Many scholars were or still are working in the same field: some of them, particularly about 1861, were strongly impressed by the idea of nationality or even of the different nationalities constituting the Russian Empire; it had an influence on Sabyelin, Kostomarov, and Antonovitch; others studied the history of local government, very much improved by the "great reforms," for instance, Andreievsky, Gradovsky, Lochoitsky; many took a strong interest in the emancipation of the rural classes and entered into investigations on their past, among others, Byelyaev and Sokolovsky; the history of their gradual enslavement, begun by Klyuchevsky, was continued by Dyakonov and others; and those who were devoted to the people's cause and followed socialistic theories have contributed to the elucidation of these problems, particularly Semevsky in his well-known works on slavery in modern times and the social movements which determined its abolition[1].
Meanwhile the scientific principles and methods implied in these investigations were applied to Oriental studies: though much less differentiated, they facilitated the understanding of the complex civilizations of the eastern world. These inquiries were affected in Russia, at least in great part, by its intermediate
- ↑ В. Иконниховъ, Опытъ русско й исторіографіи, T. I, Кіевъ, 1891–1892 (in two volumes); T. II, Кіевъ, 1908 (in two volumes). М. Кояловичъ, Исторія русскаго самосознанія, С.-Пб. 1901 (3rd ed.). П. Милюковъ, Главныя теченія русской исторической мысли, T. I, М. 1898 2nd ed. К. Бестужевъ-Рюминъ, Біографі и характеристики, С.-П. 1882.
