The supervisor's review of A.V. Slyunchenko's Master's Thesis 
"Problems of development of the Russian state system in M.N. Katkov's journalism"

Review of the supervisor
a master's thesis AV Slyunchenko
"The problems of development of Russian statehood in journalism MN Katkov "

A.V. Slyunchenko's thesis  is devoted to the topic, the scientific importance and the relevance of which are indisputable. The post-reform era was the time of our country's dramatic changes, accompanied by acute and various collisions associated with the Russian society's movement  towards modernization, battles revolving around these ideological collisions (and not only ideological). The public opinion became increasingly influential force and, consequently,  the press which reflected and shaped it, the performances of which had to be considered by authority. However, the monopoly of political decision-making still (until the transition to constitutional order in 1905-1906.) belonged to the monarch and the bureaucracy. In this regard, in the 60s – 80s of XIX century M.N. Katkov, the editor of the "The Russian Manager" journal and the "Moscow News" newspaper - a bright representative of the conservative-monarchist trends in Russian social though, took quite a unique position. He (in conditions of the authoritarian regime with censure), often and sometimes sharply criticizing the government, often assisted large influence on state affairs: to achieve such influence by a person of newspaper and journal world would very difficult even in the countries with the constitutional order and the freedom of the press. It is impossible to get more or less complete picture of the socio-political development of Russia in the first decade of post-reform without a comprehensive study of the M.N. Katkov's attitudes and journalistic activities. A.V. Slyunchenko tried to show in her work what M.N. Katkov considered to be the key issues of Russian state system in the second half of the XIX century.
Of course, M.N. Katkov's outstanding personality, his political views, have undergone a difficult evolution from liberalism to conservatism, his relations with the government have attracted and continue to attract the attention of researchers. However, much of the M.N. Katkov's ideological heritage is still poorly understood. This concerns, in particular, issues related to M.N. Katkov's  works about problems faced by the Russian state system in the second half of the XIX century. This topic became the subject of the study and in her study A.V. Slyunchenko tries to fill in the gap existing in literature about M.N. Katkov.
Thesis is based on the wide range of sources. Paramount importance in this respect naturally have M.N. Katkov's works, which were studied meticulously. This circumstance, as well as the abundance of the studied materials ensure the accuracy of the observations and the validity of the conclusions made by the author. A.V. Slyunchenko knows the works of predecessors, correctly uses the latest update
In general, A.V. Slyunchenko successfully coped with the challenges she faced. The subject is quite fully disclosed. The conclusions, which A.V. Slyunchenko made, are unobjectionable. Her work is an independent, thematically and logically completed study showing the author's ability of  scientific research, the ownership of relevant techniques and methodology.
Results obtained by A.V. Slyunchenko can be used for further study of the ideological heritage of M.N. Katkov, in teaching – can be used for preparation of general and special lectures on Russian history.
A.V.  Slyunchenko's work can be presented to the defense as a Master's Thesis.

supervisor
Professor at the Department of Russian History
from ancient times to the XX century.
Institute of History of St. Petersburg State University
Doctor of Historical Sciences
M.F. Florinskiy