You are here

FAU Collections » FAU Research Repository » FAU Theses and Dissertations

aristocratic revolution?

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
2010
Summary:
This thesis argues that in the wake of the Decembrist Revolt in Russia in 1825, the British Foreign Office was forced to address the tension between two conceptions of stability-one domestic and one international. It contends that the aristocratic ethos of the British diplomatic corps both magnified the fragile social condition of the Russian Empire and organized the political response which subordinated this concern to the international equilibrium of Europe. Ambassadors such as Lord Strangford and Edward Cromwell Disbrowe helped interpret the events of the Decembrist conspiracy while stationed in St. Petersburg and reported back to their Foreign Secretary, George Canning, who used the revolt as an attempt to realign British interests with Russia. In the end, elite Britons chose to protect the international balance of power in post-Napoleonic Europe instead of the traditional social hierarchies believed to be under siege in Russia.
Title: An aristocratic revolution?: the British reaction to the Decembrist Revolt of 1825.
300 views
155 downloads
Name(s): Posner, Kenneth.
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Department of History
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Date Issued: 2010
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Physical Form: electronic
Extent: v, 104 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: This thesis argues that in the wake of the Decembrist Revolt in Russia in 1825, the British Foreign Office was forced to address the tension between two conceptions of stability-one domestic and one international. It contends that the aristocratic ethos of the British diplomatic corps both magnified the fragile social condition of the Russian Empire and organized the political response which subordinated this concern to the international equilibrium of Europe. Ambassadors such as Lord Strangford and Edward Cromwell Disbrowe helped interpret the events of the Decembrist conspiracy while stationed in St. Petersburg and reported back to their Foreign Secretary, George Canning, who used the revolt as an attempt to realign British interests with Russia. In the end, elite Britons chose to protect the international balance of power in post-Napoleonic Europe instead of the traditional social hierarchies believed to be under siege in Russia.
Identifier: 654815563 (oclc), 2705079 (digitool), FADT2705079 (IID), fau:3533 (fedora)
Note(s): by Kenneth Posner.
Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010.
Includes bibliography.
Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.
Subject(s): Secret societies -- Soviet Union
Decembrists
Aristocracy (Social class) -- Great Britain -- History
Russia -- History -- December Uprising, 1825 -- Influence
Russia -- Politics and government -- 1825-1855
Great Britain -- Politics and government -- 1830-1837
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2705079
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU