In the vast territory of tsar russia, the eighteenth century was not just an era of the whirlwind of battles and dynasty changes, but it gave birth to a new, weak force — the press — that could change the direction of the future. At that time, it was rare like the early cherry of the north, unsuspecting, but with the strength of the ice。
In russia at that time, the message was basically shouted, the official message posted, and the folk whispers were heard in their mouths. People want to spy on the outside? Even with hand-written booklets, the content is so boring that it is filled with court orders or street-tails, such as chewing wax. In such a closed information environment, the birth of a newspaper is a flying stone。
Tsar opened his eyes: when russia first had news
The turning point was brought by peter the great. This ambitious tsar, with his eyes on the west, knows that the dream of a powerful country depends not only on a ship's cannon but also on his mind. Thus, the first “newspaper” in russian history — the official “newsmail” — landed late in 1727 in st. Petersburg。
It's a newspaper. It's more like a tsar's “speaker”. The content revolves around the emperor's will, along with strictly filtered internal and external political and economic military dynamics. The newspaper is run and written by people in the public domain, who are naturally in the formal language, who read it with little interest。
And then..Printing technologyOriginal, small print, simple style and naturally limited influence. But don't underestimate this step, which is the first to be taken from zero by the hard-born, and which has planted the first seeds for the future russian press。
Culture spring: life beyond monopoly
Seeds have to take root, not enough seeders to have the right soil and climate. The monarchs after peter the great, and especially queen elizabeth petrovna, who was in position 1741-1762, and then yekaterina ii, played a role of “punctually fertilizer”。
During the queen elizabeth era, russia became more connected with the outside world, and european books and newspapers began to import in small quantities, widening the horizons of the elite and intellectuals. There has also been some progress in printing. During this period, the buds of the press began to try to take over。
Although official or semi-official, such as the st. Petersburg bulletin of 1744 and the moscow newspaper of 1749 began to sneak into some local news and socio-cultural content, a little more vividly than a mere decree. While it remains official, this has loosened the walls of an absolute monopoly。
Paper thunderbolt: the queen's reign of thought
It is ekaterina ii, who is deeply inspired by enlightenment. The queen of the “open-minded dictatorship” not only encouraged the cause of culture, but also dared to allow private capital to become involved in publishing and printing, breaking official hegemony。
She actively introduced western book ideas, a cultural phenomenon that liberated russian print media. The variety of newspapers and magazines has been rising and circulation has increased. The moscow bulletin, founded in 1785, was a star at the time. Not only does it have traditional news-time reviews, but it has also created cultural, technological and even literary columns that became a small garden where russian intellectuals shared ideas and inspired ideas。
It can be said that, under yekaterina ii, the press is actually beginning to move away from a purely “posterial” status and to take a major step towards a public communications platform. They are beginning to carry a wealthier and richer social and cultural function。
Growing and restraining: empire microcosm in ink
The press was able to develop in russia in the eighteenth century with a few less visible but powerful pushers behind it. The first is universal access to education. The educational reform of the great peter, which focused on practical talent, had actually improved the national literacy rate. Yekaterina ii is a great student. More people are literate, and the potential readers of newspapers naturally swell。
Second, the economy's pulse is beating. In the middle of the eighteenth century, russian business and industry developed and cities flourished, bringing finance. With more money, printing technology can be improved and the quality and productivity of newspapers guaranteed. The emergence of a new model of advertising has also added firewood to the survival of the press。
In addition, the surge in social thinking is a fertile nutrient. By the end of the eighteenth century, voices such as those against serfdom had begun to appear, and some newspapers had become a weak channel for the dissemination of these progressive ideas, giving them a deeper dimension。
However, don't forget the cage above your head. Even in the most seemingly “opener” yekaterina period, the government's control over this “plug” in its hands has never really been relaxed. The press has always been careful to walk on wires of “official voice” and “public space”. A slight change in the direction of diplomacy and the political climate may put the press at risk of tightening or even closing the censorship. Freedom of expression? That's an extremely limited concept。
Echo: the ink spectrum new world
What, then, has the flower of a newspaper that was carefully opened on russian soil in the eighteenth century
First, it breaks down the single, closed information system of the past and provides a source outside the official (even if only “relative independence”). It gives people access to combed information, starting to form their own judgment, to raise their minds and raise their livesPublic opinionIt has played an incalculable role。
It is also a powerful vehicle for culture and enlightenment. The eighteenth century was an era of cultural awakening in russia, where the press brought advanced european ideas, literature, science and so on into the eyes of russians, greatly contributing to their growth and progress towards modernization。
The rise of the press has also led directly to the improvement of publishing and printing technology and the maturity of the industry, which has attracted the participation of an educated and intellectual elite, which in turn has raised the level of the press。
More deeply, the press has given rise to public thought by reporting on and commenting on social phenomena, in particular lateral references to poverty and injustice. By the end of the century, they had even become a small flag for the pursuit of social progress and the liberation of ideas on specific topics. The very existence of the press, which provides a weak platform for communication between intellectuals and reform-minded officials, is a breakthrough, albeit naive and restricted。
This ink in the snowfield, filled with the sand of the times, and with the sword of damocles on its head, has irrevocably changed the way russia knows itself and the world, sowing the first fire of freedom of thought, and setting the fate of the empire on its feet。
