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» Nobility

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Nobility

Soon after their coming to power in 1917, by one of their first decrees, the Bolsheviks proclaimed abolition of all ranks, titles and awards in Russia. It worth mentioning that the Soviet government was, at that time, illegitimate in all aspects, and did not control all the territory of the former Empire; so the decree was unable to destroy the Russian nobility as a legal phenomenon, and its existence is internationally recognised. Yet in the Soviet Russia the reform appeared to be effective, and in the modern Russian Federation the 1917 abolition is still considered as a valid norm. The Imperial nobility and titles remain theoretically valid but for the modern Russian State they are quasi foreign.
The section is under construction. We hope to provide our visitors with various texts about Russian nobiliary matters.
So far we recommend everybody to find and read an excellent book by a researcher from Finland, Dr. Ulla Tillander-Godenhielm: "The Russian Imperial Awards System During the Reign of Nicholas II. 1894-1917", Helsinki, 2005, which book partly covers the matters of titles and ennoblement within the premial context.