Popova Katya. Usinsk, Komi River (9th grade)
One of the most famous statesmen of Russia of the 19th century was Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky (1772-1839). Speransky was born into the family of a priest in the village of Cherkutino, Vladimir province. From the age of seven he studied at the Vladimir Seminary, and from 1790 - at the newly opened main seminary at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg. His extraordinary abilities promoted him from among his students, and at the end of the course he was left as a teacher of mathematics, physics, eloquence and philosophy. Having independently studied political and philosophical literature in German, French and English, he acquired very broad knowledge and became acquainted with the views of Voltaire and the French encyclopedists. Later he became the home secretary of Prince A.B. Kurakin, a famous diplomat and statesman.
In 1797, he entered service in the office of Kurakin, who took the place of prosecutor general upon Paul's accession to the throne. During the accession of Alexander, Speransky received the title of Secretary of State and in 1802 he joined the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Here he soon attracted attention, and the next year Minister V. Kochubey instructed him to draw up a plan for judicial and government places in the empire.
In 1806, Speransky made a personal acquaintance with Alexander - during his illness, Kochubey began to send him with a report to the sovereign, the latter appreciated the outstanding ability of the official and brought him closer to himself; he was unlike both Catherine’s nobles and his young friends. Alexander showed interest in this man, which in itself was already a phenomenon. In 1808, he included him in his retinue during his meeting with Napoleon. Having become the main adviser to the emperor, Speransky was given the task of preparing a general project for government reforms in Russia.
“Introduction to the Code of State Laws” was prepared by Speransky by the end of 1809. In it, the author warned the government that the existing social structure was “no longer characteristic of the state of the public spirit.” In order to prevent the revolution, he proposed that Alexander I give the country a constitution, which would only have to “clothe autocratic rule with all, so to speak, external forms of law, leaving in essence the same power and the same space of autocracy.” These external forms, according to Speransky , there must be: elementary legality, election of some officials and their responsibility, new bourgeois principles of the organization of court and control, separation of legislative, executive and judicial powers with the admission of elected representatives from the people to legislative activities, i.e. expansion of political rights of the “middle class”.
According to the project, the head of the state should be a monarch vested with full power. It must have a State Council, which is an advisory body of dignitaries appointed by the monarch.
All major government events are discussed in the council; through him, all matters from lower authorities are received by the sovereign, and in this way the unity of all government activities is achieved.
In addition, there must be elected State and local dumas. The volost duma is composed of all those who have the right to vote and the elders of the state peasants (one per 500 people). It decides all local issues and elects deputies to the district duma for three years. The latter deals with the affairs of its district and elects deputies to the provincial Duma. Deputies to the State Duma - the highest representative body - are elected by the provincial duma from among its members. The State Duma discusses bills proposed to it from above, which are then submitted to the State Council and for approval by the sovereign.
Speransky proposed the principle of election when creating the judiciary. In his opinion, volost, district and provincial courts should be elected. However, the highest judicial authority - the judicial Senate (which at the same time remained an administrative institution) must be appointed by the sovereign for life from among the representatives elected in the provincial dumas.
Speransky's electoral system was based not on the class (feudal) principle, but on the property qualification (ownership of movable and immovable property), which indicated the persistence of inequality between classes. The entire population of Russia was divided into the following three categories: the nobility, which had all civil and political rights; people of “middle status” (merchants, townspeople, state peasants), who had only civil rights - property, freedom of occupation and movement, the right to speak on their own behalf in court, and “working people” - landowner peasants, servants, workers and households, having no rights. Only representatives of the first two categories could enjoy the right to vote. Thus, only two classes received basic political rights.
For the third estate - the “working people” - the reformer’s project provided some civil rights while maintaining the serfdom. Speransky believed that serfdom would be abolished gradually, through the development of industry, trade and education, since “there is no example in history that an enlightened and commercial people could remain in slavery for a long time.” While preserving the existence of classes, Speransky's project weakened class barriers, providing for a wider possibility of transition from the “middle state” to the nobility through seniority, and from the “working people” to the “middle state” through the acquisition of property. Objectively, the reformer’s plans were aimed at some limitation of autocracy by expanding the rights of the nobles and bourgeoisie, at a more rapid evolution of the absolute monarchy towards the bourgeois monarchy. At the same time, the plan was abstract, “but neither the sovereign nor the minister could in any way adapt it to the level of the actual needs and available resources of Russia,” wrote V.O. Klyuchevsky. Speransky overestimated the possibilities of autocracy and underestimated the dominant power of the nobility, which could not voluntarily limit its power. Therefore, radical social reforms could not be implemented in the conditions of feudal Russia.
Alexander I himself was quite satisfied with only partial transformations of feudal Russia, flavored with liberal promises and abstract discussions about law and freedom. A. Czartoryski, who knew him well, wrote: “The Emperor loved external forms of freedom, just as people are carried away by spectacles. He liked and boasted of the specter of free government; but he sought only forms and appearance, not allowing them to turn into reality; in a word, he would willingly grant freedom to the whole world on the condition that everyone voluntarily submits exclusively to his will.”
Two particular measures, which had an internal connection with the reforms being prepared, indicated what kind of people were required for the new government institutions. The decree of April 3, 1809 on court ranks determined that ranks are not a distinction and do not give the right to a rank. Courtiers were deprived of their rank if they were not in public service. Another decree, dated August 6, established the rules for promotion to civil service ranks. Now, in order to obtain the appropriate rank, it was necessary to go through the entire hierarchy of service: an official, starting from class VIII and above, needed a university diploma; in the absence of the latter, he had to pass an exam according to the program attached to the decree. Both decrees caused discontent and commotion in court society and among officials, as they were prepared secretly and were issued completely unexpectedly.
Essential parts of Speransky's reform plan related to central administration and gave it a more harmonious appearance.
On January 1, 1810, the manifesto of Alexander I was announced on the abolition of the Permanent Council and the establishment of the State Council. The latter included 35 senior dignitaries appointed by the sovereign. The State Council had to discuss all the details of the state structure, as far as they required new laws, and submit their considerations to the discretion of the emperor.
Being very close to the sovereign, Speransky concentrated in his hands all the current affairs of government: he dealt with finances, which were in great disarray, and diplomatic affairs, to which the sovereign himself initiated him, and the organization of Finland, then conquered by Russian troops. In 1811 On Speransky's initiative, the ministries were reorganized. The Ministry of Commerce was abolished, the affairs of which were distributed between the Ministries of Finance and Internal Affairs. The Ministry of Police was formed to deal with internal security matters. New special departments were established - state control, spiritual affairs of foreign faiths and communications - began to exist with the significance of ministries. The composition and office work of the latter, the limits of the power of ministers, and their responsibilities were determined.
This is where the reforms ended. The State Council itself became an opponent of further reforms. The Senate reform was never implemented, although it was discussed for quite some time. It was based on the separation of administrative and judicial cases. It was proposed to divide the Senate into a government one, consisting of ministers, and a judicial one. The composition of the latter provided for the appointment of its members as follows: one part was from the crown, the other was chosen by the nobility. Members of the State Council saw the right to elect members of the Senate by the nobility as a limitation of autocratic power. They did not even bother to transform the provincial government.
The most important event of that time was the financial reform carried out by Speransky through the State Council, which never became the authoritative body that the reformer had hoped for.
As a result of a series of wars, Russia's finances were in a very disorganized state. The state budget deficit reached a huge figure. Back in 1809 Speransky was tasked with developing a plan to improve the country's financial situation. At his proposal, the government stopped issuing new banknotes, sharply reduced government spending, sold part of state-owned estates into private hands, and finally introduced new taxes that affected all segments of the population. the implementation of these activities has yielded positive results. So, in 1812 government revenues increased from 125 million to 300 million rubles. But at the same time, these measures, and above all general taxes, caused discontent among the population. At the same time, general irritation was directed against Speransky. In noble circles he was contemptuously called “the malicious priest.”
Speransky already in 1811 began to understand the impracticability of his far-reaching plans.
In October, he even asked the emperor to release him from all matters and give him the opportunity to continue working on a code of laws. But Alexander I refused him this. However, Speransky's fall was not only inevitable, but also close.
Active opponents of Speransky, who openly opposed his reforms and expressed the views of the most reactionary noble circles, were the well-known writer and historian N.M. Karamzin and the sister of Alexander I, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna. The fourth daughter of Paul I and Maria Fedorovna, Ekaterina Pavlovna, showed a keen interest in public life. In 1809 she married Prince Georg of Oldenburg and lived with him in Tver. Here a close circle of a decidedly conservative trend formed around her. Karamzin was a welcome guest.
The Grand Duchess considered the constitution
“complete nonsense”, and autocracy is useful not only to Russia, but also to Western European states. In her eyes, Speransky was a “criminal” who had mastered the will of a weak-willed monarch. It can be assumed that, in addition to ideological antagonism, the princess’s hostility to the reformer was also explained by her personal dislike for the man who shielded her from the emperor and more than once stood in her way. Speransky, in particular, had the courage to oppose Karamzin’s candidacy for the post of Minister of Public Education, nominated by Ekaterina Pavlovna after Zavadovsky’s death. He also refused to support the Swedish political party that expected the Grand Duchess's husband, the Prince of Oldenburg, to take the Swedish throne.
N.M. Karamzin tried to play an active role at the court of Alexander I. On March 15, 1811, the emperor visited his beloved sister in Tver. The latter handed him a note “On ancient and new Russia in its political and civil relations.” In it, the writer sharply criticized all the activities carried out by the government, considering them untimely and contrary to the “spirit of the people” and historical tradition. While advocating enlightenment, he at the same time defended autocracy, proving that Russia “was founded by victories and unity of command, perished from discord, but was saved by a wise autocracy.” He argued that giving freedom to the peasants meant harming the state: “It seems to me that for the strength of the state’s existence it is safer to enslave people than to give them freedom at the wrong time.”
Karamzin’s general idea was that the country does not need reforms, but “patriarchal power.” In his opinion, “things will go as they should in Russia if you find 50 smart, conscientious people in Russia” who will zealously guard the “good entrusted to each of them” of the Russians. The historian-publicist called, contrary to Speransky, to be “more careful in new state creations, trying most of all to establish existing ones and thinking more about people than about forms.”
The attacks and numerous denunciations against Speransky, as well as the dissatisfaction of the conservative part of the nobles with the latest transformations, had their effect on the weak-willed and indecisive Alexander. On the eve of the war, he decided to put an end to all kinds of reforms and remove their main director from the government scene. If at the beginning of their joint journey to reorganize the country, Alexander respected and trusted Speransky, was interested in the reformer’s plans and even imbued with them, “at the time of this insight they created their constitution,” wrote V.O. Klyuchevsky, then later “they got the same subject for this unusual and backbreaking work assigned to the mind and heart of his sovereign! At the first mistake, as soon as the opportunity presented itself to pull him down from his painful heights and place him on the level of a subject, with what smug and vindictive generosity he read his royal lesson to Speransky and, tenderly bidding him farewell, ordered his enemy, the Minister of Police Balashov, to exile him as guilty official in Nizhny. After that, Alexander no longer respected anyone, but only continued to be afraid, hated and despised.”
1812, when Napoleon's army was approaching Moscow, he was sent to Perm under stricter supervision. In January 1813 Speransky sent Alexander a letter of justification to Moscow from Perm, to which the emperor did not want, and perhaps could not, respond. Only in the autumn of 1814. The disgraced minister was allowed to live on his daughter’s estate in Velikopolye, near Nizhny Novgorod.
By decree of Alexander I of August 30, 1816. Speransky was completely acquitted, after which he was appointed governor of Penza. Later, from 1819 to 1822, he was Governor-General of Siberia.
The new Siberian governor-general decided to conduct an audit of Siberia. Speransky's audit revealed blatant abuses, arbitrariness of local authorities and complete lack of rights of the population. In order to somehow improve the situation, he decided to carry out reforms in Siberia.
The “first collaborator” in carrying out the Siberian reforms was the future Decembrist S.G. Batenkov. He energetically worked on the development of the “Siberian Code” - an extensive set of reforms of the administrative apparatus of Siberia, which determined government policy towards the indigenous Siberian peoples. Most of the projects were written (statutes on exiles, stages, etc.). Particularly important was the creation of the “Charter on the Management of Foreigners,” which was in force until the beginning of the 20th century.
During the period of work on the Siberian Code,” Batenkov sincerely believed that Speransky, “a good nobleman, strong, and strong only for good,” would truly transform Siberia. Subsequently, it became clear to him that Speransky was not given “any means to fulfill the assigned assignment” and the results of his activities in Siberia did not meet his hopes. However, Batenkov believed that “Speransky cannot be personally blamed for failure.” He wrote about the latter: “The memory of him was preserved throughout Siberia, despite the change of persons, statutes and deeds, for many monuments and the outline of the institution survived among all this. His personality was not easily erased from memory, and many families remembered him kindly.”
In 1812 Speransky returned to St. Petersburg and was received by Alexander I. The history of the rise, state activity and exile of this man in the context of the intensification of the political life of Russia consisted of a series of events that awakened thought and forced one to reflect on the real reasons for what was happening.
The Decembrists were well aware of Speransky’s unspoken political projects: “Introduction to the Code of State Laws”, “Excerpt about the Commission of the Code”, “On the Form of Government”, etc. Therefore, when the idea of creating a provisional revolutionary government arose, M.M. was named the first candidate for it. .Speransky. “A comparative analysis of Speransky’s projects and the Decembrist program on the peasant question shows that, reflecting on the need to eliminate serfdom, the ideology of Decembrism and Speransky proceeded from the general principles of the advanced philosophy of their time - the creation of a natural human right to freedom... However, in the area of specific proposals, clearly a sharp demarcation emerged between the programmatic attitudes of the noble revolutionaries and Speransky.”
Speransky secretly supported the Decembrists, or rather, played a “subtle game,” and after the defeat of the uprising, his fate hung in the balance. The Tsar found an opportunity to “punish” Speransky for his connections with the Decembrists and appointed him in 1826. member of the Supreme Criminal Court, which was a “great personal tragedy” for Speransky. The daughter often saw her father “in torment and with tears in his eyes.”
Speransky’s active participation in the trial of the Decembrists did not completely “redeem” his guilt in the eyes of Nicholas I. Until the last years of Speransky’s life, the tsar, despite external signs of attention (his own awarding of the St. Andrew’s Star in 1833 in connection with the completion of work on a code of laws, the granting of the count’s title, appointment as a teacher to the heir to the throne, etc.), did not forget about the direction of his activities until 1812. and about his undisclosed connections with members of secret societies.
Pushkin in 1834 said to Speransky: “You and Arakcheev, you stand at the opposite door of this reign (under Alexander I), as geniuses of Evil and Good.”
M.M. Speransky died in February 1839. at the age of 67 years.
“Speransky is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable people in Russia. He owes the great merit that he wanted to give his country a constitution, free people, free peasants, a complete system of elected institutions and courts, a magistrate's court, a code of laws, orderly finances, thus anticipating for more than half a century the great reforms of Alexander II and dreaming for Russia about the successes that it could not achieve for a long time.”
There is a great deal of truth in this assessment of Speransky. Indeed, the full implementation of his projects would undoubtedly accelerate Russia's evolution towards a landowner-bourgeois monarchy. The collapse of feudal-serf relations and the foreign policy situation after the Tilsit Peace Treaty forced the nobility to a certain extent to put up with Speransky.
Russian statesman, reformer, founder of Russian legal science and theoretical jurisprudence, Count Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky was born on January 12 (1 according to the old style) in 1772 in the village of Cherkutino, Vladimir volost (now a village in the Sobinsky district of the Vladimir region) in the family of a hereditary rural priest. At the age of nine, the boy was enrolled in the Vladimir Theological Seminary and received the surname Speransky (from the Latin spero - “to hope”).
In 1788, as “the most reliable in good morals, behavior and teaching,” seminarian Mikhail Speransky was transferred to state (state) support to the Main Seminary at the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in St. Petersburg (now the St. Petersburg Theological Academy).
After graduating from the seminary, Speransky began teaching there first mathematics, and then physics, eloquence and philosophy. In 1795, in search of additional income, he got a job as the personal secretary of Prince Alexander Kurakin.
Upon accession to the throne of Emperor Paul I, Kurakin was appointed prosecutor general. In 1797, Speransky entered the service in his office and continued to serve there further under three successors of Kurakin, who was soon removed.
In March 1801, Speransky was appointed Secretary of State under Dmitry Troshchinsky, Secretary of State of Alexander I. Having no equal in the art of drafting stationery, he soon became Troshchinsky’s closest assistant, who entrusted him with the drafting of many manifestos and decrees.
In the summer of 1801, Speransky was involved by Count Viktor Kochubey in the work of the Secret Committee, which was created by Alexander I to prepare reforms in the management of the empire. The committee included Counts Pavel Stroganov, Nikolai Novosiltsev, Victor Kochubey and Prince Adam Czartoryski.
In the autumn of the same year, Emperor Alexander presented Speransky with various projects for state reforms and spent evenings with him in conversations and reading works related to this subject. These general principles were developed and substantiated in the “Introduction to the Code of State Laws,” compiled by Speransky in the fall of 1809. In this document, Mikhail Speransky named the introduction of a constitution among the most necessary and immediate Russian reforms, and the abolition of serfdom among the long-term ones.
In 1810, Mikhail Speransky was appointed Secretary of State of the State Council, established by the manifesto of Alexander I. He was in charge of all documentation passing through the State Council: he prepared papers for meetings, compiled reports and reports for presentation to the emperor. In 1809-1811, Mikhail Speransky was the most influential person among Russian dignitaries, in fact the second person after the emperor in the Russian Empire.
By mid-1811, dissatisfaction with Speransky's activities reached the emperor. Gossip, anonymous letters, accusations of bribery and treason were used, and Napoleon’s laudatory reviews were recalled. In March 1812, after a two-hour conversation with the sovereign, Speransky was exiled first to Nizhny Novgorod and then to Perm.
In October 1816, Mikhail Speransky was returned to public service as the Penza governor.
In March 1819, he was appointed Governor-General of Siberia with emergency powers to carry out an audit. His task was to expose abuses and develop a reform of Siberian government, the plan of which he should bring to St. Petersburg for a personal report to the emperor.
In the summer of 1822, Alexander I approved the project “Institutions for the management of the Siberian provinces,” developed by Speransky during his governorship in Siberia. This was Mikhail Mikhailovich’s last work related to his reform activities.
In 1826, after the death of Alexander I, Mikhail Speransky was entrusted with heading the 2nd department of the Imperial Chancellery, which codified laws. Under the leadership of Speransky, a Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire was compiled in 45 volumes, which included all legislative acts, starting with the Council Code of 1649. Then they were systematized and the 15-volume “Code of Laws of the Russian Empire” was prepared - a collection of legal acts that did not lose their force during the reign of Nicholas.
At Speransky’s choice, about a dozen young people were sent abroad to the best law faculties for theoretical preparation for jurisprudence, since there were no Russian professors at law faculties at Russian universities, and Russian jurisprudence was not taught at all. Among the young people chosen by Speransky were future famous Russian lawyers Konstantin Nevolin, Yakov Barshev, Alexander Kunitsyn, Pyotr Redkin.
As a member of the State Council, Mikhail Speransky sat in the Supreme Criminal Court in the case of the Decembrists, speaking out against the death penalty.
In 1835-1837, Speransky was invited to the imperial court to teach legal sciences to the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander II.
In January 1839, Mikhail Speransky was granted the dignity of count.
On February 23 (11 old style), Count Mikhail Speransky died of a cold.
In 1798, Mikhail Speransky married Elizabeth Stevens, governess of the family of Count Shuvalov, who died a year later at the birth of her daughter. His daughter, Elizaveta Mikhailovna, was married to Count Kochubey’s nephew, Frolov-Bagreev. Grandson Mikhail was killed in the Caucasus in 1844, and his granddaughter became Princess Cantacuzene in marriage.
http://lib.rus.ec/b/169052/read
(S.N. Yuzhakov “Mikhail Speransky. His life and social activities”, Biographical Library of F. Pavlenkov, 1892)
The material was prepared based on information from open sources
I find two conditions in Russia: slaves of the sovereign and slaves of the landowners. The first are called free only in relation to the second; In fact, there are no free people in Russia except beggars and philosophers.
The reign of Alexander 1 was marked by numerous reforms that affected almost all aspects of the state. One of the inspirers of changes in Russia at that time was Mikhail Speransky, who proposed to radically reform the political structure of the country, organizing its authorities according to the principle of separation of branches of power. These ideas are known today as Speransky’s reforms, which we will briefly discuss in this material. The reforms themselves were carried out from 1802 to 1812 and were of great importance for Russia at that time.
The main provisions of Speransky’s reform project
Speransky's reforms are usually divided into three stages: 1802-1807, 1808-1810, 1811-1812. Let's look at each stage in more detail.
First stage (1802-1807)
At this stage, Speransky did not hold positions of particular importance, but at the same time, taking part in the “Unofficial Committee”, together with Kochubey he developed a ministerial reform. As a result, the collegiums, which were created under Peter 1, were liquidated, then abolished by Catherine, however, during the years of Paul 1 they again resumed their activities as the main state bodies under the emperor. After 1802, ministries were created instead of collegiums. To coordinate the work of the Ministries, the Cabinet of Ministers was created. In addition to these transformations, Speransky published a number of reports on the role of law in the life of the state and the need for competent distribution of responsibilities among government bodies. These studies became the basis for the next stages of Speransky's reforms.
Second stage (1808-1810)
After increasing trust from the emperor and being appointed to important government positions, Speransky prepared in 1809 one of the most important documents in his political career - “Introduction to the Code of State Laws.” This was a plan for reform of the Russian Empire. Historians note the following key provisions of this document as a system that quite clearly characterizes Speransky’s reforms:
- The basis of the political power of the state. Division of branches into legislative, executive and judicial. Speransky drew this idea from the ideas of the French Enlightenment, in particular Montesquieu. Legislative power was to be exercised by the State Duma, executive power by the already created Ministries, and judicial power by the Senate.
- Creation of an advisory body under the emperor, the State Council. This body was supposed to prepare draft laws, which would then be submitted to the Duma, where, after voting, they could become laws.
- Social transformations. The reform proposed dividing Russian society into three classes: the first – the nobility, the second (“middle class”) – merchants, townspeople and state peasants, the third – the “working people”.
- Implementation of the idea of “natural law”. Civil rights (the right to life, arrest only by court order, etc.) for all three classes, and political rights were supposed to belong only to the “free people,” that is, the first two classes.
- Social mobility was allowed. With the accumulation of capital, serfs could redeem themselves, and therefore become the second estate, and therefore gain political rights.
- The State Duma is an elected body. The elections were to be held in 4 stages, thereby creating regional authorities. First of all, the two classes elected the volost duma, whose members elected the district duma, whose deputies, in turn, formed the provincial duma with their votes. Deputies at the provincial level elected the State Duma.
- Leadership of the Duma passed to the Chancellor appointed by the Emperor.
After the publication of this project, Speransky, together with the Emperor, began to implement the ideas. On January 1, 1810, an advisory body was organized - the State Council. Mikhail Speransky himself was appointed its head. In theory, this body was supposed to become a temporary legislative body until the Duma was formed. The Council also had to manage the finances of the empire.
Third stage (1811-1812)
Despite the incomplete implementation of the first stage of reforms, Speransky published the “Code of the Governing Senate” in 1811. This document proposed:
- He proposed dividing the Senate into the Governing Senate (issues of local government) and the Judicial Senate (the main body of the judicial branch of government of the Russian Empire).
- Create a vertical of judicial power. Provincial, district and volost courts should be created.
- He expressed the idea of granting civil rights to serfs.
This project, like the first document of 1809, remained just a project. At the time of 1812, only one idea of Speransky was realized - the creation of the State Council.
Why did Alexander 1 never decide to implement Speransky’s project?
Speransky began to be criticized back in 1809 after the publication of “Introduction to the Code of State Laws.” Alexander 1 perceived Speransky’s criticism as his own. In addition, since Speransky's reforms were based largely on the ideas of the French Enlightenment, he was criticized for trying to "flirt" with Napoleon. As a result, a group of influential conservative-minded nobility formed in the Russian Empire, which criticized the emperor for trying to “destroy the historical foundations” of the Russian state. One of the most famous critics of Speransky, his contemporary, the famous historian Karamzin. Most of all, the nobility was outraged by the desire to give political rights to state peasants, as well as the idea of giving civil rights to all classes of the empire, including serfs.
Speransky took part in the financial reform. As a result, the taxes that the nobles had to pay would increase. This fact also turned the nobility against the head of the State Council.
Thus, we can note the main reasons why the implementation of Speransky’s project was not carried out:
- Huge resistance from the Russian nobility.
- Not the determination of the emperor himself in carrying out reforms.
- The emperor’s reluctance to form a system of “three powers”, since this significantly limited the role of the emperor himself in the country.
- A possible war with Napoleonic France, which, however, only suspended the reforms if there were no other reasons for stopping them completely.
Reasons and consequences of Speransky's resignation
Given the distrust and protests from the nobility, Speransky found himself constantly under pressure. The only thing that saved him from losing his position was the trust of the emperor, which lasted until 1812. Thus, in 1811, the Secretary of State himself personally asked the Emperor for his resignation, because he felt that his ideas would not be realized. However, the emperor did not accept the resignation. Since 1811, the number of denunciations against Speransky has also increased. He was accused of many crimes: slandering the emperor, secret negotiations with Napoleon, attempted coup d'état and other vile acts. Despite these statements, the emperor awarded Speransky the Order of Alexander Nevsky. However, with the spread of rumors and criticism of Speransky, a shadow fell on the emperor himself. As a result, in March 1812, Alexander signed a decree removing Speransky from his duties as a civil servant. Thus, Speransky’s state reforms were stopped.
On March 17, a personal meeting between Speransky and Alexander 1 took place in the office of the Winter Palace; the content of this conversation is still a mystery to historians. But already in September, the former second person in the empire after the emperor was sent into exile in Nizhny Novgorod, and on September 15 he was transported to Perm. In 1814, he was allowed to return to his estate in the Novgorod province, but only under political supervision. Since 1816, Mikhail Speransky even returned to public service, becoming the Governor of Penza, and in 1819 he became the Governor-General of Siberia. In 1821, he was appointed head of the commission for drafting laws, for which he received a state award during the years of Nicholas I. In 1839 he died of a cold, before his death he was included in the list of count families of the Russian Empire.
The main result of Speransky’s activities
Despite the fact that Speransky’s reforms were never implemented, they continued to be discussed in Russian society even after the death of the reformer. In 1864, when carrying out judicial reform, Speransky’s ideas regarding the vertical of the judicial system were taken into account. In 1906, the first State Duma in the history of Russia was established. Therefore, despite its incompleteness, Speransky’s project had a huge impact on the political life of Russian society.
Speransky's personality
Mikhail Speransky was born in 1772 into a modest family, his parents belonged to the lower clergy. A career as a priest awaited him, but after graduating from theological seminary he was offered to remain as a teacher. Later, the Metropolitan of St. Petersburg himself recommended Mikhail for the position of home secretary for Prince Alexei Kurakin. The latter became the prosecutor general under Pavel 1 a year later. This is how the political career of Mikhail Speransky began. In 1801-1802, he met P. Kochubey and began to take part in the work of the “Unofficial Committee” under Alexander 1, for the first time revealing a penchant for reform. For his contribution to the work of the “committee” in 1806 he received the Order of St. Vladimir, 3rd degree. Thanks to his reports on legal topics, he has established himself as an excellent expert in jurisprudence, as well as an expert in the field of state theory. It was then that the emperor began to systematize Speransky’s reforms in order to use them to change Russia.
After the signing of the Peace of Tilsit in 1807, the “Unofficial Committee” opposed the truce with France. Speransky himself supported Alexander’s actions, and also expressed interest in the reforms of Napoleon Bonaparte. In this regard, the emperor removes the “Secret Committee” from its activities. Thus begins the rise of Mikhail Speransky as a reformer of the Russian Empire.
In 1808 he became Deputy Minister of Justice, and in 1810 the main appointment of his life took place: he became Secretary of State of the State Council, the second person in the country after the Emperor. In addition, from 1808 to 1811 Speransky was Chief Prosecutor of the Senate.
Count Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky (1772-1839) went down in history as a great Russian reformer, the founder of Russian legal science and theoretical jurisprudence. His practical activities were largely related to the reform of the state and legal system of the Russian Empire. Speransky's concept formed the basis of the famous Decree of Alexander I “On free (free) cultivators"(1803), according to which landowners received the right to release serfs to “freedom”, giving them land.
MM. Speransky was born into the family of a rural priest, and received his education at the St. Petersburg Theological Academy. After completing his studies, he was a professor of mathematics, physics and eloquence in the period 1792-1795, and later a professor of philosophy and prefect of the academy. Speransky's educational and administrative activities continued until 1797, when he began serving in the Senate.
Speransky’s career was largely determined by his closeness to Prince A.B. Kurakina. As soon as the prince was appointed prosecutor general of the Senate, he persuaded Speransky to join the service there and quickly promoted him to the rank of collegiate adviser and the position of forwarder. Despite the suspicion of Paul I and the rapid change of governors general - Kurakin, then P.V. Lopukhin, A.A. Bekleshov and, finally, in 1801 P.Kh. Obolyaninov - Speransky maintained his position thanks to his high professionalism. At the same time, Mikhail Mikhailovich was the secretary of the Commission for the supply of food to the capital, which was headed by the heir to the throne, Alexander Pavlovich. It was here that the future emperor met M.M. Speransky.
On March 12, 1801, Alexander I ascended the throne, and already on March 19, Speransky was appointed Secretary of State of the sovereign. At this stage of his political career, Speransky is the author and editor of many decrees and orders that were the basis for the reform course of Emperor Alexander. These include the restoration of the Charter to the nobility and the Charter to cities; abolition of corporal punishment of priests and deacons; liquidation of the secret expedition; permission to import books and music from abroad; restoration of the right to open private printing houses; numerous pardons.
Speransky became the author of the project for transforming the system of government bodies, taking in 1802, in the newly formed State Council, the post of head of the expedition of civil and spiritual affairs. Soon, at the request of the Minister of Internal Affairs V.P. Kochubey, Speransky received the post of ruler of the ministry's office. From 1802 to 1807 Kochubey occupies the post of minister, and in collaboration with Speransky, a number of innovations are carried out in a liberal spirit, including the issuance of a decree on free cultivators, the permission of free salt fishing, and the transformation of medical and postal affairs. Speransky's activities in the Ministry were noticed by Emperor Alexander I, who re-appointed him Secretary of State. In 1808, Speransky accompanied Alexander to Erfurt for a meeting with Napoleon and in the same year presented his project for general political reform to the emperor for consideration.
The statesman Speransky had little understanding of court intrigues and relationships within the court. On his initiative, an exam for officials was introduced, and court service was abolished, and all court titles became only honorary titles and nothing more. All this caused irritation and hatred of the court. IN On the day of his 40th birthday, Speransky was awarded the Order. However, the ceremony of presentation was unusually strict, and it became clear thatThe reformer's "star" begins to fade. Speransky's ill-wishers (among whom were the Swedish baron Gustav Armfeld, chairman of the Committee on Finnish Affairs, and A.D. Balashov, head of the Ministry of Police) became even more active. They conveyed to Alexander all the gossip and rumors about the Secretary of State. At the same time, the self-confidence of Speransky himself, his careless reproaches against Alexander I for inconsistency in state affairs, ultimately overflowed the cup of patience and irritated the emperor.Contemporaries would call this resignation “the fall of Speransky.” In reality, what happened was not a simple fall of a high dignitary, but the fall of a reformer with all the ensuing consequences. Speransky in 1812 was accused of treason, arrested, dismissed from all positions and exiled to Perm, from where he was soon transferred under police supervision to the his small estate Velikopolye, Novgorod province. At first, he was forced to pawn the royal gifts and orders bestowed upon him in order to provide himself with at least some decent living.
Opala M.M. Speransky's reign ended in 1816 and he was appointed governor of Penza, where he lived for about three years and took vigorous measures to restore order. In 1819, Speransky became the Siberian governor-general with extraordinary powers to carry out an audit. In 1821, he returned to St. Petersburg with the results of the audit and with a draft of a new Code for Siberia. His plans were approved, he himself was generously awarded and appointed a member of the State Council and head of the Commission on Civil Code.
After the accession of Nicholas I, Speransky was tasked with compiling a complete set of laws of the Russian Empire from the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich to Alexander I. Speransky completed this task at the age of 4 (1826-1830). For his government activities in 1839, shortly before his death, Speransky was awarded the title of count.
Mikhail Speransky (1772 - 1839) was not a hereditary nobleman. Four generations of clergy, honest and respectable subjects of the Russian Empire - that’s what their family was proud of. The boy learned to read and write early, and at the age of five he himself read the Law of God and the Psalter. At the age of seven, he easily entered the Vladimir Seminary. Mikhail showed qualities that were rare for a child of his age: curiosity, perseverance, and the ability to briefly and clearly present the most difficult concepts. The teachers first nicknamed him Speransky, and then suggested choosing this word as a surname. Speransky is Nadezhdin in Russian.
The seminary selected the best students and sent them to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. And in this seminary there was no equal to him in training and diligence. He was ready to teach, but a happy accident intervened. His Excellency A.B. Kurakin chose the secretary. There was no better candidate than Speransky. This is how the former seminarian ended up at the court of Paul I. He was collected, neat, literate and smart. His erudition could be the envy of professors, and his ability to speak could be the envy of the best speakers.
Speransky became an important person in the state in just three years. He is accepted at court, rich, and given the title of nobility. He is married, he loves, is loved and is happy. He is 27 years old, he is an active state councilor. But fate not only spoiled Speransky, it took his beautiful wife away from him. The birth was difficult, the child survived, but the mother died. He was a monogamous man and never married again. He raised his daughter alone and had no mistresses. This story adds one more touch to the portrait of Speransky - he gave all his spiritual strength to the Fatherland and his daughter.
Under Alexander I, he was invited to serve in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Count Kochubey, the head of the department, valued the new employee and instructed him to understand the most complex legal issues. Speransky stood out from his colleagues. He is honest, did not take bribes, and did not know how to be mean. He argued that the rule of law is the main condition for the existence of the state. He openly stated that a reform was needed, as a result of which a constitutional monarchy would appear in Russia. Oddly enough, the Emperor supported Speransky’s innovations; he was not afraid of the phrase “destroy the autocracy.”
Emperor's Secretary- this is the name of the new position of the young official. His career was envied by: Deputy Minister of Justice, Privy Councilor, Secretary of State, Director of the Law Commission. The emperor’s personal order was to develop a State Education Plan, on which the “Unofficial Committee” worked. Alexander I considered this the most important task; he often met with Speransky and demanded daily reports.
Speransky managed to convince the emperor to change the procedure for obtaining titles and privileges. In the Russian Empire, since the time of Catherine II, it was customary to assign ranks to noble children. A child was born, and immediately the rank of fifth grade was handed to him on a platter. That is, he is still not smart, he doesn’t know how to walk, but he is listed as a chamberlain cadet. Ten years will pass, the child will come of age, then he will be awarded the title of chamberlain, and with it - a warm place and bread. Speransky worked on the decree. From now on, “non-service” chamber cadets and chamberlains had to take care of the place. If you do not serve the state, you lose your title, and with it the privileges that come with it. Completion period is two months.
Next, Speransky took up the “Table of Ranks”. He suggested checking officials before assigning them a new rank. The word “exam” scared everyone. Just think, noble children must prove their suitability for rank! Oh, and the little ones started fussing! A university diploma was all right, and it was still possible to master French as a foreign language. But law and economics, physics, statistics and economics... Lord, who is capable of this?! Five percent, ten at best. The rest flew into a rage, anticipating losses in the form of rewards and privileges.
Speransky was bursting with ideas. Before 1812, he managed to reorganize all ministries. He tried to make changes to the structure of the Senate, but his enemies managed to convince Alexander I to postpone the project until better times. Then the war began, then it was necessary to think about restoration. The project was put in a distant box and buried there. But the plan to establish a Lyceum in Tsarskoe Selo was accepted.
Speransky dreamed of a time when Russia would become a legal state. The impending changes and his enthusiasm frightened those close to the emperor, and as a result of palace intrigues, the brave reformer found himself in exile. First Nizhny Novgorod, then Perm. Until August 1816, Speransky lived on the brink of poverty. Having learned about this, the emperor changed his anger to mercy and appointed him governor of Penza. Speransky was in this post for only seven months.
His reforms:
- introduced local self-government;
- gave some of the duties of the governor to vice-governors;
- made officials responsible for receiving citizens;
- banned the sale of landless peasants;
- facilitated the conditions for peasants to leave serfdom;
- assigned a uniform fee;
- determined the conditions for issuing plots to landless peasants.
At the end of March 1812, Speransky received an order to restore order in Siberia and draw up a plan for its development within two years. For this purpose, he was given a new position - governor general. He coped with the task: all his proposals were approved and accepted for execution in 1821. Speransky was not in St. Petersburg for 9 years. The Emperor thanked him by appointing him a member of the State Council for the Department of Laws. Knowing how much Speransky loves his daughter, the emperor appointed her to the position of maid of honor. And he added three and a half thousand acres of land to him - a good increase in salary.
The most respected minister of the country- this is Speransky. Typically, a change of kings on the throne led to the removal of all major officials. Nicholas I, having replaced Alexander I on the throne, asked Speransky to remain in the government. The trial of the Decembrists became a difficult test for him. He knew some of them, and therefore was afraid of being biased. Moreover, Speransky agreed with many of their proposals. The emperor also understood the imperfection of the judicial system. They assembled a commission whose task is to streamline the legislation. Mikhail Speransky, of course, was appointed head of the commission. The work took five years, and the result was forty-five volumes of the “Complete Collection of Laws.”
Based on the material collected by the commission on the history of Russian legislation, the commission, working hard for another three years, compiled a complete “Code of Laws of the Russian Empire.” By decision of the State Council, it came into force on January 1, 1835.
For this truly titanic work, Nicholas I awarded Speransky the St. Andrew's Star, and he did this by removing this high award from himself.
Three years later, in December 1838, Speransky fell ill. It seemed like a common cold, but my weakened body couldn’t handle it. A New Year's gift from the emperor was the title of count, but the illness was so severe that there was no strength to rejoice. February 1839 was marked by severe frosts, but on January 11 it became warmer, the clouds cleared, and the sun came out. By noon the great reformer died. Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky was buried almost according to the royal protocol. The Alexander Nevsky Lavra received its former seminarian. Nicholas I was immensely upset. He understood that he would no longer be able to find a person equal to Speransky. Some courtiers recalled the words of Napoleon, who offered Alexander I to give him Mikhail Mikhailovich in exchange for any of his kingdoms. Others recalled Speransky’s reforms and listed his services to the Fatherland. Still others regretted that this amazing man was unable to realize his dream - to convince the emperor to abandon autocracy and make Russia a constitutional monarchy.