Emperor Alexander III and the idea of the "state of truth" in Russian political tradition

The article is devoted to the idea of “state of truth” in the Russian political tradition. The doctrine of “truth” as the main regulatory principle of the Orthodox sovereign’s activity was developed by Russian medieval thinkers (Joseph Volotsky, Ivan Peresvetov, Maksim Grek) on the basis of the Christian worldview. Forgotten after Peter’s reforms in the era of the domination of Western rationalist ideas in the minds of Russian ruling circles, this doctrine was revived in the personality and political activity of Emperor Alexander III. Following the ideal of “rights of plants”, Alexander III was able to pacify the country, torn by sharp social and political contradictions, to suppress terrorist activities of the underground revolutionary organizations, to achieve impressive economic success and firmly establish the authority of the Russian state in the international arena as a creative and a peacekeeping force.