Klyuchevsky, Vasily Osipovich [key], 1841–1911, Russian historian. Interpreting history from a sociological viewpoint, he emphasized geographic and economic conditions as the determining factors of social change. Klyuchevsky considered colonization a distinctive feature of Russian development and an important factor in the rise of a strong central state. Among his many writings, noted for scrupulous research and documentation, is his Course of Russian History (5 vol., 1902–21; tr. A History of Russia, 5 vol., 1960).
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