Mandates of Little Russian nobles for the Legislative Commission of Catherine the Great (1767-1768)

Abolition of autonomies, gradual unification, centralization and Russification of the borderlands of the empire undertaken by Catherine the Great, faced with discontent of Little Russian gentry. Little Russian province nobility from Kiev, Chernigov, Mirgorod, Poltava, Pereyaslavl and Glukhov sought to preserve liberties obtained from Polish kings and Ukrainian hetmans, and still be equal rights with the Russian nobility. Socio-economic requirements set out in the mandates for the Legislative Commission in 1767-1768 included attachment of peasants to land, tax cuts, abolition of tax arrears. Little Russian nobles’ mandates contained a number of social demands and requests in the field of education.

Catherine the Great, Little Russia, noble mandates, Little Russian province, Legislative Commission of Catherine the Great, Little Russian nobility