The document was written by Sergei Solov"ev to describe the events taking place at the Legislative Commission held by Catherine during 1767. The purpose of the commission was to clarify the laws of the Russian state since laws had been put into effect previously, without the knowledge of many Russian citizens. In order to guide the Legislative Commission Catherine wrote a set of "Instructions" in July of 1767.[1] The Commission Catherine set up consisted of 580 deputies, including members of the nobility, townspeople, free peasants, and other social groups.[2].
Catherine's original intent was to take a step towards liberalism in forming the commission. Although Catherine's "Instructions" was a very liberal document, in fact it was not liberal at all. In Catherine's instructions she specifies that the "ruler of Russia is absolute", then proceeding to say that any other power would not be able to operate with such effectiveness. By Catherine claiming absolute power in her Instructions, she was attempting to convey her political legitimacy to the Russian people. By telling them that there is no other form of government that would be able to do a better job than "the ruler of Russia" she is letting them know that she is their best option and giving them no hope of legislative reform.
Catherine originally called the commission in order to gain the support of the Russian people. She offered to let each class share their different ideas with her, and promised she would take them into consideration when forming new legislation in the future.
The commission brought many concerns of the Russian citizens to the table. Between July of 1767 and October of 1768 the commission met formally to debate their concerns, until Catherine postponed the commission in order to go to war with Turkey.[3] Many subcommittees continued their work into the 1770's when they finally gave up due to lack of new legislation.