Klyuchevsky, Vasily Osipovich (vəsē`lyē ô`sĭpəvĭch kly
chĕv`skē), 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).