Western Civilization II / Unit 6 WC2 0524 short lesson, about 20 seconds
The Smolny Institute, the Limits of Enlightened Rule, and What the Despots Did Not Do
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The idea
Catherine's Smolny Institute was Russia's first girls' school, training compliant wives in the anchor's ironic reading. Its point is the pattern: enlightened rulers reformed administration, education and justice, and left serfdom, noble privilege and their own absolute power intact.
In practice
Efficiency accepted, legitimacy never questioned.
Where people slip
The irony is the anchor's; the school is the record.
Your place on the trail
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Unlocks
- Nothing yet depends on this.
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