Russians in the Russian Empire are divided into four classes: nobles, businessmen, Cossacks and peasants. Ethnic minorities such as Caucasians and Tatars are called foreigners.

Among Russians, 8 16% are farmers, 93% are businessmen, 62% are soldiers, and only 09% are nobles (06%) and clergy (03%). Of the more than 88 million peasants, more than half are serfs, and the rest are peasants confined to land (the vast majority) and free peasants (a few).

The transition from rank to class is the touchstone of the success of modernization.

/kloc-in the 0/8th century, the Russian hierarchy was established rapidly. During the period of Peter I, the aristocratic class was composed of servants who inherited his father's business, the citizen class was composed of businessmen, the national peasant class was composed of lower servants and national peasants, the serf class was composed of private peasants and other groups, and the monk class was composed of unmarried and married monks.

The imperial edict issued by Catherine II on the privileges of cities and nobles established the legal status of Russian hierarchy. The law collection of 1832 once again confirmed this point, and the hierarchy reached its peak in19th century. This paper intends to analyze the hierarchical characteristics and consequences of Russian empire from the perspective of Russian aristocratic hierarchy.