THE EDUCATIONAL POLICTES OF CATHERINE IÏ A Thesis Presented to ' the FacuItY of Graduate Studies ÜniversitY of Manitoba In Partial Fu1fillment of the Requirements for t,he Degree Doctor of PhilosoPhY j l t . by George EPP nébruary L976 ''THE IDUCATIONAL PC)LICIES OF CATHERiNE II'' by GEORGE EPP A tlissertatio¡t subnlitted to the Faculty of Gradr¡atr: Sttrdiss ol' f hrr [Jrrivcrsity ot' M:rnitotra irr purtilt full'ill¡llcllt of' tltc rcqttirctncttts ol'thc tlcgrcc ol' DO('TOR OF PTIILOSOP}IY o 1976 Pennissio¡t has bectl gmtrtctt Lo thc l-.lllltAllY O¡;'f'llU t,NlVljll- Sl'l'Y Otì lll^Nl'l'OljA to lcrrd or scl! copies of this disscrtrtitxr. ttr the NATIoNAL LIBRAI{Y ()t (lANAl)A to luicrol'il¡u tltis dissertatiort a¡rcl to lend tlr sell copics ol'the l'illll, rnd UNIVDIìSl'tY MIcRoFILMS to publish ln abstftrct ol' this dissertatiotr. T[c autltor rescrves otþer ¡lublic¿ttig¡r rigltts, alld ¡reithor tltt' ctissertation ltor extensivo cxtracts liont it nray tre printetl or r.ltltcr- wise reproclucetl without t hr: ¿rutho¡''s writtc¡t ¡rerttl issitltt. TABLB OF CONTENTS PAGE CHAPTER I. CATHERINE II AND ENL]GHTENED ABSOLUTISM IN RUSSIA The Making of an Enlightened Absolutist ' ' ' ' I The Russi-an RealitY 16 The Pragmatic Ruler 32 Catherinets Most Important Issue 55 IÏ. THE IDEALISTIC PHASB OF CATHBRTNBIS EDUCATTONAL EFFORT, ]-762-1768 Disciples of the PhilosoPhes. 6t Catherinets Early Philosophy of Education" 82 The School- Reforms of the IT60 t s. BT The Nakaz and the Legislative Commission. " 118 III. A DECADE OF REORTENTATTON, 1770-1780 The Impact of the Turkish Inlar. 144 Betskoyrs OrPhanages.. I\T In Seareh of Direction... 154 Friedrieh Melchior Grimm IT6 Cautious Expansion During the L770rs....... 183 CHAPTER PAGE TV. THE BEGINNTNG OF A SYSTEM OF PUBLIC EDUCATTON rN RUSSTA, r7B2-r796 The German Enlightenment in Russia.. 208 Yankovich and the New School Commission" 227 Catheriners Statute of Public Schools...' 2l+3 The Achievements of a Decade 273 V. CATHBRTNB IT AS AN EDUCATOR The Roots of Catherine's Phi]osophy... "'' 283 The First Teacher of the Grand Dukes 295 Instructions for the Education of Princes 302 The Republican Tutor of the Grand Dukes. 306 VI. CATHBRINE'S EDUCATIONAL POLTCTES ÏN RETROSPECT.. 335 BTBLIOGRAPHY 37\ APPENDÏCES Excerpts from four important eighteenth century documents concerning Russian educatÍon" ' 39r ACKNOIiüLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Dr. P. Call who assumed direction of this thesis and whose insights and helpful criti- cism were deeply appreciated. Thanks are also due to profesÊor Dr. O. 1iü. Gerus for stimulating my interest in Russian educatÍon, which led to the choice of this toPic. The author is furthermore indebted to the Department of History of the University of Mani- to|a for financial support at the critical stage of his studies, and to the Department of Graduate Studies and Research for providing a grant to support his research at the Library of Congress, anä- at the Universities of Yale and Harvard' He is also indebted to many friendly and competent librarians, especially to Mr. Muchin of the slavic Collection, University of Manitoba. Final-ly, I would like to express mY appreciation tó my family, especially to my wife, fði' accepting the inevitable saerifi-ces, and for sharing in the i oys and frustrations of this effort. tnants are also d'ue to I¡lerner Epp for many hours of proofreading. i....: PREFACE At the end of the seventeenth century there emerged a new intellectual movement in Europe which was spearheaded by the English empiricists, Hobbes and Locke. It reached its zenith in eighteenth century France where Montesquieu, voltaire, and the Encyclopedists enhanced its powerful appeal- and prestige. This movement, known as the Bnlighten- ment, challenged old traditions, seeking to regenerate society. Nothing escaped the scrutiny of the philosophes of the Enlightenment, and their cri-tical analysis of society eventually shook the political structure of Europe. The philosophes also stimulated an unprecedented interest in educati-on The Era of the Enlightenment coÍncides with a growing interest of man in the world as a whole, and Europe ex- perienced a growing spirit of internatj-onal cooperat|on. The philosophes demanded that mants institutions be founded on ItSound. reasontt, whiCh, According tO them, would promote peace and progress. A flourishing literature spread their optimi-stic, and someti-mes naively utopian theories about 11 the future of mankind, a future when man would be rrfree from all prejudices and wrong conceptionsrr. They believed that education could sol-ve most problems of society. There was no unanimity of theory or method among the prophets of the Enlightenment, but they shared an unshakable faith in reason and in manrs innate goodness and equality' This faith in man led Rousseau to the conclusÍon that man i^ias a product of his environment and of education. He argued that a perfect society could be created by edu- cating children in isolation from the i-nfluences of a corrupt society. His educati-onal philosophy, partly in- spired by Locke, tolerated no coercion. Educators, h€ argued, should be ideal men who by example and sound argu- ment could guide students to perfection. Adopted and further developed by Felbiger, Basedow, Pestalozzi, and others, these educational theori-es eventually conquered most of western BuroPe. Russj_a was the one important European country that remai-ned almost untouched by the Age of Reason. Peter the Great (I689-fT2Ð attempted to westernize Russia, but for him westernization meant only modernizatLon in a technical sense. The philosophical aspects of the European Enlighten- ment remained unnoticed by him, and his heirs hlere even less : a :.1 : | : :' : .t ::. : ::. :¡r:- : j:;i; -:: - :tl -- l_ l_ l_ prepared to grasp the significance of that movement. It is true unat toward the middl-e of the ei-ghteenth century there were a few Russian disciples of the European Enlightenment (such as Betskoy and Ivan Shuvalov), but due to the general backwardness of the country prospects for change in Russia seemed to be Very remote. Russian rulers were ignorant of European intellectual l-ife, and furthermore, Russia lacked a middle c1ass, that segment of society which was mainly responsible for the success of the western European Enlighten- ment. Yet, iri 1762, with the ascendance of Catherine ÏI, the situation began to change, and an astonished Europe witnessed the emergence of a Russian Enlightenment. catherine the Great of Russia was one of the most colorful personalities of her time. Russian influence during her reign expand,ed rapidly, and, for the first time, Russia became a Superpower. It is not surprising, therefore, that Catherine t s international involvement has attracted more attention from historians than her domestic policies. Yet, it would seem that during the first years of her reign Catherine was at least as much interested in domestic re- forms as in internatj-onal adventures. In fact, she was the only enlightened despot of her time to start a reign with a program for peace and domestic reforms. A disciple of the !:ji AV \^iestern philosophes, she believed education to be the key to happiness and SucceSS, and one of her f irst concerns I^IaS the education of her nation. The questûon as to the relationship between eighteenth century educational trends and twentieth century developments is no longer irrelevant, since it has become |ncreasingfy obvious that a strong element of continuity i-n Russian history cannot be denied. Therefore, Catherinets education- al policies seem to deserve special attention. It is generally accepted that, for one reason or another, the beginning of the Russian Enlightenment coincides with Catherinets rei-gn. With the public school legislation of 17$6--tne first Russian school act to affect the whole nation--Catherine launched the Russian school system. This act promoted the Enlightenment in a direct vfâV r and hence it is important to study Russian education in the context of the Russian Bnlightenment. In analysing Catherine I s educational policies there are several questions that need clarification. hlhat moti- vation was behind Catherine's reforms, and to what extent did western educational developments influence Russian re- forms? It should be noted that while Russi-a was the most backward of the larger states of Europe when Catherine became ruler in 1762, public education had not yet been introduced by any European country. Thus, Russia was not really far behind Prussia and Austria, for example, in initiating educational reforms, but the general conditions on the eve of the reforms in Russia were far behind those in Prussia and Austria. There were more than a dozen German universities serving the German speaking area of central Europe, while Russiars one university and the Academy sti1l depended on a German speaking faculty. Most important, Austria and Prussia had a well educated ecclesiastical c1ass, while Russia lacked that pool of educated people who coul-d serve as the first teachers. In view of these con- ditions the question must be asked: How effectj-ve could Catherine I s reforms be and to what extent have they realIy affected Russian educati-on? Catherine I s emphasis on educatj-on was so great that every significant legislative act reflected her educational philosophy. She believed that all legislation should serve an educational- purpose. fn studying Catherine ? s educational- policies this constitutes a problem, since it is difficult to isolate her educational reforms from other domesti-c policies. This study will focus on Catherine I s educational policies, attempting to i-nterpret her educational acts in I i': .-j'.' vl_ the broader context of her legislative effort. The in- tention is to gain insight into the relationship of Catherinets educational policies to the western Enlighten- ment, and to test the foundation of Russian education by investigating its roots in the Russian Enlightenment of the eighteenth century.