The intellectual modernization that had been fostered in the 18th century by a paternalistic, autocratic Russian state now included opposition to autocracy, demands for representative government, calls for the abolition of serfdom, and, in some instances, advocacy of a revolutionary overthrow of the government.
A occidentalización intelectual que fora fomentada no século XVIII por un estado paternalista autocrático, agora incluíu a oposición á autocracia, as demandas para o goberno representativo as chamadas á abolición da servidume e, nalgúns casos, defensa du derrocamento revolucionario do goberno.