| Abstract: | Iurii Samarin, a leading Russian Slavophile, was early in his life assigned to Riga to help reform the Russian administration there. He was shocked and outraged by what he regarded as Russia's abdication of authority in the Baltic region to the German minority. He urged St. Petersburg to reduce the powers of that minority in favor of Russians and the native population. His views were rejected by tsars Nicholas I and Alexander II, who regarded their German subjects as loyal citizens, but they influenced Alexander III. |
