Tsarist autocracy

Tsarist autocracy (Russian: царское самодержавие, transcr. tsarskoye samoderzhaviye) refers to a form of autocracy (later absolute monarchy) specific to the Grand Duchy of Moscow, which later became Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire. In it, all power and wealth is controlled (and distributed) by the tsar. They had more power than constitutional monarchs, who are usually rested by law and counterbalanced by a legislative authority; they even had more authority on religious issues compared to Western monarchs. In Russia, it originated during the time of Ivan III (1440−1505), and was abolished after the Russian Revolution of 1917. Some historians see the traditions of tsarist autocracy as loosely influencing totalitarianism in the Soviet Union.

Alternative names

This system has also been described by the following terms: imperial autocracy, Russian autocracy, Muscovite autocracy, tsarist absolutism, imperial absolutism, Russian absolutism, Muscovite absolutism, Muscovite despotism, Russian despotism, tsarist despotism or imperial despotism.