Absolutism in Russia had few differences from the absolute monarchies of Western European countries (France, Spain, England). In all these states, including the Russian one, the same stages of the formation of power took place. The early feudal and estate-representative monarchy grew into an absolute monarchy characterized by formally unlimited formal power. Such a structure involves a strong, ramified professional bureaucratic apparatus, a standing army, and the liquidation of estate-representative institutions and bodies. Having all these signs, absolutism in Russia also possessed a number of features.
In Europe, the power structure was formed in the conditions of elimination of old institutions and the formation of new capitalist relations. The formation of absolutism in Russia coincided with the development of serfdom. The social basis for the development of the Western European monarchy was considered the union of the nobility and cities (imperial, free). Absolutism in Russia relied to a greater extent on the service class, the feudal nobility. By the end of the 17th century, noble land ownership expanded significantly.
The second half of the 16th century is considered to be the time of the birth of the Russian monarchy. The final assertion of absolutism in Russia is the first quarter of the 18th century.
One of the most important reasons for the development of this power was the country's economic growth in the 16-17th centuries. In this era, agriculture is developing through the expansion of areas for sowing and the strengthening of the oppression of the serfs, the regions begin to specialize in the production of specific agricultural products.
Absolutism in Russia was accompanied by the expansion of state power, its invasion in all areas of private, corporate, public life. The expansionist aspirations of that time were expressed mainly in striving for access to the seas and the expansion of the territory.
Another area was the policy of further enslavement. This process became most pronounced by the 18th century.
The role of the state was manifested in a detailed and detailed regulation of the duties and rights of certain classes and groups. Power, formed by the beginning of the 18th century, is called the "police". This definition is caused not only by the creation of the police at that time, but also by the unconditional desire of the state to intervene in all the little things of life, trying to regulate them.
At certain stages of the development of the Russian absolute monarchy, resembling Western European legal forms arose, attempts were made to form a constitution, legal foundations in the state, and cultural enlightenment. These directions were associated not only with the personalities of the monarchs, but also with political and socio-economic conditions.
The system of rule, which was formed during the period of absolutism in Russia, is characterized by fairly frequent palace coups, carried out by the palace guards and the noble aristocracy. The change of monarchs took place quite easily, which may indicate that in the strengthened absolutism of the identity of the autocrat, no special importance was attached. Everything was decided by the power mechanism itself, where each member of the state and society was only a detail.
The political ideology of absolutism is characterized by the desire for a clear distinction between individuals and social groups. Moreover, the personality itself begins to dissolve in the concepts of “official”, “soldier”, “prisoner”.
Absolutism is characterized by an abundance of legal acts signed, adopted on any occasion. This sign reflects the desire of the authorities to regulate the activities of each of its subjects.