Closely with provincial reform 1775 was also associated with transformations of central institutions. Their The general trend one is the liberation of central institutions from the affairs of current management and the concentration of power in the hands of the empress.
Back in 1763, the Senate finally lost its broad powers. Then it was divided into 6 departments. Two of them (one in St. Petersburg and the other in Moscow) were engaged in court cases, one was in charge of the affairs of Ukraine and the Baltic states, another department performed the functions of the Moscow Senate office, etc. Only one of the six departments retained some political significance(publication of laws). Thus, the Senate became the highest judicial appellate institution.
At the same time, the role of the Senate Prosecutor General and Chief Prosecutor increased sharply. Through the Prosecutor General (and they were under Catherine II long years there was Prince A.A. Vyazemsky) Empress and was now in contact with the Senate. The Prosecutor General had enormous power. Vyazemsky concentrated in his hands the functions of the Minister of Finance, Justice and State Treasurer.
The most important link government controlled became the Cabinet of Catherine II with its secretaries of state. Many issues were now considered in the Cabinet domestic policy(Senate business, questions industrial policy etc.) The most important figures were the secretaries of state of Catherine II, such as A.V. Olsufiev, A.V. Khrapovitsky, G.N. Teplov and others. Through them, Catherine II conducted the bulk of government affairs. Some of Catherine's nobles carried out personal assignments in a certain part of domestic politics. So, I.I. Betskoy was the main figure in the field of education, L.I. Minich - in the field of customs policy, etc. Thus, the principle of individual management gradually arose, which subsequently resulted in the organization of ministries. Over time, the need was discovered to create a council for the empress from the closest and most influential dignitaries. Since 1769, the Imperial Council began to operate.
In connection with the transfer of most of the affairs of current management to the localities, to provincial institutions, the role of the boards sharply decreased and in the 80s there was a need to eliminate them. Of the collegiums, only three continued to maintain a strong position - Foreign Affairs, Military and Admiralty. The Synod also retained its position as one of the collegiums, but now the Synod was in complete subordination to secular power.
As a result of all these transformations, the autocratic power absolute monarch, the dictatorship of the local nobility also strengthened, and a strong police-bureaucratic system of institutions was created that lasted until the era of the fall of serfdom.
1.4 Contradictions in the structure of provincial institutions
It is easy to notice, first of all, the extraordinary complexity of the provincial government mechanism created by Catherine. We see here, first of all, the strong influence that the ideas disseminated by the then political literature of the West, mainly the idea of separation of powers, had on these institutions. Without a strict separation of powers - legislative, executive (administrative) and judicial - the then leading publicist could not imagine a correct state structure. Catherine paid a very generous tribute to this idea in her provincial institutions .
From another source emerged the complex structure of class courts.
True, Beccaria’s idea was repeated in the “Order” that for proper legal proceedings it is useful to establish a court of equals, in order to thereby limit the pressure exerted on the court by the higher classes - the nobility and clergy; but the created class judicial places, with the idea of the equality of all before the law expressed in the “Nakaz”, responded with something of a feudal, medieval division of classes. Reviewing the orders of noble deputies in the Commission of 1767, it is easy to notice this source. Many orders expressed the strong desire of the estate to join the district estate corporations and take an active part in local government and court. To select deputies to the Commission, the nobility gathered in counties and elected county leaders; Now the nobles expressed to the Commission their desire that the estate retain the right to choose these district leaders, meet at certain times and control the course of local government. Some orders even required that district governors - voivodes - be elected by the local nobility. The procedure for this participation of the nobility in government was especially precisely defined in the order of the Borovsk nobles: the order required that the district nobility gather at a congress every two years and elect a candidate from the entire district, who would act with the help of an elected commissar from each camp, or district. The district landrat carries out trials and reprisals against people of all conditions; The stanovoy, or district, commissioner helps him by conducting a preliminary investigation.
The desires expressed in the orders of the nobility were noticeably reflected in the provincial institutions of 1775; Obviously, the idea of district landrats was realized in the person of the district police officer; only the idea of a district commissar, or police officer, was postponed and implemented later, during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I.
So, the source of the contradiction noticeable in the structure of provincial institutions was the desires expressed by the nobility. The legislator, guided by Western European publicists, faced a nobility guided by practical Eastern European interests. Taking apart personnel administrative and judicial institutions created by Catherine, it is easy to see that this contradiction was inspired by the interests of one class. The idea that everyone should be judged by their peers, expressed in the “Order”, was not consistently implemented in provincial institutions. As we have seen, these institutions consisted of three layers. The top of them were non-estate institutions: provincial government, chambers - state, criminal and civil. All personnel in these institutions were appointed by the crown, without any participation of local society.
The second layer consisted of class provincial courts: the upper zemstvo court, the provincial magistrate and the upper reprisal, as well as all-class institutions - the court of conscience and the order of public charity. The personnel of the institutions of this second stratum was of a mixed nature: the chairman was appointed by the crown, but assessors, called councilors and assessors, were elected in each institution by a certain class, and in the conscience court and the order of public charity - by all three classes. In the same way, the third, lower layer, consisting of district courts with the police lower zemstvo court, were collegial institutions, but the personnel in them were all of zemstvo class origin: both the chairman and the assessors were elected by the classes. Only the chairman of the lower zemstvo justice, or the execution judge, who was in charge of the affairs of free cultivators, was appointed from among the bureaucrats by the highest local authority. Apparently, participation in local government and court was fairly evenly distributed in the lower and second instances among all classes of society. It is easy to notice, however, some predominance given to one class - the nobility; The lower zemstvo court was a police institution for the entire district, although its assessors in cases concerning free cultivators included assessors of the lower justice, but the chairman of the lower zemstvo court - the police officer - was elected only by the nobility. Moreover, the lower reprisals were not in all districts: their opening was left to the discretion of the governors, and they were established only in districts where there were a sufficient number of people of conditions subordinate to them, that is, free farmers; the lower reprisal was established only in the district where there were from 10 to 30 thousand souls of these states.
Thus, police order in the district, maintenance of security and silence, and the court, without distinction of status, were concentrated in the institutions of the nobility. There was another form in which the predominance of one class was also expressed - in provincial government. The highest provincial seats did not have a class character, but the government usually recruited the personnel of these institutions from the same class, whose representatives were elected to the class noble institutions: the governor, chairman and assessors of the highest provincial administrative and judicial institutions, as well as chambers, usually belonged to the origin of nobility.
Thus, the predominant importance of the estate in local government was expressed in two forms: 1) in the selection of personnel of estate-based noble institutions, 2) in the estate origin of the personnel of general non-estate institutions. Thanks to this predominance, the nobility became the leading class in local as well as central government. The nobleman dominated local government as an elected representative of his class; he also dominated it as a crown official appointed by the supreme power.
Catherine II sought to carry out reforms. Moreover, Russia fell to her in difficult situation: the army and navy were weakened, there was a large external debt, corruption, the collapse of the judicial system, etc.
Provincial reform (1775):
“Institution for the management of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire” adopted on November 7 1775 of the year. Instead of the previous administrative division into provinces, provinces and districts, territories began to be divided into provinces and districts. The number of provinces increased from twenty-three to fifty. They, in turn, were divided into 10-12 counties. The troops of two or three provinces were commanded by the governor-general, otherwise called viceroy. Each province was headed by a governor, appointed by the Senate and reporting directly to the empress. The vice-governor was in charge of finances, and the Treasury Chamber was subordinate to him. The highest official of the district was the police captain. The centers of the counties were cities, but since there were not enough of them, 216 large rural settlements received city status.
Each class had its own court. The nobles were tried by the zemstvo court, the townspeople by magistrates, and the peasants by reprisals. Conscientious courts were also established, consisting of representatives of all three classes, which performed the function of a conciliation authority. All these courts were elective. More high authority there were judicial chambers whose members were appointed. And the highest judicial body Russian Empire there was a Senate.
Secularization reform (1764):
All monastic lands, as well as the peasants living on them, were transferred to the jurisdiction of a specially established College of Economy. The state took upon itself the content of monasticism, but from that moment it acquired the right to determine necessary for the empire number of monasteries and monks.
Senate Reform:
December 15, 1763 The manifesto of Catherine II “On the establishment of departments in the Senate, Justice, Patrimonial and Revision Boards, on the division of affairs in them” was published. The role of the Senate was narrowed, and the powers of its head, the Prosecutor General, on the contrary, were expanded. The Senate became the highest court. It was divided into six departments: the first (headed by the Prosecutor General himself) was in charge of state and political affairs in St. Petersburg, the second - judicial in St. Petersburg, the third - transport, medicine, sciences, education, art, the fourth - military-land and naval affairs, the fifth - state and political in Moscow and the sixth - the Moscow judicial department. The heads of all departments, except the first, were chief prosecutors subordinate to the prosecutor general.
Urban reform (1785):
The reform of Russian cities was regulated by the “Charter on the rights and benefits of cities of the Russian Empire,” which was issued by Catherine II in 1785. New elected institutions were introduced. The number of voters has increased. City residents were divided into six categories according to various property, class characteristics, as well as merits to society and the state, namely: real city inhabitants - those who owned real estate within the city; merchants of the three guilds; guild artisans; foreign and out-of-town guests; eminent citizens - architects, painters, composers, scientists, as well as wealthy merchants and bankers; townspeople - those who were engaged in handicrafts and crafts in the city. Each rank had its own rights, responsibilities and privileges.
Police reform (1782):
The “Charter of Deanery or Police” was introduced. According to it, the deanery board became the body of the city police department. It consisted of bailiffs, mayor and chief of police, as well as townspeople determined by elections. The trial for public violations: drunkenness, insults, gambling, etc., as well as for unauthorized construction and bribes, was carried out by the police themselves, and in other cases a preliminary investigation was carried out, after which the case was transferred to court. The punishments applied by the police were arrest, censure, imprisonment in a workhouse, a fine, and in addition, the prohibition of certain types of activities.
Education reform:
The creation of public schools in cities marked the beginning state system secondary schools in Russia. They were of two types: main schools in provincial cities and small schools in district ones. These educational institutions were supported by the treasury, and people of all classes could study there. School reform was held in 1782 year, and earlier in 1764 year, a school was opened at the Academy of Arts, as well as the Society of Two Hundred noble maidens, then (in 1772 year) - commercial school.
Currency reform (1768):
The State Bank and Loan Bank were formed. And also, for the first time in Russia, paper money (banknotes) was introduced into circulation.
Measures were taken to strengthen the nobility in the center and locally. For the first time in Russian legislation a document appeared that determined the activities of local government bodies and courts. This system of local authorities lasted until the Great Reforms of the 60s of the XIX century. Introduced by Catherine II Administrative division the country remained until 1917.
On November 7, 1775, the “Institution for the management of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire” was adopted. The country was divided into provinces, each of which was supposed to have a population of 300-400 thousand male souls. By the end of Catherine's reign, there were 50 provinces in Russia. At the head of the provinces were governors who reported directly to the empress, and their power was significantly expanded. The capitals and several other provinces were subordinate to governors general.
Under the governor, a provincial government was created, and the provincial prosecutor was subordinate to him. Finances in the province were handled by the Treasury Chamber, headed by the vice-governor. The provincial land surveyor was engaged in land management. Schools, hospitals, almshouses were in charge of the Order of Public Charity (look after - look after, patronize, take care of); For the first time, government institutions with social functions were created.
The provinces were divided into districts of 20-30 thousand male souls in each. Since there were clearly not enough city centers of districts, Catherine II renamed many large cities into cities. rural settlements by making them administrative centers. The main authority of the county became the Lower Zemstvo Court, headed by a police captain elected by the local nobility. A district treasurer and a district surveyor were appointed to the districts, following the model of the provinces.
Using the theory of separation of powers and improving the management system, Catherine II separated the judiciary from the executive. All classes, except for the serfs (for them the landowner was the owner and judge), had to take part in local government. Each class received its own court. The landowner was judged by the Upper Zemstvo Court in the provinces and the district court in the counties. State peasants were judged by the Upper Judgment in the province and the Lower Jurisprudence in the district, the townspeople were judged by the city magistrate in the district and the provincial magistrate in the province. All these courts were elected, with the exception of the lower courts, which were appointed by the governor. The Senate became the highest judicial body in the country, and in the provinces - the chambers of criminal and civil court, whose members were appointed by the state. New for Russia was the Conscientious Court, designed to stop strife and reconcile those who were quarreling. He was classless. The separation of powers was not complete, since the governor could interfere in court affairs.
The city was allocated as a separate administrative unit. At its head was the mayor, endowed with all rights and powers. Strict police control was introduced in cities. The city was divided into parts (districts), which were under the supervision of a private bailiff, and the parts, in turn, were divided into quarters, which were controlled by a quarterly overseer.
After the provincial reform, all boards ceased to function, with the exception of the Foreign, Military and Admiralty boards. The functions of the boards were transferred to provincial bodies. In 1775, the Zaporozhye Sich was liquidated, and most of the Cossacks were resettled to Kuban.
The existing system of managing the territory of the country in the new conditions solved the problem of strengthening the power of the nobility locally, its goal was to prevent new popular uprisings. The fear of the rebels was so great that Catherine II ordered the Yaik River to be renamed the Ural, and the Yaik Cossacks to be renamed the Ural. The number of local officials has more than doubled.
Letters granted to the nobility and cities
On April 21, 1785, on the birthday of Catherine II, Letters of Grant to the nobility and cities were simultaneously issued. It is known that Catherine II also prepared a draft Charter for state (state) peasants, but it was not published due to fears of noble discontent.
By issuing two charters, Catherine II regulated the legislation on the rights and responsibilities of the estates. In accordance with the “Charter on the rights, liberties and advantages of the noble Russian nobility”, they were exempted from compulsory service, personal taxes, and corporal punishment. The estates were declared the full property of the landowners, who, in addition, had the right to establish their own factories and factories. Nobles could only sue their peers and, without a noble court, could not be deprived of noble honor, life and property. The nobles of the province and district constituted the provincial and district corporations of the nobility, respectively, and elected their leaders, as well as local government officials. Provincial and district noble assemblies had the right to make representations to the government about their needs. The charter granted to the nobility consolidated and legally formalized the power of the nobility in Russia. The ruling class was given the name “noble”. The “Certificate of Rights and Benefits to the Cities of the Russian Empire” determined the rights and responsibilities of the urban population and the management system in cities. All townspeople were registered in the City Book of Philistines and formed a “city society.” It was announced that “the townspeople or real city dwellers are those who have a house or other building, or place, or land in that city.” Urban population divided into six categories. The first of them included the nobles and clergy living in the city; the second included merchants, divided into three guilds; in the third - guild artisans; the fourth category consisted of foreigners permanently living in the city; fifth - eminent townspeople, who included people with higher education and capitalists. The sixth are the townspeople who lived by crafts or work. Residents of the city elected a self-government body every three years - the General City Duma, the mayor and judges. The general city duma elected an executive body - a six-vote duma, which included one representative from each category of the city population. The City Duma decided on landscaping issues, public education, compliance with trade rules, etc. only with the knowledge of the mayor appointed by the government.
The charter placed all six categories of the urban population under state control. Real power in the city was in the hands of the mayor, the deanery and the governor.
Education reform
Catherine II attached great importance to education in the life of the country. In the 60-70s of the 18th century. she, together with the President of the Academy of Arts and the Director of the Land Noble Corps I. I. Betsky, made an attempt to create a system of closed class educational institutions. Their structure was based on the idea of the priority of upbringing over education. Believing that “the root of all evil and good is education,” Catherine II and I. I. Betskoy decided to create a “new breed of people.” According to the plan of I. I. Betsky, Orphanages were opened in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Smolny Institute noble maidens with a department for bourgeois girls in St. Petersburg, the Commercial School in Moscow, the Cadet Corps was transformed.
The views of I. I. Betsky were progressive for their time, providing for the humane upbringing of children, the development of their natural talents, the prohibition of corporal punishment, and the organization of women's education. However, “greenhouse” conditions, isolation from real life, from the influence of family and society, of course, made I. I. Betsky’s attempts to form a “new man” utopian.
The general line of development of Russian education did not go through the utopian ideas of I. And Betsky, but along the path of creating a system secondary school. It was a start school reform 1782-1786 The Serbian teacher F.I. Jankovic de Mirievo played a major role in carrying out this reform. Two-year small public schools were established in district towns, and four-year main public schools in provincial towns. In the newly created schools, uniform start and end dates for classes were introduced, a class lesson system was introduced, and methods of teaching disciplines and educational literature, unified curricula.
New schools, together with closed gentry buildings, noble boarding schools and gymnasiums at Moscow University, formed the structure of secondary education in Russia. According to experts, in Russia by the end of the century there were 550 educational institutions with total number 60-70 thousand students, not counting home education. Education, like all other spheres of the country's life, was fundamentally class-based.
A. N. Radishchev
The Peasant War, the ideas of Russian and French enlighteners, the Great French Revolution and the War of Independence in North America(1775-1783), which led to the formation of the United States, the emergence of Russian anti-serfdom thought in the person of N. I. Novikov, and the leading deputies of the Legislative Commission influenced the formation of the views of Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev (1749-1802). In “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” in the ode “Liberty,” in “Conversation about the Son of the Fatherland,” A. N. Radishchev called for the “complete abolition of slavery” and the transfer of land to the peasants. He believed that “autocracy is the state most contrary to human nature,” and insisted on its revolutionary overthrow. A true patriot true son Fatherland A. N. Radishchev called the one who fights for the interests of the people, “for freedom - a priceless gift, the source of all great deeds.” For the first time in Russia there was a call for a revolutionary overthrow of autocracy and serfdom.
“A rebel is worse than Pugachev,” this is how Catherine II assessed the first Russian revolutionary. By her order, the circulation of the book “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” was confiscated, and its author was arrested and sentenced to death penalty, replaced by a ten-year exile in the Ilimsk prison in Siberia.
Paul I
The reign of Paul I (1796-1801) is called “unenlightened absolutism” by some historians, “military-police dictatorship” by others, still others consider Paul “the Russian Hamlet”, and others call him a “romantic emperor”. However, even those historians who find positive features in Paul’s reign admit that he equated autocracy with personal despotism.
Paul I ascended the throne after the death of his mother at the age of 42, already a mature, established man. Catherine II, having given her son Gatchina near St. Petersburg, removed him from the court. In Gatchina, Paul introduced strict rules based on iron discipline and asceticism, contrasting them with the luxury and wealth of the St. Petersburg court. Having become emperor, he tried to strengthen the regime by strengthening discipline and power in order to exclude all manifestations of liberalism and free-thinking in Russia. Pavel's characteristic features were harshness, instability and temper. He believed that everything in the country should be subordinated to the orders established by the tsar; he put diligence and accuracy in the first place, did not tolerate objections, sometimes reaching the point of tyranny.
In 1797, Paul issued the “Institution on the Imperial Family,” which canceled Peter’s decree on succession to the throne. The throne from now on had to pass strictly according to male line from father to son, and in the absence of sons - to the eldest of the brothers. To maintain the imperial house, a department of “appanages” was formed, which managed the lands that belonged to the imperial family and the peasants who lived on them. The procedure for the service of nobles was tightened, and the effect of the Letter of Grant to the nobility was limited. Prussian order was imposed in the army.
In 1797, the Manifesto on the three-day corvee was published. He forbade landowners from using peasants for field work on Sundays, recommending that corvée be limited to three days a week.
Paul I took the Order of Malta under his protection, and when Napoleon captured Malta in 1798, he declared war on France in an alliance with England and Austria. When England occupied Malta, winning it from the French, there followed a severance of relations with England and an alliance with France. By agreement with Napoleon, Paul sent 40 regiments of Don Cossacks to conquer India to annoy the British.
Paul's continued stay in power was fraught with loss of political stability for the country. Did not meet the interests of Russia and foreign policy Emperor. On March 12, 1801, with the participation of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander I, the last in the history of Russia was committed. palace coup. Paul I was killed in the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg.
After the death of Elizaveta Petrovna in December 1761, Peter III (1728-1762), the son of the daughter of Peter I - Anna Petrovna and the German Duke, became emperor, a mentally undeveloped man with little education.
called, cruel, alien to everything Russian, overly interested in military affairs.
During it short reign The most important was the decree “On the Liberty of the Nobility” of February 18, 1762, which abolished compulsory service for nobles. In addition, the Secret Chancellery, which was in charge of political crimes and instilled fear in the population, was abolished. However, these measures could not bring Peter III popularity among his subjects. General discontent was caused by peace with Prussia, which meant the renunciation of all Russian conquests in the Seven Years' War; preparation for war with Denmark in the interests of Holstein, enormous Prussian and Holstein influence at the Russian court; disrespect for Orthodox customs; introduction of German orders in the army, disdain for the Russian guard.
The ascension of Catherine II to the Russian throne In such a situation, a significant part of the Russian nobility pinned their hopes on the wife of Peter III, the future Empress Catherine II (1762-1796), who, although she was German by birth, understood perfectly well that the Russian Empress should think first everything about Russia's interests. Unlike her husband, who continued to consider himself the Duke of Holstein, Catherine, after the death of her parents, renounced all rights to Anhalt-Zerbst.
Future Russian empress born in 1729, she was the daughter of the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst - General Prussian army. The princess got good home education, in her childhood and adolescence she traveled quite a lot with her family, which helped her broaden her horizons. In 1745, Sophia Augusta Frederica, having converted to Orthodoxy and the name Ekaterina Alekseevna, married the heir Russian throne- Peter Fedorovich (before baptism Karl Peter Ulrich), son of the elder sister of Empress Elizabeth - Anna Petrovna, who married the Holstein Duke Karl Friedrich.
Finding herself in Russia at the age of 16, Ekaterina, having realistically assessed the situation, decided to become “one of her own”, Russian, as quickly as possible - to master the language perfectly, assimilate Russian customs - and she spared no effort to achieve her goal. She read a lot and educated herself. Special interest Catherine was interested in descriptions of travel, works of classics, history, philosophy, and the works of French encyclopedists.
By nature, Catherine had with a sober mind, observation, the ability to suppress one’s emotions, listen carefully to the interlocutor, and be pleasant in communication. These qualities were very useful to her in the first years of her stay in Russia, since relations with her husband and, most importantly, with Empress Elizaveta Petrovna were quite difficult.
Great ambition, willpower, and efficiency helped Catherine eventually achieve power. A group of conspirators, mostly guards officers, rallied around the future Catherine II. Particularly active were Catherine's favorite - Grigory Orlov (1734-1783) and his brother Alexei (1737-1808). On the night of June 28, 1762, Catherine, together with Alexei Orlov, arrived from Peterhof to St. Petersburg, where on the same day the Senate proclaimed her empress and declared Peter III deposed. On June 29, he was taken into custody, and in July he was killed under unclear circumstances. In September 1762, Catherine II was crowned in Moscow.
Enlightened absolutism of Catherine II The empress devoted the first years of her reign to strengthening her power, selecting trusted persons, studying the state of affairs in the state, as well as becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Russia (in 1763-1767 she made three trips to the European part of the country). At this time, a policy of enlightened absolutism began to be pursued in Russia. Considering herself a student of French philosophers of the 18th century, Catherine II sought, with the help of some transformations, to eliminate elements of “barbarism” from the life of the country, to make Russian society more “enlightened”, closer to Western European, but at the same time keeping intact the autocracy and its social base - the nobility.
The need for change was largely determined by the socio-economic situation that had developed at the beginning of the reign of Catherine II. Throughout the 16th century. In Russia, elements of capitalist relations developed, the ideas of entrepreneurship gradually penetrated into various layers of society - the nobility, merchants, and peasants. Special difficulty internal situation country in the early 60s of the 18th century. gave peasant movement, in which factory and monastery peasants most actively participated. All this, along with the ideas of the Enlightenment, determined the domestic policy of Russia, especially in the first two decades of the reign of Catherine II.
In the 60-70s, it was prohibited to buy peasants for industrial enterprises, freedom to organize industrial business was declared, all kinds of monopolies were abolished, as well as internal customs duties, which contributed to the inclusion of new lands annexed to the Russian state during the reign of Catherine II into internal trade: some regions of Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, the Black Sea, Azov, Kuban steppes, Crimea.
Under Catherine II, considerable attention was paid to the development of the education system: educational homes, institutes for girls, and cadet corps were created. In the 80s When organizing provincial and district public schools, the principle of classless education was proclaimed.
EMPRESS CATHERINE II THE GREAT After the death of Peter III, Catherine became empress. She glorified her name with loud conquests and wise government orders. To draw up new laws, she herself wrote an “Order” under the title “Order of the Commission on the Drawing Up of a Draft New Code.” Under her, in 1783, the Russian Academy and in the same year the annexation of Crimea to Russia. The administration of Crimea was entrusted to Potemkin.
From 1787-1791 Second Turkish War, which ended in peace in Iasi (in 1791). The main hero of this war was Suvorov, who won victories over the Turks at Kinburn and in 1789 at Focsani and Rymnik. According to this world, Turkey forever abandoned Crimea and ceded to Russia the lands between the Bug and the Dniester with the city of Ochakov (Illustrated Chronology... P. 116).
Strengthening serfdom However, along with such progressive measures that objectively contributed to the development of bourgeois relations, serfdom was strengthening in Russia. Already in the manifesto of July 6, 1762, which explained the reasons for the coup, one of the main goals of Catherine II’s internal policy was defined - to fully support the landowners and keep the peasants in obedience. In the 60s, when the empress still verbally supported the idea of emancipating the peasants, serfs were forbidden to complain about the master, and landowners were allowed to send their peasants to hard labor. In order to destroy explosive hotbeds in the south, self-government was eliminated and the Cossack districts were restructured - here in late XVIII V. was distributed serfdom. Subsequently, during the reign of Catherine II, there was an increase in the exploitation of peasants: serfs made up about 50% of their total number, more than half of them were in corvee labor, which in the country as a whole by the 80s. increased to five days a week instead of three days in the 60s; especially widely in the second half of the 18th century. Trade in serfs spread. The situation of state peasants also worsened - the duties imposed on them were increased, and their distribution to landowners was actively carried out.
However, in an effort to maintain her reputation as an “enlightened monarch,” Catherine II could not allow the complete transformation of serfs into slaves: they continued to be considered a tax-paying class, could go to court and be witnesses in it, and could, although with the consent of the landowner, register as merchants and engage in farm-outs, etc.
Departure from the policy of enlightened absolutism In the last years of his reign, under the influence peasant war under the leadership of E. Pugachev (1773-1775), and especially the Great French Revolution (1789-1794), Catherine II gradually moved away from enlightened absolutism. This mainly concerns the ideological sphere - there is a pursuit of advanced ideas that can lead to a change in the existing order, which the empress seeks to avoid at all costs. In particular, A.N. Radishchev, the author of the anti-serfdom “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” was called by Catherine a rebel worse than Pugachev and in 1790 was exiled to Siberia; the most famous Russian educator, publisher
N.I. Novikov, was imprisoned in 1792 Shlisselburg Fortress. However, the foundations of social life, laid by the policy of enlightened absolutism, remain virtually unchanged until the death of Catherine II.
Apparatus central control One of the characteristic, essential features of the policy of enlightened absolutism of Catherine II was the streamlining of the system of public administration. The idea of the need for this was already expressed in the manifesto of July 6, 1762, its implementation began with the transformation of the Senate.
Immediately after the accession of Catherine II to the throne, participant in the coup N.I. Panin (1718-1783), famous diplomat, Advisor to the College of Foreign Affairs, presented the empress with a draft of changes in the central administration. He proposed creating a permanent imperial council consisting of four secretaries (foreign and internal affairs, military and naval departments) and two advisers. All critical issues were to be considered by the Council in the presence of the Empress, who received final decisions. In addition, it was proposed to divide the Senate into six departments.
Project N.I. Panin, as limiting the autocratic power of the empress, was rejected by her, however, to speed up and streamline office work, the idea of dividing the Senate was put into practice in 1763. Six departments were created, four of which were located in St. Petersburg: the first dealt with the most important internal and political affairs , the second - judicial, the third was in charge of the affairs of the western outskirts of the state, communications, higher education, and the police; the fourth - military and naval affairs. The two Moscow departments corresponded to the first and second St. Petersburg departments.
Catherine II decided many important issues without the participation of the Senate. She maintained relations with him through Prosecutor General A.L. Vyazemsky (1727-1793), who received secret instructions to obstruct the legislative activities of the Senate. As a result, the importance of the Senate decreased; from the highest body of government, as it was under Elizaveta Petrovna, it turned into a central administrative and judicial institution. In the 70-80s of the 18th century. There was a further weakening of central government bodies. After the provincial reform of 1775, activities
The Senate is limited to judicial functions; the affairs of most collegiums are transferred to new provincial institutions.
By the 90s. Most of the colleges ceased to exist: in 1779 - the Manufacturer College (industry), in 1780 - the State Office College (public expenditures), in 1783 - the Berg College (mining industry), in 1784 - Chamber Collegium (state revenues), in 1786 - Justice Collegium (judicial) and Patrimonial Collegium (land ownership issues), in 1788 - Revision Collegium (control government spending). Only those boards were retained whose affairs could not be transferred to local government bodies: the Foreign, Military, Naval and Commerce boards.
Thus, during the reign of Catherine II the role central authorities was gradually reduced to general management and supervision, and basic management issues began to be resolved locally. However, even before reforming the local government system, the Empress made an attempt to give Russia new legislation that would meet the spirit of the times.
An attempt to create new legislation Starting from Peter I, all the rulers of Russia understood the need to create a new code Russian laws. However, unlike her predecessors, Catherine II did not seek to systematize old laws, but to create new ones. Planning to assemble a “Commission for drawing up a new code” instead of the outdated Code of 1649, already in 1765 she began to draw up a special instruction for it - “Instruction”, which reflected the ideas of educational philosophy. Counting Russia European country, Catherine sought to give her the appropriate laws, and her main sources were the works “On the Spirit of Laws” by the famous French educator Charles Louis Montesquieu (1689-1755) and “On Crimes and Punishments” by Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794), an Italian educator and lawyer .
The “Nakaz” quite fully covers the most important issues of legislation: its tasks, features of government, legal proceedings, the punishment system, the position of classes, etc. The initial edition of the "Nakaz", shown to some of the empress's close associates, aroused many objections on their part as being too free-thinking and not in accordance with Russian customs. As a result, the “Nakaz” was significantly reduced, mainly due to liberal provisions, for example, articles on improving the situation of peasants, on secession legislative branch from judicial, etc. The articles that remained closest to educational ideology were those relating to legal proceedings and education. In general, the “Order” was a statement general principles, which should guide the Statutory Commission in its work.
In December 1766, a manifesto was issued convening a “Commission for drawing up a new code.” Elected deputies from all classes were to be represented on the Commission.
A total of 564 deputies were elected: 161 - from nobles, 208 - from cities, 167 - from rural population, 28 - from central institutions (Senate, Synod, collegiums and other public places). Each deputy received an order from his constituents that reflected their wishes. A total of 1,465 orders were submitted, most of them (1,066) from the rural population. During the work of the Statutory Commission, deputies were paid a salary from the treasury: nobles - 400 rubles, townspeople - 120 rubles, peasants - 37 rubles. Deputies were forever freed from the death penalty, corporal punishment, and confiscation of property.
On July 30, 1767, the established commission began its work in Moscow. General A.I. was elected its chairman, on the recommendation of Catherine II. Bibikov (1729-1774), he had the right to schedule meetings, introduce and put proposals to a vote.
The paperwork in the Statutory Commission was quite complex: each issue went through different commissions (there were about 20 of them) several times, in addition, the areas of activity special commissions And general meeting the deputies were not sufficiently differentiated, which made their work difficult. The commission moved from one issue to another, without resolving the previous one; for a year and a half, the deputies could not even simply read all the orders.
In general, the activities of the Statutory Commission were doomed to failure from the very beginning due to the lack of preliminary preparation, as well as the enormous volume and complexity of the work: to create new laws, deputies needed to understand the old legislation, which included more than 10 thousand heterogeneous provisions, and study deputy orders , remove contradictions, often irreconcilable, between wishes various classes and, finally, draw up a new legislative code based on the principles set out in Catherine’s “Order”, which often contradict parliamentary orders. In December 1768, due to the outbreak of the Russian-Turkish war and the fact that a significant part of the noble deputies had to go to the troops, the Legislative Commission was dissolved for indefinite term, however, in the future the deputies no longer gathered.
Despite the fact that the attempt to create new legislation ended in failure, the work of the Legislative Commission had a significant impact on the subsequent activities of Catherine II. The orders of the deputies showed the position of the various classes of Russian society, their wishes and largely determined the direction of further reforms.
Reform of local government The system of local government included the management of provinces and districts, as well as cities and individual estates. In November 1775, the “Institution for the Administration of the Provinces of the Russian Empire” was published. The introduction to this document pointed out the shortcomings that caused the need for reform: the vastness of the provinces, the insufficient number of governing bodies, the mixing of various matters in them.
As a result of the reform, the previous administrative division (province, province, district) was changed: the provinces were abolished, the number of provinces was increased to 40 (by the end of the reign of Catherine And due to the annexation of new territories to Russia, there were already 51 provinces). Previously, regional division was carried out randomly, and provinces with very different populations had approximately the same staff of officials. Now it was established that the provinces should be approximately the same in number of inhabitants - from 300 to 400 thousand people; for the county, the population was determined to be 20-30 thousand. Since the new administrative division was more fractional, about 200 large villages were transformed into county ones cities.
With the change in administrative boundaries as part of the provincial reform, local government was also changed: administrative, financial and judicial affairs were separated. Subsequently, the unification of local government bodies throughout the country led to the abolition of the autonomy of some outskirts: in Ukraine this finally happened in 1781, and since 1783 the national system administrative management was extended to the Baltic states.
Provincial Administration One or more provinces received the status of a governor-general and were subordinate to a governor-general appointed by the Senate, whose activities were directly controlled by the empress. The Governor-General had broad powers of supervision over all local government and courts in the territory entrusted to him.
The administration of a separate province was entrusted to a governor appointed by the Senate, who headed the provincial government - the main administrative body. In addition to the governor, it included two provincial councilors and a provincial prosecutor. The board dealt with various administrative issues, controlled the management of the province, and, together with the vice-governor, was in charge of all police agencies of the province and district.
The vice-governor (or lieutenant of the ruler, i.e. the governor) was appointed by the Senate, if necessary could replace the governor, and was also the chairman of the treasury chamber - the highest financial body of the province that managed state property. She was in charge of tax collection, government contracts and buildings, provincial and district treasuries, and economic peasants of former church estates.
In addition to administrative, financial and special judicial institutions, a new body was created in each provincial city - the order of public charity, which was in charge of schools, hospitals, almshouses and shelters. Unlike the provincial government and the treasury chamber, the order of public charity had an elected composition.
County government executive body there was a lower zemstvo court, headed by a police captain (as a rule, retired officers). He was considered the head of the district, was in charge of the district administration and police, monitored trade, and conducted preliminary investigations in court cases. He was elected by the nobles for a term of three years at a district assembly, and two assessors were also chosen from among the nobles to help him.
The head of administrative and police power in the district city was the mayor, appointed by the Senate.
Judicial system Since 1775, class-based legal proceedings were introduced in the provinces. The provincial court of justice for the nobles was the Supreme Zemstvo Court, for the urban population - the provincial magistrate, for personally free peasants - the upper reprisal. These judicial bodies consisted of assessors - elected from the corresponding class, and were headed by specially appointed officials. At each upper zemstvo court, a noble guardianship was established, dealing with the affairs of widows and young orphans of nobles. In addition, special conscientious courts were established in provincial cities to deal with criminal cases related to the insanity of the criminal, and civil cases resolved through a settlement deal.
A chamber of civil court and a chamber of criminal court were established as the highest judicial authorities in all cases decided in the provincial class courts. In case of any complaints, they had the right to make the final decision.
In each district, for the nobles there was a district court, subordinate to the Supreme Zemstvo Court, for the urban population - a city magistrate, under the jurisdiction of the provincial magistrate. In the districts where over 10 thousand personally free peasants lived, there was a lower reprisal subordinate to the upper reprisal. In district judicial institutions, judges and assessors were elected from representatives of the class whose affairs they were in charge of; the government appointed only the chairman of the lower court. An orphan's court was established under each city magistrate, dealing with the affairs of widows and young orphans of the townspeople.
The role of supervisory authorities in each province was performed by provincial prosecutors and their assistants - criminal and civil attorneys. Subordinate to the provincial prosecutor were the prosecutors at the upper zemstvo court, the provincial magistrate and the upper justice, as well as the district solicitor, who performed the duties of the prosecutor in the district.
Noble self-government In her domestic policy, Catherine II focused primarily on the nobility, and already in the first years of her reign the foundations for self-government of this class were laid. In preparation for the convening of the Statutory Commission in 1766, the nobles of each county were ordered to elect for two years district leader to guide the elections of deputies to the Commission and in case of any other demands from the supreme power.
The reform of 1775 increased the influence of the nobility on local government, gave it a class organization, granting rights legal entity district noble assembly. The charter granted to the nobility in 1785 strengthened the position of this class. It recorded the previously existing rights and benefits of the nobility: freedom from taxes and corporal punishment, from civil service, the right to full ownership of land and serfs, the right to be judged only by their equals, etc. The charter also gave the nobility some new privileges, in particular, the confiscation of the estates of nobles for criminal offenses was prohibited, it was easier to obtain nobility, etc. In addition, in 1785 provincial nobility, as before, the district, as a single whole, was granted the rights of a legal entity.
Ultimately, the system of noble governance that developed during the reign of Catherine II had the following form. Once every three years, at district and provincial assemblies, the nobles elected district and provincial noble leaders and other officials, respectively. Only that nobleman whose income from the estate was not less than 100 rubles could be elected. in year. Nobles who had reached the age of 25 and had the rank of officer could participate in the elections. In addition to electing officials, noble assemblies resolved issues posed by the government, as well as problems related to class discipline. In addition, the assemblies had the right to submit their wishes to the governor or Governor General, a specially selected deputation led by the leader of the nobility could appeal to the empress.
City self-government In 1785, a Charter was also published on the rights and benefits of the cities of the Russian Empire, which later became known as the Charter of Cities. During its development, some wishes from the city orders of the Statutory Commission were taken into account, as well as the charters that determined the structure of the Baltic cities, in particular Riga. These statutes were based on Magdeburg (after the name of the city in Germany), or German law, which developed in the Middle Ages on the basis of the right to self-government won by the townspeople, as well as on the basis of acts regulating craft and trade.
From now on, a coat of arms became mandatory for each city, which should “be used in all city affairs.” It was established that the coat of arms of the district city should include the emblem of the provincial city. All coats of arms, existing or new, were approved by the empress herself.
In accordance with Certificate of merit the population of each city was divided into six categories. The first included “real city dwellers,” i.e. everyone, without distinction of origin, rank or occupation, who has a house or land in the city. The second category consisted of merchants, divided into three guilds depending on the amount of capital: 1st guild - from 10 to 50 thousand rubles, 2nd - from 5 to 10 thousand rubles, 3rd - from 1 to 5 thousand roubles. The third category included urban guild artisans, the fourth - out-of-town and foreign guests who permanently resided in a given city. The fifth category consisted of “famous citizens” - elected officials, scientists and artists (painters, sculptors, architects, composers) with academic certificates or university diplomas, persons with capital from 50 thousand rubles, bankers with capital from 100 to 200 thousand rubles, wholesalers, shipowners. The sixth category included “townspeople” - townspeople engaged in crafts, trades, etc., and not included in other categories. Citizens of the third and sixth categories received common name"philistines". The entire population of the city, in accordance with their category, was included in the City Philistine Book.
Citizens of all ranks from the age of 25 had the right to elect a city head and councilors (representatives from ranks) from among themselves to the general city duma once every three years. The nobles were not widely represented in the city duma, since they had the right to refuse to perform city posts. The general city council met once every three years or, if necessary, it was in charge of the city's economy and was obliged to report to the governor on all income and expenses. In addition, the General Duma elected six representatives (one from each rank) to the six-vote Duma, whose meetings were held every week under the chairmanship of the mayor. The Six-Voice Duma was in charge of the collection of taxes, the fulfillment of government duties, the improvement of the city, its expenses and income, i.e. was the executive body of city government. Supervision of city self-government was carried out by the governor, to whom the six-vocal Duma could turn for help.
The rights of the city as a whole were protected by the city magistrate, who interceded for the city before the highest authorities and ensured that no new taxes or duties were imposed on it without the order of the government.
Transformations of central institutions were also closely connected with the provincial reform of 1775. Their general tendency is the same - the release of central institutions from the affairs of current management and the concentration of power in the hands of the empress.
Back in 1763, the Senate finally lost its broad powers. Then it was divided into 6 departments. Two of them (one in St. Petersburg and the other in Moscow) were involved in judicial matters, one was in charge of the affairs of Ukraine and the Baltic states, another department performed the functions of the Moscow Senate office, etc. Only one of the six departments retained any political significance (publication of laws). Thus, the Senate became the highest judicial appellate institution.
At the same time, the role of the Senate Prosecutor General and Chief Prosecutor increased sharply. Through the Prosecutor General (and Prince A.A. Vyazemsky was for many years under Catherine II), the Empress now communicated with the Senate. The Prosecutor General had enormous power. Vyazemsky concentrated in his hands the functions of the Minister of Finance, Justice and State Treasurer.
The most important link in public administration became the Cabinet of Catherine II with its secretaries of state. The Cabinet now considered many issues of domestic policy (Senate affairs, industrial policy issues, etc.). The most important figures were the secretaries of state of Catherine II, such as A.V. Olsufiev, A.V. Khrapovitsky, G.N. Teplov and others. Through them, Catherine II conducted the bulk of government affairs. Some of Catherine's nobles carried out personal assignments in a certain part of domestic politics. So, I.I. Betskoy was the main figure in the field of education, L.I. Minich - in the field of customs policy, etc. Thus, the principle of individual management gradually arose, which subsequently resulted in the organization of ministries. Over time, the need was discovered to create a council under the empress from the closest and most influential dignitaries. Since 1769, the Imperial Council began to operate.
In connection with the transfer of most of the affairs of current management to the localities, to provincial institutions, the role of the boards sharply decreased and in the 80s there was a need to eliminate them. Of the collegiums, only three continued to maintain a strong position - Foreign Affairs, Military and Admiralty. The Synod also retained its position as one of the collegiums, but now the Synod was in complete subordination to secular power.
As a result of all these transformations, the autocratic power of the absolute monarch became stronger, the dictatorship of the local nobility also strengthened, and a strong police-bureaucratic system of institutions was created, which existed until the era of the fall of serfdom.
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