page_title: Conservatism in Russia
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Conservatism in Russia / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Ivan lll laid the foundations for Tsarist Autocracy, a system of governance that would influence the authoritarian nature of Russian conservatism.
context_page_description: Conservatism in Russia is a broad system of political beliefs in Russia that is characterized by support for Christian values, Russian imperialism, statism, anti-communism, economic intervention, advocacy for the historical Russian sphere of influence and a rejection of Western culture, economic liberalism and modernism.
  As opposed to other conservative movements, Russian conservatism is seen as defending the established institutions of its time, such as the Tsarist and Soviet strong-man rule. Therefore, Russian conservatism is unique in rejecting the concept of liberty prevalent in Western conservatism, and instead supports a mixed economy, as opposed to libertarian ideals such as economic liberalism. This makes Russian conservatism largely populist in its promotion of anti-establishment views, strong nationalism and social conservatism. Russian conservatives believe that the state should control both economic and social policy, as it aligns with its origins in tsarism and the teachings of the Russian Orthodox Church.
context_section_description: The traditions of autocracy and patrimonialism developed in Russia in the 17th and 18th century, as Ivan lll built upon Byzantine traditions of autocracy, allowing for the development of Tsarism and the monarchy of the Romanov dynasty in the 19th and 20th centuries. This paved the groundwork for the development of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union after the Russian revolution, with Stephen White describing the fabric of Russian identity being interwoven with autocracy. This progression of autocratic governments didn't allow for the spread and rapid development of liberals ideals as seen in Western Europe, with state interventionism remaining the key ideology in all Russian parties. This influenced the development of conservative thought post the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, with state control playing a key role in Russian traditionalism.
  Attempts at liberal restructuring of the Soviet economy and political landscape through the Perestroika reforms during the 1980s and 1990s, were largely suppressed by the return to authoritarian politics under the conservative Putin government, after his predecessor Boris Yeltsin was unable to keep on course with social and economic reform. The Russian youth played a key role in the 2000s, developing conservative ideas away from the traditional western libertarian sense, with the Gorbachev and Yeltsin liberal reforms being seen as a time of political upheaval and chaos. A 1987 survey undertaken by Russian sociologist Yuri Levada, found the ageing soviet citizens of the 1980s or "Homo Sovieticus", who still had memories of Stalinism and totalitarian Soviet governments, were a "dying breed" as the younger and more naive generations in Russia began to shape the political climate of the future. A disdain for liberal reform and lack of knowledge for the reign of terror under Stalin allowed for the youth in Russian to develop into the hardline nationalist faction of Russian politics, allowing for the polarization of Russian politics and development of totalitarian ideas in conservatism.
caption: Ivan lll laid the foundations of Tsarist autocracy, a system of governance which would influence the authoritarian nature of Russian conservatism.
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