Catherine II and Zh. F. Marmontel's novel "Belisarius": "The general welfare" conception in the consolidation of imperial space

Abstract

© 2015 by the author(s). The relevance of the research problem is caused by necessity of studying of mechanisms of communication of the Supreme power and the Russian citizens of the second half of the XVIII century, promoting a consolidation of the Russian society. The purpose of this article is to show with what ideas of enlightened absolutism reflected in Marmontel's novel "Belisarius", the empress Catherine II wished to acquaint the Russian society. Leading approach to the study of this problem is the analysis of key concepts, would reflect semantic schemes of concepts of "general welfare", "tolerance". The ideas of tolerance, equality of all estates before the law, the ideology of the "legitimate monarchy", preached in this book, was acknowledged by Catherine as important and valuable for population of the Russian Empire. The translation of Marmontel's novel made it possible to broadcast the ideology of enlightened absolutism on the population of the Russian Empire. The main provisions and conclusions of the article may be used in the preparation of papers and textbooks on the history of Russia of imperial period, in the development and teaching of courses on the history of the Russian Empire.