Russian empire. Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th century Russian Empire at the end of the 19th century

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The main processes of changing the ATD network include an increase or decrease in the number of administrative units, consolidation (merging small units into larger ones) and disaggregation of the units themselves. These changes occur as a result of ATD reforms, the implementation of which is dictated by the current political needs of the state (changes in the political principles of managing the territory and its parts). For Russia, with its vast territory, the ATD grid and the principle of the ATD itself are one of the main foundations of its statehood.

This work analyzes the evolution of the ATD network of Russia in the period from 1708 (the first reforms of Peter I) to the present day at the level of a unit of the highest (first) level of the hierarchy (province, region, territory, republic). The period before 1917 is considered within the borders of the Russian Empire, and after - within the borders of the RSFSR.

The process of evolution of the administrative-territorial division (ATD) of Russia is divided into 13 stages. The material is illustrated with tables that, if possible, provide information about the size and population, and the dates of formation of each ATD unit.

First Peter's reform

Before it was carried out, the territory of Russia was divided into counties (former princely lands, appanages, orders, ranks, honors). Their number, according to V. Snegirev, in the 17th century. was 166, not counting many volosts - some of them were actually close in size to counties.

By decree of Peter I of December 18, 1708, the territory of the Russian Empire was divided into 8 huge provinces. Moscow included the territory of the present Moscow region, significant parts of the Vladimir, Ryazan, Tula, Kaluga, Ivanovo, and Kostroma regions. Ingermanland - the current regions of Leningrad, Novgorod, Pskov, Tver, the southern parts of Arkhangelsk, the west of the Vologda and Yaroslavl regions, part of what is now Karelia (this province was renamed St. Petersburg in 1710). Arkhangelsk - the current Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Murmansk regions, part of the Kostroma region, Karelia and Komi. The Kiev region included Little Russia, Sevsky and Belgorod categories, parts of the current Bryansk, Belgorod, Oryol, Kursk, Kaluga, and Tula regions. Smolensk covered the current Smolensk region, parts of the Bryansk, Kaluga, Tver, and Tula regions. Kazan - the entire Volga region, present-day Bashkiria, Volga-Vyatka, parts of the present-day Perm, Tambov, Penza, Kostroma, Ivanovo regions, as well as the north of Dagestan and Kalmykia. The Azov province included the eastern parts of the current Tula, Ryazan, Oryol, Kursk, Belgorod regions, the entire Voronezh, Tambov, Rostov regions, as well as parts of the Kharkov, Donetsk, Lugansk, Penza regions (the center was the city of Azov). The Siberian province (with its center in Tobolsk) covered all of Siberia, almost the entire Urals, parts of the present Kirov region. and the Komi Republic. The size of these provinces was enormous (Table 1).

The provinces were not divided into districts, but were made up of cities and adjacent lands, as well as ranks and orders. In 1710-1713 they were divided into shares (administrative-fiscal units), which were governed by the Landrats.

In 1713, the Riga Governorate was formed from the newly annexed lands in the north-west. In this regard, the Smolensk province was abolished, and its territory was divided between the Riga and Moscow provinces. In January 1714, a new Nizhny Novgorod province was separated from the northwestern parts of the huge Kazan province, and in 1717, a new Astrakhan province was formed from the southern part of the Kazan province (it included Simbirsk, Samara, Saratov, Tsaritsyn, Guryev, Terek region. ). As of 1714, the empire was divided into 9 provinces (Table 2). In the same 1717, the Nizhny Novgorod province was abolished, and its territory again became part of the Kazan province.

Second Peter's reform

The second Peter's reform began to be implemented by decree of May 29, 1719. In accordance with it, shares were abolished, the provinces were divided into provinces, and the provinces into districts. The Nizhny Novgorod province was restored, and the Revel province was formed on the newly annexed lands in the Baltic states. Only two provinces (Astrakhan, Revel) were not divided into provinces. In the remaining 9 provinces, 47 provinces were established (Table 3).

In 1725, the Azov province was renamed Voronezh, and in 1726, the Smolensk province was again separated from the Riga and Moscow provinces.

Reform of 1727

Districts were eliminated, and the provinces themselves began to be divided not only into provinces, but also into counties. A total of 166 counties were restored. At the same time, new provinces were formed. From the Kyiv province, the Belgorod province was separated, which included the provinces of Belgorod, Oryol, Sevsk, as well as part of the Ukrainian line and 5 regiments of Sloboda Cossacks of the Kiev province (10 Little Russian regiments remained in the Kiev province itself). From the St. Petersburg province in 1727, the Novgorod province was separated from its 5 former provinces (). At the same time, part of the Yaroslavl and Uglitsky provinces of the St. Petersburg province went to the Moscow province. The St. Petersburg province itself was significantly reduced and now consisted of only 2 provinces (Petersburg, Vyborg), and the Narva province went to Estland.

In the same 1727, the Vyatka and Solikamsk provinces of the Siberian province were transferred to the Kazan province (in return, the Ufa province in 1728 was transferred to the Siberian province), and the Olonets lands were assigned to the Novgorod province.

At the end of 1727, the ATD of the Russian Empire had the following form (Table 4).

In total, after the reform of 1727, there were 14 provinces and about 250 districts in the empire. After the reform, there was a long period when the ATD was relatively stable. Minor changes during this period include the following.

In 1737, the Simbirsk province was formed as part of the Kazan province. In 1744, the Vyborg Governorate was created from the Vyborg and Kexholm provinces of the St. Petersburg province and the newly annexed parts of Finland. In the same year, a new Orenburg province was formed (it included the Iset and Ufa provinces of the Siberian province and the Orenburg Commission * of the Astrakhan province). In 1745, there were 16 provinces in the empire (Table 5). At the same time, the Baltic provinces were divided into districts instead of provinces and districts.

With the coming to power of Catherine II, some changes in the ATD were made in the country, which mainly included the formation of new provinces on the newly annexed lands. In 1764, the Irkutsk province of the Siberian province was separated as an independent Irkutsk province. In October 1764, counties in many provinces were united. In the south, from the Novoserbsk settlement, the Novorossiysk province (center - Kremenchug) was established, and in the Left Bank Ukraine - Little Russia. And in 1765, from the southern part of the Belgorod and Voronezh provinces (regions of Slobozhanshchina), a new Sloboda-Ukrainian province was formed with its center in Kharkov. Thus, in 1764-1766. 4 new provinces appeared, and there were 20 of them. Information about their size and population is provided by K.I. Arsenyev (Table 6).

After the first partition of Poland in 1772, 2 new provinces were created from the newly annexed lands in the Russian Empire - Mogilev and Pskov. The second included 2 old provinces of the Novgorod province (Pskov and Velikolutsk), as well as two new ones - Dvinsk (Polish Livonia) and Polotsk from the lands of the former Vitebsk Voivodeship. At the end of the same year, the Vitebsk province of the Mogilev province was annexed to the new Pskov province. Until 1776, the center of the new province was the city of Opochka.

In 1775, the Irkutsk province was divided into 3 provinces (Irkutsk, Udinsk, Yakutsk), and due to new lands acquired in the south according to the Kuchuk-Kainardzhi world, a new Azov province was formed, which included, in addition to the lands between the Dnieper and the Bug , Slavyanoserbia (Bakhmut province), Azov province (the cities of Azov and Taganrog) and the lands of the Don Army (military civil law was established on these latter). In the same year, the Zaporozhye Sich was liquidated, and its lands were annexed to the Novorossiysk province. Before the start of the next ATD reform in 1775, the Russian Empire was divided into the following provinces (Table 7).

Thus, the territory of the empire was divided into 23 provinces, 62 provinces and 276 districts, excluding the Novorossiysk province, the number of districts in which is unknown.

Catherine's reform
(disaggregation of administrative-territorial division cells)

On November 7, 1775, Catherine II signed the law “Institutions for the management of provinces,” according to which the size of provinces was reduced, their number was doubled, provinces were eliminated (in a number of provinces regions were allocated within them) and the division of counties was changed. On average, 300-400 thousand people lived in the province, 20-30 thousand people lived in the district. The process of replacing old provinces with new ones, which began to be called “vicerarchates,” lasted for 10 years (1775-1785). During this period, 40 provinces and 2 regions were formed with the rights of a province, and 483 districts were allocated to them. The dynamics of the transformation and disaggregation of old provinces into new ones was uneven: in 1780 and 1781. 7 provinces appeared, in other years - from 1 to 5.

The process of forming new provinces began (within modern borders Russia) from two central ones - Smolensk and Tverskaya. The new Smolensk governorate in 1775 included the old Smolensk province, the western parts of the Moscow province and the Bryansk district of the Belgorod province, and the Tver governorate was made up of the Tver province and the Vyshnevolotsk district of the Novgorod province, Bezhetsky and Kashin districts of the Moscow province.

In 1776, the Pskov province (from the Pskov and Velikolutsk provinces of the old Pskov province and the Porkhov and Gdov districts of the Novgorod province), the Novgorod governorship (from parts of the old Novgorod province, it was divided into 2 regions - Novgorod and Olonetsk), the Kaluga governorship ( from the southwestern districts of the Moscow province and the Bryansk district of the Belgorod province).

In 1777, Polotsk (from parts of the old Pskov province), Mogilev, Yaroslavl (separated from the Moscow province and parts of Novgorod, divided into two regions - Yaroslavl and Uglitsk), and Tula governorates (from parts of the Moscow province) were established.

In 1778, the governorships of Ryazan (from parts of the old Moscow province), Volodimir (Vladimir province; from parts of the Moscow province), Kostroma (from parts of the Moscow, Arkhangelsk, Nizhny Novgorod provinces; was divided into Kostroma and Unzhenskaya regions), Oryol (from parts Voronezh and Belgorod provinces).

In 1779, the Kursk province, Nizhny Novgorod, Tambov and Voronezh governorships and the Kolyvan region were established. At the same time, the old Belgorod province was liquidated, which was divided between the Kursk province and the Voronezh governorship. The Kursk province included the districts of the liquidated Belgorod province and the districts of the Sloboda-Ukrainian and Voronezh provinces. The neighboring Voronezh governorship was made up of the old Voronezh province and parts of the liquidated Belgorod province, as well as the Ostrogozh province of the Sloboda-Ukrainian province. The Tambov governorship was established at the expense of the southern parts of the Ryazan (mainly Elatom district) and the northern parts of the Voronezh governorship. The Nizhny Novgorod governorship included the old Nizhny Novgorod province, as well as parts of the Ryazan and Volodymyr (Vladimir) governorships, and part of the Kazan province. From the southern regions of the Siberian province (Kuznetsk and Tomsk districts) an independent Kolyvan region was separated with its center in the Berdsk fort (since 1783 - the city of Kolyvan).

In 1780, 7 new governorships and provinces were organized. In January of this year, the old St. Petersburg province was reorganized, which remained a province with 7 districts. From the old Arkhangelsk province, a new Vologda governorate was established, to which the Kargopol district of the Novgorod governorship and part of the Kologrivsky district of the Kostroma governorship were annexed. This new governorship was divided into two regions - Vologda and Arkhangelsk. In the spring of 1780, the old Sloboda-Ukrainian province was transformed into the Kharkov governorate, and parts of the abolished Belgorod province were included in its composition. Following this, a new Vyatka governorate was allocated from the northern parts of the Kazan and Orenburg provinces (its center, the city of Khlynov, was renamed Vyatka in this regard). And from the southern districts of the Kazan province new Simbirsk and Penza governorships were allocated. A new Saratov governorship was formed from the northern part of the Astrakhan province.

In 1781, an independent Perm governorate was allocated from the Tyumen province of the Siberian province with the division of its territory into 2 regions - Perm and Yekaterinburg. In the fall of 1781, the Little Russian province was abolished, which was divided into the Novgorod-Seversk and Chernigov governorships, and part of it merged with the old Kyiv governorate into the Kiev governorship. At the same time, the remnants of the old Kazan province (minus the Simbirsk, Penza and Vyatka governorships) were transformed into the new Kazan governorship. In 1781, the Olonets region and Novoladozhsky district were transferred from the Novgorod governorship to the St. Petersburg province, and the Gdov and Luga districts were transferred from the Pskov governorship. The St. Petersburg province was divided into two regions - St. Petersburg and Olonets. In October 1781, a new Moscow province was established from the fragments of the former Moscow province. At the very end of the year, the Orenburg province was transformed into the Ufa governorship with the addition of the Chelyabinsk district of the Perm governorship. This new governorship (with its center in Ufa) was divided into 2 regions - Ufa and Orenburg.

In 1782, the Siberian province was abolished, in its place a new Tobolsk governorship was established with two regions - Tobolsk and Tomsk. At the end of the same year, Kolyvan region. was transformed into the Kolyvan governorship. The following year, 1783, in Siberia, instead of the former Irkutsk province, the Irkutsk governorship was organized with the division of its territory into 4 regions (Irkutsk, Nerchinsk, Okhotsk, Yakutsk).

At the beginning of 1783, two southern provinces (Azov and Novorossiysk) were abolished, from which the new Ekaterinoslav governorate (with its center in Kremenchug) was formed. In the summer of the same year, the Revel Governorate was transformed into the Revel Governorate, the Riga Governorate - into the Riga Governorate, and the Vyborg Governorate - into the Vyborg Governorate (without changing the territory). In February 1784, from the southern lands newly annexed in 1783 (Crimea, Taman, Kuban side), the Tauride region was formed with the rights of governorship. In March 1784, the Vologda governorship was divided into two independent governorships - Arkhangelsk and the smaller Vologda region (it was divided into 2 regions - Vologda and Veliky Ustyug). In May of the same year, on the basis of the Olonets province of the St. Petersburg province, the Olonets governorship with its center in Petrozavodsk was allocated as an independent one.

Finally, the last step of the Catherine’s reform of the ATD was the transformation in 1785 of the Astrakhan province into the Caucasian governorship with the transfer of its center from Astrakhan to the newly created center of Ekaterinograd at the confluence of the Malka and the Terek (in 1790, due to its lack of infrastructure, the center had to be returned back to Astrakhan ). The Kuban side was included in the Caucasian governorship, and its territory was divided into two regions - Astrakhan and Caucasus.

The new division of the territory of the empire (Catherine's reform of 1775-1785) was completed, and it began to be divided into 38 governorships, 3 provinces (St. Petersburg, Moscow and Pskov) and 1 region with the rights of governorship (Tauride). According to Arsenyev, the Russian Empire at the end of 1785 had the following provinces (Table 8).

The size and boundaries of most governorships in European Russia, formed in 1775-1785, practically did not change until the 20s of the 20th century, except for the short period of reforms of the ATD under Paul I.

With Russia's acquisition of new lands in the south and west in the early 90s of the 18th century. new governorships were formed: in 1793 - Minsk, Izyaslav (Volyn), Bratslav (Podolia); in 1795 - Voznesensk (southwest of New Russia) and Courland, and the Izyaslav governorate was divided into two new ones - Volyn and Podolsk; in 1796 - Vilna and Slonim.

As a result, by the end of the reign of Catherine II, Russia was divided into 50 governorships and provinces and 1 region (total - 51 top-level ATD units).

Pavlovsk reform (enlargement)

With the accession of Paul I to the throne, a temporary consolidation of the previously created governorships was carried out, which were officially renamed into provinces. At the same time, by decree of December 12, 1796, the provinces of Olonetsk, Kolyvan, Bratslav, Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversk, Voznesensk, Ekaterinoslav, Tauride region, Saratov, Polotsk, Mogilev, Vilna and Slonim regions were abolished (that is, 13 provinces). In addition, a new division of provinces into districts was established, the number of districts was reduced, and some district towns were transferred to provincial ones.

Olonets province was divided between Arkhangelsk and Novgorod, Kolyvan - between Tobolsk and Irkutsk, Saratov - between Penza and Astrakhan, Bratslav - between Podolsk and Kyiv.

Abolished Voznesensk, Ekaterinoslav provinces and Tauride region. were united into the huge Novorossiysk province (its center Yekaterinoslav was renamed Novorossiysk).

The abolished Chernigov and Novgorod-Seversk provinces were united into one Little Russian province, the former Polotsk and Mogilev provinces into one Belarusian province (center - Vitebsk), Vilna and Slonim into one Lithuanian province (center - Vilna).

Several provinces were renamed and enlarged: Kharkov began to be called Slobodsko-Ukrainian (restored to the borders of 1780), Caucasian - again Astrakhan, Ufa - Orenburg (the center was transferred from Ufa to Orenburg). The Riga province began to be called Livlyandskaya, Revel - Estlandskaya.

In March 1797, the Penza province was renamed Saratov, and its center was transferred from Penza to Saratov. In October of the same year, most of the former Penza province was divided between the neighboring Tambov, Simbirsk, and Nizhny Novgorod provinces. In July 1797, the Kyiv province was enlarged. Paul I canceled all the changes made by Potemkin to the management of the Don army.

During the Pavlovian reform, the number of provinces decreased from 51 to 42, and counties were also enlarged. The main idea of ​​the reform of Paul I was the consolidation of provinces (Table 9).

Restoration of Catherine's provinces and the formation of new provinces in the 19th century.

With the accession of Alexander I to the throne in 1801, the previous grid of provinces was restored, but a number of new Pavlovsk provinces remained. By decree of September 9, 1801, 5 provinces abolished by Paul were restored within the old borders before 1796, including Olonetsk and Penza; The Lithuanian province was abolished and divided into Vilna and Grodno (formerly Slonim). Included in the empire, Georgia received the status of a province.

In January 1802, the Little Russian province created by Paul was abolished, which was divided into the former Chernigov and new Poltava (coinciding in many ways with the Novgorod-Seversk province liquidated in 1796). In March 1802, the Belarusian province was liquidated, which split into the Mogilev and Vitebsk provinces. At the same time, the center of the Orenburg province from Orenburg was transferred again to Ufa. In October 1802, another Pavlovsk province, Novorossiysk, was cashed out. Its territory was divided between three provinces - Nikolaev (in 1803 its center from Nikolaev was transferred to Kherson and the name of the province changed to Kherson), Ekaterinoslav and Tauride. At the end of 1802, the Vyborg province was renamed Finland.

Thus, by the end of 1802, of Pavlov’s innovations of 1796, only the Sloboda-Ukrainian province remained “alive,” but only nominally, since 3 of its Slobozhansky districts (Bogucharsky, Ostrogozhsky, Starobelsky) were returned to the previous owner - the Voronezh province. True, the Kolyvan province was not restored. In fact, thanks to the reform of Alexander I, all of Paul's consolidation measures were reduced to zero. In addition, the number of counties was increased, that is, their average size was reduced.

In 1803, the Astrakhan province was divided into two independent ones - the Caucasus (center - Georgievsk) and Astrakhan. In 1822, the Caucasian province was transformed into the Caucasus region, and its center was transferred to Stavropol.

In 1803-1805 There have been minor changes in Siberia as well. From the Irkutsk province in 1803, the Kamchatka region was separated into an independent one (however, already in 1822 it was deprived of independence and again subordinated to Irkutsk under the name of the Kamchatka coastal administration), in 1805 - an independent Yakut region. In February 1804, instead of the Kolyvan province abolished by Pavel, a new Tomsk province was organized within approximately the same borders (separated from the Tobolsk province).

In 1808, the Bialystok region was formed from the annexed lands, in 1809 Finland was annexed with its ATD, in 1810 - the Tarnopol region (returned to Austria in 1815), in 1810 - the Imereti region, in 1811. The Finnish (formerly Vyborg) province was included in the Principality of Finland. In 1812, Bessarabia was annexed to Russia (in 1818 the Bessarabia region was organized here, transformed in 1873 into the Bessarabia province), in 1815, according to the Congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of Poland (Kongressuvka).

In January 1822, according to the reform of M.M. Speransky, the entire territory of Siberia was divided into 2 governor generals - West Siberian (center - Omsk) and East Siberian (center - Irkutsk). The first of them included the provinces of Tobolsk and Tomsk, as well as the newly allocated Omsk region, and the second included the newly organized Yenisei (center - Krasnoyarsk) and the former Irkutsk provinces, as well as the Yakutsk region, the coastal departments of Okhotsk and Kamchatka, the border with China of Trinity Sava management. Speransky enacted the “Decree on the Siberian Kirghiz”, which introduced special management of the Kyrgyz-Kaisaks (Kazakhs) in the territory of what is now northern Kazakhstan with 2 districts subordinate to Omsk.

In 1825, in Russia there were 49 provinces (32 Russian, 13 special and 4 Siberian) and 7 regions (Bessarabian, Caucasian, Don troops, Bialystok, Imereti, Omsk and Yakut; the “special” provinces included 3 Baltic (Baltic) provinces , 8 western (Belarus and western Ukraine) and 2 Little Russian.

In 1835, the lands of the Don Army were divided into 7 civil districts. In the same year, the Sloboda-Ukrainian province was returned to its old Catherine name - Kharkov.

In 1838, the Omsk region was abolished, part of which, including Omsk and Petropavlovsk, was assigned to the Tobolsk province, and the rest, including Semipalatinsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk, to the Tomsk province. At the same time, Omsk became the center of border and military control of the Governor-General of Western Siberia.

In 1840, the Georgian-Imeretian province was created in the western part of Transcaucasia (center - Tiflis), and in the eastern part - the Caspian region (center - Shemakha; Azerbaijan and Dagestan). The latter included all of Dagestan, which was incorporated into Russia in parts in 1806-1813. In 1844, Dzharo-Belokan region. and the Ilisu Sultanate in Transcaucasia were united into the Dzharo-Belokansky district, which in 1859 was renamed Zagatala. In December 1846, Transcaucasia was divided into 4 new provinces: the Georgian-Imeretian province - into Tiflis and Kutaisi, and the Caspian region. - to the Shemakha and Derbent provinces.

In 1842, a new Kovno province was separated from the northern parts of the Vilna province, and in 1843 the Bialystok region was liquidated, the territory of which was included in the Grodno province.

In May 1847, Caucasus region. was renamed the Stavropol province.

As of 1847, there were 55 provinces and 3 regions in the Russian Empire (Table 10).

The formation of the Russian Empire happened on October 22, 1721 according to the old style, or November 2. It was on this day that the last Russian Tsar, Peter 1 the Great, declared himself Emperor of Russia. This happened as one of the consequences of the Northern War, after which the Senate asked Peter 1 to accept the title of Emperor of the country. The state received the name “Russian Empire”. Its capital became the city of St. Petersburg. During all this time, the capital was moved to Moscow for only 2 years (from 1728 to 1730).

Territory of the Russian Empire

When considering the history of Russia of that era, it is necessary to remember that at the time of the formation of the empire, large territories were annexed to the country. This became possible thanks to the successful foreign policy of the country, which was led by Peter 1. He created a new history, a history that returned Russia to the number of world leaders and powers whose opinions are worth taking into account.

The territory of the Russian Empire was 21.8 million km2. It was the second largest country in the world. In first place was the British Empire with its numerous colonies. Most of them have retained their status to this day. The country's first laws divided its territory into 8 provinces, each of which was governed by a governor. He had full local power, including judicial power. Subsequently, Catherine 2 increased the number of provinces to 50. Of course, this was done not through the annexation of new lands, but through fragmentation. This greatly increased the state apparatus and quite significantly reduced the efficiency of local government in the country. We will talk about this in more detail in the corresponding article. It should be noted that at the time of the collapse of the Russian Empire, its territory consisted of 78 provinces. Largest cities the countries were:

1. Saint Petersburg.
2. Moscow.
3. Warsaw.
4. Odessa.
5. Lodz.
6. Riga.
7. Kyiv.
8. Kharkiv.
9. Tiflis.
10. Tashkent.

The history of the Russian Empire is full of both bright and negative moments. This time period, which lasted less than two centuries, included a huge number of fateful moments in the fate of our country. It was during the period of the Russian Empire that the Patriotic War, campaigns in the Caucasus, campaigns in India, and European campaigns took place. The country developed dynamically. The reforms affected absolutely all aspects of life. It was the history of the Russian Empire that gave our country great commanders, whose names are on the lips to this day not only in Russia, but throughout Europe - Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov and Alexander Vasilyevich Suvorov. These famous generals forever inscribed their names in the history of our country and covered Russian weapons with eternal glory.

Map

We present a map of the Russian Empire, a brief history of which we are considering, which shows the European part of the country with all the changes that occurred in terms of territories over the years of the existence of the state.

Population

By the end of the 18th century, the Russian Empire was the largest country in the world by area. Its scale was such that the messenger, who was sent to all corners of the country to report the death of Catherine 2, arrived in Kamchatka 3 months later! And this despite the fact that the messenger rode almost 200 km every day.

Russia was also the most populous country. In 1800, about 40 million people lived in the Russian Empire, most of them in the European part of the country. Just under 3 million lived beyond the Urals. National composition the country was motley:

• East Slavs. Russians (Great Russians), Ukrainians (Little Russians), Belarusians. For a long time, almost until the very end of the Empire, it was considered a single people.
• Estonians, Latvians, Latvians and Germans lived in the Baltic states.
• Finno-Ugric (Mordovians, Karelians, Udmurts, etc.), Altai (Kalmyks) and Turkic (Bashkirs, Tatars, etc.) peoples.
• Peoples of Siberia and the Far East (Yakuts, Evens, Buryats, Chukchi, etc.).

As the country developed, some of the Kazakhs and Jews who lived on the territory of Poland became its subjects, but after its collapse they went to Russia.

The main class in the country were peasants (about 90%). Other classes: philistinism (4%), merchants (1%), and the remaining 5% of the population were distributed among the Cossacks, clergy and nobility. This is the classic structure of an agrarian society. And indeed, the main occupation of the Russian Empire was agriculture. It is no coincidence that all the indicators that lovers of the tsarist regime love to be so proud of today are associated with agriculture(we are talking about the import of grain and butter).

By the end of the 19th century, 128.9 million people lived in Russia, of which 16 million lived in cities, and the rest in villages.

Political system

The Russian Empire was autocratic in its form of government, where all power was concentrated in the hands of one person - the emperor, who was often called, in the old manner, the tsar. Peter 1 laid down in the laws of Russia precisely the unlimited power of the monarch, which ensured autocracy. Simultaneously with the state, the autocrat actually ruled the church.

An important point is that after the reign of Paul 1, autocracy in Russia could no longer be called absolute. This happened due to the fact that Paul 1 issued a decree according to which the system of transfer of the throne established by Peter 1 was abolished. Peter Alekseevich Romanov, let me remind you, decreed that the ruler himself determines his successor. Some historians today talk about the negative aspects of this document, but this is precisely the essence of autocracy - the ruler makes all decisions, including about his successor. After Paul 1, the system returned in which the son inherits the throne from his father.

Rulers of the country

Below is a list of all the rulers of the Russian Empire during the period of its existence (1721-1917).

All the rulers were from the Romanov dynasty, and after the overthrow of Nicholas 2 and the murder of himself and his family by the Bolsheviks, the dynasty was interrupted and the Russian Empire ceased to exist, changing the form of statehood to the USSR.

Key dates

During its existence, which is almost 200 years, the Russian Empire experienced many important points and events that had an impact on the state and people.

• 1722 – Table of Ranks
• 1799 – Suvorov’s foreign campaigns in Italy and Switzerland
• 1809 – Annexation of Finland
• 1812 – Patriotic War
• 1817-1864 – Caucasian War
• 1825 (December 14) – Decembrist uprising
• 1867 – Sale of Alaska
• 1881 (March 1) assassination of Alexander 2
• 1905 (January 9) – Bloody Sunday
• 1914-1918 – First World War
• 1917 – February and October revolutions

Completion of the Empire

The history of the Russian Empire ended on September 1, 1917, old style. It was on this day that the Republic was proclaimed. This was proclaimed by Kerensky, who by law did not have the right to do this, so declaring Russia a Republic can safely be called illegal. Only the Constituent Assembly had the authority to make such a proclamation. The fall of the Russian Empire is closely connected with the history of its last emperor, Nicholas 2. This emperor had all the qualities of a worthy person, but had an indecisive character. It was because of this that the unrest occurred in the country that cost Nicholas himself 2 his life, and the Russian Empire its existence. Nicholas 2 failed to strictly suppress the revolutionary and terrorist activities of the Bolsheviks in the country. There were indeed objective reasons for this. The main one is the First World War, in which the Russian Empire was involved and exhausted in it. The Russian Empire was replaced by a new type of government system in the country - the USSR.

Management of the Russian Empire. TO end of the 19th century V. the autocracy, it seemed, stood firmly and indestructible. All the highest functions of power (legislative, executive and judicial) were concentrated in the hands of the emperor, but the implementation of each of them was carried out through a system of state institutions.

The highest legislative body, as before, remained the State Council, endowed with legislative advisory rights. It consisted of persons appointed by the king and ministers. For the most part, these were famous courtiers and dignitaries, many of whom were very advanced in age, which allowed the salon public to call them nothing more than State Soviet elders. The State Council had no legislative initiative. At its meetings, only bills introduced by the monarch, but developed by ministries, were discussed.

The main executive body was the Committee of Ministers. It was headed by a Chairman, whose functions were very limited. The Committee of Ministers included not only ministers, but also heads of departments and government departments. Cases requiring the approval of various ministers were brought before the Committee. It was not a consolidated governing body coordinating the activities of individual departments. The committee was a meeting of administratively independent dignitaries. Each minister had the right to report directly to the emperor and was guided by his orders. The minister was appointed exclusively by the monarch.

The emperor was considered the head of the court and judicial administration, and all court proceedings were carried out in his name. The monarch’s competence did not extend to specific legal proceedings; he played the role of the highest and final arbiter.

The monarch exercised supervision over the court and administration through the Governing Senate, which ensured that the orders of the supreme power were carried out locally, and resolved complaints about the actions and orders of all authorities and persons, up to and including ministers.

Administratively, Russia was divided into 78 provinces, 18 regions and the island of Sakhalin. There were administrative units that included several provinces - governorates-general, usually established on the outskirts. The governor was appointed by the king on the proposal of the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Since 1809, the Russian Empire also included Finland (the Grand Duchy of Finland), the head of which was the emperor and which had broad internal autonomy - its own government (Senate), customs, police, and currency.

As vassal entities, Russia also included two Central Asian states - the Khanate of Bukhara (emirate) and the Khanate of Khiva. They were completely politically dependent on Russia, but their rulers had autonomous rights in internal affairs.

The governor's power was extensive and extended to almost all areas of life in the province.

Public education and health care were part of the central government system.

Cities had self-government in the form of city councils and councils. They were entrusted with administrative and economic tasks - transport, lighting, heating, sewerage, water supply, improvement of pavements, sidewalks, embankments and bridges, as well as management of educational and charitable affairs, local trade, industry and credit.

The right to take part in city elections was determined by a property qualification. Only those who owned real estate in a given city had it (in large centers - worth at least 3 thousand rubles; in small cities this threshold was much lower).

Four cities (St. Petersburg, Odessa, Sevastopol, Kerch-Bnikale) were removed from the provinces and were governed by mayors directly subordinate to the central government.

The provinces were divided into counties and the regions into districts. The district was the lowest administrative unit, and further division had a special purpose: the volost - for peasant self-government, the districts of zemstvo chiefs, the districts of judicial investigators, etc.

By the end of the 19th century. Zemstvo self-government was introduced in 34 provinces of European Russia, and in the remaining areas government bodies were in charge of affairs. Zemstvo bodies were mainly engaged in economic affairs - the construction and maintenance of local roads, schools, hospitals, charitable institutions, statistics, handicraft industry, and the organization of land loans. To carry out their tasks, zemstvos had the right to establish special zemstvo fees.

The zemstvo administration consisted of provincial and district zemstvo assemblies and executive bodies - provincial and district zemstvo councils, which had their own permanent offices and departments.

Elections to zemstvos were held every three years at three electoral congresses - landowners, townspeople and peasants. The district zemstvo assemblies elected their representatives to the provincial zemstvo assembly, which formed the provincial zemstvo government. At the head of the district and provincial zemstvo councils were elected chairmen. They not only supervised the activities of these institutions, but also represented zemstvos in government agencies management (provincial presences).

8.1 The choice of the path of historical development of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century under Alexander I.

8.2 Decembrist movement.

8.3 Conservative modernization under Nicholas I.

8.4 Social thought of the mid-19th century: Westerners and Slavophiles.

8.5 Culture of Russia in the first half of the 19th century.

8.1 The choice of the path of historical development of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century under Alexander I

Alexander I, the eldest son of Paul I, came to power as a result of a palace coup in March 1801. Alexander was initiated into the conspiracy and agreed to it, but on condition that his father’s life was spared. The murder of Paul I shocked Alexander, and until the end of his life he blamed himself for the death of his father.

A characteristic feature of the board Alexandra I (1801-1825) becomes a struggle between two currents - liberal and conservative and the emperor's maneuvering between them. There are two periods in the reign of Alexander I. Before Patriotic War The liberal period lasted in 1812, after the foreign campaigns of 1813-1814. – conservative .

Liberal period of government. Alexander was well educated and brought up in a liberal spirit. In his manifesto on his accession to the throne, Alexander I declared that he would rule “according to the laws and the heart” of his grandmother, Catherine the Great. He immediately abolished the restrictions on trade with England introduced by Paul I and the regulations in everyday life, clothing, social behavior, etc. that irritated people. Letters of grant to the nobility and cities were restored, free entry and exit abroad, the import of foreign books were allowed, an amnesty was granted to people who were persecuted under Paul. Religious tolerance and the right of non-nobles to buy land were proclaimed.

In order to prepare a reform program, Alexander I created Secret committee (1801-1803) - an unofficial body that included his friends V.P. Kochubey, N.N. Novosiltsev, P.A. Stroganov, A.A. Czartoryski. This committee discussed reforms.

In 1802 the collegiums were replaced ministries . This measure meant replacing the principle of collegiality with unity of command. 8 ministries were established: military, naval, foreign affairs, internal affairs, commerce, finance, public education and justice. A Committee of Ministers was created to discuss important issues.

In 1802, the Senate was reformed, becoming the highest judicial and supervisory body in the public administration system.

In 1803, the “Decree on Free Plowmen” was adopted. Landowners received the right to set their peasants free, providing them with land for a ransom. However, this decree did not have any great practical consequences: during the entire reign of Alexander I, a little more than 47 thousand serfs were released, that is, less than 0.5% of their total number.

In 1804, Kharkov and Kazan universities and the Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg (since 1819 - a university) were opened. In 1811 the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum was founded. The university charter of 1804 granted universities broad autonomy. Educational districts and continuity of 4 levels of education were created (parish school, district school, gymnasium, university). Primary education was proclaimed free and classless. A liberal censorship charter was approved.

In 1808, on behalf of Alexander I, the most talented official M.M. Speransky, chief prosecutor of the Senate (1808-1811), developed a reform project. The basis was the principle of separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial. It was planned to establish the State Duma as the highest legislative body of power; election of executive authorities. And although the project did not abolish the monarchy and serfdom, in the aristocratic environment, Speransky’s proposals were considered too radical. The officials and courtiers were dissatisfied with him and ensured that M.M. Speransky was accused of spying for Napoleon. In 1812 he was dismissed and exiled first to Nizhny Novgorod, then to Perm.

Of all the proposals from M.M. Speransky adopted one thing: in 1810, the State Council, consisting of members appointed by the emperor, became the highest legislative body of the empire.

The Patriotic War of 1812 interrupted liberal reforms. After the war and foreign campaigns of 1813-1814. Alexander's policy becomes more and more conservative.

Conservative period of government. In 1815-1825 Conservative tendencies intensified in the domestic policy of Alexander I. However, liberal reforms were resumed first.

In 1815, Poland was granted a constitution that was liberal in nature and provided for internal self-government of Poland within Russia. In 1816-1819 Serfdom was abolished in the Baltic states. In 1818, work began in Russia to prepare a draft Constitution for the entire empire based on the Polish one, headed by N.N. Novosiltsev and the development of secret projects for the abolition of serfdom (A.A. Arakcheev). It was planned to introduce a constitutional monarchy in Russia and establish a parliament. However, this work was not completed.

Faced with the discontent of the nobles, Alexander abandons liberal reforms. Fearing a repeat of his father's fate, the emperor increasingly switches to conservative positions. Period 1816-1825 called Arakcheevism , those. a policy of harsh military discipline. The period received its name because at this time General A.A. Arakcheev actually concentrated in his hands the leadership of the State Council and the Cabinet of Ministers, and was the only rapporteur to Alexander I on most departments. Military settlements, widely introduced since 1816, became a symbol of Arakcheevism.

Military settlements - a special organization of troops in Russia in 1810-1857, in which state peasants, enrolled as military settlers, combined service with farming. In fact, the settlers were enslaved twice—as peasants and as soldiers. Military settlements were introduced in order to reduce the cost of the army and stop recruitment, since the children of military settlers themselves became military settlers. The good idea eventually resulted in mass discontent.

In 1821, Kazan and St. Petersburg universities were purged. Censorship has increased. Cane discipline was restored in the army. The rejection of the promised liberal reforms led to the radicalization of part of the noble intelligentsia and the emergence of secret anti-government organizations.

Foreign policy under Alexander I. Patriotic War of 1812 The main task in foreign policy during the reign of Alexander I remained to contain French expansion in Europe. Two main directions prevailed in politics: European and southern (Middle Eastern).

In 1801, Eastern Georgia was accepted into Russia, and in 1804, Western Georgia was annexed to Russia. The establishment of Russia in Transcaucasia led to the war with Iran (1804-1813). Thanks to the successful actions of the Russian army, the main part of Azerbaijan came under Russian control. In 1806, a war between Russia and Turkey began, which ended with the signing of a peace treaty in Bucharest in 1812, according to which the eastern part of Moldavia (the land of Bessarabia) went to Russia, and the border with Turkey was established along the Prut River.

In Europe, Russia's objectives were to prevent French hegemony. At first, things didn't go well. In 1805, Napoleon defeated the Russian-Austrian troops at Austerlitz. In 1807, Alexander I signed the Tilsit Peace Treaty with France, according to which Russia joined the continental blockade of England and recognized all of Napoleon's conquests. However, the blockade, which was unfavorable for the Russian economy, was not respected, so in 1812 Napoleon decided to start a war with Russia, which intensified even more after the victorious Russian-Swedish war (1808-1809) and the annexation of Finland to it.

Napoleon hoped for a quick victory in border battles, and then force him to sign a treaty that was beneficial to him. And the Russian troops intended to lure Napoleon’s army deep into the country, disrupt its supply and defeat it. The French army numbered more than 600 thousand people, more than 400 thousand took part directly in the invasion, it included representatives of the conquered peoples of Europe. The Russian army was divided into three parts, located along the borders, with the intention of counter-attacking. 1st Army M.B. Barclay de Tolly numbered about 120 thousand people, the 2nd Army of P.I. Bagration - about 50 thousand and the 3rd Army of A.P. Tormasov - about 40 thousand.

On June 12, 1812, Napoleon's troops crossed the Neman River and entered Russian territory. The Patriotic War of 1812 began. Retreating in battle, the armies of Barclay de Tolly and Bagration managed to unite near Smolensk, but after stubborn fighting the city was abandoned. Avoiding a general battle, Russian troops continued to retreat. They fought stubborn rearguard battles with individual units of the French, exhausting and exhausting the enemy, inflicting significant losses on him. A guerrilla war broke out.

Public dissatisfaction with the long retreat, with which Barclay de Tolly was associated, forced Alexander I to appoint M.I. as commander-in-chief. Kutuzov, an experienced commander, student of A.V. Suvorov. In a war that was becoming national in nature, this was of great importance.

On August 26, 1812, the Battle of Borodino took place. Both armies suffered heavy losses (the French - about 30 thousand, the Russians - more than 40 thousand people). Napoleon's main goal - the defeat of the Russian army - was not achieved. The Russians, lacking the strength to continue the battle, retreated. After the military council in Fili, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army M.I. Kutuzov decided to leave Moscow. Having completed the “Tarutino maneuver”, the Russian army evaded the pursuit of the enemy and settled down for rest and replenishment in a camp near Tarutino, south of Moscow, covering the Tula arms factories and the southern provinces of Russia.

On September 2, 1812, the French army entered Moscow. However, no one was in a hurry to sign a peace treaty with Napoleon. Soon the French began to have difficulties: there was not enough food and ammunition, and discipline was decaying. Fires started in Moscow. On October 6, 1812, Napoleon withdrew his troops from Moscow. On October 12, he was met by Kutuzov’s troops at Maloyaroslavets and, after a fierce battle, forced the French to retreat along the devastated Smolensk road.

Moving to the West, losing people from clashes with flying Russian cavalry detachments, due to disease and hunger, Napoleon brought about 60 thousand people to Smolensk. The Russian army marched parallel and threatened to cut off the route to retreat. In the battle on the Berezina River, the French army was defeated. About 30 thousand Napoleonic troops crossed the borders of Russia. On December 25, 1812, Alexander I issued a manifesto on the victorious completion of the Patriotic War. The main reason for the victory was the patriotism and heroism of the people who fought for their Motherland.

In 1813-1814 Foreign campaigns of the Russian army took place with the goal of finally ending French rule in Europe. In January 1813, she entered the territory of Europe; Prussia, England, Sweden and Austria came over to her side. In the battle of Leipzig (October 1813), nicknamed the “Battle of the Nations,” Napoleon was defeated. At the beginning of 1814, he abdicated the throne. According to the Paris Peace Treaty, France returned to the borders of 1792, the Bourbon dynasty was restored, Napoleon was exiled to Fr. Elbe in the Mediterranean Sea.

In September 1814, delegations from the victorious countries gathered in Vienna to resolve controversial territorial issues. Serious disagreements arose between them, but the news of Napoleon's escape from Fr. Elbe (“Hundred Days”) and his seizure of power in France catalyzed the negotiation process. As a result, Saxony passed to Prussia, Finland, Bessarabia and the main part of the Duchy of Warsaw with its capital - to Russia. June 6, 1815 Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo by the allies and exiled to the island. St. Helena.

In September 1815 it was created Holy Alliance , which included Russia, Prussia and Austria. The goals of the Union were to preserve the state borders established by the Congress of Vienna and suppress revolutionary and national liberation movements in European countries. Russia's conservatism in foreign policy was reflected in domestic policy, in which conservative tendencies were also growing.

Summing up the reign of Alexander I, we can say that Russia in early XIX century could become a relatively free country. The unpreparedness of society, primarily the higher one, for liberal reforms, and the personal motives of the emperor led to the fact that the country continued to develop on the basis of the established order, i.e. conservatively.

The Russian Empire entered the new, 19th century as a powerful power. The capitalist structure strengthened in the Russian economy, but noble land ownership, which was consolidated during the reign of Catherine II, remained the determining factor in the economic life of the country. The nobility expanded its privileges, only this “noble” class owned all the land, and a significant part of the peasants who fell into serfdom were subordinated to it under humiliating conditions. The nobles received a corporate organization under the Charter of 1785, which had a great influence on the local administrative apparatus. The authorities kept a watchful eye on public thought. They brought to trial the freethinker A.N. Radishchev, the author of “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” and then they imprisoned him in distant Yakutsk.

Successes in foreign policy gave a peculiar shine to the Russian autocracy. During the course of almost continuous military campaigns, the borders of the empire were expanded: in the west, it included Belarus, Right-Bank Ukraine, Lithuania, the southern part of the Eastern Baltic in the west, and in the south - after two Russian-Turkish wars - Crimea and almost the entire North Caucasus. Meanwhile, the internal situation of the country was fragile. Finance was threatened by constant inflation. The issue of banknotes (since 1769) covered the reserves of silver and copper coins accumulated in credit institutions. The budget, although it was reduced without a deficit, was supported only by internal and external loans. One of the reasons for the financial difficulties was not so much the constant costs and maintenance of the expanded administrative apparatus, but rather the growing arrears of peasant taxes. Crop failure and famine recurred in individual provinces every 3-4 years, and throughout the country every 5-6 years. Attempts by the government and individual nobles to increase the marketability of agricultural production through better agricultural technology, which was the concern of the Free Economic Union created in 1765, often only increased the corvee oppression of the peasants, to which they responded with unrest and uprisings.

The class system that had previously existed in Russia gradually became obsolete, especially in the cities. The merchants no longer controlled all trade. Among the urban population, it was increasingly possible to distinguish classes characteristic of a capitalist society - the bourgeoisie and workers. They were formed not on a legal, but on a purely economic basis, which is typical for a capitalist society. Many nobles, merchants, wealthy townspeople and peasants found themselves in the ranks of entrepreneurs. Peasants and burghers predominated among the workers. In 1825 there were 415 cities and towns in Russia. Many small towns had an agricultural character. In Central Russian cities, gardening was developed, and wooden buildings predominated. Due to frequent fires, entire cities were devastated.

The mining and metallurgical industries were located mainly in the Urals, Altai and Transbaikalia. The main centers of metalworking and textile industry were St. Petersburg, Moscow and Vladimir provinces, and Tula. By the end of the 20s of the 19th century, Russia imported coal, steel, chemical products, and linen fabrics.

Some factories began using steam engines. In 1815, the first domestic motor ship “Elizabeth” was built in St. Petersburg at the Berda machine-building plant. Since the middle of the 19th century, the industrial revolution began in Russia.

The system of serfdom, taken to the limit of non-economic exploitation, turned into a real “powder keg” under the building of a powerful empire.

The beginning of the reign of Alexander I. The very beginning of the 19th century was marked by a sudden change of persons on the Russian throne. Emperor Paul I, a tyrant, despot and neurasthenic, was strangled by conspirators from the highest nobility on the night of March 11-12, 1801. The murder of Paul was carried out with the knowledge of his 23-year-old son Alexander, who ascended the throne on March 12, stepping over his father’s corpse.

The event of March 11, 1801 was the last palace coup in Russia. It completed the history of Russian statehood in the 18th centuries.

Everyone pinned their hopes on the name of the new tsar, not the best: the “lower classes” for a weakening of landlord oppression, the “tops” for even greater attention to their interests.

The noble nobility, who placed Alexander I on the throne, pursued the old goals: to preserve and strengthen the autocratic serf system in Russia. The social nature of the autocracy as a dictatorship of the nobility also remained unchanged. However, a number of threatening factors that had developed by that time forced the Alexander government to look for new methods to solve old problems.

Most of all, the nobles were worried about the growing discontent of the “lower classes.” By the beginning of the 19th century, Russia was a power vastly spread over 17 million square meters. km from the Baltic to the Okhotsk and from the White to the Black Sea.

About 40 million people lived in this space. Of these, Siberia accounted for 3.1 million people, the North Caucasus - about 1 million people.

The central provinces were most densely populated. In 1800, the population density here was about 8 people per 1 sq. mile. To the south, north and east of the center, population density has decreased sharply. In the Samara Trans-Volga region, the lower reaches of the Volga and on the Don, it was no more than 1 person per 1 sq. mile. The population density was even lower in Siberia. Of the entire population of Russia, there were 225 thousand nobles, 215 thousand clergy, 119 thousand merchants, 15 thousand generals and officers, and the same number of government officials. In the interests of these approximately 590 thousand people, the king ruled his empire.

The vast majority of the other 98.5% were disenfranchised serfs. Alexander I understood that although the slaves of his slaves would endure a lot, even their patience had a limit. Meanwhile, oppression and abuse were limitless at that time.

Suffice it to say that corvee labor in areas of intensive agriculture was 5-6, and sometimes even 7 days a week. The landowners ignored the decree of Paul I on the 3-day corvee and did not comply with it until the abolition of serfdom. At that time, serfs in Russia were not considered people; they were forced to work like draft animals, bought and sold, exchanged for dogs, lost at cards, and put on chains. This could not be tolerated. By 1801, 32 of the 42 provinces of the empire were engulfed in peasant unrest, the number of which exceeded 270.

Another factor influencing the new government was pressure from noble circles demanding the return of the privileges granted by Catherine II. The government was forced to take into account the spread of liberal European trends among the noble intelligentsia. Needs economic development forced the government of Alexander I to reform. The dominance of serfdom, under which manual labor millions of peasants, was free of charge, and interfered with technical progress.

The industrial revolution - the transition from manual production to machine production, which began in England in the 60s, and in France in the 80s of the 18th century - in Russia became possible only in the 30s of the next century. Market links between different regions of the country were sluggish. More than 100 thousand villages and villages and 630 cities scattered across Russia had little idea of ​​how and how the country lived, and the government did not want to know about their needs. Russian lines of communication were the longest and least comfortable in the world. Until 1837, Russia did not have railways. The first steamship appeared on the Neva in 1815, and the first steam locomotive only in 1834. The narrowness of the domestic market hampered the growth of foreign trade. Russia's share in world trade turnover was only 3.7% by 1801. All this determined the nature, content and methods of the internal policy of tsarism under Alexander I.

Domestic policy.

As a result of a palace coup on March 12, 1801, the eldest son of Paul I, Alexander I, ascended the Russian throne. Internally, Alexander I was no less a despot than Paul, but he was adorned with external polish and courtesy. The young king, unlike his parent, was distinguished by his beautiful appearance: tall, slender, with a charming smile on his angel-like face. In a manifesto issued on the same day, he announced his commitment to political course Catherine II. He began by restoring the Charters of 1785 to the nobility and cities, abolished by Paul, and freed the nobility and clergy from corporal punishment. Alexander I was faced with the task of improving the state system of Russia in a new historical situation. To conduct this course, Alexander I brought close to himself the friends of his youth - European educated representatives of the younger generation of noble nobility. Together they formed a circle, which they called the “Unspoken Committee”. In 1803, a decree on “free cultivators” was adopted. According to which the landowner, if he wished, could free his peasants by allocating them with land and receiving a ransom from them. But the landowners were in no hurry to free their serfs. For the first time in the history of autocracy, Alexander discussed in the Secret Committee the question of the possibilities of abolishing serfdom, but recognized it as not yet ripe for a final decision. Bolder than in peasant question, there were reforms in the field of education. By the beginning of the 19th century, the administrative system of the state was in decline. Alexander hoped to restore order and strengthen the state by introducing a ministerial system of central government based on the principle of unity of command. Triple need forced tsarism to reform this area: it required trained officials for the updated state apparatus, as well as qualified specialists for industry and trade. Also, in order to spread liberal ideas throughout Russia, it was necessary to streamline public education. As a result, for 1802-1804. the government of Alexander I rebuilt the entire system educational institutions, dividing them into four rows (from bottom to top: parish, district and provincial schools, universities), and opened four new universities at once: in Dorpat, Vilna, Kharkov and Kazan.

In 1802, instead of the previous 12 boards, 8 ministries were created: military, maritime, foreign affairs, internal affairs, commerce, finance, public education and justice. But the old vices also settled in the new ministries. Alexander knew of senators who took bribes. He fought to expose them with fear of damaging the prestige of the Governing Senate.

Was fundamentally needed new approach to solving the problem. In 1804, a new censorship charter was adopted. He said that censorship serves “not to restrict the freedom to think and write, but solely to take decent measures against its abuse.” The Pavlovsk ban on the import of literature from abroad was lifted, and for the first time in Russia, the publication of the works of F. Voltaire, J.J., translated into Russian, began. Rousseau, D. Diderot, C. Montesquieu, G. Raynal, who were read by the future Decembrists. This ended the first series of reforms of Alexander I, praised by Pushkin as “the wonderful beginning of Alexander’s days.”

Alexander I managed to find a person who could rightfully lay claim to the role of a reformer. Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky came from the family of a rural priest. In 1807, Alexander I brought it closer to himself. Speransky was distinguished by the breadth of his horizons and strict systematic thinking. He did not tolerate chaos and confusion. In 1809, following the teachings of Alexander, he drew up a project for radical state reforms. Speransky based the government system on the principle of separation of powers - legislative, executive and judicial. Each of them, starting from the lower levels, had to act within the strictly defined framework of the law.

Representative assemblies of several levels were created, headed by the State Duma - an all-Russian representative body. The Duma was supposed to give opinions on bills submitted to its consideration and hear reports from ministers.

All powers - legislative, executive and judicial - were united in the State Council, whose members were appointed by the tsar. The opinion of the State Council, approved by the tsar, became law. Not a single law could come into effect without discussion in the State Duma and the State Council.

The real legislative power, according to Speransky's project, remained in the hands of the tsar and the highest bureaucracy. He wanted to bring the actions of the authorities, in the center and locally, under the control of public opinion. For the voicelessness of the people opens the way to the irresponsibility of the authorities.

According to Speransky’s project, all Russian citizens who owned land or capital enjoyed voting rights. Craftsmen, domestic servants and serfs did not participate in the elections. But they enjoyed the most important state rights. The main one was: “No one can be punished without a judicial verdict.”

The project began in 1810, when the State Council was created. But then things stopped: Alexander became increasingly comfortable with autocratic rule. The higher nobility, having heard about Speransky's plans to give civil rights to serfs, openly expressed dissatisfaction. All conservatives, starting with N.M., united against the reformer. Karamzin and ending with A.A. Arakcheev, falling into favor with the new emperor. In March 1812, Speransky was arrested and exiled to Nizhny Novgorod.

Foreign policy.

By the beginning of the 19th century, two main directions in Russian foreign policy had been determined: the Middle East - the desire to strengthen its positions in the Transcaucasus, the Black Sea and the Balkans, and the European - participation in the coalition wars of 1805-1807. against Napoleonic France.

Having become emperor, Alexander I restored relations with England. He canceled Paul I's preparations for war with England and returned him from the campaign to India. The normalization of relations with England and France allowed Russia to intensify its policy in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia. The situation here worsened in the 90s, when Iran began active expansion into Georgia.

The Georgian king repeatedly turned to Russia with a request for protection. On September 12, 1801, a manifesto was adopted on the annexation of Eastern Georgia to Russia. The reigning Georgian dynasty lost its throne, and control passed to the viceroy of the Russian Tsar. For Russia, the annexation of Georgia meant the acquisition of strategically important territory to strengthen its positions in the Caucasus and Transcaucasia.

Alexander came to power in an extremely difficult and tense situation for Russia. Napoleonic France sought dominance in Europe and potentially threatened Russia. Meanwhile, Russia was conducting friendly negotiations with France and was at war with England, France's main enemy. This position, which Alexander inherited from Paul, did not suit the Russian nobles at all.

Firstly, Russia maintained long-standing and mutually beneficial economic ties with England. By 1801, England absorbed 37% of all Russian exports. France, incomparably less rich than England, never brought such benefits to Russia. Secondly, England was a respectable, legitimate monarchy, while France was a rebel country, thoroughly imbued with a revolutionary spirit, a country headed by an upstart, a rootless warrior. Thirdly, England was on good terms with other feudal monarchies in Europe: Austria, Prussia, Sweden, Spain. France, precisely as a rebel country, opposed the united front of all other powers.

Thus, the priority foreign policy task of the government of Alexander I was to restore friendship with England. But tsarism did not intend to fight with France either - the new government needed time to organize urgent internal affairs.

The coalition wars of 1805-1807 were fought over territorial claims and mainly over dominance in Europe, which was claimed by each of the five great powers: France, England, Russia, Austria, Prussia. In addition, the coalitionists aimed to restore in Europe, right up to France itself, the feudal regimes overthrown by the French Revolution and Napoleon. The coalitionists did not skimp on phrases about their intentions to free France “from the chains” of Napoleon.

Revolutionaries - Decembrists.

The war sharply accelerated growth political consciousness noble intelligentsia. The main source of the revolutionary ideology of the Decembrists were the contradictions in Russian reality, that is, between the needs of national development and the feudal-serf system that hampered national progress. The most intolerant thing for advanced Russian people was serfdom. It personified all the evils of feudalism - the despotism and tyranny that reigned everywhere, the civil lawlessness of most of the people, the economic backwardness of the country. From life itself, the future Decembrists drew impressions that pushed them to the conclusion: it was necessary to abolish serfdom, transform Russia from an autocratic state into a constitutional state. They began to think about this even before the War of 1812. Advanced nobles, including officers, even some generals and major officials, they expected that Alexander, having defeated Napoleon, would give freedom to the peasants of Russia and a constitution to the country. As it became clear that the tsar would not cede either one or the other to the country, they became increasingly disappointed in him: the halo of a reformer faded in their eyes, revealing his true face as a serf-owner and autocrat.

Since 1814, the Decembrist movement has taken its first steps. One after another, four associations took shape, which went down in history as pre-Decembrist ones. They had neither a charter, nor a program, nor a clear organization, nor even a specific composition, but were busy with political discussions about how to change the “evil of the existing order of things.” They included very different people, who for the most part later became outstanding Decembrists.

The “Order of Russian Knights” was headed by two scions of the highest nobility - Count M.A. Dmitriev - Mamonov and Guards General M.F. Orlov. The “Order” plotted to establish a constitutional monarchy in Russia, but did not have a coordinated plan of action, since there was no unanimity among the members of the “Order”.

The “sacred artel” of General Staff officers also had two leaders. They were the Muravyov brothers: Nikolai Nikolaevich and Alexander Nikolaevich - later the founder of the Union of Salvation. The “Sacred Artel” organized its life in a republican way: one of the premises of the officers’ barracks, where the members of the “artel” lived, was decorated with a “veche bell”, upon the ringing of which all the “artel members” gathered for conversations. They not only condemned serfdom, but also dreamed of a republic.

The Semenovskaya artel was the largest of the pre-Decembrist organizations. It consisted of 15-20 people, among whom stood out such leaders of mature Decembrism as S.B. Trubetskoy, S.I. Muravyov, I.D. Yakushkin. The artel lasted only a few months. In 1815, Alexander I learned about it and ordered “to stop gatherings of officers.”

Historians consider the circle of the first Decembrist V.F. to be the fourth before the Decembrist organization. Raevsky in Ukraine. It arose around 1816 in the city of Kamenetsk-Podolsk.

All pre-Decembrist associations existed legally or semi-legally, and on February 9, 1816, a group of members of the “Sacred” and Semenovskaya artel, led by A.N. Muravyov founded the secret, first Decembrist organization - the Union of Salvation. Each of the society members had military campaigns of 1813-1814, dozens of battles, orders, medals, ranks, and their average age was 21 years.

The Union of Salvation adopted a charter, the main author of which was Pestel. The goals of the charter were as follows: to destroy serfdom and replace autocracy with a constitutional monarchy. The question was: how to achieve this? The majority of the Union proposed to prepare such public opinion in the country that, over time, would force the tsar to promulgate the constitution. A minority sought more radical measures. Lunin proposed his plan for the regicide; it consisted in having a detachment of brave men in masks meet the king’s carriage and finish him off with blows of daggers. Disagreements within salvation intensified.

In September 1817, while the guards were escorting the royal family to Moscow, members of the Union held a meeting known as the Moscow Conspiracy. Here I offered myself as the king of the murderer I.D. Yakushkin. But only a few supported Yakushkin’s idea; almost everyone was “terrified to even talk about it.” As a result, the Union banned the assassination attempt on the Tsar “due to the scarcity of means to achieve the goal.”

Disagreements led the Salvation Union to a dead end. Active members of the Union decided to liquidate their organization and create a new one, more united, broader and more effective. So in October 1817, the “Military Society” was created in Moscow - the second secret society of the Decembrists.

“Military Society” played the role of a kind of control filter. The main cadres of the Salvation Union and the main cadres and new people who should have been tested were passed through it. In January 1818, the Military Society was dissolved and the Union of Welfare, the third secret society of the Decembrists, began to operate in its place. This union had more than 200 members. According to the charter, the Welfare Union was divided into councils. The main one was the Root Council in St. Petersburg. Business and side councils in the capital and locally - in Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Poltava, Chisinau - were subordinate to her. The year 15.1820 can be considered a turning point in the development of Decembrism. Until this year, the Decembrists, although they approved of the results of the French Revolution of the 18th century, considered its main means - the uprising of the people - unacceptable. That's why they doubted whether to accept the revolution in principle. Only the discovery of the tactics of military revolution finally made them revolutionaries.

The years 1824-1825 were marked by the intensification of the activities of Decembrist societies. The task of preparing a military uprising was immediately set.

It was supposed to start it in the capital - St. Petersburg, “as the center of all authorities and boards.” On the periphery, members of Southern society must provide military support for the uprising in the capital. In the spring of 1824, as a result of negotiations between Pestel and the leaders of the Northern Society, an agreement was reached on unification and a joint performance, which was scheduled for the summer of 1826.

During the summer camp training of 1825, M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin and S.I. Muravyov-Apostol learned about the existence of the Society of United Slavs. At the same time, his unification with the Southern Society took place.

The death of Emperor Alexander I in Taganrog on November 19, 1825 and the interregnum that arose created a situation that the Decembrists decided to take advantage of for an immediate attack. Members of the Northern Society decided to start an uprising on December 14, 1825, the day on which the oath to Emperor Nicholas I was scheduled. The Decembrists were able to bring up to 3 thousand soldiers and sailors to Senate Square. The rebels were waiting for their leader, but S.P. Trubetskoy, who had been elected the day before as “dictator” of the uprising, refused to come to the square. Nicholas I gathered against them about 12 thousand troops loyal to him with artillery. With the onset of dusk, several volleys of grapeshot dispersed the rebel formation. On the night of December 15, arrests of the Decembrists began. On December 29, 1825, in Ukraine, in the area of ​​the White Church, the uprising of the Chernigov regiment began. It was headed by S.I. Muravyov-Apostol. With 970 soldiers of this regiment, he carried out a raid for 6 days in the hope of joining other military units in which members of the secret society served. However, the military authorities blocked the area of ​​the uprising with reliable units. On January 3, 1826, the rebel regiment was met by a detachment of hussars with artillery and dispersed by grapeshot. Wounded in the head S.I. Muravyov-Apostol was captured and sent to St. Petersburg. Until mid-April 1826, arrests of Decembrists continued. 316 people were arrested. In total, over 500 people were involved in the Decembrist case. 121 people were brought before the Supreme Criminal Court, in addition, trials were held of 40 members of secret societies in Mogilev, Bialystok and Warsaw. Placed “outside the ranks” P.I. Pestel, K.F. Ryleev, S.I. Muravyov-Apostol and P.G. Kakhovsky were prepared for the “death penalty by quartering”, replaced by hanging. The rest are distributed into 11 categories; 31 people of the 1st category were sentenced to “death by beheading”, the rest to various terms of hard labor. More than 120 Decembrists suffered various punishments without trial: some were imprisoned in the fortress, others were placed under police supervision. In the early morning of July 13, 1826, the execution of the Decembrists sentenced to hanging took place, then their bodies were secretly buried.

Socio-political thought in the 20-50s of the 19th century.

Ideological life in Russia in the second quarter of the 19th century took place in a difficult political situation for progressive people, intensifying reaction after the suppression of the Decembrist uprising.

The defeat of the Decembrists gave rise to pessimism and despair among some part of society. A noticeable revival of the ideological life of Russian society occurred at the turn of the 30s and 40s of the 19th century. By this time, the currents of socio-political thought had already clearly emerged as protective-conservative, liberal-oppositional, and the beginning had been made of revolutionary-democratic.

The ideological expression of the protective-conservative trend was the theory of “official nationality.” Its principles were formulated in 1832 by S.S. Uvarov as “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality.” The conservative-protective direction in the context of the awakening of the national self-awareness of the Russian people also appeals to “nationality”. But he interpreted “nationality” as the adherence of the masses to “original Russian principles” - autocracy and Orthodoxy. The social task of the “official nationality” was to prove the originality and legality of the autocratic-serf system in Russia. The main inspirer and conductor of the theory of “official nationality” was Nicholas I, and the Minister of Public Education, conservative professors and journalists acted as its zealous promoters. The theorists of the “official nationality” argued that the best order of things prevails in Russia, consistent with the requirements of the Orthodox religion and “political wisdom.” alexander industrial empire political

“Official nationality” as an officially recognized ideology was supported by the entire power of the government, preached through the church, royal manifestos, the official press, and the system of public education. However, despite this, enormous mental work was going on, new ideas were born, united by the rejection of the Nikolaev political system. Among them, Slavophiles and Westerners occupied a significant place in the 30s and 40s.

Slavophiles are representatives of the liberal-minded noble intelligentsia. The doctrine of the identity and national exclusivity of the Russian people, their rejection of the Western European path of development, even the opposition of Russia to the West, the defense of autocracy and Orthodoxy.

Slavophilism is an oppositional movement in Russian social thought; it had many points of contact with the Westernism that opposed it, rather than with the theorists of the “official nationality”. The initial date for the formation of Slavophilism should be considered 1839. The founders of this movement were Alexey Khomyakov and Ivan Kireevsky. The main thesis of the Slavophiles is proof of the original path of development of Russia. They put forward the thesis: “The power of power is for the king, the power of opinion is for the people.” This meant that the Russian people should not interfere in politics, giving the monarch full power. The Slavophiles viewed the Nicholas political system with its German “bureaucracy” as a logical consequence of the negative aspects of Peter’s reforms.

Westernism arose at the turn of the 30s and 40s of the 19th century. The Westerners included writers and publicists - P.V. Annenkov, V.P. Botkin, V.G. Belinsky and others. They argued for the common historical development of the West and Russia, argued that Russia, although late, was following the same path as other countries, and advocated Europeanization. Westerners advocated a constitutional-monarchical form of government on the Western European model. In contrast to the Slavophiles, the Westerners were rationalists, and they attached decisive importance to reason, and not to the primacy of faith. They affirmed the very value of human life as a bearer of reason. Westerners used university departments and Moscow literary salons to promote their views.

In the late 40s - early 50s of the 19th century, the democratic direction of Russian social thought was taking shape; representatives of this circle were: A.I. Herzen, V.G. Belinsky. This trend was based on social thought and philosophical and political teachings that spread in Western Europe at the beginning of the 19th century.

In the 40s of the 19th century, various socialist theories began to spread in Russia, mainly by C. Fourier, A. Saint-Simon and R. Owen. The Petrashevites were active propagandists of these ideas. A young official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, gifted and sociable, M.V. Butashevich-Petrashevsky, starting in the winter of 1845, began to gather young people interested in literary, philosophical and political novelties on Fridays at his St. Petersburg apartment. These were senior students, teachers, minor officials and aspiring writers. In March - April 1849, the most radical part of the circle began to form a secret political organization. Several revolutionary proclamations were written, and a printing press was purchased to reproduce them.

But at this point the activity of the circle was interrupted by the police, who had been monitoring the Petrashevites for about a year through an agent sent to them. On the night of April 23, 1849, 34 Petrashevites were arrested and sent to the Peter and Paul Fortress.

At the turn of the 40-50s of the 19th century, the theory of “Russian socialism” took shape. Its founder was A.I. Herzen. The defeat of the revolutions of 1848-1849 in Western European countries made a deep impression on him and gave rise to disbelief in European socialism. Herzen proceeded from the idea of ​​an “original” path of development for Russia, which, bypassing capitalism, would come to socialism through the peasant community.

Conclusion

For Russia, the beginning of the 19th century is the greatest turning point. The traces of this era are enormous in the fate of the Russian Empire. On the one hand, this is a lifelong prison for the majority of its citizens, where the people were in poverty, and 80% of the population remained illiterate.

If you look from the other side, Russia at this time is the birthplace of a great, contradictory, liberation movement from the Decembrists to the Social Democrats, which twice brought the country close to a democratic revolution. At the beginning of the 19th century, Russia saved Europe from the destructive wars of Napoleon and saved the Balkan peoples from the Turkish yoke.

It was at this time that brilliant spiritual values ​​began to be created, which to this day remain unsurpassed (the works of A.S. Pushkin and L.N. Tolstoy, A.I. Herzen, N.G. Chernyshevsky, F.I. Chaliapin).

In a word, Russia looked extremely diverse in the 19th century; it experienced both triumphs and humiliations. One of the Russian poets N.A. Nekrasov said prophetic words about her that are still true today:

You're miserable too

You and abundant

You are mighty

You are also powerless