TO THE DISCUSSION OF THE PROSPECTS FOR THE EVOLUTION OF THE RUSSIAN AUTOCRACY INTO A BOURGEOIS MONARCHY (ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE JUDICIAL REFORM OF 1864)

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of opportunities for reforming the social and state system of the Russian autocracy. The example of the Judicial reform of 1864 shows the limits of the tsarism's ability to reform. The author considers the preservation of the class system in the Russian Empire as the main reason for incomplete reforms. The desire to preserve the privileges of the nobility by any means did not allow the government to realize the real needs of society. Without seeing the emergence of new social classes, the government could not protect their interests. At the same time, the autocracy imposed on society its understanding of its interests. This policy has led to a distortion of the ideological development of the Russian bourgeoisie, making it unable to independently protect even the most important of its own interests. Therefore, the tasks of the bourgeois-democratic revolution had to be solved by other, anti-bourgeois forces in the course of the socialist revolution.