Questions:

The system of public administration during the reign of Catherine II

State administration under Paul I

State and church in the second half of the 18th century.

In the second half of the XVIII century. in many European states, including Russia, there is a certain modernization of the political and economic system associated with the policy of enlightened absolutism. The main goal is to adapt the feudal in essence, absolute monarchy to new (capitalist) relations that begin to objectively prevail in society.

The ideological basis of this policy was the Enlightenment, closely associated with the formation in the XVIII century. a new human type - an independent, judicious, active person, critical of authorities, accustomed to relying on his own strength in everything. The restructuring of society on new principles attracted particular attention of the educators. They believed that an enlightened monarch should be at the head of the state, whose main task is to create the kingdom of reason, i.e. a society based on bourgeois values: civil equality, freedom of the individual and its economic activity, inviolability of private property, etc. Catherine II, whose reign is traditionally associated with the policy of enlightened absolutism in Russia, sought to become such a monarch in the eyes of Europe.

1. The system of public administration during the reign of Catherine II

The future Russian Empress was born in 1729, she was the brother-in-law of the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst, a general of the Prussian army.

The princess received a good education at home, 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 adopted Orthodoxy and the name - Ekaterina Alekseevna, she married the heir to the Russian throne - Peter Fedorovich (before baptism Karl Peter Ulrich), the son of the elder sister of Empress Elizabeth - Anna Petrovna, who married the Duke of Holstein Karl Friedrich .

Having found herself in Russia at the age of 16, Ekaterina, having realistically assessed the situation, decided to become "her own", Russian as soon as possible - to master the language perfectly, to learn Russian customs - and she spared no effort to achieve her goal. She read a lot and educated herself. Catherine showed particular interest in descriptions of travels, works of the classics, history, philosophy, and the works of French encyclopedists.

By nature, Catherine had a sober mind, observation, the ability to suppress her emotions, listen carefully to her 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 Elizabeth Petrovna were quite difficult.

After the death of Elizabeth Petrovna in December 1761, Catherine's husband, Peter 111 (1728-1762), the son of the daughter of Peter I, Anna Petrovna and the German duke, became emperor, a mentally undeveloped person, poorly educated, cruel, alien to everything Russian, overly fond of military affairs. During his short reign, the most important was the decree "On the Liberty of the Nobility" dated February 18, 1762, which abolished the compulsory service for the nobles. Moreover, the Secret Chancellery, which was in charge of political crimes, was abolished, instilled fear in the population. However, these measures could not bring Peter III popularity among his subjects. General dissatisfaction was caused by peace with Prussia, which meant the rejection of all Russian conquests in the Seven Years' War; preparations for war with Denmark in the interests of Holstein, huge Prussian and Holstein influence at the Russian court; disrespect for Orthodox customs; the introduction of German orders in the army, a dismissive attitude towards the Russian guard.

In such situation a significant part of the Russian nobility pinned their hopes on the name of Catherine, who, although she was German by birth, understood perfectly well that the Russian Empress should think, first of all, about the interests of Russia. Unlike her husband, who continued to consider himself the Duke of Holstein, Catherine renounced all rights to Anhalt-Zerbst after the death of her parents.

Great ambition, willpower, hard work helped Catherine, in the end, to achieve power. A group of conspirators rallied around the future Catherine II - mostly guards officers. Especially 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, came 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.

The empress devoted the first years of her reign to strengthening her power, selecting proxies, studying the state of affairs in the state, and also getting to know Russia more thoroughly (in 1763-1767 she made three trips to the European part of the country). Considering herself a student of the French philosophers of the 18th century, Catherine II sought, with the help of certain transformations, to eliminate the elements of "barbarism" from the life of the country, to make Russian society more "enlightened", close to Western European, but at the same time to keep the autocracy and its social base- nobility.

The need for change was largely determined by the socio-economic situation prevailing at the beginning of the reign of Catherine II. Throughout the XVIII century. elements of capitalist relations developed in Russia, the ideas of entrepreneurship gradually penetrated into various sectors of society - the nobility, merchants, peasantry. The particular complexity of the internal situation of the country in the early 60s. 18th century gave the 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 forbidden 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 in internal trade of new lands annexed to the Russian state during the reign of Catherine II: some regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Baltic, Black Sea, Azov, Kuban steppes, Crimea.

Considerable attention under Catherine II was paid to the development of the education system: educational houses, 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.

However, along with such progressive measures, which objectively contributed to the development of bourgeois relations, in Russia there is a strengthening of serfdom. Already in the manifesto of July 6, 1762, explaining the reasons for the coup, it was defined one of the main goals of Catherine's domestic policyII- support the landowners in every possible way and keep the peasants in subjection. In the 60s, when the empress still verbally supported the idea of ​​freeing the peasants, the serfs were forbidden to complain about the master, the landowners were allowed to send their peasants to hard labor. In order to destroy explosive centers in the south, self-government was liquidated and the Cossack districts were reorganized - here in late XVIII v. serfdom was widespread. Later, during the reign of Catherine II, there was an increase in the exploitation of the peasants: serfs accounted for about 50% of their total number, more than half of them were on corvee, which in the whole country by the 80s. increased to 5 days a week instead of 3 days in the 60s; especially in the second half of the 18th century. trade in serfs spread. The situation of the state peasants also worsened - the duties imposed on them were increased, their distribution to the 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 taxable class, they could go to court and be witnesses in it! they could, however, with the consent of the landowner, sign up as merchants, engage in farming, etc.

In the last years of his reign under the influence of the peasant war led by E. Pugachev (1773-1775), I especially the Great French Revolution (1789-1794), Catherine II is gradually moving 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 any cost. However, the foundation of society's life, laid down by the policy of enlightened absolutism, remained practically unchanged until the death of Catherine II.

One of the characteristic, essential features of the policy of enlightened absolutism of Catherine II was the streamlining of the state administration system. 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.

Apparatus of higher and central administration. At once after the accession of Catherine II to the throne, a participant in the coup N.I. Panin(1718-1783), famous diplomat, adviser to the College of Foreign Affairs, presented to the empress a draft of changes in the central administration. He proposed the creation of a permanent imperial council, consisting of four secretaries (foreign and internal affairs, military and naval departments) and two advisers. All major issues were to be considered by the Council in the presence of the Empress, who made the 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, in order 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 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, the police; the fourth - military and naval affairs. Two Moscow departments corresponded to the first and second St. Petersburg ones.

Many important questions Ekaterina P decided without the participation of the Senate. She maintained relations with him through the Attorney General of AL. Vyazemsky (1727-1793), who received a secret instruction to impede the legislative activities of the Senate. As a result, the importance of the Senate decreased, from the highest body of state administration, as it was under Elizabeth Petrovna, it turned into a central administrative and judicial institution. In the 70-80s. 18th century there was a further weakening of the central government. After the reform of 1775, the activity of the Senate was limited to judicial functions, the affairs of most colleges were transferred to new provincial institutions.

By the 90s. most colleges have ceased to exist: in 1779 - Manufactory College (industry), in 1780 - State Offices - (state expenditures), in 1783 - Berg - (mining industry), in 1784 - Chambers - (state revenues) , in 1786 - the College of Justice (judicial) and Votchinnaya (issues of land tenure), in 1788 - the Revision College (control of public spending). Only those colleges were left whose affairs could not be transferred to local governments: Foreign, Military, Naval and Commerce Collegium.

Thus, during the reign of Catherine II, the role of the central authorities was gradually reduced to general leadership and supervision, the main management issues began to be resolved locally. However, even before the reform of the system of local government, the empress made an attempt to give Russia new legislation that would meet the spirit of the times.

Starting with Peter I, all the rulers of Russia understood the need to create a new set of Russian laws.. However, unlike their predecessors Catherine II sought not to systematize the old laws, but to create new ones. Planning to convene a "Commission to draw up a new code" instead of the outdated Code of 1649, she already in 1765 she began to draw up a special instruction for her - "Instruction", which reflected the ideas of enlightenment philosophy. Considering Russia a European country, Catherine sought to give her the appropriate laws, and the main sources for her were the works "On the Spirit of Laws" by the famous French enlightener Charles Louis Montesquieu (1689-1755) and "On Crimes and Punishments" by Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) - Italian educator and lawyer.

The "Instruction" quite fully covers the most important issues of legislation: its tasks, the features of state government, legal proceedings, the system of punishments, the status of estates, etc. The original version of the "Instruction", shown to some close associates of the Empress, caused many objections on their part as 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 the peasants, on the separation of the legislative power from the judiciary, etc. The articles relating to legal proceedings and education remained closest to the educational ideology. In general, the "Order" was a statement general principles by which the Legislative Commission should be guided in its work. In December 1766, a manifesto was issued to convene a "Commission to draw up a new code." The Commission was to be represented by elected deputies from all estates.

A total of 564 deputies were elected: 161 - from the nobility, 208 - from the cities, 167 - from the rural population, 28 - from the central institutions (Senate, Synod, collegiums and other government offices). Each deputy received from his voters a mandate that reflected their wishes. Total 1465 were submitted c, and most of them (1066) were from the rural population. During the work of the Legislative Commission, deputies were paid salaries from the treasury: nobles - 400 rubles, townspeople - 120 rubles, peasants - 37 rubles. The deputies were permanently exempted from death penalty, corporal punishment, confiscation of property.

On July 30, 1767, the Legislative 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 appoint meetings, submit and put proposals to the vote.

Office work in the Legislative Commission was quite complicated: each issue went through different commissions (there were about 20 of them) several times, in addition, the areas of activity of special commissions and the general meeting of deputies were not sufficiently delineated, which made work difficult. The commission moved from one issue to another, without having solved the previous one, for a year and a half the deputies could not even read all the orders.

In general, the activities of the Legislative Commission from the very beginning were doomed to failure due to the lack of preliminary preparation, as well as the huge volume and complexity of work: in order to create new laws, the deputies had to understand the old legislation, which included more than 10 thousand heterogeneous provisions, study deputy orders, to remove contradictions, often irreconcilable, between the wishes of various estates and, finally, to draw up a new legislative code based on the principles set forth in Catherine's "Instruction", which often contradict deputy orders. In December 1768, in connection with the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war and the fact that a significant part of the noble deputies had to go to the troops, The laid down commission was dissolved indefinitely, however, in the future, the deputies did not meet.

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 I. 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.

The system of local government included the administration 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 indicated the shortcomings that caused the need for reform: the vastness of the provinces, the insufficient number of government bodies, the shift in various cases in them.

As a result of the reform, the former administrative division (province, province, county) was changed: the provinces were abolished, the number of provinces increased to 40 (by the end of the reign of Catherine II, 51 provinces already existed due to the annexation of new territories to Russia). Previously, the regional division was carried out randomly, and the 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 terms of the number of inhabitants - from 300 to 400 thousand people, for the county the population was determined at 20-30 thousand. Since the new administrative division was more fractional, about 200 large villages were transformed into county 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. In the future, the unification of local government throughout the country led to abolition of autonomy some suburbs: in Ukraine, this finally happened in 1781, and from 1783 the nationwide system of administrative control was extended to the Baltic states.

One or several provinces received the status of a governor-general and were subordinate to the governor-general appointed by the Senate, whose activities were directly controlled by the empress. The governor-general had broad powers to oversee all local government and the courts in the territory entrusted to him.

The management of a separate province was entrusted to the governor appointed by the Senate, who headed the provincial board - 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, supervised the administration of the province, and together with the vice-governor, was in charge of all police institutions of the province and county.

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, which disposed of state property. She was in charge of tax collection, government contracts and buildings, provincial and county treasuries, 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. In contrast to the provincial government and the state chamber, the order of public charity had an elected composition.

The county executive body was the lower zemstvo court, led by captain(usually from retired officers). He was considered the head of the county, was in charge of the county administration and the police, monitored trade, and conducted preliminary investigations into court cases. He was elected by the nobles for a period of three years at the district meeting, and two assessors were also selected from the nobles to help him.

The head of the administrative and police authorities in the county town was the mayor, who was appointed by the Senate.

From 1775 class legal proceedings were introduced in the provinces. The provincial court for the nobles was the Supreme Zemsky Court, for the urban population - the provincial magistrate, for personally free peasants - the upper massacre. These judicial bodies consisted of assessors - elected from the corresponding class, headed by specially appointed officials. At each upper zemstvo court, a noble guardianship was established, which dealt with the affairs of widows and minor orphans of the nobles. In addition, special conscientious courts were established in provincial cities to deal with criminal cases related to the insanity of a criminal, and civil cases decided by a settlement agreement.

As the highest judicial instances in all cases decided in the provincial class courts, a chamber of civil court and a chamber of criminal court were established. In case of any complaints, they had the right to make the final decision.

In each county for the nobles there was a county court, subordinate to the supreme zemstvo court, for the urban population - a city magistrate, which was under the jurisdiction of the provincial magistrate. In counties where more than 10 thousand personally free peasants lived, there was a lower punishment for them, which was subordinate to the upper punishment. In county judicial institutions, judges and assessors were elected from representatives of the estate, whose affairs were in charge, the government appointed only the chairman of the lower massacre. At each city magistrate, an orphan's court was established, which dealt with the cases of widows and minor orphans of the townspeople.

The role of supervisory bodies in each province was performed by provincial prosecutors and their assistants - criminal and civil solicitors. The prosecutors at the upper zemstvo court, the provincial magistrate and the upper massacre, as well as the district attorney, who served as the prosecutor in the district, were subordinate to the provincial prosecutor.

Noble self-government. In his domestic politics Catherine II was guided, first of all, by the nobility, and already in the first years of her reign, the foundations of self-government of this estate were laid. In preparation for the convening of the Legislative Commission in 1766, the nobles of each county were ordered to elect a county marshal for two years to lead the election of deputies to the Commission and in case of any other demands from the supreme authority.

The reform of 1775 increased the influence of the nobility on local government, gave it a class organization, giving the rights of a legal entity to the county noble assembly. The charter granted to the nobility in 1785 strengthened the positions of this class. It fixed the pre-existing rights and benefits of the nobility:

freedom from taxes and corporal punishment, from public service, the right to full ownership of land and serfs, the right to sue only with equals, etc. The charter granted the nobility also gave some new privileges, in particular, the confiscation of the estates of nobles for criminal offenses was prohibited, it was facilitated to obtain nobility etc. In addition, in 1785 the provincial nobility, as before the county nobility, as a whole, was granted the rights of a legal entity.

Ultimately, the system of nobility administration, which developed during the reign of Catherine II, had the following form. Once every three years, at county and provincial meetings, the nobles elected, respectively, county and provincial noble leaders and other officials. Only that nobleman could be elected, whose income from the estate was not less than 100 rubles. in year. Nobles who had reached the age of 25 and had an officer rank could participate in the elections. In addition to the election of officials, the meetings of the nobility resolved issues raised 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, and a specially elected deputation led by the marshal of the nobility could apply to the empress.

In 1785, a Letter of Rights and Benefits to the Cities of the Russian Empire was also published, which later became known as the Charter to Cities. During its development, some wishes from the city mandates of the Legislative Commission were taken into account, as well as charters that determined the structure of the Baltic cities, in particular Riga. These statutes were based on Magdeburg (by the name of the city in Germany), or German, law, which developed in the Middle Ages as the right to self-government won by the townspeople, as well as on the basis of acts regulating craft and trade.

In accordance with the Charter of Letters, the population of each city was divided into six categories. The first included "real city dwellers", i.e. all, without distinction of origin, rank and occupation, having 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 rubles. The third category included urban guild artisans, v fourth - out-of-town and foreign guests permanently residing in this city. The fifth category was made up of "eminent citizens" - elected officials, scientists and artists(painters, sculptors, architects, composers) with academic certificates or university diplomas, persons owning capital from 50 thousand rubles, bankers with capital from 100 to 200 thousand rubles, wholesalers, ship owners. The sixth category included "townspeople" - townspeople engaged in crafts, crafts, etc., and not included in other categories. Citizens of the third and sixth categories received the general name "petty bourgeois". The entire population of the city, in accordance with their category, was entered in the City Philistine Book.

Citizens of all ranks from the age of 25 had the right once every three years to elect from their midst the mayor and vowels (representatives from ranks) to the general city duma. Nobles were not widely represented in the city duma, as they had the right to refuse to perform city posts. The general city council met 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 category) to the six-member Duma, whose meetings were held every week under the chairmanship of the mayor. The six-member Duma was in charge of collecting taxes, fulfilling government duties, beautifying the city, its expenses and income, i.e. was the executive body of the city government. Supervision of city self-government was carried out by the governor, to whom the Six-voice 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, made sure that no new taxes or duties were imposed on it without the government's order.

The term "enlightened absolutism" is often used to characterize the domestic policy of Catherine's time. Under Catherine, the autocracy was strengthened, the bureaucracy was strengthened, the country was centralized and the system of government was unified. The main idea was to criticize the outgoing feudal society.

Imperial council and Xie's transformation nata. On December 15, 1763, according to Panin's project, the Senate was reorganized. It was divided into 6 departments, headed by chief prosecutors, headed by the prosecutor general. Each department had certain powers. The general powers of the Senate were reduced, in particular, it lost its legislative initiative and became the body of control over the activities of the state apparatus and the highest judicial authority. The center of legislative activity moved directly to Catherine and her office with secretaries of state.

Fixed commission. An attempt was made to convene the Legislative Commission, which would systematize the laws. The main goal is to clarify the people's needs for comprehensive reforms. On December 14, 1766, Catherine II published a manifesto on the convening of a commission and decrees on the procedure for electing deputies. More than 600 deputies took part in the commission, 33% of them were elected from the nobility, 36% - from the townspeople, which also included the nobles, 20% - from the rural population (state peasants). The interests of the Orthodox clergy were represented by a deputy from the Synod. As the guiding document of the Commission of 1767, the Empress prepared the "Instruction" - the theoretical justification for enlightened absolutism. The first meeting was held in the Faceted Chamber in Moscow. Due to the conservatism of the deputies, the Commission had to be dissolved.

Provincial reform. On November 7, 1775, the “Institution for the Administration of the Provinces of the All-Russian Empire” was adopted - a reform of the administrative-territorial division of the Russian Empire. The country was divided into 50 provinces, each of which consisted of 10-12 counties. A uniform system of provincial administration was established: a governor appointed by the emperor, provincial government exercising executive power, the Treasury (collecting taxes, spending them), the Order of Public Charity (schools, hospitals, shelters, etc.). Courts were created, built according to a strictly estate principle - for nobles, townspeople, state peasants. The provincial division introduced by Catherine II was preserved until 1917;

Legislation on estates. On April 21, 1785, two charters were issued: "Charter to the nobility" (secured all the estate rights and privileges of the nobles) and "Charter to the cities" (formalized the rights and privileges of the "third estate" - the townspeople). The urban estate was divided into six categories, received limited rights self-government, elected the mayor and members of the city Duma. The clergy lost their autonomous existence due to the secularization of church lands (1764), which made it possible to exist without the help of the state and independently of it. After the reform, the clergy became dependent on the state that financed it.

Reforms of the highest and central authorities under Catherine II.

In the first years of the reign of Catherine II, busy with the issues of strengthening her position on the Russian throne, which she inherited as a result of another palace coup and the elimination of the legitimate monarch (her husband, Peter III), did not carry out broad reforms. At the same time, studying the state of affairs in the administration of the state, she found in it a lot of things that did not correspond to her ideas about the proper state structure. In this regard, immediately after coming to power, Catherine II tried to make a number of significant changes to the system of power and administration inherited from her.

At the heart of the planned transformations, along with the desire declared by Catherine II to put all government places in proper order, to give them precise "limits and laws", lay the empress's desire to restore the significance of autocratic power and ensure the independence of the supreme power in pursuing state policy. In the future, the measures taken were to strengthen the centralization of state administration and increase the efficiency of the state apparatus.

Decree December 15, 1763, the reform of the Senate was carried out. This reform, as conceived by Catherine II and her advisers, was to improve the work of the supreme body of state administration, which was the Senate from the day it was founded, to give it more certain functions and organization. The need for this reform was explained by the fact that by the time Catherine II came to the throne, the Senate, which had been rebuilt many times and changed its functions after the death of its founder, had turned into an institution that did not meet its lofty tasks. The uncertainty of functions, as well as "and a lot of various cases concentrated in one department, made the work of the Senate ineffective. One of the reasons for the reorganization of the Senate, according to Catherine II, was that the Senate, having assumed many functions, suppressed the independence of institutions subordinate to it. On in fact, Catherine II had a more compelling reason that prompted her to reorganize the Senate.As an absolute monarch, Catherine II could not put up with the independence of the Senate, its claims to supreme power in Russia, sought to reduce this institution to an ordinary bureaucratic department that performed the administrative functions assigned to it .

In the course of the reorganization carried out, the Senate was divided into six departments, each of which was endowed with specific functions in a particular area of ​​public administration. The broadest functions were vested in the first department, which was in charge of particularly important issues of public administration and politics. These included: promulgation of laws, management of state property and finances, financial control, management of industry and trade, supervision of the activities of the Senate Secret Expedition and the Office of Confiscations. A feature of the new structure of the Senate was that all the newly formed departments became independent units, they decided matters with their own power on behalf of the Senate. Thus, the main goal of Catherine II was achieved - weakening and belittling the role of the Senate as the highest public institution. Having retained the functions of control over the administration and the highest judicial body, the Senate was deprived of the right of legislative initiative.

In an effort to limit the independence of the Senate, Catherine II significantly expanded the functions of the Prosecutor General of the Senate. He exercised control and supervision over all the actions of the senators and was the personal confidant of Catherine II, endowed with the nature of daily reports to the empress on all decisions made by the Senate. The Prosecutor General not only personally supervised the activities of the first department, was the guardian of laws and was responsible for the state of the prosecutorial system, but he alone could make proposals for the consideration of cases at the Senate session (previously, all senators had this right). Enjoying the special confidence of the Empress, he essentially had a monopoly in charge of all the most important branches of government, was the highest official of the state, head of the state apparatus. Without deviating from his rule - if possible, manage the affairs of the state through capable and dedicated people. Catherine II, who was well versed in people and knew how to select the necessary personnel, appointed in 1764 an intelligent and comprehensively educated person, Prince A. A. Vyazemsky, who served in this post for almost thirty years, to the post of prosecutor general. Through him, the empress communicated with the Senate, freeing her hands to carry out her plans to transform the state apparatus.

Simultaneously with the reform of the Senate, which reduced this supreme body in the state to the position of a central administrative and judicial institution, the role of the personal office under the monarch was strengthened, through which the empress was established with the highest and central state institutions. A personal office also existed under Peter I, who also preferred to act on his own initiative and relied on personal authority in matters of administration. The Cabinet he created, which served the tsar as a military field office for the operational management of state affairs, was then restored in a new capacity by his daughter, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. Wanting to govern the state personally following the example of her great parent, she established, among other things, the Cabinet of Her Imperial Majesty, headed by I. A. Cherkasov, who at one time served in the Cabinet of Peter I. Under Catherine II, this institution was transformed into the Office of Secretaries of State appointed from people who were trusted and devoted to the throne and had a huge, often decisive influence on the formation of state policy.

The policy of Catherine II towards the Church was subordinated to the same goal - strengthening the centralization of state administration. Continuing the line of Peter I in the region church government, Catherine II completed the secularization of church land ownership, conceived but not implemented by Peter I. In the course of the secularization reform of 1764, all monastic lands were transferred to the management of a specially created College of Economy. The peasants who lived on the former monastic lands passed into the category of state (“economic”) peasants. The monks were also transferred to the content of the state treasury. From now on only central authority could determine the required number of monasteries and monks, and the clergy finally turned into one of the groups of state officials.

Under Catherine II, in accordance with the empress's previously noted ideas about the role of the police in the state, police regulation of various aspects of society's life is being strengthened, and the activities of state institutions are being policed. In the general line of this policy, one should consider the creation and activities of the Senate Secret Expedition (October 1762), established instead of the liquidated Peter III Secret office and was under the personal care of Catherine II. This special structure of the Senate, which received the status of an independent state institution, was in charge of the political search, considered the materials of the commissions of inquiry created during the Pugachev uprising, all the political processes of the times of Catherine's reign passed through it. The General Procurator of the Senate was in charge of the activities of the Secret Expedition. Catherine II was personally engaged in the initiation of detective cases, participated in the investigation of the most important cases.

A special place in the reform plans of Catherine II of the first years of her reign belonged to the creation and activities of the Legislative Commission for the preparation of a new "Code". The commission did not work for a full year and a half (1767-1768) and was dissolved in connection with the beginning Russian-Turkish war. In its significance, it was a unique for that time attempt by the government to express the will of the people on the main issues of the life of the empire, organized by the government.

The idea itself to appeal to the opinion of society was, although not new, but, given the main goal, but which I convene this representative institution, of great importance and practical results. Attempts to adopt a new code of laws were made earlier, starting from the reign of Peter 1. In order to develop a new Code, the government created special commissions, one of which worked in 1754-1758. Catherine II chose a different path. Wishing to establish in the state correct order and good legislation, based on new principles and consistent with the needs of the people, she rightly believed that it would be impossible to do this if we rely only on the bureaucracy that grew up on the old laws and poorly represented the needs of various sections of Russian society. It would be more correct to find out these needs and needs from the society itself, whose representatives were involved in the commission for the compilation of a new code of laws. In the work of the Commission, many historians rightly see the first experience of an institution of a parliamentary type in Russia, combining domestic political experience associated with the activities of previous Zemsky Sobors, and the experience of European parliaments.

The meetings of the commission opened on July 30, 1767. It consisted of 564 deputies elected from all the main classes (with the exception of the landlord peasants), who came to Moscow with detailed instructions from their constituents. The work of the Legislative Commission began with the discussion of these orders. Of the total number of deputies, most were elected from cities (39% of the composition of the Commission, with the total proportion of urban residents in the country amounting to no more than 5% of the population). To draw up individual bills, special "private commissions" were created, which were elected from the general Commission. Deputies of the Commission, following the example of Western parliaments, enjoyed parliamentary immunity, they were paid salaries for the entire time they worked in the Commission.

At the very first meeting of the Commission, the deputies were presented on behalf of the Empress with the "Instruction" drawn up by her for further discussion. The "Order" consisted of 20 chapters, divided into 655 articles, 294 of which, according to V.O. Klyuchevsky, were borrowed, mostly from Montesquieu (which, as you know, Catherine II herself admitted). The last two chapters (21 on deanery, that is, on the police, and 22 on state economy, that is, on state revenues and expenditures) were not made public and were not discussed by the Commission. "Nakaz" broadly covered the field of legislation, touched on almost all the main parts state structure, rights and obligations of citizens and individual estates. In the "Instruction" the equality of citizens before the common law for all was widely declared, for the first time the question of the responsibility of the authorities (government) to the citizens was raised, the idea was held that natural shame should keep people from crimes, and not fear of punishment, and that the cruelty of management hardens people , accustom them to violence. In the spirit of the ideas of the European Enlightenment and taking into account the multinational and multi-confessional nature of the empire, the installation of religious tolerance and equal respect for all religious denominations was affirmed.

For a number of reasons, the work of the Commission on the drafting of the new "Code" did not bring the expected results. Creating a new code of laws proved to be no easy task. First of all, the composition of the Commission contributed little to this, most of whose deputies did not have a high political culture, the necessary legal knowledge and were not prepared for legislative work. There were also serious contradictions that arose between the deputies representing the interests of various estates in the Commission. Despite this, the work of the Commission, accompanied by a broad discussion of many issues of political and economic life state, was not useless. She gave Catherine II a rich and varied material for further work on improving legislation, its results were used by the empress to prepare and implement a number of major administrative reforms.

38 Reforms of higher and central authorities under Catherine 2*

Under Catherine II, the undertakings of Peter I in the field of administrative structure and local government. Judicial reform was also continued.

In 1775, in order to improve financial, supervisory and judicial activities, the three-member division of the empire into provinces, provinces and counties was reorganized into a two-member one: province - county. At the same time, the provinces were disaggregated, their number increased first to 40, and a little later to 50. According to the Institution of Governorates, administrative units were created according to the population (300–400 thousand souls in the province, 20–30 thousand in the county). At the head of the province was the governor appointed by the tsar, at the head of the county was the zemstvo police officer, elected by the nobility of the county. Several provinces were dominated by the governor-general, who was subordinate to the troops.

Catherine II called the governor the "master" of the province. In his hands, until February 1917, all the fullness of the administrative, financial and military power in the region. The governors acted as local conductors of the policy of the center and as administrators large territories. The provincial government was a flexible, tenacious and maneuverable institution of power, which combined the centralization and decentralization of administration in accordance with the characteristics of the region, period, the personality of the king and the personality of the governor.

In the apparatus of the provincial government there were financial affairs (Treasury Chamber), social activities (Order of public charity, which was in charge of educational, charitable and sanitary institutions), supervision and legality (the provincial prosecutor with a staff of prosecutors and solicitors). All officials were elected at meetings of the nobility, with the exception of elected representatives from the 3 estates, who sat in the Order of Public Charity. In cities, a special official appointed by the government was also introduced - the mayor, who carried out police supervision. To perform police functions in the capital centers, the post of chief police officer was retained, and in the garrison cities - the commandant.

In 1782, a new body of the police administration was created - the Office of the Deanery, the competence and composition of which were determined by a special Charter. It consisted of 5 persons: chief police chief (in the capitals) or mayor (in other cities), two bailiffs (in criminal and civil cases) appointed by the government, and two ratmans (advisers) elected by the townspeople. In terms of police, the cities were divided into parts, headed by private bailiffs, into quarters, headed by quarterly overseers, appointed by the Government of the Deanery, and quarterly lieutenants, elected by the townspeople from among themselves. The functions of the police bodies were very extensive: security, sanitation, morality, family relationships, conducting criminal investigations, arrest houses, prisons - this is just an incomplete list of what the police were doing.

As you can see, even when organizing local administration, elected representatives of the estates were involved in its work. The main violin in the formation of a new generation of bureaucratic bureaucracy was played by the nobility, which greatly expanded due to people from other classes by the middle of the 18th century. The empress did not ignore the merchants, whose share, due to the development of industry and trade, greatly increased. These main estates of the Russian Empire, Catherine II, granted the right to organize their representative bodies in the field. However, about them a little later, after characterizing the estate system.

Legal status estates. In the 18th century, with a significant lag behind the West, in Russia 4 estates finally took shape from the class groups of Moscow society: the gentry (nobility), the clergy, the philistines (from urban townspeople) and the peasantry .. The main feature of the estate system is the presence and transmission of inheritance of personal status rights and corporate rights and obligations.

Formation of the nobility. The nobility was formed from different categories of service people (boyars, okolnichs, clerks, clerks, children of boyars, etc.), received the name of the gentry under Peter I, renamed under Catherine II into the nobility (in the acts of the Legislative Commission of 1767), turned over the course of a century from the service class to the ruling, privileged. Part of the former service people (nobles and boyar children) settled on. outskirts of the state, by decrees of Peter I in 1698-1703, formalizing the gentry, was not enrolled in this estate, but transferred under the name of single-dvortsy to the position of state peasants.

The leveling of the position of feudal lords of all ranks was completed by the decree of Peter I of 1714 "On the uniform inheritance", according to which the estates were equated with estates, assigned to the nobles on the right of ownership. In 1722, the "Table of Ranks" established methods for obtaining nobility by length of service. She secured the status of the ruling class for the gentry.

According to the Table of Ranks, all those in the public service (civilian, military, naval) were divided into 14 ranks or ranks, from the highest field marshal and chancellor to the lowest - adjutant under lieutenants and collegiate registrar. All persons, from rank 14 to 8, became personal, and from rank 8, - hereditary nobles. Hereditary nobility was passed on to the wife, children and distant descendants through the male line. Married daughters acquired the estate status of her husband (if he was higher). Until 1874, of the children born before receiving hereditary nobility, only one son received the status of a father, the rest were recorded as "honorary citizens" (this state was established in 1832), after 1874 - all.

Under Peter I, the service of the nobility with compulsory education began at the age of 15 and was for life. Anna Ioannovna somewhat eased their situation by limiting their service to 25 years and attributing its beginning to the age of 20. She also allowed one of the sons or brothers in a noble family to stay at home and take care of the household.

In 1762, Peter III, who had been on the throne for a short time, abolished by a special decree not only the obligation to educate the nobles, but also the obligation to serve the nobility. And Catherine II's "Charter on the Rights and Benefits of the Russian Nobility" in 1785 finally turned the nobility into a "noble" estate.

So, the main sources of the nobility were in the XVIII century. birth and service. The length of service included the acquisition of nobility through the award of indigenat for foreigners (according to the "Table of Ranks"), through the receipt of an order (according to the "Charter of Honor" of Catherine II). In the 19th century will be added to them higher education and academic degree.

Belonging to the noble rank was fixed by an entry in the “Velvet Book”, instituted in 1682 during the destruction of localism, and from 1785 by entering into local (provincial) lists - noble books, divided into 6 parts (according to the sources of the nobility): award, military length of service, civil length of service, indigenat, title (order), prescription. Since Peter I, the estate was subordinate to a special department - the King of Arms office, and since 1748 - to the Department of Heraldry under the Senate.

Rights and privileges of the nobility. 1. Exclusive right to own land. 2. The right to own serfs (with an exception for 1 half of XVIII century, when serfs could be owned by people of all fortunes: townspeople, priests, and even peasants). 3. Personal exemption from taxes and duties, from corporal punishment. 4. The right to build factories and factories (since Catherine II only in the countryside), to develop minerals on their land. 5. Since 1771, the exclusive right to serve in a civil department, in the bureaucracy (after the ban on recruiting persons from taxable estates), and since 1798, to form an officer corps in the army. 6. The corporate right to have the title of "nobility", which could be taken away only by the court of "equals" or by decision of the king. 7. Finally, according to the “Charter of Letters” of Catherine II, the nobles received the right to form special noble societies, to elect their own representative bodies and his estate court. But this was no longer their exclusive right.

Belonging to a noble class gave the right to a coat of arms, a uniform, riding in carriages drawn by four, dressing lackeys in special liveries, etc.

The organs of estate self-government were county and provincial noble assemblies, held once every three years, at which leaders of the nobility and their assistants - deputies, as well as members of noble courts were elected. Everyone who met the qualifications participated in the elections: settlement, age (25 years), gender (only men), property (income from villages not less than 100 rubles), service (not lower than the chief officer rank) and integrity.

Noble assemblies acted as legal entities, had property rights, participated in the layout of duties, checked the genealogical book, excluded defamed members, filed complaints to the emperor and the Senate, etc. The leaders of the nobility had a serious influence on the provincial and district authorities.

Formation of the class of philistines. The original name was citizens (“Regulations of the Chief Magistrate”), then, following the model of Poland and Lithuania, they began to be called philistines. The estate was created gradually, as Peter I introduced European models of the middle class (third estate). It included former guests, townspeople, lower groups of service people - gunners, tinkerers, etc.

"Regulations of the Chief Magistrate" Peter I divided the emerging estate into 2 groups: regular and irregular citizens. Regular, in turn, consisted of two guilds. The first guild included bankers, noble merchants, doctors, pharmacists, skippers, silversmiths, icons, painters; similar." Craftsmen, as in the West, were divided into workshops. Guilds and workshops were headed by foremen, who often performed the functions of state bodies. Irregular citizens or "vile people" (in the sense of low origin - from serfs, serfs, etc.) were assigned to all "acquired in hired labor and menial work."

The final registration of the estate of the townspeople took place in 1785 according to the “Charter on the rights and benefits of the cities of the Russian Empire” of Catherine II. By this time, the entrepreneurial stratum in the cities was noticeably “strengthened, in order to stimulate trade, customs barriers and duties, monopolies and other restrictions were eliminated, freedom to establish industrial enterprises (that is, freedom of entrepreneurship) was announced, and peasant crafts were legalized. In 1785, the population cities was finally divided according to the property principle into 6 categories: 1) "real city dwellers", owners of real estate within the city; 2) merchants of three guilds; 3) artisans; 4) foreigners and non-residents; 5) eminent citizens; 6) the rest of the townspeople belonging to the estate was fixed by entering in the city philistine book.Belonging to the guild of merchants was determined by the amount of capital: the first - from 10 to 50 thousand rubles, the second - from 5 to 10 thousand, the third - from 1 to 5 thousand.

The exclusive right of the bourgeois class was to engage in crafts and trade. Duties included taxes and recruitment. True, there were many exceptions. Already in 1775, Catherine II freed the inhabitants of the settlements, who had a capital of more than 500 rubles, from the poll tax, replacing it with a one percent tax on the declared capital. In 1766, merchants were released from recruitment. Instead of each recruit, they paid first 360, and then 500 rubles. They were also exempt from corporal punishment. Merchants, especially those of the First Guild, were granted certain honorary rights (rides in carriages and carriages).

The corporate right of the philistine estate also included the creation of associations and self-government bodies. According to the "Charter of Letters", urban inhabitants who had reached the age of 25 and had a certain income (capital, the percentage fee on which was not less than 50 rubles), united in a city society. The assembly of its members elected the mayor and vowels (deputies) of city dumas. All six ranks of the urban population sent their elected representatives to the General Duma, and 6 representatives of each rank selected by the General Duma worked in the six-member Duma to carry out current affairs. Elections took place every 3 years. The main field of activity was the urban economy and everything that "serves for the benefit and need of the city." Of course, the governors supervised local governments, including the spending of city sums. However, these sums, donated by the merchants for urban improvement, for the construction of schools, hospitals, cultural institutions, were sometimes very significant. They, as planned by Catherine II, played an important role in the "profit and decoration of the city." It was not for nothing that Alexander I, having come to power in 1801, immediately confirmed the "Charter of Letters" canceled by Paul I, restored all the "rights and benefits" of the townspeople and all Catherine's city institutions.

Peasants. In the XVIII century. several categories of the peasantry took shape. The category of state peasants was formed from the former black-mossed and from the peoples who paid yasak. Later, the already mentioned odnodvortsy, descendants of Moscow service people, settled on the southern outskirts of the state, who did not know communal life, joined its composition. In 1764, by decree of Catherine II, the secularization of church estates was carried out, which were transferred to the jurisdiction of the College of Economy. The peasants taken away from the church began to be called economic. But from 1786 they also passed into the category of state peasants.

Privately owned (landlord) peasants absorbed all the former categories of dependent people (serfs, serfs) who belonged to factories and plants since the time of Peter I (possession). Prior to Catherine II, this category of peasants was also replenished at the expense of clergy who remained behind the state, retired priests and deacons, deacons and sextons. Catherine II stopped the transformation of persons of spiritual origin into serfdom and blocked all other ways of replenishing it (marriage, loan agreement, hiring and serving, captivity), except for two: the birth and distribution of state lands with peasants into private hands. Distributions - awards were especially widely practiced by Catherine herself and her son, Paul 1, and were terminated in 1801 by one of the first decrees of Alexander I. From that time on, birth remained the only source of replenishment of the serf class.

In 1797, from the palace peasants, by decree of Paul I, another category was formed - appanage peasants (on the lands of the royal appanage), whose position was similar to that of state peasants. They were the property of the imperial family.

In the XVIII century. the position of the peasants, especially those belonging to the landowners, deteriorated markedly. Under Peter I, they turned into a thing that could be sold, donated, exchanged (without land and separately from the family). In 1721, it was recommended to stop the sale of children separately from their parents in order to "calm down the cry" in the peasant environment. But the separation of families continued until 1843.

The landowner used the labor of serfs at his own discretion, dues and corvee were not limited by any law, and the previous recommendations of the authorities to take from them “according to strength” are a thing of the past. The peasants were deprived not only of personal, but also of property rights, for all their property was considered as belonging to their owner. It did not regulate the law and the right of the court of the landowner. He was not allowed only the use of the death penalty and the extradition of the peasants instead of himself to the right (under Peter I). True, the same king in the instructions to the governors of 1719. ordered to identify the landowners who ruined the peasants, and to transfer the management of such estates to relatives.

Restrictions on the rights of serfs, starting from the 1730s, were enshrined in laws. They were forbidden to acquire real estate, open factories, work on a contract basis, undertake bills of exchange, incur obligations without the permission of the owner, and enroll in a guild. The landowners were allowed to use corporal punishment and send the peasants to the chastity houses. The procedure for filing complaints against landowners became more complicated.

Impunity contributed to the growth of crimes among the landlords. An illustrative example is the story of the landowner Saltykova, who killed more than 30 of her serfs, who was exposed and sentenced to death (replaced with life imprisonment) only after a complaint against her fell into the hands of Empress Catherine II.

Only after the uprising of E. I. Pugachev, in which the serfs accepted Active participation, the government began to strengthen state control over their situation and take steps towards softening the serfdom. The release of peasants to freedom was legalized, including after serving a recruiting duty (together with his wife), after exile in Siberia, for a ransom at the request of the landowner (since 1775 without land, and since 1801 - the Decree of Paul I on "free cultivators" - with the land).

Despite the hardships of serfdom, exchange and entrepreneurship developed among the peasantry, and “capitalist” people appeared. The law allowed the peasants to trade, first with individual goods, then even with "overseas countries", and in 1814 persons of all fortunes were allowed to trade at fairs. Many prosperous peasants who had grown rich in trade bought themselves out of serfdom and, even before the abolition of serfdom, constituted a significant part of the emerging class of entrepreneurs.

The state peasants were, in comparison with the serfs, in a much better position. Their personal rights were never subjected to such restrictions as the personal rights of serfs. Their taxes were moderate, they could buy land (with the preservation of duties), and were engaged in entrepreneurial activities. Attempts to curtail their property rights (to take farms and contracts, to acquire real estate in cities and counties, to be bound by promissory notes) did not have such a detrimental effect on the state of the economy of state peasants, especially those who lived on the outskirts (in Siberia). Here, the communal arrangements preserved by the state (land redistribution, mutual responsibility for the payment of taxes), which hindered the development of the private economy, were destroyed much more vigorously.

Self-government was of greater importance among the state peasants. From ancient times, the elders elected at the gatherings played a prominent role in them. By provincial reform In 1775, the state peasants, like the other estates, received their own court. Under Paul I, volost self-governing organizations were created. Each volost (with a certain number of villages and with a number of no more than 3 thousand souls) could elect a volost administration, consisting of a volost head, a headman and a clerk. Elders and tenths were elected in the villages. All these bodies performed financial, police and judicial functions.

Clergy. The Orthodox clergy consisted of two parts: white, parish (from ordination) and black, monastic (from tonsure). Only the first constituted the actual estate, for the second part had no heirs (monasticism gave a vow of celibacy). The white clergy occupied the lowest positions in church hierarchy: clergy (from deacon to protopresbyter) and clergy (clerks, sexton). The highest posts (from bishop to metropolitan) belonged to the black clergy.

In the XVIII century. the clergy became hereditary and closed, since the law forbade persons of other classes to take the priesthood. The exit from the estate, for a number of reasons of a formal nature, was extremely difficult. Of the class rights of the clergy, one can note freedom from personal taxes, from recruitment, from military quarters. It had a privilege in the field of judiciary. In general courts, the priesthood was judged only for especially serious criminal offenses, civil cases with lay people were resolved in the presence of special representatives of the clergy.

The clergy could not engage in activities incompatible with the clergy, including trade, crafts, maintenance of farms and contracts, the production of alcoholic beverages, etc. As we have already seen, in the 18th century. it also lost its main privilege - the right to own estates and serfs. Church ministers were transferred "on a salary."

In the Russian Empire, other Christian and non-Christian denominations coexisted freely with Orthodoxy. Lutheran churches were built in cities and large villages, and from the middle of the 18th century. and Catholic churches. Mosques were built in places of residence of Muslims, pagodas were built for Buddhists. However, the conversion from Orthodoxy to another faith remained forbidden and was severely punished (in the 1730s, a case of an officer being burned in a wooden frame is known).

Senate reform

Reasons and goals:

• Catherine wanted to concentrate in her hands legislature
• Allocation of specific departments of the Senate for specific tasks

By personal decree of Catherine II, the Senate was divided into six departments and lost the legislative function, which was transferred personally to the empress and her proxies - state advisers. Five of the six departments were headed by chief prosecutors, the first was the prosecutor general, who personally reported on important matters to the royal person.

Separation of functions of departments:

• the first is the control of political and state affairs in the capital
• the second is a court in the capital
• the third - oversaw everything related to education, art, medicine, science and transport
• fourth - was responsible for naval and military land decisions
• fifth - control of political and state affairs in Moscow
• sixth - court in Moscow

Thus, the empress monopolized the legislative power and paved the way for subsequent transformations. The highest administrative and judicial functions were still carried out by the Senate.

Provincial reform

Reasons and goals:

• Increasing tax efficiency
• Preventing uprisings
• Introduction of electiveness of a part of administrative and judicial bodies, separation of their functions

Provincial reform of Catherine II - 1775

As a result of the signing by Catherine II of the document "Institutions for the management of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire", the principle of administrative-territorial division of the provinces was changed. According to the new law, the provinces were divided on the basis of the population living and capable of paying taxes - taxable souls. In addition, a hierarchical system of institutions was built, between which the functions of administration and the court were divided.

Administrative part

General Government-consisted of several provinces
Province- contained 10-12 counties, totaled 350-400 thousand taxable souls.
county- association of volosts (rural areas), 10-20 thousand taxable souls.
Town is the administrative center of the county.

Governor General- led all the troops and governors stationed in the provinces assigned to him.
Governor- ruled the province with the help of the provincial government and all lower institutions.
Mayor- the chief official and chief of police in the city, which became a separate administrative unit.
Police Captain- presided over the lower zemstvo court and controlled the police in the county.

Treasury Chamber- Responsible for collecting taxes and distributing funds between institutions.
Order of public charity- Supervised all social facilities. Hospitals, schools, orphanages, art institutes were subordinated to this structure.

Judicial part

Senate- the highest judicial body, divided into civil and criminal chambers.
Upper Zemsky Court- the main judicial institution of the province, mainly dealt with the affairs of the nobility, considered complex cases of lower instances.
Lower Zemsky Court- supervised the implementation of laws within the county, dealt with the affairs of the nobles.
Top violence- judged the peasants in the province, appeals from the lower massacres.
bottom violence- sorted out the affairs of peasants in the county
provincial magistrate- Considered appeals from city magistrates, judged the townspeople.
City magistrate- dealt with the litigation of the townspeople

conscientious court- was all-class, served to reconcile those who were suing for minor and not socially dangerous cases.

The changes suggested that, depending on who was being tried, those representatives were part of the assessors - Zemsky courts were elected by the noble estate, reprisals - by peasants, magistrates - by petty bourgeois (townspeople). However, in fact, the higher nobility always intervened in the course of affairs of interest to them.

As a result of the transformations, the total number of the bureaucratic apparatus has increased significantly, as well as the cost of it. Compared to spending on the army, twice as much was allocated for the salaries of officials. The growth in the number of bureaucrats of all types and ranks, combined with favoritism, numerous military spending and the backwardness of the economy, led to a systematic shortage of money in the budget, which could not be eliminated until the death of Catherine II.

Judicial reform

Police reform

Date: April 8, 1782
After the "Charter of the Deanery, or Policeman" was signed, a new structure took shape within the cities - the Deanery Council, with its own functions and positions.

Reasons and goals:

• The need to strengthen the vertical of power
• Determination of the functions and hierarchy of police authorities in cities
• Formation of the basics of police law

Police reform 1782

Functions of the Deanery Council:

• Maintaining order and law within cities
• Supervision of non-governmental organizations
• Investigation and search activities
• Execution of decisions of the court and other institutions

The city was divided into parts (200-700 households) and quarters (50-100 households), which were to be monitored by private bailiffs and quarterly guards. The elected position was only the quarter lieutenant, who was elected for three years from among the inhabitants of the quarter.

The head of the Council was the mayor, the police chief (in the city centers of the provinces) or the chief police chief (in the capitals).

In addition to detective work and performing direct police functions, the councils supervised public service personnel - food delivery, road maintenance, etc.

urban reform

Economic reforms

Monetary reform

The signing of the manifesto "on the establishment of Moscow and St. Petersburg banks" created a precedent for the use of paper banknotes in the territory of the Russian Empire.

Reasons and goals:

• The inconvenience of transporting large amounts of copper money within the country
• The need to stimulate the economy
• Striving to meet Western standards

Banknote example

Banks established in Moscow and St. Petersburg received 500 thousand rubles of capital each and were obliged to issue to the bearer of banknotes the corresponding amount in copper equivalent.

In 1786, these banks were merged into a single structure - the State Assignment Bank, with the definition of its additional functions:

• Export of copper from the Russian Empire
• Import of gold and silver bars and coins.
• Creation of a mint in St. Petersburg and organization of minting coins.
• Accounting for promissory notes (receipts on the obligation to pay a certain amount)

50 rubles 1785

Enterprise Freedom Manifesto

Under the "manifesto on the freedom of enterprise", it is customary to understand the publication of a document allowing the opening of any small handicraft industry to all citizens of the Russian Empire - "Manifesto on the highest favors bestowed on various estates on the occasion of the conclusion of peace with the Ottoman Port." The Peasant War of 1773-1775, which frightened all the nobles, made it clear that without any concessions to the most numerous class, new unrest is quite possible.

Causes:

• The need to stimulate the economy and develop small businesses
• Peasant dissatisfaction with exploitative policies

Key points of the document:

• More than 30 different fees for crafts (fur extraction, poultry, fish) and processing industries (oil mills, fat mills, etc.) have been cancelled.
• It is allowed for any citizen to open "all sorts of camps and needlework" without any additional permits.
• Exemption from the poll tax for merchants with a capital of more than 500 rubles. Instead, an annual fee of 1% from capital was introduced.

Customs reforms

Adjustment of customs tariffs was carried out frequently - in 1766, 1767, 1776, 1782, 1786 and 1796. customs duties were changed, providing revenues to the treasury from the import of foreign goods, prohibiting the transportation of certain types of raw materials or easing the tax burden for certain categories of products. The foreign economy was actively developing, the volume of previously undelivered industrial and production products imported into the Russian Empire was growing.

Import of goods

The key element of the customs policy was the signing on September 27, 1782 of the document “On the Establishment of a Special Customs Frontier Chain and Guards to Avert the Secret Transportation of Goods”

According to the innovations:

Positions were introduced border guards and customs officers, for each of the border western provinces - they were listed in the service of the Treasury. According to the instructions, they were ordered to stay in places “convenient for the importation of goods” and prevent smuggling. If it was impossible to stop the smugglers on their own, the border guards had to immediately arrive at the nearest locality for help.

Social reforms

Estate reforms

Date: 1785

Causes:

• The Empress relied on the nobles and wished to increase their loyalty.
• Strengthening the vertical of power
• It was necessary to determine the rights of two classes that are gaining in numbers due to the development of the economy and cities, merchants and philistines (townspeople)

Noble ball

The main documents regulating the legal status of the estates were the "charter to the nobles" and "charter to the cities." Having previously been exclusively pro-noble in nature, the estate policy of Catherine II finally secured the “elitist” status for the noble estate.

Key points:

• Nobles were exempted from paying taxes and public service
• The noble class received an inalienable right to own serfs, property, land and its subsoil
• Noble assemblies and family books were established to confirm the origin
• Merchants received access to administrative positions (general city and six-member duma) and were exempted from the poll tax.
• Merchants of the 1st and 2nd guilds were exempted from corporal punishment.
• A new estate stood out and received the rights - the townspeople
• Serfs finally turned into slaves

Educational (school) reform

It is impossible to single out a specific document or date, which is key in the policy of enlightened absolutism of Catherine II. She consistently issued decrees and opened institutions aimed at increasing the level of knowledge and the accessibility of obtaining it. Mainly, educational services were provided to the nobility and townspeople, but homeless children and orphans also did not go unnoticed.

The main figures were I. I. Betskoy and F. I. Yankovich.

In Moscow and St. Petersburg, "educational homes" were opened - it was necessary to solve the problem of homeless and abandoned children.

Institute of Noble Maidens

In 1764, the Institute for Noble Maidens was opened, the first women's educational institution.

In 1764 a school for young men was founded at the Academy of Arts, and in 1765 a similar school was founded at the Academy of Sciences.

The Commercial School, opened in 1779, was called upon to train qualified personnel in the field of trade.

Formed in 1782, the “Commission for the Establishment of Public Schools” by 1786 developed a “charter for the public schools of the Russian Empire”. This document approved the class-lesson teaching system and provided for the opening of two types of general educational institutions in the cities: small public schools and main public schools.

Small schools prepared applicants for two years - basic reading, writing, rules of conduct and related knowledge.

The main schools provided broader subject training - for five years, in addition to basic skills, languages, history, exact and natural Sciences, architecture. Over time, it was from the main school that the teacher's seminary separated - a center for the training of future teachers.

The training was based on a benevolent attitude towards students, physical punishment was strictly prohibited.

The peasantry remained outside educational reform- the project of rural schools and compulsory primary education, regardless of gender and class, was proposed by Catherine II, but was never implemented.

Secularization of the Church

The reign of Catherine II for the Orthodox Church was not the best period. However, all conditions were made for other confessions. The Empress believed that all religious movements that did not oppose her power had the right to exist.

Causes:

• Excessive autonomy of the church
• The need to increase tax revenues and land use efficiency

Churchmen

As a result of the signing of the decree to the Senate on the division of spiritual estates, all lands belonging to the clergy and peasants came under the control of the state. A special body, the Collegium of Economy, began to collect a poll tax from the peasants and transfer part of the amount received to the maintenance of monasteries. The so-called "states" of monasteries were established, the number of which was limited. Most of the monasteries were abolished, their inhabitants were distributed among the remaining churches and parishes. The era of "church feudalism" ended

As a result:

• The clergy lost about 2 million monastic peasants
• Most of the land (about 9 million hectares) of monasteries and churches was transferred to the state
• 567 out of 954 monasteries are closed.
• Eliminated the autonomy of the clergy

Outcomes, Significance and Results of Domestic Reforms
Catherine 2 the Great

The reforms of Catherine II were aimed at creating a state of the European type, i.e. to the logical conclusion of Peter's reforms, which was carried out by the methods of enlightened absolutism based on the ideas of the humanization of justice. Under Catherine II, legal registration was completed class structure society; an attempt was made to involve the public in the reforms and transfer some of the managerial functions “to the localities”.

The policy towards the serfs was somewhat contradictory, because, on the one hand, there was an increase in the power of the landowners, and on the other, measures were taken that somewhat limited the oppression of serfs. In the economic sphere, state monopolies were liquidated, freedom of trade and industrial activity was proclaimed, secularization of church lands was carried out, paper money was put into circulation, the State Assignment Bank was established, measures were taken to introduce state control over expenses.

At the same time, it is worth considering the negative results - the flourishing of favoritism and bribery, the increased debt, the depreciation of the currency and the dominance of foreigners in the scientific and cultural spheres.

In the first years of her reign, Catherine II, busy with issues of strengthening her position on the Russian throne, which she inherited as a result of another palace coup and the removal of the legitimate monarch (her husband, Peter III), did not carry out broad reforms. At the same time, studying the state of affairs in the administration of the state, she found in it a lot of things that did not correspond to her ideas about the proper state structure. In this regard, immediately after coming to power, Catherine II tried to make a number of significant changes to the system of power and administration inherited from her (Fig. 9.2).

Rice. 9.2.

At the heart of the planned transformations, along with the desire declared by Catherine II to put all government places in proper order, to give them precise "limits and laws", lay the empress's desire to restore the significance of autocratic power and ensure the independence of the supreme power in pursuing state policy. In the future, the measures taken were to strengthen the centralization of state administration and increase the efficiency of the state apparatus.

Decree of December 15, 1763 reform was carried out Senate. This reform, as conceived by Catherine II and her advisers, was to improve the work of the highest body of state administration, which was the Senate from the day it was founded, to give it more specific functions and organization. The need for this reform was explained by the fact that by the time Catherine II came to the throne, the Senate, which had been rebuilt many times and changed its functions after the death of its founder, had turned into an institution that did not meet its lofty tasks. The uncertainty of functions, as well as "and a lot of various cases concentrated in one department, made the work of the Senate ineffective. One of the reasons for the reorganization of the Senate, according to Catherine II, was that the Senate, having assumed many functions, suppressed the independence of institutions subordinate to it. On in fact, Catherine II had a more compelling reason that prompted her to reorganize the Senate.As an absolute monarch, Catherine II could not put up with the independence of the Senate, its claims to supreme power in Russia, sought to reduce this institution to an ordinary bureaucratic department that performed the administrative functions assigned to it .

In the course of the reorganization carried out, the Senate was divided into six departments, each of which was endowed with specific functions in a particular area of ​​public administration. The broadest functions were vested in the first department, which was in charge of particularly important issues of public administration and politics. These included: promulgation of laws, management of state property and finances, financial control, management of industry and trade, supervision of the activities of the Senate Secret Expedition and the Office of Confiscations. A feature of the new structure of the Senate was that all the newly formed departments became independent units, they decided matters with their own power on behalf of the Senate. Thus, the main goal of Catherine II was achieved - weakening and belittling the role of the Senate as the highest state institution. Having retained the functions of control over the administration and the highest judicial body, the Senate was deprived of the right of legislative initiative.

In an effort to limit the independence of the Senate, Catherine II significantly expanded the functions Attorney General of the Senate. He exercised control and supervision over all the actions of the senators and was the personal confidant of Catherine II, endowed with the nature of daily reports to the empress on all decisions made by the Senate. The Prosecutor General not only personally supervised the activities of the first department, was the guardian of laws and was responsible for the state of the prosecutorial system, but he alone could make proposals for the consideration of cases at the Senate session (previously, all senators had this right). Enjoying the special confidence of the Empress, he essentially had a monopoly in charge of all the most important branches of government, was the highest official of the state, head of the state apparatus. Without deviating from his rule - if possible, manage the affairs of the state through capable and dedicated people. Catherine II, who was well versed in people and knew how to select the necessary personnel, appointed in 1764 an intelligent and comprehensively educated person, Prince A. A. Vyazemsky, who served in this post for almost thirty years, to the post of prosecutor general. Through him, the empress communicated with the Senate, freeing her hands to carry out her plans to transform the state apparatus.

Simultaneously with the reform of the Senate, which reduced this supreme body in the state to the position of a central administrative and judicial institution, the role of the personal office under the monarch was strengthened, through which the empress was established with the highest and central state institutions. A personal office also existed under Peter I, who also preferred to act on his own initiative and relied on personal authority in matters of administration. The Cabinet he created, which served the tsar as a military field office for the operational management of state affairs, was then restored in a new capacity by his daughter, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. Wanting to govern the state personally following the example of her great parent, she established, among other things, the Cabinet of Her Imperial Majesty, headed by I. A. Cherkasov, who at one time served in the Cabinet of Peter I. Under Catherine II, this institution was transformed into Office of the Secretaries of State, appointed from people who were trusted and devoted to the throne and had a huge, often decisive influence on the formation of state policy.

The policy of Catherine II towards the Church was subordinated to the same goal - strengthening the centralization of state administration. Continuing the line of Peter I in the field of church administration, Catherine II completed the secularization of church land ownership, conceived but not carried out by Peter I. In the course of the secularization reform of 1764, all monastic lands were transferred to the management of a specially created College of Economy. The peasants who lived on the former monastic lands passed into the category of state (“economic”) peasants. The monks were also transferred to the content of the state treasury. From now on, only the central government could determine the required number of monasteries and monks, and the clergy finally turned into one of the groups of state officials.

Under Catherine II, in accordance with the empress's previously noted ideas about the role of the police in the state, police regulation of various aspects of society's life is being strengthened, and the activities of state institutions are being policed. In the general direction of this policy, one should consider the creation and activities of the Senate Secret Expedition (October 1762), established instead of the Secret Chancellery liquidated by Peter III and under the personal tutelage of Catherine II. This special structure of the Senate, which received the status of an independent state institution, was in charge of the political search, considered the materials of the commissions of inquiry created during the Pugachev uprising, all the political processes of the times of Catherine's reign passed through it. The General Procurator of the Senate was in charge of the activities of the Secret Expedition. Catherine II was personally engaged in the initiation of detective cases, participated in the investigation of the most important cases.

A special place in the reform plans of Catherine II of the first years of her reign belonged to the creation and activities Statutory Commission for the drafting of a new regulation. The commission did not work for a full year and a half (1767-1768) and was dissolved in connection with the outbreak of the Russian-Turkish war. In its significance, it was a unique for that time attempt by the government to express the will of the people on the main issues of the life of the empire, organized by the government.

The idea itself to appeal to the opinion of society was, although not new, but, given the main goal, but which I convene this representative institution, of great importance and practical results. Attempts to adopt a new code of laws were made earlier, starting from the reign of Peter 1. In order to develop a new Code, the government created special commissions, one of which worked in 1754-1758. Catherine II chose a different path. Desiring to establish in the state a correct order and good legislation, based on new principles and consistent with the needs of the people, she rightly believed that it would be impossible to do this if she relied only on the bureaucracy that had grown up on the old laws and poorly represented the needs of various strata of Russian society. It would be more correct to find out these needs and needs from the society itself, whose representatives were involved in the commission for the compilation of a new code of laws. In the work of the Commission, many historians rightly see the first experience of an institution of a parliamentary type in Russia, combining domestic political experience associated with the activities of the former Zemsky Sobors, and the experience of European parliaments.

The meetings of the commission opened on July 30, 1767. It consisted of 564 deputies elected from all the main classes (with the exception of the landlord peasants), who came to Moscow with detailed instructions from their constituents. The work of the Legislative Commission began with the discussion of these orders. Of the total number of deputies, most were elected from cities (39% of the composition of the Commission, with the total proportion of urban residents in the country amounting to no more than 5% of the population). To draw up individual bills, special "private commissions" were created, which were elected from the general Commission. Deputies of the Commission, following the example of Western parliaments, enjoyed parliamentary immunity, they were paid salaries for the entire time they worked in the Commission.

At the very first meeting of the Commission, the deputies were presented on behalf of the Empress with the "Order" for further discussion. The "Order" consisted of 20 chapters, divided into 655 articles, 294 of which, according to V.O. Klyuchevsky, were borrowed, mostly from Montesquieu (which, as you know, Catherine II herself admitted). The last two chapters (21 on deanery, that is, on the police, and 22 on state economy, that is, on state revenues and expenditures) were not made public and were not discussed by the Commission. "Nakaz" broadly covered the field of legislation, concerned almost all the main parts of the state system, the rights and obligations of citizens and individual estates. In the "Instruction" the equality of citizens before the common law for all was widely declared, for the first time the question of the responsibility of the authorities (government) to the citizens was raised, the idea was held that natural shame should keep people from crimes, and not fear of punishment, and that the cruelty of management hardens people , accustom them to violence. In the spirit of the ideas of the European Enlightenment and taking into account the multinational and multi-confessional nature of the empire, the installation of religious tolerance and equal respect for all religious denominations was affirmed.

For a number of reasons, the work of the Commission on the drafting of the new "Code" did not bring the expected results. Creating a new code of laws proved to be no easy task. First of all, the composition of the Commission contributed little to this, most of whose deputies did not have a high political culture, the necessary legal knowledge and were not prepared for legislative work. There were also serious contradictions that arose between the deputies representing the interests of various estates in the Commission. Despite this, the work of the Commission, accompanied by a broad discussion of many issues of the political and economic life of the state, was not useless. She gave Catherine II a rich and varied material for further work on improving legislation, its results were used by the empress to prepare and implement a number of major administrative reforms.