Features of the Collective Political Portrait of the Oryol Province landlords

Abstract

Within the previous work in the launch of the project "Implementation of the reform from February 19, 1861 in the Oryol province (experience of computer analysis of mass sources)" the topics touched upon were not only the ones which were based on the analysis of mass sources, but some developed scenarios were related to the aspects of the socio-economic situation in the region. The work was continued, and some observations made during the preliminary study are given in the presented article. The key point here is the discussion of problems related to the "determination of the grounds" for the development of the position of the provincial nobility in the existing at that time correlation of interests of the supreme power, bureaucratic reformers and landowners. The author tried to compose a collective portrait of the representatives of the landowning and agrarian-industrial local nobility of the Oryol province. This period of time was the peak of the political activity of the local nobility, a time when subjective and personal factors in the preparation of the peasant reform were fully manifested. The representatives of the Oryol nobility had different motives that determined their attitude to the upcoming abolition of serfdom. The study of the wide variety of differences in the views of the local nobility, the analysis of the factors that determined their views in these conditions, will help broaden the understanding of the foundations of the upcoming transformations and the level of historical responsibility of the main estate of the country.

Keywords:

Oryol province, provincial nobility, landowners, liberal bureaucracy, abolition of serfdom in Russia, noble opposition