#nakaz

Od soboty nakaz zasłaniania ust i nosa przy pomocy maseczki

Od soboty obowiązuje m.in. w środkach komunikacji i w miejscach ogólnodostępnych nakaz zakrywania ust i nosa przy pomocy maseczki – wynika z rozporządzenia opublikowanego w piątek w Dzienniku Ustaw. Do tej pory można było stosować w tym celu również przyłbice lub część odzieży. W piątek wieczorem ukazało się rozporządzenie Rady Ministrów w sprawie ustanowienia określonych ograniczeń, nakazów i…

In eighteenth-century Europe absolutism was ubiquitous. But alongside these absolutist monarchs, there were also those who, in their rule, were practitioners of an ‘enlightened despotism’. These monarchs, though ruling with singular authority, embraced the ideals of the Enlightenment. This often meant being proponents of rationality, religious tolerance, private property rights and freedom of speech. Some of the most famous examples of these despots include Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), Frederick II of Prussia (1712-1786), and Maria Theresa of Austria (1717-1780). 

From early on in life, I have embraced Renaissance, and later Enlightenment writings. Our shared love for reading Bayle, Montaigne, Montesquieu and Voltaire cemented the relationship I had with my closest friend Catherine Vorontsova. In my mid-twenties, upon reading Montesquieu’s The Spirit of Laws, I was exposed to an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of despotic rule. I traveled all over Europe as a young woman, and had devoured French Literature and philosophy in various passionate spurts and critical distances.  

Another philosophe that proved influential in my formative years was Voltaire. As a contemporary of mine, Voltaire played a part in my life that Montesquieu, who died during my teenage years, could not. I read Voltaire’s Essay on the Manners and Spirit of Nations during my youth and was greatly enamoured by the wit and humour he brought to his writing. Voltaire argued that reason, not religion, should govern the world and that certain human beings must act as representatives of reason on earth. Thus, he concluded that a despotic government may actually be the best sort of government if it remained reasonable. Voltaire argued that in order for a despotic government to be reasonable it had to be enlightened; and if it were enlightened, then it could be both efficient and benevolent. 

My relationship with Voltaire was only through handwritten letters. I never met him in person and he never embarked on a visit to Russia. Many have accused me of not writing the letters myself, but I assure you, they were all mine. He called me La Femme Politique. We exchanged hundreds of letters throughout his lifetime, discussing all sorts of topics. He often expressed interest in my conquests, particularly when discussing the Turks. He seemed eager for details of my victories, his lust for war and for the defeat of the Turk, with his expressed hatred of war and of oppression of the weak by the strong.

Our relationship was one of mutual benefit; he complimented me, I complimented him; he had a ruling empress put his philosophy into practice and I could claim to be in cahoots with one of the great thinkers of the age. However, I was never comfortable enough to allow her country to be personally exposed to Voltaire and his ‘analytical eye’.

I set out my political philosophy in the Nakaz (Instruction). The Russian legal code at the time was over a century old. Despite Peter the Great’s westernizing influence on Russia a half-century before, he had not set down a new legal code within his lifetime. I wanted to rewrite Russian law to raise the levels of government administration, of justice, and of tolerance within her empire. I spent two to three hours a day over the course of two years compiling her Nakaz, and my personal Enlightenment influences were in full evidence: 294 out of the 526 articles in the Nakaz were directly copied from Montesquieu and applied to Russia. For the benefit of my Empire I pillaged President Montesquieu, without naming him in the text. I hope that if he had seen me at work, he would have forgiven this literary theft if only for the good of 20 million people which it may bring about. He loved the humanity too much to be offended; his book was my breviary.

The Instruction is composed of a total of 22 chapters, 655 clauses, an introduction and a conclusion. The first three chapters discuss the current state of the Russian Empire. Chapters 4-10 discuss the existing code of laws as well as Catherine’s opinion of them. The rest of the chapters excluding the last two discuss the people of Russia as a whole. Chapters 21 and 22, the supplementary chapters, come after the conclusion and analyze the organization of the police and the state’s management of money, respectively.

Russia is a European power, and that the nation owes this to the reforms of Peter the Great. I argue that an absolute monarchy is necessary to rule over such a vast realm. It it is better to obey the Laws under the direction of one Master, than to be subject to the Wills of many. My final argument for autocracy is that an absolute government does not deprive people of liberty, but directs them so that they can contribute to the overall society to make it better.

Turcja: kolejne zatrzymania w związku z udaremnionym zamachem stanu

Tureckie władze wydały nakaz zatrzymania kolejnych 127 osób podejrzanych o związki z ubiegłoroczną próbą wojskowego zamachu stanu – podała prorządowa agencja prasowa Anatolia. W sobotę i niedzielę w Turcji świętowano pierwszą rocznicę udaremnienia puczu.