, philosophies, and artistic forms while simultaneously developing its own distinctive national culture. This century laid the foundation for Russia’s golden age of literature, science, and arts in the 19th century, creating the conditions that would eventually produce figures like Pushkin, Tolstoy, and Tchaikovsky.

Peter the Great’s Cultural Revolution

The cultural transformation began with Peter I’s radical reforms at the dawn of the 18th century. Determined to modernize his backward realm, Peter initiated changes that affected nearly every aspect of Russian life. His reforms represented not just an adoption of Western practices but a complete break with Moscow’s theocratic past.

Peter’s educational reforms were particularly revolutionary. In 1701, he established Moscow’s School of Mathematics and Navigation, which by 1715 had 500 students studying arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and geography. He created a network of “arithmetic” schools across provincial capitals, with 42 such institutions by 1723. The tsar also founded specialized institutions like artillery schools, engineering schools, and even small seminars for studying Eastern languages.

Perhaps Peter’s most ambitious cultural project was the creation of the Imperial Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, established just after his death in 1725. Remarkably, Russia had an academy of sciences before it had a comprehensive primary education system – a telling detail about Peter’s priorities. The Academy initially employed 17 foreign experts across mathematics, physics, and history departments, serving as Russia’s primary center for scientific knowledge.

The Enlightenment Comes to Russia

The 18th century saw Russia fully embrace the European Enlightenment, though with distinct national characteristics. This represented the triumph of secularism over Moscow’s church-centered civilization. While Orthodoxy remained the state religion, it no longer dominated cultural and intellectual life as it had in Muscovite Russia.

Enlightenment ideas entered Russia through two main channels: government sponsorship and the educated nobility. After Peter’s pioneering years, the aristocracy became the primary vehicle for Western cultural influences. Russian elite culture became increasingly Francophone, with French becoming the language of salon conversation and elite correspondence. This created Russia’s first modern intelligentsia – a Western-educated aristocratic class that would later produce both government reformers and revolutionary critics.

Catherine the Great (r. 1762-1796) became the Enlightenment’s most prominent royal patron in Russia. Initially inspired by Locke, the Encyclopédie, and Rousseau, she envisioned education creating “a new kind of subject.” Her advisor Ivan Betsky developed educational policies based on isolating students from corrupting social influences. The famous Smolny Institute for Noble Girls (1764) exemplified this approach – Russia’s first state-sponsored school for females.

The Development of Russian Language and Literature

The 18th century witnessed the birth of modern Russian literature and the transformation of the Russian language itself. Peter’s reforms had left Russian in a transitional state between Church Slavonic and vernacular forms, further complicated by an influx of foreign terms. The tsar’s own solution – proposing Dutch as the language for educated Russians – proved impractical.

Key figures in developing modern Russian included:
– Mikhail Lomonosov, who published the first practical Russian grammar in 1755
– Nikolai Karamzin, whose popular writings in the late 18th century helped establish a fluid, natural literary style
– The team that produced the six-volume Russian Dictionary (1789-1794)

Russian literature proper began emerging from imitation of Western models. Early contributors included:
– Antioch Kantemir (1709-1744), considered the founder of modern Russian belles-lettres
– Mikhail Lomonosov, renowned for his odes celebrating cosmic grandeur
– Alexander Sumarokov (1718-1777), the father of Russian theater

The late century saw more sophisticated works like Denis Fonvizin’s comedy The Minor (1782), a satire of provincial nobility, and Nikolai Karamzin’s sentimentalist story Poor Liza (1792), which became a national sensation.

Education and the Spread of Knowledge

Educational progress under Catherine was substantial though uneven. Book production tells part of the story:
– Peter’s reign: 600 titles published
– 1725-1775: 2,000 titles
– 1775-1800: 7,500 titles

Catherine’s 1783 decree allowing private publishing houses spurred this growth. Periodicals expanded dramatically, with eight major journals discussing Russian and European affairs by 1770. Learned societies like the Free Economic Society promoted knowledge dissemination.

Catherine’s most significant educational reform came in 1782 with the establishment of a Commission for Public Schools. Under Serbian educator Theodore Iankovich de Mirievo, Russia adopted a three-tier school system based on Austrian models. By 1786, Russia had:
– 26 advanced public schools in provincial capitals
– 169 elementary schools in smaller towns (11,000 students)
– Special teacher training institutions producing hundreds of instructors

Social Criticism and Radical Thought

The Enlightenment spirit fostered growing social criticism, sometimes with royal approval. Catherine herself participated in journal debates and allowed discussion of Enlightenment ideas. The Free Economic Society even awarded a prize to a work advocating serfdom’s abolition.

Two movements particularly promoted critical thought:
1. Voltairianism: Admiration for the French philosophe combined with skepticism toward Russian social realities
2. Freemasonry: With about 100 lodges and 2,500 members (mostly nobles) by Catherine’s reign, Russian Freemasonry blended mysticism with social activism

Nikolai Novikov (1744-1818) emerged as a leading intellectual. His publishing ventures produced Russia’s first children’s books while his writings criticized noble privilege and serfdom’s abuses. However, Alexander Radishchev’s 1790 Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow represented the most radical critique. Its graphic depictions of serfdom’s horrors earned its author a death sentence (commuted to Siberian exile) and marked a turning point in Catherine’s tolerance for dissent.

Scientific and Scholarly Achievements

Russia’s scientific development was epitomized by Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765), the peasant’s son who became Russia’s Renaissance man. His accomplishments included:
– Developing the world’s first physical chemistry course (1751)
– Anticipating Lavoisier’s law of mass conservation
– Discovering Venus’s atmosphere
– Pioneering research in electricity, heat, and optics

Large-scale scientific expeditions mapped Russia’s expanding empire, including:
– The discovery of Alaska (1732)
– The Great Northern Expedition (1733-1742), which charted Siberia’s northern coast with 570 participants

Historical writing advanced under German scholars like August Ludwig von Schlözer and Russians including Vasily Tatishchev, who emphasized the state’s central role in national development.

The Arts in Imperial Russia

18th-century Russia witnessed extraordinary achievements in architecture and arts, often with royal patronage. St. Petersburg emerged as one of Europe’s most magnificent cities, showcasing styles from Baroque to Neoclassicism. Key figures included:
– Bartolomeo Rastrelli, designer of the Winter Palace and Catherine Palace
– Dmitrii Levitsky (1735-1822), master portraitist
– Fedot Shubin (1740-1805), Russia’s first notable sculptor

Western-style theater, opera, and ballet took root, with Russia’s first permanent public theater established in the 1750s by Fyodor Volkov. By century’s end, Russia boasted several public theaters, a drama school, and about 15 private noble theaters in Moscow alone.

Conclusion: Russia Between East and West

By 1800, educated Russia had become fundamentally Westernized, though tensions between admiration for Europe and national pride would persist. The 18th century’s cultural revolution produced remarkable results:
– A modern literary language
– The foundations of Russia’s great literary tradition
– Institutions of higher learning and scientific research
– A Western-oriented artistic culture

Yet this transformation remained largely confined to the elite. The peasant majority continued living in a world shaped by Orthodox tradition and folk culture. This cultural divide would haunt Russia for generations, even as the nation’s educated classes produced works that eventually won worldwide acclaim. The 18th century’s legacy was thus paradoxical – it created a Western-facing Russia that remained profoundly conscious of its distinctiveness, setting the stage for the great cultural achievements and social conflicts of the centuries to come.