Mikhail Nikiforovich Katkov was a conservative Russian journalist influential during the reign of tsar Alexander III. He was a proponent of Russian nationalism, an important figure in the creation of a feeling of national identity and purpose. After the Crimean War (1856) and the Polish insurrection of 1863, Katkov abandoned his liberal Anglophile views and rejected the early reforms of Tsar Alexander II. Instead, he promoted a strong Russian state supported by an enthusiastic Russian people with a unified national outlook. His ideas were based on Western ideas, as opposed to Slavophile ideas. His literary magazine Russkii Vestnik and newspaper Moskovskie Vedomosti were successful and influential media for promoting his views.

Alexander III was Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 1894. He was highly reactionary in domestic affairs and reversed some of the liberal reforms of his father, Alexander II. This policy is known in Russia as "counter-reforms". Under the influence of Konstantin Pobedonostsev (1827–1907), he opposed any socio-economic moves that limited his autocratic rule.