Encyclopedia > Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationality
Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and National Character (Самодержа́вие, правосла́вие и наро́дность, "Samoderzhavie, Pravoslavie i Narodnost") was the motto of late tsars of the Imperial Russia. The term "Narodnost" presents most difficulties fo translators and is also rendered as "Nationalism", "Nationality", "National Spirit".
The notions of Autocracy and Orthodoxy do not require additional explanations wih respect to Russia. The notion of "Narodnost" as "National Spirit" meant to reflect originality and uniqueness of common Russian folk, the fundamental values of Russian culture and society, as opposed to Westernization: "To turn Russians back to Russian ways", by the words of Uvarov ("возвраща́ть ру́сских к ру́сскому"). This notion was close in its spirit to the Slavophile movement, which was on its rise since 1840s. It was thought that this tri-pronged formula symbolized the unity and harmony of Tsar and People based on Orthodoxy, as opposed to the social unrest in the Europe at these times.
But the revolt was easily crushed, leading Nicholas to turn away to the Westernization program begun by Peter the Great and champion the maxim "Autocracy, Orthodoxy, and Nationalism." Russian tsars had also to deal with uprisings in their newly acquired territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth: the November Uprising in 1830, the January Uprising in 1863.
When the national assembly, which met in January 1918, refused to become a rubber-stamp of the Bolsheviks, it was dissolved by Lenin's troops.
However, the conflict between Soviet and U.S. national interests, known as the Cold War, came to dominate the international stage in the postwar period, assuming the public guise as a clash of ideologies.
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