Amnesty of the Decembrists in 1856 in the Coverage of Russian and English Newspaper Press

This study is dedicated to the analysis of the reception of the amnesty for the Decembrists in 1856 in the British press in the context of the geopolitical consequences of the Crimean War and the ongoing reassessment of the international position of the Russian Empire. The focus is on the perceptions of British newspapers regarding the nature of Alexander II's political course and the significance of the amnesty as a symbolic step reflecting the transition from the repressive policies of the Nicholas era to a more flexible model of autocratic governance. Special attention is given to how the amnesty for the Decembrists was interpreted by the British press as an indicator of internal transformations in Russia, affecting the realm of civil liberties, the state's relationship with opposition elites, and the regime's willingness to make partial concessions to liberal expectations. The study examines the amnesty not only as an act of clemency but also as an important element of the international-political and informational positioning of the Russian Empire on the European stage. The methodological framework of the research includes comparative-historical and discourse analysis, applied to materials from British (“The Guardian,” “The Times,” “Daily News”) and Russian periodicals (“Moscow News,” “Saint Petersburg News”), systematizing mentions of the amnesty and Alexander II's coronation, identifying key semantic oppositions and contextual factors. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the comprehensive consideration of the amnesty for the Decembrists as a media and political event simultaneously, through the prism of comparing British and Russian newspaper narratives. For the first time, based on a systematized corpus of publications from 1856–1858, it is demonstrated that the British press interpreted the amnesty as an ambivalent gesture: on one hand, as a triumph of liberal ideas and a symbol of the departure from the repressive nature of the Nicholas regime, and on the other hand, as an incomplete measure that exacerbated the social marginalization of the Decembrists due to the non-return of confiscated property. The Russian press, constrained by censorship, constructed the image of the amnesty as a step towards national reconciliation and future reforms, cautiously hinting at the need for deeper transformations. It is shown that both interpretations, despite their differences, converge in recognizing the high historical significance of the amnesty for the transformation of Russia's image both domestically and in the eyes of Europe, as well as for rethinking the relationship between power and society at the beginning of Alexander II's reign.