As is well known, in the mid-twentieth century education in Russia experienced a powerful upsurge, rising to a position of leadership in the world. Interpreting this extraordinary phenomenon is vital in order to both understand the characteristics of Russia's social and historical development and to map out a strategy for the nation's long-term development. In this article, the author discusses the advances in education in the Soviet Union that were made possible by significant developments in Russian education in the nineteenth century, a period during which Russia moved closer toward a system of mass education. The author examines the situation in Russian education in the final prerevolutionary decades, during the era of the "great reforms," which began to be launched by the abolition of serfdom. (Contains 1 note.)