RUSSIA AS A GREAT POWER, 1709-1856: REFLECTIONS ON THE PROBLEM OF RELATIVE BACKWARDNESS, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE RUSSIAN ARMY AND RUSSIAN SOCIETY
Walter M. Pintner, Fellow, Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/op33_russia_as_great_power_pintner_1978.pdf