Karamzin

Including Karamzin in an account of the development of Russia toward liberalism runs counter to the way he is traditionally viewed. Yet on the other hand, his ideas, his general intellectual outlook, and his personality in general had a positive influence on Russia’s progress in a liberal direction. In the first place, Karamzin did a great deal to build general intellectual links between Russia and the European West. He was effective in widening the channels through which liberal ideas were able to flow, and did indeed flow, into Russia. It has been generally acknowledged, in fact, that Karamzin played a