Nicholas I and Jewish Education

• Published in: History of education quarterly Vol. 22; no. 1; pp. 45 - 53
• Main Author: Edwards, David W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01-01-1982; New York University; History of Education Society
• Subjects: College admission; Education; Jewish culture; Jewish law; Jewish peoples; Law schools; Pedagogy; Statutory law; Talmud; Traditional schools
• ISSN: 0018-2680; 1748-5959
• DOI: 10.2307/367832

The Enunciation of the tripartite slogan of “Orthodoxy, Autocracy, and Nationality” by Count S. S. Uvarov in December of 1832 provided a brief but ill-defined slogan for the reign of Nicholas I (1825–1855). These words served as a convenient prescription for policies in all fields and affected all the peoples of the empire, but Uvarov, as Minister of Public Instruction from 1833 to 1849, possessed particular advantages in translating his own theory into educational policy. The first two terms of the motto caused little conceptual confusion; few inhabitants in the Russian Empire misunderstood the rock-hard meaning of Orthodoxy or autocracy. Nationality (narodnost’) supposedly meant the promotion of those elements which made Russia unique among nations. But what elements were to be singled out and what means should be employed to promote them? In practice, official nationality encompassed the other two terms by training the citizens of the empire to serve the church and the state, promoting Russian patriotism, and emphasizing Russian national culture. In Uvarov's scheme, the school became a tool of official nationality.