The strengthening of the tsar's power was expressed in the creation in 1704. Cabinet of Peter I- an institution that has the character of the personal office of the head of state on many issues of legislation and administration. The Cabinet apparatus consisted of an office secretary and several clerks, called clerks, sub-clerks and copyists. The office had the character of a military campaign office of the tsar, where regimental reports and other military and financial documents were received. Cabinet officials kept a daily “Journal”, i.e. a record of the king's whereabouts and pastimes, which reflected not only court events, but also military events. Peter I transferred all papers, drawings and books to the Cabinet for safekeeping.

Over time, the role of the Cabinet increased. Through him, Peter I corresponded with Russian envoys abroad, governors, as well as correspondence on mining and manufacturing matters (about the issuance of privileges, about state-owned factories, states, etc.). Petitions, complaints and even denunciations from subjects were addressed to the Cabinet. In addition, it was through the Cabinet that Peter I maintained contact with the Senate, Synod, collegiums and governors. This body ceased to exist in 1727, after the death of Peter.

In February 1711 was founded Governing Senate. Since that time, the Boyar Duma is the last state. the body limiting the power of the monarch was abolished. The Council of Ministers was also liquidated. Instead, a permanently functioning highest government collegial body was established - the Senate “for our constant absences in these wars,” and therefore the Senate was ordered to be obeyed as itself. The king personally wrote the text of the oath for the senators. It, in particular, contained the words: “I promise... before the Lord God, who has created all things, that I will fulfill my calling honestly and purely, without laziness, but even more zealously.”

At first, the Senate consisted of persons appointed by the tsar, then it became a meeting of presidents of the colleges; since 1722, its composition was mixed, including both presidents of the colleges and specially appointed members - senators, alien to the colleges. This government body was in charge of justice issues, treasury expenses and taxes, trade, and control over administrative officials at all levels.

The Senate had: discharge table(later it was replaced by the heraldic office), which was in charge of the registration of nobles, their service, appointment to government positions and execution chamber- to investigate official crimes.

At first, the functions of the Senate were legislative and executive. He had to take care of the observance of justice, about state revenues (“collect as much money as possible, since money is the artery of war”) and expenses, about the attendance of nobles for military service, etc.

It was entrusted to organize and control the activities of the Senate Prosecutor General, whose duties included: “to sit in the Senate and watch firmly, so that the Senate maintains its position and in all matters that are subject to Senate consideration and decision, truly, zealously and decently, without wasting time, according to regulations and decrees.” The Prosecutor General also convened senators, monitored their attendance at meetings, and attended them himself. He and his assistant, the chief prosecutor, exercised public supervision over the activities of all institutions. The prosecutor general, responsible only to the king, was subordinate to the collegiums and court courts. All cases coming to the Senate passed through his hands.

BODIES OF STATE AUTHORITY AND MANAGEMENT OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE

UNDER PETER I

The Senate was a supervisory body over the government apparatus and officials. This supervision was carried out by “guardians of bureaucratic morality” - fiscals. Their duties included secretly eavesdropping, “inspecting” and reporting on all crimes that harmed the state: violation of laws, embezzlement, bribery, etc. The fiscal was not punished for unfair denunciations, but for correct denunciations he received a reward equal to half the court fine from the official he convicted. Their activities were led by the fiscal general and chief fiscal, who were members of the Senate. Fiscals at collegiums, provincial fiscals in provinces and city fiscals in cities were subordinated to them.

Unlike the Boyar Duma, the Governing Senate already in the first years of its activity became a bureaucratic institution with a staff of appointed officials, clerks and subordinate institutions.

The Senate played a big role in strengthening absolutism. He concentrated the leadership of central and local government bodies, and his decisions were not subject to appeal.

After the death of Peter I, the role of the Senate as a body directing the activities of central government institutions began to decline.

In 1726, to resolve issues of domestic and foreign policy, it was created Supreme Privy Council with a very narrow composition. The decisive role in his activities was played by Menshikov and his closest supporters. After the death of Peter, the Senate and collegiums were actually subordinate to the Supreme Privy Council. In 1730 it was abolished.

Established in 1731 Cabinet of Ministers, which was initially advisory in nature, but by decree of 1735 it was given legislative powers. Collegiums and local government bodies exercised their powers by submitting reports and reports to the cabinet of ministers. He worked until 1741.

The activities of the Senate intensified again. In addition to the Senate, issues of a national nature were resolved by the Senate created in 1741. His Majesty's Cabinet, headed by the Empress's secretary Elizaveta Petrovna .

At Peter III was established Imperial Council, which consisted of 8 people.

Catherine II created in 1769 Council at the Highest Court. At first he dealt with military issues, and then with the internal politics of the country. It included the heads of central government bodies, and it operated until 1801.

Before the creation of the collegiums, the central governing bodies were orders.

During the XVI-XVII centuries. there were about 100 orders. However, it cannot be assumed that they all acted simultaneously. Only 40-50 were constantly functioning, the rest arose and ceased their activities as needed. The most important orders were three: Ambassadorial, Discharge and Local. They have been the main pillar of the Russian public administration system for more than 200 years. The uncertainty of the number of orders was the essence of the order system itself - fluid, changing, adapting to various historical conditions and at the same time unchanged. The order system was quite flexible, effective and at the same time simple and convenient for its era. Custom, centuries-tested experience reigned over everything: clerks easily understood the intricacies of various matters.

All orders are divided into three large groups: 1) Orders of national competence, 2) Palace, 3) Patriarchal. The first group of orders concentrated the main functions of governing the Russian state. It was the most numerous and included both permanent and temporary Orders.

Centralization and systematization of administrative management in the 17th century. turned out to be impossible because the formation and functioning of the order system were based on principles that did not allow it to develop into a strict system of sectoral management. The concentration of various cases in separate orders was combined with the dispersion of homogeneous, identical cases between several orders, which created a kind of departmental patchwork. For example, the Ambassadorial Prikaz dealt not only with foreign policy, but also with a host of other matters; it kept records of foreigners living in Russia, dealt with the Kasimov Tatars, the ransom of prisoners, etc. Since the 60s. XVII century The embassy order was in charge of the post office, the affairs of the Don Cossacks, the court and the collection of customs and tavern revenues, the appointment of governors, clerks, etc. Local-patrimonial affairs were tried in the Local Prikaz, but they were also within the competence of some other orders: Razryadny, Siberian, Kazan.

The fullness of rights inherent in the activities of such territorial orders as Kazan, Astrakhan, Siberian, Smolensky, contradicted the functioning of the “sectoral” orders - Ambassadorial, Discharge, Local and others. Until the end of the existence of the order system, most of the country was governed through territorial (regional) orders. They had all the power of the central institutions, but only in a certain territory. For that time, this was most acceptable for the integrity of the state and autocratic power.

In the 17th century relations between orders were not regulated by any specific law. In practice, methods of relations between institutions were developed, which clerks traditionally followed. Orders could not give orders to those government agencies that were subordinate to other orders. A specific feature of the order system was the existence of a unique system of combining orders, which consisted of the main order and awards (thus, the Malorossiysk, Novgorod, etc. fell under the subordination of the Ambassadorial order). The courts did not have their own judges. Such an order, without changing the internal structure, was subordinate to another order and had a common judge with it, who was the judge of the commanding order. Along with the affairs of his order, he examined the affairs of the court. The latter easily turned into tables of the main order and could “wander” from one order to another.

The liquidation of the order as an independent unit did not mean that in the future it had no prospect of being reborn as an independent institution - a full-fledged order. This uncertainty of the order structure allowed orders to merge and separate.

Through orders, the state carried out not only diplomatic functions, sectoral or territorial administration, but also the management of social groups, which were formed and existed in the form of specific public service categories - ranks. Thus, orders were both judicial and administrative bodies. In the judicial sphere, the process of centralization was also neither consistent nor straightforward. For example, the Local Order contained two regiments and independently conducted trials and reprisals.

The financing of orders reflected the essence of the order system: the orders created were orders, and a source of financing was sought for it, be it a special tax or an amount extracted from the cash desk of another order. In addition, a certain territory was attached to the order, from whose population he levied taxes. Over the years, certain combinations of income orders and expense orders have developed. But the bulk of the money was distributed haphazardly: if one order had money, it went to the one where there was not enough of it.

Peter I sought to adapt the order system to the needs of the state (mainly military). In 1689, the Preobrazhensky Prikaz was formed, initially in charge of the affairs of the Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky soldier regiments.

During preparations for the second Azov campaign in 1696, the Ship or Admiralty Order was created, which was engaged in the construction of ships, their weapons and equipment.

In 1700, the Provision Order was formed for the centralized supply of troops with food and uniforms. At the same time, the Reitarsky and Inozemny orders were combined into one and received the name of the Order of Military Affairs.

Noting the serious shortcomings of the command system of management, it must be said that it nevertheless fulfilled its role in centralizing the Russian state.

Based on the materials of the Ambassadorial Order - one of the most important in the management system - it is possible to reconstruct the hierarchy of official positions in the civil service in the 17th century:

1) Duma ranks: boyars, okolnichy, Duma nobles, Duma clerks.

2) Nobles according to the Moscow list: translators of the 1st article, translators of the 2nd article, interpreters (translators).

4) Clerks of the 1st article: gold scribes of the 1st article, clerks of the 1st, 3rd articles, untimely clerks.

5) Service people in the fatherland: translators of the 1st article, translators of the 2nd article, interpreters, village heads, village residents.

6) Service people according to the instrument: translators of the 1st article, translators of the 2nd article, gold writers of the 2nd article, interpreters, village workers, bailiffs, watchmen.

Everyone who entered service in the Ambassadorial Prikaz, regardless of social status, was classified as a member of the service class. Thus, this reconstruction is an attempt to correlate the position of this or that employee both in the Ambassadorial Prikaz and in the general command hierarchy.

A radical restructuring of the order system occurred in the period from 1717 to 1720, when orders were created instead collegium. The Swedish system, then considered the best in Europe, was chosen as a model for creating a central management system. Its main feature was collegiality. It was assumed that collegial decision-making would make it possible to combine knowledge to find the best solutions (“what one does not comprehend, another will comprehend”), and decision-making would speed up, they would be more authoritative and independent. There was also hope that embezzlement and bribery - the vices of the order system - would be eliminated.

A total of 12 boards were established:

Military Collegium was in charge of the ground forces, was involved in the training of officers, recruitment, weapons and financing of the army. It was in charge of clothing and food supplies to the army, as well as the construction of military fortifications.

Admiralty College was in charge of the construction of both the military and merchant fleets, managed the state's naval forces, trained officers, sailors, supplies, financing and weapons. In addition, the board was in charge of forestry, because the fleet in those days was built from wood.

Collegium of Foreign Affairs managed external relations: reception and departure of embassies, diplomatic office work, etc.

Chamber collegium was the main body of financial revenues of the state. It was in charge of salt mines, coinage, and state roads for supplying grain during crop failures.

State-office-college or state office was in charge of issues of state expenditures for the maintenance of the army, issues of the state treasury, and issued sums of money at the direction of the tsar or the Senate.

Audit Board was endowed with financial control functions - monitored the expenditure of funds by central and local institutions by reconciling receipts and expenditure books.

Berg College managed the mining and metallurgical industries.

Manufactory Collegium supervised the construction of state-owned manufactories and monitored their work.

Commerce Collegium managed foreign trade. It was in charge of the export of ship timber, furs and other goods, the export of which constituted a state monopoly.

Justice Collegium was in charge of the court, appointment to judicial positions.

The affairs of the clergy were handled by the church created in 1721. Spiritual College. It was then renamed to Holy Government Synod.

They obeyed the king and the Senate. Their functions and powers were clearly defined, the organizational structure and office work were unified. The main form of activity of the board was a meeting of its general presence, which was formed by the president, vice-president, 4-5 advisers and 4 assessors (assistants). To supervise the activities of the presidents of the boards, prosecutors were appointed to them, subordinate to the prosecutor general of the Senate.

At the head of the collegiate chancellery was a secretary, who was in charge of its staff: a notary or recorder, who was responsible for the minutes of meetings; a registrar whose duty was to keep records of incoming and outgoing documents; actuary - custodian of documents: translator and many scribes and copyists.

The collegiums established the following procedure for considering cases: all unopened correspondence was received through the official on duty. The sovereign's decrees were printed personally by the chairman, and other papers by the senior member of the board. After registering the document, the secretary reported on its contents to the presence, and public affairs were considered first, then private ones. The members of the presence expressed their opinions one by one, starting with the youngest, without repeating themselves (“from below, without falling into each other’s speech”). Cases were decided “by the largest number of votes.” If the number of votes cast “for” and “against” was equal, then the side on which the chairman was took the advantage. The protocol and decision were signed by all those present.

The advantages of boards compared to orders were collegial discussion and resolution of cases, uniformity of organizational structure, and clearer competence. The activities and office work of the boards were strictly regulated by law.

Unfortunately, not all of Peter I's plans were destined to come true. In practice, the collegiate system turned out to be not as effective as its creator had hoped. This was due to the shortcomings of the regulatory documents that underlay their activities; many shortcomings were inherited from the order system. In addition, the principle of collegiality itself did not always work: the presidents of the boards had a real decisive influence on decision-making.

In 1720 it was formed Chief Magistrate. Its composition was appointed by the king from the merchant class, had a collegial structure and was intended to manage the activities of city trade.

As a result of Peter's reforms, a large number of orders were replaced by several boards, which made it possible to establish widespread control over their activities. The activities of the collegiums extended throughout the entire territory of Russia. However, the reforms were not completely consistent with Peter I. The sectoral principle was not fully adhered to. Thus, the Berg, Manufactur and Commerce Collegium sometimes carried out judicial and financial matters (collecting customs duties, collecting taxes, etc.).

In addition, the collegiums did not cover all aspects of state administration: post office, police, education, medicine, and did not subordinate palace land administration. In addition, orders were in effect in parallel with the collegiums. The palace lands and peasants were governed by the Order of the Great Palace. In the 70-80s. XVIII century most colleges were abolished. Only four colleges have survived: Military, Admiralty, Foreign Affairs and Medical.

However, in 1796, the collegiums were again restored, and were subordinate to the “director over the collegium”, who had the right to personally report to the tsar.

Reforms of central government bodies under Peter 1.

Around 1700, Peter I abolished the Boyar Duma, replacing it with a Council of Ministers consisting of 8–14 (in different years) of his closest associates. This body was also called the Near Chancellery, which was in charge of affairs during Peter’s numerous absences from the capital. In 1711, after leaving for the front, Peter issued a decree establishing the Governing Senate, 9 members of which were appointed by the tsar. They were entrusted with leading the country in his absence. A little later, the functions of the Senate were determined: in charge of trade, recruiting the army, collecting taxes, court, a strict procedure was established for discussing issues and making decisions (based on unanimity). Later, the Senate expanded its composition: it began to include the presidents of the colleges, since 1722 - only the main 4, as well as 2 “commissars” from each province.

The Senate was essentially the highest legislative, judicial and control body of the empire. He issued decrees on all issues of foreign and domestic policy, acted as a court of first instance for senior officials and considered cases on appeal from lower courts, audited the activities of the provincial authorities, and exercised control functions. To fulfill the latter, a secret position of fiscal was established under the Senate, which had a staff of subordinates and was supposed to “secretly inspect” and “report” on the abuses of officials, while receiving a quarter of the amounts discovered from embezzlers and bribe-takers. The institution of fiscals soon grew, under the leadership of the fiscal general appointed by the tsar, the chief fiscal, the fiscals at the collegiums, the provincial fiscals in the provinces and the city fiscals in the cities worked.

The functions of police supervision were also the responsibility of the prosecutor general, whose position was established in 1722. Conceived as “police over the administration,” the position quickly acquired the necessary staff (chief prosecutors, prosecutors at collegiums and court courts) and turned into the watchful “eye of the sovereign” " Police functions in relation to the population were assigned to the administration of all ranks, which was obliged to control not only the public, but also the private life of its subjects. Since 1718, the position of police chief was introduced in cities; the local administration and elders were subordinate to him.

Peter I, carrying out reforms in the field of economics, tried to adapt the old command system of management to new tasks. But the attempt was not successful; a radical reform had to be carried out, reorganizing and partially abolishing the orders and creating in their place new bodies - collegiums (in the image of Sweden). First, in 1718, 10 collegiums appeared (Foreign Affairs, Chamber, State, Revision Offices, Justice, Commerce, Berg, Manufacture, Military and Admiralty), which were entrusted with the army and navy, industry and trade, finance. A little later, the Patrimonial Collegium and the Chief Magistrate were added to them.

The structure and procedure for the activities of the collegiums were regulated by the General Regulations of 1720 - a kind of charter for the civil service. In addition, regulations for each board were issued. The staff of the boards was small: president (Russian), vice-president (German), 4 advisers and 4 assessors (under Catherine II, the number of the latter was reduced to 2, and the entire staff to 6 people). Decisions were made at the general meeting by a majority vote.

With the abolition of orders, the old office work was also reformed. Peter I banned column-scrolls, clerks and clerks, memories and unsubscribes became a thing of the past. New office servants appeared: secretaries, notaries, registrars, actuaries, translators, and clerks. From the time of Peter the Great, protocols, reports, reports, statements, petitions, etc. began to be written.

Peter I's attitude towards the church was twofold. On the one hand, Peter did not tolerate “atheism” (atheism) and understood the importance of religion and the church in building the state. On the other hand, while creating a secular state, he tried to eliminate the spiritual leadership of the church and turn it into part of the state apparatus. And he succeeded. Helping the Orthodox Church in the fight against the schism, Peter launched massive repressions against schismatics, but at the same time abolished the patriarchate. When Patriarch Adrian, who was in conflict with the tsar on the issue of religious tolerance and relations with the West, died in 1700, Peter did not hold elections for a new one, but entrusted the management of the church to the Ryazan Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky, who was declared “locum tenens of the patriarchal throne.” After Yavorsky, dissatisfied with the tsar’s onslaught on the material wealth of the church, “shouted a speech” against the tsar in 1712, he was actually removed from spiritual affairs, which passed into the hands of other favorites, F. Prokopovich in particular. In 1721, in place of the Monastery Prikaz, a Synod appeared - a spiritual board to manage the affairs of the church. The Synod consisted of 12 persons, the highest hierarchs appointed by the king. The Chief Prosecutor of the Synod, who had the right to veto any decision of the hierarchs, was appointed a secular person, as a rule, a retired officer. The Synod oversaw the purity of faith (conversion from Orthodoxy to another faith was prohibited), the interpretation of church dogmas, and was in charge of matters concerning marriages. Under Peter, all churches of other faiths, Lutheran, Catholic and partly non-Christian, were subordinate to the Synod.

Peter I the Great (Peter Alekseevich; May 30 (June 9), 1672 - January 28 (February 8), 1725) - Tsar of Moscow from the Romanov dynasty (since 1682) and the first All-Russian Emperor (since 1721). In Russian historiography he is considered one of the most outstanding statesmen who determined the direction of Russia's development in the 18th century. Peter was proclaimed tsar in 1682 at the age of 10, and began to rule independently in 1689. From a young age, showing interest in science and foreign lifestyles, Peter was the first of the Russian tsars to make a long trip to the countries of Western Europe. Upon returning from it in 1698, Peter launched large-scale reforms of the Russian state and social structure. One of Peter's main achievements was the significant expansion of Russian territories in the Baltic region after the victory in the Great Northern War, which allowed him to take the title of first emperor of the Russian Empire in 1721. Four years later, Emperor Peter I died, but the state he created continued to expand rapidly throughout the 18th century.

20. When Russia became an empire

The Russian Empire, also Russia in the corresponding period, is the name of the Russian state in the period from 1721 to the February Revolution and the proclamation of the republic in 1917. The Empire was proclaimed following the Great Northern War by Peter I the Great. The capital of the Russian Empire was first St. Petersburg in 1713-1728, then Moscow in 1728-1730, then again St. Petersburg in 1730-1914 and Petrograd in 1914-1918.

21. What new authorities appeared under Peter 1

These are collegiums. They begin to take shape in 1717. It was assumed that the collegiums would introduce two new principles into management, namely the systematic division of departments and the deliberative procedure for resolving cases. In 1718, a register of colleges was adopted. Under Peter I, the boyar duma ceased to meet, but the need for an advisory body did not disappear, so it was initially replaced by a council of ministers, and subsequently in 1711 by the Senate. The Senate was created by Peter during his departure on campaign as a body that replaced him during his absence, but even after that it remained active. The Senate was a body with deliberative, executive and judicial powers, and gradually even received some opportunities to make decisions that were in the nature of law and binding (but the king could very easily cancel them). In sectoral management, the command system of management was replaced by a collegial one (in 1717-1719), which had not only administrative, but also judicial power. The board was headed by its president, but he was only the presiding officer and nothing more. Unlike orders, the boards had regulations on their structure. Initially there were about 10 collegiums, and from the bottom there were three most important: military, naval and foreign affairs. Representatives of these three colleges remained in the Senate even when representatives of all the others were removed from the Senate. At that time, all colleges, and not just the justice college, had judicial powers. Under Peter I, provinces were created (1708, first 8 provinces), which changed order in dividing Russia into territorial-administrative units. Later, the provinces were divided into provinces (in which governors ruled), and those, in turn, into counties. Courts appeared and the first of them were court courts, which existed in each county, in addition, in some cities there was a judge, and where there were none, there their powers were exercised by magistrates. Peter also created a system of military and naval courts. Prosecutor's offices appeared, which were created from above: first, in 1722, the rank of prosecutor general was created, then the fiscals (already created in 1711 as employees of the secret surveillance body) were reassigned to him. At first, the prosecutor's office was a body of general supervision; in addition, the prosecutor general supervised the Senate. Process. Peter I made an attempt to destroy competition in the process. He made this attempt in 1697 by issuing a decree on the transfer of all cases to the search (that is, there were no confrontations with witnesses, etc.), but in reality this did not succeed. In 1715, a future part of the military regulations appeared, called “A Brief Description of the Process,” according to which all cases were searched. In 1723, another decree “On the form of the court” was adopted, which established the procedure for conducting cases on private applications. The development of law during this period is characterized by the development of state and administrative law as a branch. Regulations were introduced. No significant changes occurred in civil law. In criminal law, codification occurred in the field of military criminal law (“Military Articles”, where articles on misdeeds and crimes in the army were collected, but most of the articles were borrowed from the West).

After the termination of convocations of Zemsky Councils, the Boyar Duma remained, in fact, the only body restraining the power of the tsar. However, as new bodies of power and administration were formed in the Russian state, the Duma, by the beginning of the 18th century, ceased to act as a body of representative power of the boyars.

In 1699, the Near Chancellery was created (an institution that exercised administrative and financial control in the state), which was formally the office of the Boyar Duma. In 1708, as a rule, 8 people participated in the meetings of the Duma, all of them administered various orders, and this meeting was called the Council of Ministers.

After the formation of the Senate, the Council of Ministers (1711) ceased to exist. On February 22, 1711, Peter personally wrote a decree on the composition of the Senate. All members of the Senate were appointed by the king from among his immediate circle (initially - 8 people).

The structure of the Senate developed gradually. Initially, the Senate consisted of senators and the chancellery; later, two departments were formed within it: the Execution Chamber - for judicial affairs (existed as a special department until the establishment of the College of Justice) and the Senate Office for management issues.

The Senate had auxiliary bodies (positions), which did not include senators; such bodies were the racketeer, the master of arms, and provincial commissars.

The duties of the racketeer master included receiving complaints against boards and offices. If they complained about red tape, the racketeer master personally demanded that the case be expedited; if there were complaints about the “unjustice” of the boards, then, after considering the case, he reported it to the Senate. The duties of the herald master (the position was established in 1722) included compiling lists of the entire state, nobles, and ensuring that no more than 1/3 of each noble family was in the civil service. Provincial commissars were directly involved in the execution of decrees sent by the Senate and collegiums.

However, the creation of the Senate could not complete the management reforms, since there was no intermediate link between the Senate and the provinces, and many orders continued to be in effect. In 1717-1722 to replace 44 orders of the late 17th century. the boards came.

Decrees of December 11, 1717 “On the staff of the Collegiums and the time of their opening” and of December 15, 1717 “On the appointment of Presidents and Vice-Presidents in the Collegiums” created 9 collegiums: Foreign Affairs, Chambers, Justice, Revision, Military , Admiralty, Commerce, State Office, Berg and Manufactory.

The competence of the Collegium of Foreign Affairs included managing “all foreign and embassy affairs”, coordinating the activities of diplomatic agents, managing relations and negotiations with foreign ambassadors, and carrying out diplomatic correspondence.

The Chamber Collegium exercised supreme supervision over all types of fees (customs duties, drinking taxes), monitored arable farming, collected data on the market and prices, and controlled salt mines and coinage. The Chamber Collegium had its representatives in the provinces.

The Justice Collegium exercised judicial functions in criminal offenses, civil and fiscal cases, and headed an extensive judicial system, consisting of provincial lower and city courts, as well as court courts.

The Audit Board was instructed to exercise financial control over the use of public funds by central and local authorities.

The Military Collegium was entrusted with the management of “all military affairs”: recruiting the regular army, managing the affairs of the Cossacks, setting up hospitals, supplying the army.

The Admiralty Board was in charge of “the fleet with all naval military servants, including maritime affairs and departments.” It included the Naval and Admiralty offices, as well as the Uniform, Waldmeister, Academic, Canal offices and the Particular shipyard.

The Commerce Collegium promoted the development of all branches of trade, especially foreign trade, carried out customs supervision, drew up customs regulations and tariffs, monitored the correctness of weights and measures, was engaged in the construction and equipment of merchant ships, and performed judicial functions.

The State Office Collegium exercised control over government spending and constituted the state staff (the staff of the emperor, the staff of all boards, provinces, and provinces).

The responsibilities of the Berg Collegium included issues of the metallurgical industry, the management of mints and monetary yards, the purchase of gold and silver abroad, and judicial functions within its competence. The Berg Collegium was merged with another - the Manufactory Collegium, which dealt with issues of all industry, excluding mining, and managed the manufactories of the Moscow province, the central and north-eastern part of the Volga region and Siberia.

In 1721, the Patrimonial Collegium was formed, which was designed to resolve land disputes and litigation, formalize new land grants, and consider complaints about controversial decisions on local and patrimonial matters.

Also in 1721, the Spiritual College was formed, which was later transformed in 1722 into the Holy Governing Synod, which had equal rights with the Senate and was subordinate directly to the tsar. The Synod was the main central institution for ecclesiastical matters: it appointed bishops, exercised financial control and judicial functions regarding crimes such as heresy, blasphemy, schism, etc.

The Little Russian Collegium was formed by decree of April 27, 1722 with the goal of “protecting the Little Russian people” from “unjust courts” and “oppression” by taxes on the territory of Ukraine.

In total, by the end of the first quarter of the 18th century. there were 13 collegiums, which became central government institutions, formed on a functional basis. In addition, there were other central institutions (for example, the Secret Chancellery, formed in 1718, which was in charge of investigation and prosecution of political crimes, the Chief Magistrate, formed in 1720 and governing the urban estate, the Medical Chancellery).

The subsequent development of the principle of official, bureaucratic seniority was reflected in Peter’s “Table of Ranks” (1722). The new law divided the service into civilian and military. It defined 14 classes, or ranks, of officials. Anyone who received the rank of 8th class became a hereditary nobleman. The ranks from the 14th to the 9th also gave nobility, but only personal. The positive features of the new bureaucratic apparatus were professionalism, specialization, and normativity; the negative features were its complexity, high cost, self-employment, and inflexibility.

As a result of public administration reforms, a huge army of officials was formed, which became susceptible to corruption.

To control the activities of the state apparatus, Peter I, by his decrees of March 2 and 5, 1711, created the fiscal (from the Latin fiscus - state treasury) as a special branch of the Senate administration (“to carry out fiscals in all matters”). The network of fiscal officials expanded, and gradually two principles of formation of fiscal authority emerged: territorial and departmental. The decree of March 17, 1714 ordered that in each province “there should be 4 people, including provincial fiscals from whatever ranks it is worthy, also from the merchant class.” The provincial fiscal monitored the city fiscals and once a year “exercised” control over them. In the spiritual department, the organization of fiscals was headed by a proto-inquisitor, in dioceses - provincial fiscals, in monasteries - inquisitors.

The hopes placed by Peter I on the fiscals were not fully justified. In addition, the highest state body, the Governing Senate, remained without constant control. The Emperor understood that it was necessary to create a new institution, standing, as it were, above the Senate and above all other government institutions. The prosecutor's office became such a body.

The system of supervisory and controlling state bodies was complemented by the Secret Chancellery, whose responsibility was to supervise the work of all institutions, including the Senate, Synod, fiscals and prosecutors.