Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below
Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.
Posted on http://www.allbest.ru/
COURSE WORK
THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE AT THE TURN OF THE XVIII-XIX CENTURIES
At the turn of the 18th-19th centuries, Emperor Paul I (1796-1801), the son of Catherine the Great, reigned in the Russian Empire, who managed to ascend the throne only at the age of 42
Offended by his mother because she did not want to give him the crown, Pavel conducts his policy in such a way that she completely contradicts Catherine's policy. Firstly, many of Catherine's nobles fall into disgrace. And the political criminals whom she condemned, on the contrary, are released (for example, Radishchev).
Paul's liberal decrees
Pavel issues several decrees on the peasant issue: in 1796, the peasants receive the right to complain or swear an oath to the emperor; 1797-98 - it is forbidden to sell peasants without land.
Corvee is prohibited on Sundays (and is limited to only three days a week). Physical punishment for nobles was also restored, noble meetings and elective courts were banned. The office was subject to revision.
As a result of this decree, uprisings began in twelve provinces, since the nobles did not want to obey him.
In 1798, merchants were given the right to buy peasants to work in manufactories. Employees are now required to start work at 8.00 and finish at 22.00. There are also restrictions on the costume - clothing is also regulated by the state. Censorship is tightened: all private printing houses are closed, it is forbidden to travel abroad, even to study.
Military reform of Paul I
In 1797, Pavel carried out a military reform, as a result of which the Prussian military uniform and wigs were introduced into the army, and the practice of holding watch parades appeared. In the military sphere, he entirely follows the traditions of his father, Emperor Peter III, who idolized the Prussian military system and dreamed of introducing the same in Russia.
Special attention deserves the fact that Paul canceled the decree of Peter the Great that the emperor is free to choose his own heir, and established a clear system of inheritance only through the male line. Paul also restored the college system.
Foreign policy
Changes are also observed in foreign policy: Paul refuses to participate in the fight against revolutionary France and in November 1798 joins the coalition against Napoleon (because before that Paul joins the Order of Malta, and Napoleon captures Malta). In 1799, Suvorov returned from disgrace, he was sent to war in Italy.
However, in 1800, when the British captured Malta, they refused to return to Paul the share he was entitled to under the agreement. Paul withdraws from the coalition and forms an alliance with Napoleon.
The nobility did not approve of Paul's policy, and in 1801 he was killed as a result of a conspiracy aimed at placing his son, the future Emperor Alexander I, on the throne. 1). Territory of Russia.
2). The population of Russia: a). multinational
b). multi-religious
in). Class division of the population
G). Class division of the population
3). The political structure of Russia in the late 18th - early 19th centuries.
III. Kuban at the turn of the XVIII - XIX centuries.
The first point of our plan requires work with the map. Pay attention to the question (Slide No. 4 of the Application) and on the map (Slide No. 5 of the Application) determine geographical position Russia at the turn of the XVIII - XIX centuries. ( Russia is located in Europe and Asia. The border between European and Asian Russia runs through the Ural Mountains.
Russia's land border with Sweden, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Iran, Afghanistan, India, China.
Only the sea border is with Japan and the USA.
Land and sea Russian border with the Ottoman Empire).
Correctly. We turn to the characteristics of the second paragraph of the plan.
one). The territory of Russia at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries was 18 million km (increased due to the annexation of the Caucasus, Finland, Bessarabia). (Slide number 6 of the Application)
2). "The population of Russia at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries".
According to its national composition, the population of Russia was very heterogeneous.
a). multinational- more than 200 peoples and nationalities lived on the territory of Russia.
Let us turn to the map "The Russian Empire at the beginning of the 19th century."
Let's determine what peoples lived on the territory of Russia at the end of the 18th - beginning of the 19th centuries? - (Slide number 7 of the application)
Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians lived in the south and west of the European part of the country.
In the Baltics - Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Germans.
In the north of European Russia and in the Volga region - Mordovians, Mari, Udmurts, Karelians, Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvashs, Kalmyks ...
In Siberia and the Far East - Tatars, Yakuts, Evens, Yukagirs, Buryats, Chukchi, Nanais...
The basis of the population of Russia were Russians. ( Slide #8 Applications )
b). Multi-religious - the peoples of Russia professed almost all major world religions.
The state religion was Orthodoxy, which was followed by Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, representatives of other peoples (87% of the population in total). Slide #9 Applications )
In the western regions, Catholicism (Lithuanians, Poles) and Protestantism (Latvians, Estonians, Germans) were widespread. - ( Slide number 10 Appendix)
Turkic-speaking peoples (Tatars, Bashkirs) professed Islam. - ( Slide #11 Applications )
Kalmyks and Buryats - Buddhism. - ( Slide #12 Applications )
Jews - Judaism. - ( Slide #13 Applications)
The peoples of Siberia, the Far North retained pagan beliefs (Mordovians, Mari ...) - (Slide No. 14 of the Application)
in). Class division of the population.
Estates are large groups of people with certain rights and duties that are inherited. ( Elizaveta Saiko will give a brief description of the class division of the country).
The main estates of the country were:
Nobility - up to 400 thousand people, large landowners.
The nobility, clergy and merchants were a privileged class - they were not subjected to corporal punishment, they did not pay tax in favor of the state. - (Slide No. 16, 17, 18 of the Appendix)
Unprivileged classes:
Philistinism - up to 4% of the population.
Peasantry - more than 90% of the population.
Cossacks - 1.5 million people.
The bourgeoisie, the peasantry, the Cossacks carried military service, paid taxes in favor of the state. - (Slide No. 19, 20 Applications)
We will characterize the position of the main strata of society in more detail later, when studying individual topics, and today I propose that you solve several cognitive tasks.
Patriotic War 1812 briefly
Announcement: how did Napoleon's army of 600 thousand people manage to defeat the Russian army of 160 thousand people in six months?
Napoleon with his army conquered almost all of Europe. He sought to capture India - the richest colony of England. For this it was necessary to conquer Russia. All the peoples of Russia participated in the Patriotic War.
June 12, 1812 - Napoleon's army invades Russia across the Neman River. 3 Russian armies were at a great distance from each other. Tormasov's army, being in Ukraine, could not participate in the war. It turned out that only 2 armies took the hit. But they had to retreat in order to connect.
August 3rd - joining armies Bagration and Barclay de Tolly near Smolensk. The enemies lost about 20 thousand, and ours about 6 thousand, but Smolensk had to be left. Even the united armies were 4 times smaller than the enemy!
8 August - Kutuzov appointed commander in chief. An experienced strategist, wounded many times in battles, Suvorov's student fell in love with the people.
August, 26th- The Battle of Borodino lasted more than 12 hours. It is considered a pitched battle. On the outskirts of Moscow, the Russians showed mass heroism. The losses of the enemies were greater, but our army could not go on the offensive. The numerical superiority of the enemies was still great. Reluctantly, they decided to surrender Moscow in order to save the army.
September October- Seat of Napoleon's army in Moscow. His expectations were not met. Failed to win. Kutuzov rejected requests for peace. The attempt to move south failed.
October December- the expulsion of Napoleon's army from Russia along the destroyed Smolensk road. From 600 thousand enemies, about 30 thousand remained!
December 25, 1812- Emperor Alexander I issued a manifesto on the victory of Russia. But the war had to continue. Napoleon had armies in Europe. If they are not defeated, then he will attack Russia again. The foreign campaign of the Russian army lasted until victory in 1814.
The Patriotic War of 1812 became nationwide. Every citizen contributed to the victory. Someone gave money for the creation of armed detachments, many participated in the partisan movement, exhausting the enemy with frequent attacks. The owners set fire to their houses so that they would not get to the enemies. If the people and the army are united, then such a force cannot be defeated. To be continued.
2) Domestic policy of NicholasI
Nicholas I ruled in Russia in 1825-1855. He considered his main task to be the strengthening of the power of the nobles, relying on the army and the bureaucracy. The Second Department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery is being created. By order of the tsar, a systematization of all existing laws in Russia was undertaken. This work was entrusted to M. M. Speransky. In 1832, the Complete Collection of Laws of the Russian Empire was published; in 1833, the Code of Acting Laws of the Russian Empire was issued. In 1826, the III department col1_2 of the Chancellery was established, headed by Count A. Kh. Benckendorff. In addition to the police, a corps of gendarmes was introduced - in fact, the political police.
In 1837-1842. A number of reforms were carried out in the field of the peasant question. According to the project of the Minister of State Property P. D. Kiselev, the reform of the state peasants was carried out. Partial self-government was given to this category of peasants, the procedure for allocating land to peasants and taxing taxes was revised. Schools and hospitals were opened. Under the decree on "obligated peasants" (1842), landowners could give the peasants personal freedom, and for the use of land, the latter were obliged to fulfill the obligations specified by the contract.
Minister of Finance E.F. Kankrin in 1839-1841. carried out a financial reform, introducing the silver ruble as the basis of monetary circulation and establishing a mandatory exchange rate for banknotes, which strengthened the country's financial position.
In the 30s. nineteenth century in Russia, the industrial revolution begins, i.e., the transition from manual labor to machine labor, from manufactory to factory. The specialization of regions has increased, urban population transport developed.
In 1837, the first railway St. Petersburg - Tsarskoye Selo was laid, in 1851 the Nikolaevskaya railway Moscow - St. Petersburg was opened.
The feudal system has become a brake on economic development. The corvée system of agriculture did not meet the requirements of the times, hired labor was increasingly introduced. The further development of the country required the abolition of serfdom.
The domestic policy of Alexander I Already on the day of his accession to the throne, the young emperor announced that he intended to govern the state in accordance with the principles that his late grandmother had instilled in him, Catherine the Great. Both in official papers and in private conversations, he constantly emphasized that he was going to replace personal arbitrariness in all spheres of public life with strict legality, since he considered the arbitrariness of those in power to be the main drawback of the state order in the empire.
Based on these intentions, from the very beginning of the reign Alexander took a course on liberal reforms and the development of fundamental laws. Literally within a month of his reign, he allowed everyone who was dismissed by his father to return to the service, lifted the ban on the import of many goods, including those that were prohibited by strict censorship - notes and books, and also reintroduced noble elections.
Government reform.
From the very beginning, the young emperor was surrounded by a group of comrades who, at his request, helped him in carrying out reforms. They were V.P. Kochubey, P.A. Stroganov, N.N. Novosiltsev, A. Czartoryski. During 1801 - 1803. this so-called "Unspoken Committee" developed projects for reforms in the state.
It was decided to start with the central control. From the spring of 1801, a permanent "Indispensable Council" began to operate, whose task was to discuss decisions and state affairs. It included 12 dignitaries of the highest rank. Later, in 1810, it was transformed into the State Council, and the structure was also revised: it included the General Assembly and four departments - military, laws, state economy and civil and spiritual affairs. The head of the Council of State was either the emperor himself or one of its members, who was appointed by the will of the monarch. The Council was an advisory body whose task was to centralize legislative procedures, ensure legal norms and avoid contradictions in laws.
In February 1802, the emperor signed a decree that declared the Senate the supreme governing body in Russia, in whose hands the administrative, controlling and judicial power was concentrated. However, the first dignitaries of the empire were not represented in it, and the Senate did not have the opportunity to directly contact the supreme power, therefore, even taking into account the expansion of powers, the importance of this body did not increase.
At the beginning of 1802, Alexander I carried out a ministerial reform, according to which the colleges were replaced by 8 ministries, which consisted of a minister, his deputy and an office. The minister was in charge of the affairs of his ministry and was personally accountable to the emperor. In order to organize a joint discussion, a Committee of Ministers was established. In 1810 M.M. Speransky prepared a manifesto, according to which all state affairs were divided into 5 main parts, and new departments were proclaimed - the Ministry of Police and the Main Directorate of Spiritual Affairs.
Speransky also drafted reforms state administration, the purpose of which was the modernization and Europeanization of governance through the introduction of bourgeois norms in order to strengthen the autocracy and preserve estate system, however, the highest dignitaries did not support the idea of transformation. At the insistence of the emperor, however, the legislative and executive authorities were reformed.
Education reform.
In 1803, an imperial decree proclaimed new principles of the education system in Russia: classlessness, free lower levels of education, as well as the continuity of curricula. The education system was under the jurisdiction of the General Directorate of Schools. During the reign of the emperor, 5 universities were founded, which were then given significant independence. Lyceums were also created - secondary educational institutions.
Projects for solving the peasant question.
Immediately after ascending the throne, Alexander I announced his intention to stop the distribution of state peasants. During the first nine years of his reign, he issued decrees allowing state peasants to buy land, as well as forbidding landowners to exile serfs to Siberia. In famine years, the landowner was obliged to supply his peasants with food.
With the deterioration of the economic situation in the state, however, some paragraphs of the laws on the peasantry were revised: for example, in 1810 - 11. More than 10,000 state-owned peasants were sold, and in 1822 the landowners were given back the right to exile peasants to Siberia. At the same time, Arakcheev, Guryev and Mordvinov developed projects for the liberation of the peasants, which were never implemented.
military settlements.
The first experience of introducing such settlements was in 1810-12, but this phenomenon acquired a mass character at the end of 1815. The purpose of creating military settlements was to free the population from the need to provide for the army by creating a military agricultural estate that would support and recruit itself. standing army. Thus, it was supposed to maintain the number of troops at the wartime level. The reform was met with hostility by both the peasants and the Cossacks: they reacted with numerous riots. Military settlements were abolished only in 1857.
Results.
If at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Alexander his power was seen a real opportunity to improve the life of all the estates of the empire, then by the middle many were disappointed in him, almost publicly arguing that the ruler simply did not have the courage to follow those liberal principles, about which he speaks so much and enthusiastically. Many researchers tend to believe that the main reason for the failure of the reforms of Alexander I was by no means corruption and the propensity of the people to conservatism, but the personal qualities of the sovereign.
Ideological struggle and social movement in Russia in the first half of the 19th century.
Reasons for the rise of the social movement
The main thing is the preservation of the old socio-political system and, first of all, the autocratic system with its police apparatus, the privileged position of the nobility, and the lack of democratic freedoms. An equally significant reason is the unresolved agrarian-peasant issue, which remained central in the country's public life. To the former social contradictions (between peasants and landowners) new ones were added, caused by the development of capitalism, between workers and entrepreneurs, the liberal bourgeoisie and the conservative nobility, between the autocracy and the peoples that were part of the Russian Empire. The half-heartedness of the reforms of the 1960s and 1970s and fluctuations in the government's course (either measures towards liberalization, or intensification of repressions) also intensified the social movement.
A distinctive feature of the public life of Russia in the second half of the XIX century. was the political inertia of the broad masses of the people. Peasant unrest that broke out after 1861 quickly subsided, the labor movement was in its infancy. The people retained tsarist illusions. The bourgeoisie also showed political inertia. This provided ground for the triumph of militant conservatism and provided an extremely narrow social basis for the activities of the revolutionaries.
In the post-reform period, three directions in the social movement finally took shape - conservatives, liberals and radicals. They had different political goals, organizational forms and methods of struggle, spiritual and moral-ethical positions.
THE DECABRISTS international events first quarter of the 19th century Main reason understanding the best representatives nobility that the preservation of serfdom and autocracy is disastrous for further fate countries. Secret societies in Russia appeared at the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. After the end of the Patriotic War of 1812, secret organizations existed in the form of officer associations, circles of young people connected by family and friendly ties. The first political organizations In February 1816, after the return of most of the Russian army from Europe, a secret society of future Decembrists, the Union of Salvation, arose in St. Petersburg. Since February 1817 it has been called the Society of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland. It was founded by: P.I. Pestel, A.N. Muravyov, S.P. Trubetskoy. The "Union of Salvation" - it contained two main ideas for the reorganization of Russian society - the elimination of serfdom and the destruction of autocracy. Serfdom was seen as a disgrace and the main brake on the progressive development of Russia, autocracy as an obsolete political system. The document spoke of the need to introduce a constitution that would limit the rights of absolute power. In January 1818, the Welfare Union was created. Its composition still remained predominantly noble. The organizers and leaders were A.N. and N.M. Muravievs, S.I. and M.I. Muravyov-Apostles, P.I. Pestel and others. The organization received a fairly clear structure. The Root Council was elected as a general governing body - and the Council (Duma), which had executive power. In March 1821, the Southern Society was formed in Ukraine. Its creator and leader was P.I. Pestel, a staunch Republican, distinguished by some dictatorial manners. In 1822, the Northern Society was formed in St. Petersburg. Its recognized leaders were N.M. Muravyov, K.F. Ryleev, S.P. Trubetskoy, M.S. Lunin. Both societies "thought no other way than how to act together." These were large political organizations for that time, which had well-developed theoretical program documents - Constitutional projects. The main discussed projects were the "Constitution" by N.M. Muravyov and "Russian Truth" P.I. Pestel. The "Constitution" reflected the views of the moderate part of the Decembrists, the "Russian Truth" of the radical. The focus was on the future state structure of Russia. N.M. Muravyov advocated constitutional monarchy a political system in which the executive power belonged to the emperor (the hereditary power of the king was preserved for continuity), and the legislative power to the parliament ("People's Council"). P.I. Pestel unconditionally spoke in favor of a republican state system. In his project, the unicameral parliament had legislative power, and the Sovereign Duma, consisting of five people, had executive power. Every year one of the members of the "State Duma" became the president of the republic. P.I. Pestel proclaimed the principle of universal suffrage. In accordance with the ideas of P.I. Pestel in Russia, a parliamentary republic with a presidential form of government was to be established. It was one of the most progressive political projects of the state structure of that time. In solving the most important agrarian and peasant issue for Russia, P.I. Pestel and N.M. Ants unanimously recognized the need for the complete abolition of serfdom, the personal liberation of the peasants. Uprising in Petersburg. After the death of Tsar Alexander I, an extraordinary interregnum situation developed in the country. The leaders of the Northern Society decided that the change of emperors created an opportune moment to speak. They developed a plan for the uprising and appointed it for December 14 - the day the Senate took the oath to Nicholas. The conspirators wanted to force the Senate to adopt their new program document "Manifesto to the Russian people" and, instead of swearing an oath to the emperor, proclaim a transition to constitutional government. In the Manifesto, the main demands of the Decembrists were formulated: the destruction of the former government, i.e. autocracy; the abolition of serfdom and the introduction of democratic freedoms. Much attention was paid to improving the condition of the soldiers: the destruction of recruitment, corporal punishment, and the system of military settlements was proclaimed. Early in the morning of December 14, 1825, the most active members of the Northern Society began agitation among the troops of St. Petersburg. They intended to bring them to the Senate Square and thereby influence the senators. At one o'clock in the afternoon, the sailors of the Guards naval crew and some other parts of the St. Petersburg garrison, about 3 thousand soldiers and sailors led by Decembrist officers, joined the rebels .. It turned out that the Senate had already sworn allegiance to Emperor Nicholas I and the senators had gone home. There was no one to present the Manifesto. S.P. Trubetskoy, appointed dictator of the uprising, did not appear on the square. In the meantime, Nikolai gathered units loyal to him on the square and decisively used them. Artillery buckshot dispersed the ranks of the rebels, who, in a disorderly flight, tried to escape on the ice of the Neva. The uprising in Petersburg was crushed. Arrests of members of the society began. Revolt in the south. Despite the arrests of some leaders of the Southern Society and the news of the defeat of the uprising in St. Petersburg, those who remained at large decided to support their comrades. December 29, 1825 S.I. Muraviev-Apostol and M.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin raised an uprising of the Chernigov regiment. Initially, it was doomed to failure. On January 3, 1826, the regiment was surrounded by government troops and shot with grapeshot. The bet on a conspiracy and a military coup, the weakness of propaganda activities, the insufficient readiness of society for transformations, the inconsistency of actions, the wait-and-see tactics at the time of the uprising are the main reasons for the defeat of the Decembrists. However, their performance was a significant event in Russian history. The Decembrists developed the first revolutionary program and plan for the future structure of the country. For the first time, a practical attempt was made to change the socio-political system of Russia. The ideas and activities of the Decembrists had a significant impact on the further development of social thought.
Wapadism and slavophilism The Slavophiles and Westernizers were especially sharp against serfdom. Slavophiles defended historical identity Russia and singled it out as a separate world, opposing the West due to the peculiarities of Russian history, religiosity, and the Russian stereotype of behavior. Slavophiles considered the greatest value Orthodox religion opposed to rationalist Catholicism. The Slavophiles claimed that the Russians had a special relationship with the authorities. The people lived, as it were, in a “contract” with the civil system: we are members of the community, we have our own life, you are the authorities, you have your own life. K. Aksakov wrote that the country has an advisory voice, the power of public opinion, but the right to make final decisions belongs to the monarch. An example of this kind of relationship can be the relationship between the Zemsky Sobor and the tsar during the period of the Muscovite state, which allowed Russia to live in a world without upheavals and revolutionary upheavals, such as the Great french revolution. Slavophiles associated “distortions” in Russian history with the activities of Peter the Great, who “cut a window to Europe”, violated the treaty, the balance in the life of the country, knocked it off the path inscribed by God.
Slavophilov often referred to as a political reaction due to the fact that their teaching contains three principles of "official nationality": Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality. However, it should be noted that the Slavophils of the older generation interpreted these principles in a peculiar sense: they understood Orthodoxy as a free community of believing Christians, and they considered the autocratic state as an external form that enables the people to devote themselves to the search for “internal truth”. At the same time, the Slavophils defended the autocracy and did not attach much importance to the cause of political freedom. At the same time, they were convinced democrats, supporters of the spiritual freedom of the individual. When Alexander II came to the throne in 1855, K. Aksakov presented him with a “Note on the internal state of Russia”. In the "Note" Aksakov reproached the government for the suppression of moral freedom, which led to the degradation of the nation; he pointed out that extreme measures could only make the idea of political freedom popular among the people and give rise to a desire to achieve it by revolutionary means. In order to prevent such a danger, Aksakov advised the tsar to grant freedom of thought and speech, as well as to restore the practice of convening Zemsky Sobors to life. The ideas of granting civil liberties to the people and the abolition of serfdom occupied an important place in the works of the Slavophiles. It is not surprising, therefore, that censorship often subjected them to persecution and prevented them from freely expressing their thoughts.
Westerners, unlike the Slavophiles, Russian identity was assessed as backwardness. From the point of view of Westerners, Russia, like most other Slavic peoples, for a long time was, as it were, out of history. They saw the main merit of Peter I in the fact that he accelerated the process of transition from backwardness to civilization. For Westerners, Peter's reforms are the beginning of Russia's movement into world history.
At the same time, they understood that Peter's reforms were accompanied by many bloody costs. Herzen saw the origins of most of the most disgusting features of contemporary despotism in the bloody violence that accompanied Peter's reforms. Westerners emphasized that Russia and Western Europe follow the same historical path, so Russia should borrow the experience of Europe. They saw the most important task in achieving the liberation of the individual and creating a state and society that would ensure this freedom. The Westerners considered the "educated minority" as a force capable of becoming the engine of progress. reform paul politics
With all the differences in assessing the prospects for the development of Russia, Westernizers and Slavophiles had similar positions. Both those and others opposed serfdom, for the liberation of the peasants with land, for the introduction of political freedoms in the country, and the restriction of autocratic power. They were also united by a negative attitude towards the revolution; they spoke for the reformist way solution of the main social issues in Russia. In the process of preparing the peasant reform of 1861, Slavophiles and Westernizers entered into a single camp liberalism. The disputes between Westerners and Slavophiles were of great importance for the development of social and political thought. They were representatives of the liberal-bourgeois ideology that arose among the nobility under the influence of the crisis of the feudal-serf system. Herzen emphasized the common thing that united Westerners and Slavophiles - "physiological, unconscious, passionate feeling for the Russian people" ("Past and Thoughts").
The liberal ideas of the Westerners and Slavophiles took deep roots in Russian society and had a serious influence on the next generations of people who were looking for a way into the future for Russia. In the debate about the ways of the country's development, we hear the echo of the dispute between Westerners and Slavophiles on the question of how the special and the universal correlate in the history of the country, what is Russia - a country that is destined for the messianic role of the center of Christianity, the third Rome, or a country that represents part of all mankind, part of Europe, following the path of world-historical development.
Alexander's foreign policyI
Its main directions are European and Middle Eastern. The war with France (1805-1807) was waged by Russia as part of the III anti-French coalition (allies Great Britain, Austria, Sweden), which broke up in 1805, and the IV anti-Napoleonic coalition in alliance with England, Prussia and Sweden. During the war, battles took place at Austerlitz (1805), at Preussisch_Eylau, and at Friedland (1807). As a result of the war, the Treaty of Tilsit was signed, according to which Russia was forced to join the continental blockade (trade blockade) of England, which did not meet the economic interests of Russia.
The war with Persia (Iran) (1804-1813) ended in the defeat of Persia. According to the Gulistan peace treaty, Russia received the lands of Northern Azerbaijan and part of Dagestan.
The war between Russia and Turkey (1806-1812), caused by the closure of the Black Sea straits by the Turks for Russian ships, ended in the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. M. I. Kutuzov forced Turkey to sign the Treaty of Bucharest, according to which Russia received the territory of Bessarabia ( East End Moldova).
As a result of the war with Sweden (1808-1809), Russia received the territory of Finland. Alexander I introduced a constitution in Finland, giving it autonomy.
In 1801 Eastern Georgia voluntarily became part of Russia. In 1803 Mingrelia was conquered. In 1804, Imereti, Guria and Ganja became Russian possessions. During the Russian-Iranian war of 1805, Karabakh and Shirvan were conquered. Ossetia was voluntarily annexed in 1806
Foreign policy of Nicholas I
The main directions of the foreign policy of the government of Nicholas I were: the fight against the revolutionary movement in Europe, the desire to capture the Middle Eastern markets, the annexation of the Caspian coast to Russia and the solution of the Eastern question, which meant predominance in Turkish affairs, establishing control in the Bosporus and Dardanelles and influence in the Balkans.
Russo-Iranian War 1826-1828 ended with the Turkmenchay peace, according to which eastern Armenia joined Russia. Russia also won the war with Turkey in 1828-1829, and Anapa, Poti, Akhaltsikhe and Alkhalkalaki went to her according to the Adrianople peace. In this situation, the subjugation of the entire Caucasus by Russia became possible and inevitable.
The Murid movement that began in the 1930s headed by Imam Shamil, who won a number of victories over the Russian troops. In the territories of Dagestan and Chechnya, he created a state system - imamat - with a large army. But already in the late 40s. in state system Shamil began to show signs of a crisis. Tsarism took advantage of the economic and military weakening of the imamate. The rearmed and numerically increased Russian army went on the offensive. In 1859, the remnants of Shamil's troops were finally defeated.
The annexation of the Caucasus to Russia was completed in 1864.
Contradictions between Russia and European countries escalated significantly after the signing in 1833 by Turkey and Russia of the Unkiyar-Iskelessi Treaty, which established a defensive military alliance with an obligation of mutual military protection.
By the middle of the XIX century. Eastern question in the foreign policy of European countries took the most important place. France and England sought military and commercial priority in the Mediterranean; Austria - to the expansion of the territory of the Ottoman Empire; Russia - to the complete defeat of Turkey alone, access to the Mediterranean Sea, closing the entrance to the Black Sea to a foreign fleet and increasing influence on the Slavic peoples of the Balkans. All this led to the Crimean War (1853-1856), which began with the crossing of Russian troops across the river. Prut and occupation of the territory of Moldavia and Wallachia. In the autumn of 1853, the Russian squadron under the command of Admiral P.S. Nakhimova (1802-1855) defeated the Turkish fleet in Sinop Bay. But the European powers did not intend to allow Russia to win over Turkey. The English and French military squadrons entered the Golden Horn Bay. Russia was now forced to fight against England, France, the Italian states - Piedmont and Sardinia. Military operations were transferred to the Crimea. Russia's main naval base on the Black Sea, Sevastopol, was under siege. After 11 months of defense, Sevastopol fell.
On March 18, 1856, a peace was signed in Paris, according to which Russia ceded part of Bessarabia to Turkey and returned the fortress of Kars. Russia was forbidden to have a navy on the Black Sea and restore Sevastopol as a fortress.
The defeat of Russia showed a deep crisis of the autocratic-feudal system, its backwardness from the advanced countries of Europe, urgently dictated the need for radical transformations in all areas of life, brought the country out of a state of political immobility, caused a protest of broad sections of society against the existing order, led to the growth of peasant uprisings. The autocracy was forced to start self-improvement and self-regulation on the basis of market relations and the freedom of citizens.
Crimean War 1853-1856 (briefly)
The cause of the Crimean War was the clash of interests of Russia, England, France and Austria in the Middle East and the Balkans. Leading European countries sought to divide Turkish possessions in order to expand spheres of influence and markets. Turkey sought to take revenge for previous defeats in the wars with Russia.
One of the main reasons for the emergence of military confrontation was the problem of revising the legal regime for the passage of the Mediterranean straits of the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles by the Russian fleet, fixed in the London Convention of 1840-1841.
The reason for the start of the war was a dispute between the Orthodox and Catholic clergy about the ownership of the "Palestinian shrines" (the Bethlehem Church and the Church of the "Holy Sepulcher"), located on the territory of the Ottoman Empire.
In 1851, the Turkish Sultan, instigated by France, ordered that the keys to the Bethlehem Church be taken away from the Orthodox priests and handed over to the Catholics. In 1853 Nicholas I put forward an ultimatum with initially impossible demands, which ruled out a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Russia, breaking diplomatic relations with Turkey, occupied the Danubian principalities, and as a result, Turkey declared war on October 4, 1853.
Fearing the strengthening of Russia's influence in the Balkans, England and France in 1853 concluded a secret agreement on a policy of opposing Russia's interests and began a diplomatic blockade.
First period of the war: October 1853 - March 1854 The Black Sea squadron under the command of Admiral Nakhimov in November 1853 completely destroyed the Turkish fleet in the bay of Sinop, capturing the commander in chief. In the ground operation, the Russian army achieved significant victories in December 1853 - crossing the Danube and pushing back the Turkish troops, it, under the command of General I.F. Paskevich, laid siege to Silistria. In the Caucasus, Russian troops won a major victory near Bashkadylklar, frustrating the plans of the Turks to capture Transcaucasia.
England and France, fearing the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, in March 1854 declared war on Russia. From March to August 1854, they launched attacks from the sea against Russian ports on the Addan Islands, Odessa, the Solovetsky Monastery, Petropavlovsk-on-Kamchatka. Attempts at a naval blockade were unsuccessful.
In September 1854, a 60,000-strong landing force was landed on the Crimean Peninsula with the aim of capturing the main base of the Black Sea Fleet - Sevastopol.
The first battle on the Alma River in September 1854 ended in failure for the Russian troops.
On September 13, 1854, the heroic defense of Sevastopol began, which lasted 11 months. By order of Nakhimov, the Russian sailing fleet, which could not resist the enemy steam ships, was flooded at the entrance to the Sevastopol Bay.
The defense was led by admirals V.A. Kornilov, P.S. Nakhimov, V.I. Istomin, who died heroically during the assaults. The defenders of Sevastopol were L.N. Tolstoy, surgeon N.I. Pirogov.
Many participants in these battles earned themselves the fame of national heroes: military engineer E.I. Totleben, General S.A. Khrulev, sailors P. Koshka, I. Shevchenko, soldier A. Eliseev.
Russian troops suffered a number of setbacks in the battles near Inkerman in Evpatoria and on the Black River. On August 27, after a 22-day bombardment, Sevastopol was stormed, after which the Russian troops were forced to leave the city.
On March 18, 1856, the Treaty of Paris was signed between Russia, Turkey, France, England, Austria, Prussia and Sardinia. Russia lost bases and part of the fleet, the Black Sea was declared neutral. Russia lost its influence in the Balkans, and its military power in the Black Sea basin was undermined.
At the heart of this defeat lay the political miscalculation of Nicholas I, who pushed the economically backward, feudal-serf Russia into conflict with strong European powers. This defeat inspired Alexander II for a number of fundamental reforms.
Hosted on Allbest.ru
Hosted on Allbest.ru
...Similar Documents
Government solution of the peasant question in the first half of the 19th century. Politics in the field of the peasant question under Nicholas I. Decrees and laws on peasants issued in the 19th century. Crimean War 1853–1856, its role in the peasant reform of 1861
abstract, added 11/09/2010
general characteristics Stolbovsky peace treaty. Consideration of the causes of the Northern War: raising the international status of Russia, ensuring access to the Baltic Sea. Acquaintance with the peculiarities of Russia's foreign policy in the first half of the 18th century.
presentation, added 04/13/2014
Economy and social system of Russia in the first half of the 19th century. Industrial revolution in 1830-1840. Domestic policy of Russia in the first half of the XIX century. Patriotic War in 1812. Ideological struggle and social movement in Russia in the first half of the 19th century.
abstract, added 01/31/2010
The crisis of serfdom in Russia at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the reasons for the intensification of the class struggle. Government policy in the first half of the 19th century, the liberal ideas of Alexander I. The abolition of serfdom and the development of capitalist relations.
abstract, added 09/29/2009
Analysis of A. Kamensky's monograph "The Russian Empire in the 18th century: Traditions and Modernization". Third Rome on the eve of reforms. Beginning of an empire. "The era of palace coups". Elizabeth Petrovna. Age of Catherine the Great. The empire is coming. The reign of Paul I.
abstract, added 02/25/2008
Reasons for the formation of an absolute monarchy at the end of the 17th - the first half of the 18th centuries in Russia. Reforms of Peter I: military reform; estate structure of Russian society; church; areas of culture and life. administrative reforms. strengthening of absolutism.
term paper, added 08/30/2008
Foreign policy of Russia in the first half of the 19th century. Patriotic War of 1812. Foreign policy of Nicholas I. Eastern War 1853-1855 Foreign policy of Alexander II. Russo-Turkish War 1877-78 Foreign policy of Russia at the end of the 19th century.
term paper, added 05/07/2009
Foreign policy of Paul I. Military reform. Domestic policy. The economic situation of Russia by 1796. Peasant reforms Paul I. Trade activities under Paul I. Development of industry. financial policy.
abstract, added 11/13/2002
Russia and the world in the late 18th-early 19th centuries. Attempts government reforms Alexandra I. Foreign policy. Transformations in the educational sphere. Russia in the War of 1812. Decembrist movement. Union of Salvation and Prosperity. southern and northern societies.
test, added 06/26/2008
General characteristics of the domestic and foreign policy of Russia in the second half of the 18th century. Palace coups as a characteristic feature of the internal political life of Russia in the 18th century. Analysis of the uprising of E. Pugachev, which became the largest in Russian history.
The beginning of radical transformations in Russia is strongly associated with the name of Tsar Peter I, who understood that in order to maintain independence and ensure a worthy place among the European powers that had pulled ahead, the Muscovite state needed modernization.
Peter was born in Moscow on May 30, 1672 from the marriage of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich with his second wife, Natalya Kirillovna Naryshkina. After the death of Alexei Mikhailovich in 1676, his son from his first wife, Maria Ilyinichna Miloslavskaya, ascended the throne, the minor Fyodor, who died in 1682 without leaving heirs. In Moscow, the struggle for the throne immediately began between the Miloslavskys and the Naryshkins. Tsarevna Sofya, the daughter of her first marriage, provoked a streltsy riot, as a result of which several relatives and supporters of the Naryshkins were killed in the Kremlin. After this rebellion, two kings were immediately sworn in, two half-brothers: 16-year-old Ivan V from the Miloslavskys and 10-year-old Peter from the Naryshkins. With them was the ruler Sophia, since Ivan was a sick person, and Peter was still just a child. With her coming to power, the orientation of the country in foreign policy has changed dramatically. In 1689, Russia joined the Holy League - the union of Austria, the Commonwealth, Venice and the Order of Malta - the country was embroiled in a war with Turkey and its vassal, the Crimean Khanate. Russia's military campaigns were unsuccessful, and Sophia, with her pro-Western orientation, caused discontent in the upper strata of society. In 1689, a new streltsy revolt broke out in Moscow. After the suppression of this rebellion, Sophia was imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent, and Peter became the head of the country (formally, until 1696, together with Ivan V, who almost did not interfere in state affairs).
Only after the death of his mother, Peter became a sovereign ruler. As a legacy from previous times, he inherited the Tatar-Turkish problem, traditional for Russia, and, first of all, Peter takes on its solution. In 1695 he made a campaign against the Turkish fortress of Azov at the mouth of the Don. But the uncoordinated actions of the Russian troops, poor engineering training, and the lack of skilled specialists among the hired foreigners led to the fact that on October 20, 1695, the siege of Azov had to be lifted. But Peter did not give up his attempt to capture Azov. A shipyard was set up in Voronezh, and by spring 20 galleys and a large 36-gun ship, the Apostol Peter, had been built. In April 1696, Azov was taken. The world learned about the birth of the Russian fleet. But the capture of Azov did not matter much. In the hands of the Turks remained a way out of Sea of Azov to the Black, and even more so - from the Black to the Aegean. For a big war with Turkey, allies were needed.
In search of allies, they left for the West Grand Embassy(1697-1698) led by boyar Fyodor Golovin, clerk P. Voznitsyn, Swiss F. Lefort. Together with the ambassadors, dozens of young noblemen traveled to study the sciences and study the achievements of the West. Peter planned to recruit Western craftsmen, military men, and scientists to work in Russia. Peter himself rode under the name of Peter Mikhailov. The embassy visited Prussia, Holland, England and other countries. Peter was shocked by the level of development of Europe and clearly realized that Russia could not be on an equal footing with the West if it did not close the gap in development. However, the main goal of the embassy failed to achieve. No country wanted to fight the Turks. On the way home, Peter met with the king of Poland and Saxony, Augustus II. He did not refuse an alliance with Russia, but not against the Turks, but against the Swedes, who had taken lands from Poland on the southern coast of the Baltic.
In August 1698, the tsar returned to Moscow and went to the village of Preobrazhenskoye. There, at the reception, he began to cut the beards of the boyars, thus starting the Europeanization of Russia. As part of the Great Embassy, Peter received a message about a new rebellion of archers. Although the rebellion was suppressed after his return to his homeland, Peter strengthened his plans to disband the streltsy army and create a regular army. It was necessary in connection with the impending war with Sweden.
After an unsuccessful attempt to create an alliance of states against Turkey, Peter made it his main task to reach the Baltic. Sweden was then at the zenith of power, the Baltic Sea was called the "Swedish lake". Peter began to strengthen the "Northern Union" with Poland and attracted Denmark to it. In 1699, he introduced recruiting into the new, regular army. In 1700, Peter signed a 30-year truce with Turkey and declared war on the Swedes (although the preparations for the war were clearly insufficient). North War lasted 21 years and ended with the signing Nishtad peace according to which Russia received Estonia, Livonia with Riga, Ingrib (the Neva basin), Vyborg, a number of islands, but returned Finland to the Swedes. A "window" to Europe was cut through. Peter was declared Emperor and Father of the Fatherland.
Since most of Peter's reign took place in an atmosphere of war, this could not but affect the nature of the reforms he carried out. Peter did not have a clear reform plan, except for the general idea of turning Russia into a great power.
Starting from January 1, 1700, a new calendar was introduced in the country, which symbolized Russia's transition to reforming all aspects of the life of a huge state. It was ordered to calculate the chronology not from the Creation of the world, but from the Nativity of Christ, the New Year should not begin on September 1, but on January 1. Thus, Russia began to live in the same time space with Europe.
Undoubtedly, the young tsar's determination to start cardinal reforms was influenced by the failures of the initial stage of the war with Sweden and, in general, with Turkey for access to the Baltic and Black Seas. Therefore, an important place among the reforms carried out by him was taken by military reform. On November 8, 1699, recruitment kits were introduced, and in 1705 - recruitment duty. One recruit from 20 peasant and township households was called up for lifelong service. With regard to recruits, the following rule was established: if a recruit was from serfs, he automatically became free, and then his children born after liberation also became free.
The nobles went into the army almost without exception. The archery army and the noble militia were replaced by a regular army. Peter created a not very well trained, but the largest army in the world. Already in the mid-1720s, the number of regular ground troops was about 200 thousand people. The newborn fleet declared itself with resounding victories. It consisted of 48 battleships and about 800 galleys and other vessels, on which about 28 thousand crew members served.
For more effective management military operations, Russia needed to create its own military base and, first of all, develop industry, especially metallurgical. The government made great efforts to build iron-making manufactories at the expense of the treasury in the Urals and in the Olonets region. The first decade of the 18th century can be characterized as a period of active state intervention in the economy and encouragement of private enterprise. As mentioned earlier, the first manufactories appeared in Russia as early as the 17th century, but they did not play a significant role in the economy at that time. It was from the 18th century that the manufactory period began in the national economy, the manufactory system became predominant in comparison with handicraft production. Apart from state and patrimonial the so-called possession, or conditional manufactories(from the Latin word "possession" - conditional possession). By decree of Peter 1, since 1721, it was allowed to buy serfs and non-nobles (merchants, wealthy townspeople from among artisans). The peasants were assigned to the enterprise and formed a single whole with it. continued to develop and scattered manufactories, which arose on the basis of merchant capital and tied domestic peasant production to commercial and industrial capital.
In the first quarter of the 18th century, there was a noticeable increase in manufactory production. So, if at the end of the 17th century there were about 20 manufactories in the country, then in the mid-1720s there were already 205 manufactories and large enterprises of a handicraft type. The Urals became the largest world center of metallurgy, which was a notable economic event in Russia at that time. The products of metallurgical plants were of high quality, they began to export them to Europe, and soon Russia came out on top in Europe in the production of pig iron.
Central to Peter's reforms are reforms in the area of government controlled. As the scale of reforms expands, it becomes clear that the old order system will not be able to serve as an instrument for their implementation. Dealing with military and diplomatic problems, he constantly solved a lot of cases of Russian state administration. During the 25 years of his reign - from 1700 to 1725 - he adopted almost three thousand different laws and decrees.
First of all, it was necessary to create a harmonious administrative vertical, completely subordinate to the supreme authority. This was the aim of a radical reorganization of the entire building of state administration from top to bottom. The main object of the reorganization was the Boyar Duma, which, by its interference in state affairs, did not correspond to the regime of absolute monarchy. In 1699, instead of the Boyar Duma, Peter established the so-called Nearest Chancellery of eight trusted persons to assist in solving state affairs, which he called the Council of Ministers. In 1711, he also abolished this structure, creating a government Senate of nine people appointed by him. It was the highest state body with legislative, administrative and judicial power. In charge of state power the emperor rose. Power under Peter paternalistic character. The power of the king was similar to the power of a just and strict father, who knows what is the good of his people. In response to the care of the subjects, obedience and devotion were required. Such an approach formed obedient and passive citizens, fettering initiative and enterprise.
In 1717-1718, almost the entire numerous, complex, confusing, unsystematic "crowd" of orders was replaced colleges- new governing bodies. Unlike orders, which, as a rule, had regional competence, collegiums had nationwide powers, which in itself created a higher level of centralization. In total, 11 collegiums were created: the Military Collegium was in charge of the army, the Admiralty Collegium was in charge of the fleet, the Justice Collegium was in charge of legislation, the Manufactory Collegium was in charge of industry, etc. The boards were created according to the Swedish model, but taking into account Russian conditions. Thus, Russia received a large branched bureaucratic-police apparatus.
In the years 1708-1710 was held provincial reform, according to which the whole country was divided into eight provinces: Moscow, Ingermanland (St. Petersburg), Kiev, Smolensk, Kazan, Azov, Arkhangelsk, Siberia. Provinces, in turn, were divided into counties. In the hands of the governor were concentrated administrative, judicial, police, financial functions, in accordance with which taxes were collected, recruited, search for fugitive peasants, court cases were considered, and food was provided to the troops. Subsequently, Peter repeatedly returned to the problem of reorganization local government. In 1719, the second provincial reform was carried out, the number of provinces increased to 11, the provinces were divided into 50 provinces.
Simultaneously with the provincial it was supposed to hold and urban reform. Peter wanted to give the cities full self-government so that they could choose burgomasters there. However, in contrast to Western Europe, Russian cities of the early 18th century had not yet formed a rich and influential bourgeoisie that could take over city government. Nevertheless, European-style urban self-government was introduced in the cities - magistrates who were in charge of urban economy, trade and crafts. In 1720, the Chief Magistrate was established in St. Petersburg, who was supposed to lead the urban estates in Russia. The administrative system created in the course of Peter the Great's transformations proved to be very strong. In general terms, it was preserved (with some changes) throughout the entire pre-revolutionary period. The management structure, the mechanism of power and its functions remained unshakable for almost two centuries. As a result of the administrative reforms carried out, there have been significant changes in the nature of Russian statehood, the process of transition from estate-representative to absolute monarchy.
In his activities, Peter relied on the local nobility, which, being a more progressive young estate, supported the course towards strengthening the absolute monarchy. In order to provide economic support to the nobility, Peter published in 1714 Decree on unanimity, according to which there was a final merger of two forms of feudal landed property - estates and estates into a single legal concept - "immovable property". Both types of farms were equalized in all respects, the estate also became a hereditary, and not a conditional farm, they could not be divided between heirs. Estates were inherited only by one of the sons, usually the eldest. The rest received an inheritance in money and other property, they were obliged to enter the military or civil (civilian) service. This provided an influx of people into the civil service. This Decree closely adjoined the introduction in 1722 "Tables of Ranks". According to this document, all positions of the state and military service were divided into 14 classes-ranks from the lowest - the fourteenth, to the highest - the first. In accordance with the "Table", employees from among the nobility or philistines were required to pass these steps in order to be promoted. This document introduced the principle of length of service and finally eliminated the previously canceled principle of parochialism, which still tacitly existed. Especially interested in this order were the nobles, who could now rise to the highest state ranks, really join the power.
A distinctive feature of the Russian autocracy in pre-Petrine times was the complete fusion of church and state. While in Western Europe the church was moving further and further away from state administration, in Russia in the 17th century there was a so-called ecclesiastical state. The king himself acted both as the supreme ruler of the church and as the head of state, religious ideas were also the main ones in secular life. Peter I destroyed this tradition and held church reform completely subordinating the church to the state. After the death of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Adrian in 1700, the patriarchate was abolished (later restored only after the February Revolution of 1917). Established in 1721 Holy Synod- a special "spiritual board" - to manage the affairs of the church. At the head of the Holy Synod was the chief prosecutor, a secular person, as a rule, from guards officers. All members of the Synod were appointed by the Tsar himself. The economic rights of the church were noticeably limited, its huge land plots were cut, and part of its income began to go into the state budget. From now on, the Church was obliged in all worldly affairs to obey the orders of secular authorities.
Considerable importance under Peter was attached to trade relations within and outside of Russia. In order to improve trade routes, the government for the first time in the history of the country began the construction of canals. So, in 1703-1709, the Vyshnevolotsky Canal was built, connecting St. Petersburg with the Volga, the construction of the Mariinsky water system, etc. began. In 1704, Peter 1 began monetary reform. Silver ruble coins began to be issued, or simply rubles, which before Peter the Great remained only a conditional counting unit, that is, the ruble did not exist as a coin. The silver thaler was taken as a weight unit of the ruble, although the silver content in the ruble was less than in the thaler. The minting of coins became a strict and unconditional state monopoly. Under Peter, gold coins were also issued: “Caesar” rubles and “chervonets”.
Peter's reforms also affected foreign trade, which began to actively develop due, first of all, to access to the Baltic Sea. A purposeful policy contributed to the strengthening of the foreign trade orientation of the Russian economy mercantilism held by the government. One of the ideologists of mercantilism was the Russian thinker-economist I.T. Pososhkov, who in 1724 published The Book of Poverty and Wealth. In it, he emphasized that the country needed to create technically advanced enterprises based on domestic raw materials in order to be able to confidently enter the foreign market.
An obligatory element of mercantilism is the establishment of strict customs tariffs to protect domestic producers from foreign competitors. So, in 1724, a customs tariff was established, according to which foreign goods that competed with domestic ones (wax, canvas) were charged a duty of 75%. As a result, in 1726 exports were twice as high as imports. Thanks to the energetic actions of Peter, Russia for the first time in 1712 stopped buying weapons in Europe.
Virtually incessant hostilities, reforms required huge government spending. The Russian budget was in critical condition. There was a need for tax reform. The task was to find all new tax revenues. Starting from 1704, one after another, an endless series of new taxes was established: mill, bee, cellar, bath, pipe, from schismatics. State monopolies were added to the new taxes. In addition to resin, potash, rhubarb, new monopoly goods were added: salt, tobacco, chalk, tar, fish oil, lard, oak coffins. The main income came from direct taxes, which were imposed only on the "vile" estates. At the end of Peter's reign, many petty fees were abolished. And in order to increase state revenues, instead of the household taxation that existed since 1679, in the years 1718-1724 was introduced poll submit from the “revision soul”, which was levied not only on able-bodied men, but also on boys, and old people, and even the dead, but still on the revision lists.
For a more accurate record of the country began to conduct a census of the male population every 20 years. Based on the results of the censuses, the so-called "revision tales"(lists). Various estates sought all sorts of privileges in order to be exempt from paying taxes. The collection of taxes was always carried out with great difficulty, with huge arrears, since the solvency of the population was very low. The main source of state budget revenue, as already mentioned, was direct taxes from the population - up to 55.5% in 1724. In addition, as in the 17th century, indirect taxes and a system of ransoms for the sale of monopoly goods, as well as ransoms for the construction of mills, bridges, etc., played an important role. Various in-kind duties became widespread, such as recruiting, stationing (apartment) and underwater, in accordance with which the peasants had to provide the military units that stood up with food and fodder grain. The main budget item was military spending. So, for example, the military campaigns of Peter I absorbed approximately 80-85% of all income in Russia, and in 1705 they cost 96%. The ever-growing budget deficit in the 18th century began to be increasingly covered by inflation, as well as government loans, especially after Peter I.
It is very difficult to evaluate all the transformations of Peter I. His reforms are very controversial, they cannot be given an unambiguous assessment. Peter I made an energetic attempt to bring the country closer to European civilization. Peter constantly emphasized that Russia should no longer remain closed to world economic processes if she did not want to continue to lag behind in socio-economic development and gradually fall into heavy colonial dependence on the advanced Western countries, as happened with many Asian states that failed to end traditionalism. As a result of Peter's reforms, Russia managed to take its rightful place in the system of European states. It has become a great power with an efficient economy, a powerful army and a modern navy.
Since Russia belonged to the countries of "catching up development", by the beginning of the 18th century the prerequisites for carrying out modernization on its own cultural basis had not yet matured in it. Therefore, Russian modernization has taken on the character of radical reforms carried out from above. Society was not ready for such changes. As a result, the socio-cultural split in society deepened. The split of Russian society is one of the important factors that determined the development of the country over the course of three centuries.
The need for rapid reform predetermined the violent nature of the reforms, which led to an even greater strengthening of serfdom. The hardships of the reforms that fell on the shoulders of the peasant and urban population more than once caused major popular uprisings in Central Russia, the Volga region, Ukraine and the Don, for example, the uprising of the Cossacks led by K. Bulavin in 1707-1708, brutally suppressed by the tsarist authorities .
The population of the country decreased by almost 20% as a result of numerous wars and repressions, the construction of new enterprises, and the resettlement of people to new places.
It should also be emphasized that in his attempts to get closer to Western European civilization, adopting everything advanced and useful from there, Peter forgot about the originality of Russia, about its dual Eurasian essence. He believed that all the origins of her backwardness lie in Asian roots. Striving for Europe, Peter often took from there only external forms, without changing the inner essence of centuries-old traditions. So, if representative power rapidly developed in Western Europe in the 17th-18th centuries, the foundations of parliamentarism were strengthened, then in Russia during the years of Peter's reign, on the contrary, rigid centralization and absolutization of state power intensified, which was a direct continuation of despotism and autocracy inherent in Muscovite Russia.
Carrying out reforms in Russia, Peter strove for an ideal state based on fair and rational laws, but this turned out to be a utopia. In practice, a police state was created in the country without any institutions of social control.
While adopting advanced technologies, scientific, military and other achievements in the West, Peter, as it were, did not notice the development of the ideas of humanism there, all the more not wanting to introduce them to Russian soil. And yet, the significance of the great changes in the life of Russia, carried out in the era of Peter the Great, can hardly be overestimated.
The continuation of Peter's policy is the reign of Empress Catherine II. Having obtained power illegally, having no rights to the Russian throne, she stayed on it for 34 long years, ending the era of female rule in Russia.
It should be noted that in the 37 years that separated her reign from the reign of Peter the Great, Russia experienced an era of extreme instability of state administration, a period of palace coups. The existing system of favoritism economically and politically undermined the foundations of the country. The reforms, if carried out, were not systemic and complete. Catherine sincerely wanted to carry out deep reforms while maintaining unlimited autocracy.
The model was chosen as the basis for state reforms by Catherine II. enlightened absolutism, which existed in Russia until 1815. And Catherine drew ideas on issues of state structure from European enlighteners (Voltaire, Diderot, Montesquieu). In the policy of enlightened absolutism, the desire to create a new system of regulation of social relations based on the streamlining of existing laws and the creation of new, more advanced laws came to the fore. It was believed that social conflicts between society and the state could be eliminated with the help of a social contract. At the same time, it was assumed that society delegates power to one person, a group of persons or a class-representative body. The era of the reign of Catherine II served good example application of this theory in practice.
The educated part of the nobility was also fond of the ideas of enlightenment, as a result of which three directions of social thought in Russia were formed in the second half of the 18th century. First direction conservative- which was represented by the aristocratic part of the nobility. Prince Shcherbatov expressed the main ideas of this direction - the preservation of serfdom, autocracy in a partially modernized form. The reign of the monarch must be enlightened, freedom of property and equality must be ensured for the nobles, but not for serfs and commoners. The second direction is liberal(N.I. Panin, D.I. Fonvizin and others), whose representatives proposed to limit the autocracy in favor of the nobility. They demanded a softening of the morals of the landowners in relation to the serfs. Third direction - radical(N.I. Novikov, A.N. Radishchev). They insisted on the subjection of the monarch to the laws established by agreement with the people, the abolition of serfdom. Radishchev admitted the possibility of establishing a republic through revolution. For her views, Catherine considered the author "a rebel worse than Pugachev." Many of the representatives who expressed various socio-political views were Freemasons, who sought, first of all, to move Russia towards the European tradition. Public opinion is beginning to form in Russia. Despite the fact that this opinion was represented by the elite, enlightened sections of society, an important step towards progress.
At the very beginning of her reign, in 1764, Catherine sharply limited the economic power of the church. She carried out secularization church lands, as a result of which the number of monasteries in Russia decreased from 881 to 385. Revenues from this process went to the state budget.
One of the most important problems in the first years of the reign of Catherine II was the need to streamline and update the entire system of legislation of the Russian Empire. It should be said that the old code of laws (" Cathedral Code”) was adopted back in 1649 and has not been radically revised since then, although this was demanded by both the nobility and the emerging entrepreneurship. The “Instruction of Empress Catherine II, given to the Commission on the drafting of a new Code” was published as a guide for the deputies of the future Commission in their legislative work. The Order was an extensive document of 22 chapters, where the ideas of enlightened absolutism were set out in detail. The main idea of the "Nakaz" was that in Russia any other power, except for the autocracy, is not only harmful, but also ruinous for citizens. Catherine called for moderation in the laws and government policy, and the inadmissibility of tyranny.
On July 30, 1767, a Commission was convened in the Faceted Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin to draft a new Code ( Laid Commission), which included representatives of different classes to develop a common code of laws of the Russian Empire. During the development of the code of laws, orders were used to deputies from various groups of the population. So, the nobles complained about the mass escapes of peasants and the routine legal proceedings, demanded that Peter's "Table of Ranks" be canceled in order to prevent access to the nobility for representatives of the "vile classes" who had risen to officer ranks. The merchant class, on the other hand, insisted on granting them the right to own serfs, on freeing them from recruiting duties and standing troops, on streamlining merchant activity, on opening banks, and so on. The peasants proposed to strictly regulate the size of corvée and dues in the Code, as well as to give them the right to own movable property. But this was strongly opposed by the majority of deputies from the nobility.
Since the debate was long and sharp, Catherine II was about to dissolve the Commission, but in December 1768 the war with Turkey began and the Commission actually ceased to exist, without adopting a new code. The commission was unable to solve the main task of establishing a balance of interests of various classes of society. Later, Catherine used many of the prepared materials in legislative and administrative work. In particular, on their basis, in the 1770-1780s, some reforms were carried out, which logically followed from the “Instruction” of 1767.
After the dissolution of the established commission, two stages can be traced in Catherine's activities to reform society: in the field of public administration, the strengthening of centralism and military-bureaucratic principles; in social policy, reliance on the nobility.
The peasant war (1773-1775) led by E.I. Pugachev. Catherine tried, first of all, to suppress the hotbeds of tension in the regions inhabited by the Cossacks, where the discontented masses, poorly controlled by the government, flocked. She liquidated the Cossack self-government on the Don, abolished the Zaporizhzhya Sich and resettled the Cossacks in the Kuban, renamed the Yaik Cossacks into the Urals and put them under police supervision, and the power of local feudal lords was strengthened in Bashkiria.
In 1775, the system of local government was reorganized, primarily in order to strengthen the rule of law in the field, as well as to prevent anti-government protests. Instead of a three-tier administrative division - province, province, county, a two-tier division was introduced - province, county. 50 provinces were established (instead of the previous 23) with different territories, but with an approximately equal number of male souls (200-300 thousand). The provinces were divided into 10-12 counties, each with 20-30 thousand male souls.
At the head of each province, the emperor appointed a governor, and if two or three provinces were united, a governor-general with extensive administrative, financial and judicial powers, all military units and teams located on this territory were also subordinate to him. The county was headed by a police captain, elected by the nobility for three years. The Order of Public Charity was also established, which oversaw schools, hospitals, almshouses and orphanages. At the same time, Catherine II signed "Charter to the cities"(1785), which determined the class structure of the urban population. But, despite the desire of Catherine to develop the “middle kind of people”, that is, the townspeople, they in Russia, even in the 19th-20th centuries, did not reach the position that the bourgeoisie had in Western Europe by the end of the 18th century. And although urban self-government remained undeveloped until the reforms of the 1860s and 1870s, in general, all this administrative system in a huge multinational country was quite strong and effective, given that it existed until 1917 with almost no changes.
Catherine II paid much attention to the education of the people, since the level of literacy in those years was low even among the nobles, not to mention the townspeople and peasants. The country needed competent educated personnel, therefore, in 1786, the “Charter for Public Schools in the Russian Empire” was published, according to which four-year public schools were opened in each provincial town, and small public schools in county towns, working according to unified state programs.
Catherine sought to provide special privileges to the nobility as the main force that ensured the government of the country. In 1785, she signed the "Charter on the rights, liberties and advantages of the noble Russian nobility", better known as "Charter to the nobility". It enshrined all class rights and privileges of the nobility. They received the exclusive right to own serfs and lands, pass them on by inheritance, buy villages, and so on. It was forbidden to confiscate noble estates for criminal offenses, in which case the estates passed to the heirs. The nobles were exempted from corporal punishment, they could be deprived of their noble rank only by court order. They were exempted from personal taxes and various duties, for example, from the presence of troops in their homes. On the ground - in the provinces and districts - all administrative power was in the hands of the nobles.
In the second half of the 18th century, the feudal economy came face to face with developing market relations. The creation of an all-Russian market, the active participation of the country in international trade led to the fact that agriculture was increasingly drawn into the market. The most advanced and educated landowners strove to use the new technology, to introduce the achievements of agronomy into production. This was facilitated by the establishment in 1765 of the Free Economic Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture and House-Building in Russia. Russian technical thought was one of the most advanced in the world. 20 years before D. Watt, the world's first universal steam engine was invented by I. Polzunov. A. Nartov invented the lathe under Peter 1, while in England it appeared only in 1797. However, these inventions were not widely used in practice. The general routine of the economy, the disinterest of the state in introducing technical innovations into production led to the fact that at the end of the 18th century Russia began to gradually lag behind the advanced states that had already completed the industrial revolution (such as England, Holland).
The introduction of new achievements in production gradually led to an increase in labor productivity, to an increase in the level of marketability of products, that is, their entry into the market, but without weakening the serfdom of the peasants. Under Catherine II, serfdom also spread to those territories of Ukraine, where until that time Cossack freemen had still been preserved. The personal dependence of the peasants on the landowners increased. Since 1765, the landowners were allowed to hand over the guilty peasants to hard labor, and in 1767 Catherine II forbade the peasants to file complaints with state bodies against their landowners.
In the reign of Catherine, a layer of so-called "capitalist peasants" appears. Active and energetic peasants were engaged in trade, crafts, rented land and even managed to buy serfs for themselves, although this was prohibited by law. Thus, under Catherine, peasant entrepreneurship is developing.
The market economy penetrated to a greater extent into industry, which developed quite rapidly and where the labor market gradually formed in the second half of the century. The growth of merchant and peasant manufactories was facilitated by the fact that in 1775 was published Enterprise Freedom Manifesto, according to which Catherine II allowed everyone to engage in industrial activities. This noticeably accelerated the development of the so-called "no-order" factories and factories, that is, those established without special permission and based on hired labor. By the end of the century, Russia had a wide variety of industries that almost completely satisfied the most important needs of the country.
To revive and develop the country's economy in 1762 and 1763, Catherine issued an appeal to foreigners to come to settle in Russia. They were promised tax breaks, religious freedom, the preservation of language and culture. Especially many colonists came from Germany.
Maintain the status of a great power, participate in European affairs - these are the directions of Catherine II's foreign policy. This was manifested in military operations against Turkey, Russia's participation in the partitions of Poland and the fight against the revolution in France. As a result of two wars with Turkey 1768-1774 and 1787-1791. For years, Crimea, the southern Ukrainian lands along the coast of the Azov and Black Seas were annexed to Russia, where new cities and fortresses were founded: Sevastopol, Odessa, Kherson, etc. The Russian fleet received the right to freely navigate the Black Sea, as well as enter the Mediterranean Sea.
As a result of the three partitions of Poland between Prussia, Austria and Russia, this shameful page of European diplomacy, the Right-bank Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic states, Lithuania, Courland went to Russia. By annexing Belarus and part of Ukraine, Russia returned the lands of Ancient Russia. Russian pioneers reached the Pacific Ocean, founded the first settlements in Alaska, the Kuril and Aleutian Islands. Due to natural growth and annexed territories, the population of the country has grown significantly: from 13 million people at the end of the first quarter XVIII century to 40 million people at the beginning of the XIX century.
Since 1789, more and more attention of Catherine was riveted by revolutionary events in France. It encourages Austria and Prussia to intervene. After the execution of Louis XVI, Russia broke off diplomatic relations with France. In 1796, she equipped the 60,000th Suvorov corps against France. But the death of Catherine prevented the implementation of her plans.
Catherine II most consistently continued Peter's reforms. Russia became an increasingly powerful state, which the European powers were forced to reckon with. She created in Russia an advanced management system for her time, an efficient economy, but she did not dare to implement the principle of separation of powers, because she understood that there was no civil society in the country ready for a constitutional monarchy.
Russia at the turn of the century: territory, population, economic development. By the beginning of the XIX century. Russia has become one of the largest and most powerful states in Europe. For several decades, it has had the status of a sh'lik of a European power.
The borders of Russia stretched from the foothills of the Carpathians to the shores of the Pacific Ocean, from the White Sea and the North Arctic Ocean to the Crimea and the Caucasus mountains.
In terms of population, Russia was in one of the first places in Europe. Nearly 44 million people lived within its new borders. A unique feature of Russia was the multinational composition of the population. Coming from the depths of centuries, to the beginning of the XIX century. it has become even more diverse. The peoples of the Volga, Urals, North, Siberia, Far East were joined by the inhabitants of the western Russian provinces, as well as foreign, primarily German, colonists resettled in Novorossia and the Volga. At the same time, Russia was increasingly turning into a multi-confessional state in which Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism and paganism coexisted peacefully. All this made the country surprisingly diverse in terms of its economic, spiritual, and cultural characteristics.
Russia stood out major cities with a population of tens of thousands of people. These were St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vilna, Riga, Nizhny Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Tobolsk and others. They, especially the two Russian capitals, differed in scale, beauty of private and public buildings, churches.
St. Petersburg with its granite embankments, magnificent palaces, gardens and canals, with remarkable architectural ensembles both in the city itself and in the suburbs - in Tsarskoe Selo, Pavlovsk, Peterhof, Gatchina, Oranienbaum, became a truly pearl of Europe, did not yield to beauty and splendor to Paris, Vienna, London, famous Italian cities.
By the turn of the XVIII-XIX centuries. Russia has become one of the largest industrial and trading countries.
As before, the metallurgical, mining Urals, the metallurgical region of Tula remained a powerful industrial center. Large manufactories of various profiles worked in the leading cities of the country. The general contribution to the industrial state of the empire was also made by noble manufactories.
By the beginning of the XIX century. the hired labor of workers and craftsmen, that is, the labor of the free workers most interested in production, on which the industrial progress of the country rested, constituted a significant and inalienable part of Russian industry.
By the beginning of the new century, Russian trade stood on solid European footings. Through the Baltic and Black Sea ports there was an active export of Russian products, imports of foreign goods. The cities that turned their connections to the east - Astrakhan, Orenburg, Tobolsk - played their role in this process.
The transformation of Russia into a huge empire led to the further development of the domestic market in the country. Diversity and economic feature regions imperiously demanded an increase in trade exchange between them. New regions were added to the agricultural South and the industrial and commercial North of the country - Novorossia and the Crimea, Siberia and the North Caucasus, and the Baltic states.
Every year the volume of transactions at Russian fairs expanded, among which the Makarievskaya fair moved to Nizhny Novgorod occupied the leading place.
At the beginning of the XIX century. Mariinskaya and Tikhvinskaya water systems with newly built canals and locks started operating in the country. They even more firmly connected the southern regions of the country, the Volga-Oka basin with the North, with the Baltic coast.
State. The power of the state was determined not only by the vastness of the territory, population, economic development, but also by the strength of the state structure, as well as by military force.
By the beginning of the XIX century. The Russian state has acquired a solid absolutist framework. Relying primarily on the nobility, as well as on the rising bourgeoisie - big businessmen and merchants, the monarchy was able to normalize the situation in the country, carry out important reforms of central and local government, and take significant steps in the field of culture and education.
In the management system, in the leadership of the army, a layer of enlightened managers, patriotic-minded commanders, who have been brought to the fore in their lives, put the interests of the Motherland, Russia, developed over decades. By the beginning of the XIX century. behind the shoulders of the Russian army were brilliant victories over the Turks and the Crimea, over the army of the Prussian king Frederick the Great, over the Swedes and the French. It was the army of Saltykov and Rumyantsev Potemkin and Suvorov, the Baltic and Black Sea fleets by this time also did not know defeat and glorified themselves in battles with the Swedes, Turks, French. The names of Spiridov and Ushakov became the pride of the Russian fleet.
But at the beginning of the XIX century. marked the beginning of the New Age. Napoleon's empire grew in the west of Europe. The European world was becoming bipolar, that is, the two most powerful powers in Europe - France and Russia - claimed a dominant position on the continent, and therefore, sooner or later, they had to face
each other.
However, Russia, as a great power at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries, possessed, first of all, only strength and quantitative indicators. But these indicators, as European civilization developed, more and more definitely became the qualities of yesterday. The advanced countries of Europe, and primarily England and France, ensured their status as great powers at the expense of completely different properties.
The economic and military power of these countries was based on the development of civil society, the rights and freedoms of the human person, on modern political, primarily constitutional institutions of parliamentarism. It was its contours that largely determined already at the beginning of the 19th century. greatness of a country.
In Russia, the general structure of life in many respects remained turned not to the future, but to the past. Remained unshakable absolute monarchy. Democratic principle of separation of powers for Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. turned out to be unattainable, although he was well known at the top of Russian society and had his adherents even in the imperial family. So, the heir to the throne, Alexander Pavlovich, seriously thought about this at the time of his youthful passion for the ideals of enlightenment and constitutionalism.
The Russian bureaucracy, formed during the 18th century, had turned into a colossal self-sufficient force by the turn of the new century. And it became a powerful support of absolutist power, thereby determining the civilizational level of Russian statehood. Gogol's characters in The Government Inspector gave a brilliant artistic embodiment of her characteristic features.
The life of the people. In accordance with medieval canons, the estate system continued to exist in Russia. True, its outlines since the time of Peter I have blurred significantly. A middle class was formed, absorbing into its composition representatives of different classes. Just as numerous was the emerging composition of civilian workers.
The nobility, in accordance with the "Table of wounds," noticeably lost its exclusive, isolated features.
And yet, the nobility, and the merchants, and the clergy, and the peasantry were in many respects closed, isolated corporations with their own rights for some and duties (with minimal rights) for others. As before, the nobility, the clergy, to a large extent entrepreneurs, large merchants remained outside the tax press of the state. From the representatives of these classes formed all state structures, the cultural and intellectual elite of society crystallized.
The open competition of minds, talents, representing the people as a whole, remained sealed for Russia. This in no way could characterize Russia as a great power.
The country was still dominated by the serf system. Despite the timid attempts of Paul I to limit serf labor, the nobility of the black earth zone sabotaged the government decree on a three-day corvee per week, the peasants were forced to work in the master's economy up to five days a week. And this meant that the agricultural sector of the country was mainly based on forced labor. And the power of Russian heavy industry rested on the forced labor of bonded and possessive peasants. Noble manufactories, distilleries also used the labor of their serfs.
The whole life of both serfs and state, as well as other categories of peasants, was regulated by the rules, traditions, customs of the peasant community, which came down from ancient times and almost disappeared in Western countries. In the presence of fully consistent with the general political and economic level of Russia, was an integral and integral part of Russian life. The communal beginnings stretched like tentacles to the cities, to manufactories and factories, together with the otkhodniks who came here, creating here a village-communal background.
Under such conditions, the Russian economy was doomed to lag behind countries that had gone over to the bourgeois system. Thus, in this area of the country's life, the greatness and signs of a great power were very problematic for Russia.
The situation with the territorial characteristics of Russia was also difficult. One of the indicators of the civilizational development of the country is the population density. In Russia, it was the lowest in Europe. If in the central provinces it was 8 people per 1 sq. verst (in Europe this figure reached 40 - 50 people), then in most provinces of the south, northeast and east it was 7 people per 1 sq. km. a mile or even less. The vast territories of Siberia and the Far East were generally sparsely populated.
The entry into Russia of the territories of the North Caucasus, Kazakhstan, the nomadic spaces of the Lower Volga region, Siberia (in contrast to the highly developed regions of the Baltic States, Western Ukraine and Western Belarus for that time) not only did not contribute to the general civilizational development of the country, but, on the contrary, threw Russia back, since most of the inhabitants of these spaces lived at the level of tribal relations, and the main occupation of many of them was hunting or nomadic cattle breeding.
The outstanding civilizing role of Russia in these areas turned out to be huge losses for the country, despite the increase in territories, population, increase in taxes in the form of yasak and the appearance of paramilitary cavalry units of a number of Eastern and North Caucasian peoples in the Russian army. Due to this, the Eurasian axis of Russia deviated more and more to the east.
The same applies to the development of newly annexed territories in the south. The construction of new cities and ports here, the creation of the Black Sea Fleet required huge costs and strain on the state's forces.
The development of new Russian territories was fundamentally different from outwardly similar processes in the West. There, the capture of the colonies and their development by England, France, Holland proceeded outside the territory of the mother countries. In Russia, such territories were not colonies: they became an organic part of the country with all the pluses and minuses of such a state. All this did not contribute to the prosperity of the country by the beginning of the 19th century.
By the end of the XVIII century. The Russian Empire was the largest power in the world in terms of territory. It was so extensive that a messenger sent after the death of Empress Catherine II, who traveled about 180 versts (verst equals 1.06 km) per day, brought the news of this event to the city of Irkutsk in Eastern Siberia after 34 days, and to Kamchatka after 3 months .
Map of the Russian Empire in 1790 (Full size)
In the XVIII century. The population of Russia also quadrupled. By the beginning of the 19th century, it was about 44 million people. However, only 3 million people lived in the eastern regions of the country beyond the Urals.
The national composition of the population was very heterogeneous. It was based on the Russians. In the south and west of the European part of the country, they lived along with Ukrainians and Belarusians. Russians (Great Russians), Ukrainians (Little Russians) and Belarusians were then considered a single people. Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Russians, and also Germans lived in the Baltics. In the north of European Russia and in the Volga region, large territories were inhabited by the peoples of the Finno-Ugric (Mordovians, Mari, Udmurts, Karelians, etc.), Turkic (Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvashs, etc.), Altai (Kalmyks) language groups. Many different nationalities lived in Siberia and the Far East (Tatars, Yakuts, Evens, Evenks, Yukaghirs, Buryats, Chukchi, Nanais, mountain Altai, etc.). She took Russian citizenship in the 18th century. part of the Kazakhs.
Russian peasants of the late XIX century.
The peoples of Russia professed almost all major world religions. The state religion was Orthodoxy, which was followed by Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians, representatives of other peoples (87% of the population in total). After the reforms carried out in the XVII century. Patriarch Nikon, a split occurred in the Russian Orthodox Church. Some Orthodox Christians did not recognize innovations and adhered to the Old Believers.
Peter and Paul Church. Photo of the late XIX - early XX century.
Catholicism (Lithuanians, Poles) and Protestantism (Latvians, Estonians, Germans) were widespread in the western regions. Many Turkic-speaking peoples professed Islam, Kalmyks and Buryats - Buddhism. After joining Russia at the end of the XVIII century. part of the lands of the Rzecz Paspolita, Jews who professed Judaism became subjects of the empire. Some peoples retained pagan beliefs (Mordovians, Mari, etc.).
The main estates of the country were the nobility - up to 400 thousand people, the clergy - 215 thousand people, the peasantry - more than 90% of the country's population, the bourgeoisie - up to 4%, the merchant class - about 1%, the Cossacks - 1.5 million people.
Class division is inherent in an agrarian society. In the economy of such a society, the leading role belongs to agriculture. In Russia's agriculture, as well as in industry, the feudal-serf system continued to dominate. More than half of the peasants, as well as a significant part of the workers of industrial enterprises - manufactories were in serfdom from the noble landowners and owners of manufactories.
Autocracy was the basis of Russia's political system. The monarch possessed all the fullness of legislative, administrative and judicial power. The emperor, who was colloquially called the king, was in fact the head of the Orthodox Church. The emperor ruled the country with the help of the state apparatus. Most of the officials of the apparatus were from the nobility. Local power was exercised by governors and governors, who were also appointed by the tsar mainly from among the higher nobility.
Most of the nobles did not see the need for change either in the economy or in the political structure of the country. The basis of this view was the power of the Russian Empire in the international arena and the rather successful development of the economy, culture, etc. However, even in the second half of the 18th century. features of the decline of the feudal-serf system appeared. The main reason for this was the lack of interest of forced laborers in the results of their labor. There has been a subtle lag behind Russia from the advanced Western European states, where the main features of feudalism were eliminated and a new, capitalist (industrial) society developed. The emergence of some features of capitalist society also took place in Russia, but these features were very weak.
All aspects of the economic, political and social life of the country demanded transformations. Much here depended on the intentions of the central government, especially the emperor.
Russia in the 1st quarter of the 19th century
LESSON No. 1. The Russian Empire at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries.
Lesson Objectives:
Educational: to consider the geographical, economic, political and social position of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, the composition of the population, everyday life and life of classes.
Developing: to develop the conceptual apparatus, skills in working with documents and their interpretation, skills in compiling tables and diagrams.
Educational: purposefulness in obtaining knowledge, conviction in the value of every human personality, regardless of its social status.
Type of lesson: learning new material.
Teaching methods: reproductive and b / n
Forms of work: teacher's lecture,
Organizing time.
Updating knowledge on the topic:
19th century - a very important century in the history of not only Western Europe, but also Russia, this is the century of its greatest victories and bitter defeats, an age when new trends in social life come to the fore, the most famous rulers rule, the greatest writers and poets create. We are looking at the history of the 19th century. until the end of the year. Necessary condition- attraction of additional literature, reference manuals.
Learning new material.
Territory of Russia.
At the beginning of the 19th century Russia occupied1/6 of sushi .
By 1850 the territory had reached18 million sq. km . The following were annexed to the Russian Empire: Finland - 1809, the Kingdom of Poland with Warsaw - 1815, Bessarabia with Chisinau - 1812, Georgia - 1813, 1828, the North Caucasus - 1817 - 1864, the Kyrgyz steppes east of Orenburg in 1811.
The country was divided into69 provinces, 3 regions : Astrakhan, Tauride, Caucasian.
On average, one province included 10-12 counties.
Lands were allocated - the Don Troops, the Black Sea Troops.
CITIES: at the beginning of the 19th century There were 634 cities in Russia.
Capital Cities:St. Petersburg - 330 thousand inhabitants; Moscow - 200 thousand inhabitants.
CITIES:
1st class (from 70 to 30 thousand inhabitants) - 5
2 classes (from 30 to 10 thousand inhabitants) - 30
3 classes (from 10 to 5 thousand) - 85
4 classes (from 5 to 2 thousand) - 214
5 classes (from 2 to 1 thousand) - 129
Grade 6 (less than 1 thousand) - 113.
Population
Population of Russia (excluding Poland, Finland, Transcaucasia) was:
1811 - 42.7 million people
1816 – 43,9
1833 – 51,9
1851 – 56,9
1857 - 59.3 million people:
National composition
1820s
1860s
Religious composition
Russians
3 million
48 million
Orthodox
51 million (84%)
Poles
0,7
0,9
Catholics
2 million (3.4%)
Jews
0,5
1,6
Protestants
2 million (3.4%)
Finns
2,5
Jews
1.6 million (2.6%)
Tatars
0,55
Muslims
0.2 million (3.4%)
The social composition of the population on (1836)
Nobility - 640 thousand (1.2%)
Clergy - 538 thousand (1%)
Merchants 1,2, 3, guilds - 250 thousand (0.5%)
Philistinism and artisans - 2 million 775 thousand (4%)
Peasantry - 30 million people. (94%)
landlords - 14 million
state (state) - 15 million.
specific (property of the imperial family) - 1 million.
Most of the serfs lived in the central provinces. In Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, they accounted for 50-70% of the population, in the northern and southern provinces - 2-12%, in Siberia there were only 4.3 thousand people, in the Arkhangelsk province they were not at all.
Cossacks of 9 troops (Don, Black Sea, Terek, Astrakhan, Orenburg, Ural, Siberian, Trans-Baikal, Amur) - 1.5 million.
To D / z. - find material to characterize each estate, its features in the position.!
Politic system.
POWER: “The Emperor of All Russia is an autocratic, unlimited monarch. The throne of the empire and the thrones of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland inseparably connected with it are hereditary. The activity of the monarch is manifested in two forms: in the power of the legislative and administrative. Legislative power belongs to one sovereign in its entirety, so that no one can decide any law.
Describe the form of government in Russia - Preservation of the autocratic monarchy.
Economic development in 1 floor 19th century
In the 1st floor 19th century Russia remained an agrarian country. The main branch of the economy was agriculture. It developed extensively.
What does the concept of extensive development mean?
Under the extensive path of development, the increase in agricultural output occurred not through improved land cultivation and the introduction of new agrotechnical methods, but through the expansion of sown areas. For the first half of the 19th century the sown areas increased by about 1.5 times, and the gross harvest of grain crops increased by about the same amount.
LESSON No. 2. Domestic policy of Alexander I 1801 - 18011.
Lesson Objectives :
educational creating conditions for students to assimilate historical facts related to an attempt to implement liberal reforms in the country at the beginning of the reign of Alexander I; clarification of cause-and-effect relationships between the socio-political situation in the country with the failures of these undertakings.
Educational : development of communication skills, ability to work with various types sources, skills of historical analysis.
Educational : creating conditions for students to understand and accept liberal values, respect for the country's historical past, the formation of an active life position.
On the board, under the portrait of Alexander I - the epigraphs of the lesson:
“In politics, Alexander is as thin as the tip of a pin, sharp as a razor, false as the foam of the sea.” . Swedish diplomat Lagerbilke
“He is a human! They are dominated by the moment.
He is a slave of rumors, doubts and passions;
Forgive him the wrong persecution:
He took Paris, he founded the Lyceum”
A.S. Pushkin
Lesson type: learning new material, with elements of laboratory work in groups
Teaching methods: reproductive, black-and-white, problematic, situational.
Forms of work: teacher's story, organization of a problem situation, group work with sources and documents, speeches by group representatives, student reports about personalities.
Organizing time.
Learning new material.
Personality of Alexander.
In 1801, Alexander I, the son of Paul I, became Russian Tsar, voluntarily or involuntarily participating in a conspiracy against his father, which ended in the murder of Paul.
STUDENT'S REPORT about Alexander's personality
Alexander I: character traits.
The eldest son of Emperor Paul Alexander was a man of the new age. In any case, he was keenly interested in the ideas of his time, trying them on to Russian reality. These ideas were, on the one hand, the legacy of his grandmother Catherine II, on the other hand, he absorbed them during classes with his tutor F. La Harpe. Studying with the famous Swiss made the Grand Duke treat serfdom and crude despotism with the disgust of an enlightened European. That is why Alexander I tried to fight them throughout almost his entire reign. True, it is very difficult to judge the true intentions of the emperor, since from childhood he was distinguished by excellent acting skills, mixed with a fair amount of hypocrisy.
It was difficult to expect any other behavior from him, since with early age Alexander rotated between Catherine II, Pavel Petrovich and La Harpe, never daring to be himself, or never choosing someone with whom he could speak frankly. After the accession of his father, he was forced to be even more hypocritical, pretending to fully share the ideas and methods of the emperor.
Alexander was drawn into a conspiracy against Paul by circumstances - the suspicion of the emperor led to the fact that his eldest sons were actually threatened by prison or Siberia. Most of all, Alexander was shocked not by the murder itself, but by the ease with which it was committed.
Since then, he felt free only outside the capital, and even better - outside of Russia.
Alexander was well versed in people, but he saw in them only a tool to achieve the goals set by himself. The desire to leave his mark on history, suspicion, acting, perhaps necessary for a politician, at times took on such proportions in the emperor that they repelled serious reformers from him. In addition, throughout the reign, Alexander did not show a program of transformation.
P.A. Stroganov noted: “The Emperor ascended the throne with the best intentions - to approve order on the possible best grounds; but he is bound by personal inexperience and a sluggish, lazy nature ... ”
A. Czartoryski, a friend of the tsar, wrote: “The emperor loved the external forms of freedom, how can one love a performance ... He would willingly agree that everyone should be free, if only everyone would voluntarily performhis will."
Over time, Alexander increasingly entered into a taste for autocratic rule. Once he yelled at G.R. Derzhavin: “You want to teach everything, but I am an autocratic tsar and I want it to be like this, and not otherwise”
Beautiful words have always prevailed in his activities, behind which it is difficult to discern real deeds. Contemporaries called him a sphinx, unsolved to the grave.
After getting acquainted with the proposed characteristic, students conclude that many personal qualities Alexander I were an obstacle in the implementation of the proposed projects -no experience, no perseverance, duality of nature, desire to impress, secrecy, desire to retain power, the tsar is a republican only in words, but in deed - an autocrat, etc.
All students present their own versions of the statements of contemporaries about Alexander I
Statements about Alexander I
"He does everything by half." (M.M. Speransky)
"Crowned Hamlet, who was haunted all his life by the shadow of his murdered father." (A.I. Herzen)
Republican in words and autocrat in deeds. (A.I. Turgenev)
“He knew how to conquer his own minds and penetrate the souls of others, concealing his own feelings and thoughts.” (M.A. Korf)
"In politics, Alexander is as thin as the tip of a pin, sharp as a razor, false as the foam of the sea." (Swedish diplomat Lagerbilke)
“From some of his actions, the spirit of unlimited autocracy, revenge, vindictiveness, distrust, inconstancy and deceit was visible.” (P.A. Tuchkov)
“The emperor loved the external forms of freedom, how can one love a performance ... but apart from forms and appearance, he did not want anything and was in no way inclined to endure that they turned into reality.” (A. Czartoryski)
The ruler is weak and cunning,
Bald dandy, enemy of labor,
Inadvertently warmed by glory,
He reigned over us then. (A.S. Pushkin)
Alexander was a problem for his contemporaries, it is unlikely that he will be unraveled even by posterity. (N.I. Grech)
It also represented liberal aspirations for enlightenment and social life, but it represented the most stubborn reaction. (A.N. Pypin)
Sphinx, unsolved to the grave - P.A. Vyazemsky
TASK FOR ALL: Try to guess how the personal qualities of the new emperor will affect life in Russia, whether Alexander is capable of managing the empire, prove the conclusion.
All these statements obviously vary over time. It is possible that they reflected changes both in Alexander himself and in his internal political course.
2) The tasks of kingship.
He came to the throne with clear intentions to make the country happy. But what did he mean by these words - a happy country? What problems need to be solved by Alexander so that he can realize this goal?
Students, first individually, then in pairs, formulate critical issues Russia in the form of a cluster.
The result of the work is a class-wide cluster on the board. Among the highlighted goals of Alexander's reign, such as:
- elimination of the consequences of the reign of Paul I;
- abolition of serfdom;
- the introduction of the constitution;
- improvement of the state apparatus, the creation of a parliament;
- development of education in the country .
From the very first days, the young emperor took up state affairs. Plans are huge.
Back in 1797 he wrote:When my turn comes, then it will be necessary to work on ... in order to create a popular representation, which ... would constitute a free constitution, after which my power would completely cease, and I ... would retire to some corner and live happily there and pleased, seeing the prosperity of his fatherland. And I would enjoy it"
A.S. Pushkin spoke of this time as follows:A wonderful start to the days of the Alexanders.”
3) Alexander's domestic policy before the Patriotic War.
Organized group work with materials
1 group I. Public Administration Reforms
To implement liberal reformist plans, the emperor had to rely on a circle of close associates. Those could not be participants in a conspiracy against his father. On the contrary, they were soon removed from power. Companions of the emperor were peers of the young king, with whom he was brought up and studied. Among them were Count P.A. Stroganov, his cousin N.N. Novosiltsev, Prince A. Czartorysky, Count V.P. Kochubey. These statesmen constituted the Unofficial Committee - an informal advisory body under the king. Being in a trusting relationship with Alexander, they discussed plans for reforms with him, expressed their wishes and advice. They became the initiators of the first reforms.
Later, an advisory Permanent Council of 12 people was created, which developed and passed the most important bills.
Questions and tasks
Name the reasons for the creation, functions of the Indispensable Council and describe the degree of its influence on state affairs
2. Analyze documents.
Document 1 The secret committee
"He (Alexander I)he realized that it was impossible for him to express his feelings frankly and show them to a society so ill prepared for the perception of these ideas and which would meet them with bewilderment and even with some fear. That is why the government machine continued to function on the same basis ... and Alexander, willy-nilly, was forced to reckon with the old currents.
In order to... mitigate this sad contradiction with himself, Alexander formed a kind of secret council, composed of persons whom he considered his personal friends who shared his views and convictions... All of us were especially brought together by the consciousness of the need to group around the Emperor and support with all our might. there is a sincere desire for reform.”
From the "Notes" of the princeA.A. Czartoryski
Document assignment. Explain why the Secret Committee was created. Why didn't it become an official body?
Document 2
Characteristics of the activities of the Private Committee
Alexander I dreamed"to curb the despotism of our government." According to the historian V.F. Khodasevich, the members of the Private Committee would“surprised and even offended if they were told that the unofficial and secret committee formed by them is precisely the real brainchild of hateful despotism, for it was created solely at the arbitrariness of the monarch and intends to decide the fate of Russia unofficially, behind the scenes, that is, irresponsibly, over the head of the highest state institutions."
Document assignment. Do you agree with the historian's opinion that the Secret Committee is the "brainchild of despotism"? Explain your answer.
Make a diagram "The central government system of the Russian Empire in the first half of the 19th century." List the functions of each of the authorities.
Tell us about the system of government in Russia under Alexander I.
On September 8, 1802, a decree on the rights of the Senate was promulgated. It was recognized as the supreme body of power, combining administrative, judicial and control functions, but its activities were completely dependent on the emperor. It was envisaged that the Senate could object to the tsar against decrees "not in agreement with other laws." But as soon as the Senate objected to the royal decree on a 12-year period of compulsory service for the nobles, which contradicted the laws of Peter III and Catherine II, which generally freed the nobles from service, Alexander I clarified, according to which the Senate could only object to previously issued, not newly issued laws. In this episode, the autocratic disposition of Alexander I, his dislike for dissent, was clearly manifested.
On the same day, September 8, 1802, a manifesto on ministerial reform was issued. Ministries replaced collegiums. The aim of the reform was to strengthen unity of command and minimize collegiality in the leadership of the state. 8 ministries were formed: military, maritime, foreign affairs, internal affairs, finance, justice, commerce, public education.
A Committee of Ministers was established to jointly discuss matters of state administration. At first, the emperor presided over it, and at the end of the reign, Alexander began to transfer the functions of chairman to A.A. Arakcheev. The power of the ministry extended throughout the entire territory of the empire, but no local bodies were created. The ministries, unlike the boards, did not receive judicial functions either. The new system had its drawbacks. The functions of the ministries, the limits of the power of the ministers, the nature of their responsibility were not clearly defined. With the creation of ministries, bureaucracy intensified, and the staff of officials increased. Alexander I appointed eminent, but mostly incompetent persons as ministers, which, in general, suited the emperor, as it allowed him to more actively influence the activities of the ministries.
2 group. Public Administration Reforms
Questions and tasks
In 1810, also at the suggestion of Speransky, instead of the Indispensable Council, the State Council was created, consisting of 35 people appointed by the emperor. He had strictly defined legislative functions.
1. Read the characteristics of the first ministers, which were given by the commercial agent of France in St. Petersburg, Baron J.B. Lesseps. Explain the reasons for appointing these people to ministerial positions. In your opinion, is the opinion of a foreigner about the first ministers Aleknmi I fair?
Foreign Minister, State ChancellorA.R. Vorontsov - "the person about whom they pretend to be consulted the most, and who, in fact, they listen to the least."
Minister of the Interior V.P. Kochubey -"he has no sign of those abilities that the significance of his position requires."
War MinisterS.K. Vyazmitinov - "insignificance".
Secretary of the NavyP.V. Chichagov - "intelligent, but completely despised by associates."
Minister of FinanceA.I. Vasiliev - "handles his own affairs much better than those of the state."
Minister of CommerceN.P. Rumyantsev - "ridiculous and limited creation."
Minister of Justice, poetG.R. Derzhavin - “the dog of Themis, who is cherished in order to be let down against the first comer, who was not liked by the ministerial gang. But he is poorly trained and often bites even his comrades, who would give a lot to destroy him. (October 7, 1803 G.R. Derzhavin was replacedP.V. Lopukhin.)
Minister of EducationP.V. Zavadovsky refers to those employees of Alexander I who"do not deserve the honor of being named." According to P.A. Stroganova, Zavadovsky, as a minister, "did nothing for six days a week, and rested on the seventh."
In general, Lesseps spoke of all the ministers that they“They cannot overthrow each other, but mutually harm each other.”
Document 3
From the Manifesto on the formation of the Council of State on January 1, 1810 G.
“For the establishment and dissemination of uniformity and order in the State administration, We recognized it necessary to establish the State Council to give an education characteristic of the space and greatness of Our Empire ...
In the order of State Establishments, the Council constitutes an estate in which all parts of the government in their main relations to Legislation are considered and through it ascend to the Supreme Imperial Power.
II. Accordingly, all Laws, Statutes and Institutions in their primitive outlines are proposed and considered in the Council of State, and then, by the action of the Sovereign Power, they proceed to the fulfillment intended for them.
III. No Law, Statute or Establishment proceeds from the Council and cannot be made without the approval of the Sovereign Power.
IV. The council is made up of persons who, by Our power of attorney, are called to this estate.
Ministers are Members of the Council, according to their rank.
VI. We ourselves preside over the Council.
In Our absence, the Chair shall be occupied by one of the Members appointed by Us.”
Document assignment. Tell us how the document explains the reasons for the creation of the State Council? How was the composition of the State Council formed? What are the powers of the State Council? Why did the creation of this body not shake the foundations of autocracy?
Group 3. Peasant question
Questions and tasks
Determine the attitude of the nobility to the abolition of serfdom.
Document 1The attitude of the nobility to the abolition of serfdom
“The opinion about the liberation of the peasants by various circumstances has become so intensified in the minds that the slightest occasion and touch on this subject can produce dangerous delusions. Examples of disobedience, initiated on cases less than this thorough, clearly prove how much the people are disposed to this kind of news and how easily they indulge in all the rumors about a change in their state. With such a disposition of minds, the publication of a general law on the emancipation of the peasants under conditions can produce false rumors, and instead of seeing in it an establishment based on previous laws and on mutual benefit, many landowners, struck by rumors, will see in it the first shock to their property, and peasants dream of unlimited freedom…”
From the journals of the Indispensable Council
Document 2
“What does it mean to liberate the peasants from us? To give them the freedom to live anywhere, to take away all power over them from the masters, to subordinate them to the one power of the government. Good. But these farmers will not have land, which, in which there can be no dispute, - is the property of the nobility. They will either stay with the landlords on the condition that they pay them dues, cultivate the master's fields, deliver grain where necessary, in a word, work for them, as before, or dissatisfied with the conditions, they will go to another owner, the most moderate in demands. In the first case, hoping for a person's natural love for his homeland, will the masters not prescribe the most painful conditions for them? In the second case, if the peasant were here today, and tomorrow there, would the treasury not suffer a loss in the collection of per capita money and other taxes, would it not also suffer agriculture? Will not many fields be left uncultivated, many granaries empty? It is not the free farmers, but the nobles, who supply our markets with bread the most. Another evil: no longer dependent on the court of the landlords, decisive, hopeless, the peasants will begin to quarrel among themselves and sue in the city - what ruin! Liberation from the supervision of gentlemen who had their own zemstvo correction or police, much more active than all zemstvo courts, they will begin to get drunk, villainy, - what a rich harvest for taverns and bribed police officers, but how bad for morals and national security! The fall is scary!!”
N.M. Karamzin. From "Notes on the Ancient and new Russia»
Assignment to documents.
1. What arguments were put forward against the abolition of serfdom? Do you agree with them? Explain your answer.
2. Explain why the members of the Secret Committee considered the abolition of serfdom to be a premature measure?
3. On December 12, 1801, a decree was issued allowing merchants, burghers and state peasants to buy uninhabited state lands. Think about what goals this decree pursued, what will be its results?
4. The most important of the legislation on the peasant issue was the Decree on Free Ploughmen of February 20, 1803. Read the text of the decree.
Document 3 Decree on free cultivators
“If any of the landlords wishes to release their acquired or ancestral peasants one by one or as a whole village to freedom and at the same time approve a piece of land or a whole dacha for them, then, having made conditions with them, which, by mutual agreement, are recognized as best, has to present them at the request through the provincial leader of the nobility to the Minister of the Interior for consideration and submission to us (to the emperor. -A.V.); and if a decision follows from us, according to his desire: then these conditions will be presented in the Civil Chamber and recorded at the serf deeds with the payment of legal duties. If the peasant or the whole village does not fulfill his obligations, then he returns to the landowner with the land and his family in possession as before. The peasants released from the landowners to freedom and owning the land as property, bear the capitation state salary on an equal footing with the landowners, send recruitment duty in kind and, correcting the Zemstvo duties on an equal basis with other state peasants, do not pay quitrent money to the treasury. They are in charge of court and reprisal in the same places where state peasants are. As soon as the fulfillment of the conditions, the peasants will receive land as their property, they will have the right to sell it, mortgage it and leave it as a legacy, without, however, breaking up plots of less than 8 acres; they have the right to buy land again.”
Document assignment. What are the main provisions of the Decree on free cultivators. What condition was necessary for the emancipation of the peasants? Why couldn't the decree give serious practical results?
Group 4 Reforms in the field of public education
Questions and tasks for students
1. Check out the numbers. As of 1810, only 13% of officials had a higher education, 22.2% had a lower and secondary education, and 31% had a home education, the level of which was very low. Why were the reforms in the field of public education more decisive and consistent?
2. Tell us about the changes that have taken place in the education system. Make a diagram of educational institutions in Russia in the 18th century.
Reforms in the field of education were carried out in 1802 - 1804. On the territory of Russia, 6 educational districts were created, in which there were 4 categories of educational institutions: parish, district schools, provincial gymnasiums and universities.
3. In order to encourage officials to study, on January 24, 1803, the Decree “On the Arrangement of Schools” was issued, which warned that in five years those who did not submit a certificate of graduation from an educational institution would not be transferred to a higher position. And according to the Decree of August 6, 1809, each official, in order to receive the next rank, had to pass a special exam.
Check out the document.
Document
From the Decree of August 6, 1809 "On the rules for promotion to ranks in the civil service and on tests in the sciences"
“Excluding the universities of Derpt and Vilna, all other educational institutions that have been open during this time, due to the small number of students, are not commensurate with the methods of their establishment ... Meanwhile, all parts of the Public Service require knowledgeable performers, and the further the firm and national education youth, the more palpable the deficiency will be later on. Going back to the causes of such an important inconvenience, we find, among other things, that the main reason for it is the convenience of reaching ranks not by merit and excellent knowledge, but by one stay and counting the years of service. In disgust of this, and in order to finally put a barrier to the search for ranks without merit, and to give true merit a new evidence of our respect, we recognized it necessary to decide the following: in titular councilors, if, in addition to the excellent approval of his superiors, he does not present a certificate from one of the universities that are in the empire, that he studied in it with success in the sciences characteristic of civil service, or that, having submitted for a test, he deserved approval in his knowledge. The order and manner of these tests must be immediately determined and promulgated by the Main Schools of Administration. 2. The order of promotion to the ranks up to collegiate assessors remains on the same basis ...
Test pattern. Each university should establish a special Committee of the rector and three professors for testing. A person who wishes to come to this Committee, presents certificates of the place where he studied, if he has them ... Candidates who find themselves without the necessary knowledge are refused ... Candidates who have shown satisfactory progress in the sciences are issued a certificate from the University Board, upon the report of the Committee in proper form. The candidate submits this certificate to his superiors, who enter it into the track record, and each time when later it will be insisted on his promotion to the eighth-grade rank, he also presents this certificate ... "
Document assignment. What are the reasons for changing the order of production to ranks. What were these changes? Why did the decree arouse the displeasure of officials?
4. What are the results of reforms in the field of public education? Have these reforms brought real results? Has education become more accessible to the general population of Russia? Why? Support your answer with facts.
Group 5. The project of transformations M.M. Speransky
Questions and tasks for students
1. One of his contemporaries recalled: "This man quickly arose from nothingness." What explains the rapid promotion of Speransky through the ranks?
2. List the personal qualities of M.M. Speransky.
Document Contemporaries about M.M. Speransky
“Possessing very happy talents, an attractive appearance, and, moreover, in the highest degree by skill, flattery, pliability to agree with all the opinions of higher persons who were inferior to him in talents, he managed to quickly go up the first steps of the career ladder, pushing his colleagues aside, and there was no shortage of various intrigues on his part ... In his power it was, if not to fully achieve the desired goal, then at least to lay a solid foundation for it, precisely in order to thoroughly and correctly comprehend the significance of public institutions. Speransky would have been able to do this if he had not sacrificed this great merit to his desire for innovation, to his empty vanity to redo everything.
From the "Notes" of the BaronT.A. Rosenkampf
“A strange person who sometimes elevates us, and sometimes makes us feel our dependence ... Speransky has tremendous power; he is surprisingly smart and cunning, but as proud as he is ignorant; longing for what only gives appearance happiness, he is not able to comprehend the good that leads to peace of mind. He is afraid of being understood and therefore puts on a thousand masks: sometimes he is a citizen and a good subject, sometimes he is an ardent frondeur who makes every effort to convince the public of his talents and does not show his strength ... "
Baron Gustav Armfeld
Exercise todocuments. What qualities of Speransky are distinguished by the authors of the statements? When answering, please note that G.A. Rosenkampf, and G. Armfeld were worst enemies MM. Speransky.
3. Alexander I instructs Speransky to prepare a draft of the reforms. By the end of 1809, he had drawn up a document entitled "Introduction to the code of state laws." What task did Speransky set when creating this document?
Speransky argued that in order to prevent a revolution, it is necessary to give the country a constitution that, without affecting autocratic rule, would introduce elected legislative and advisory bodies and the principle of separation of powers in the organization of state power, would expand the rights of certain estates, establish the electivity of some officials and their responsibility.
4. Make a diagram of state authorities according to the Speransky project and give an explanation for it.
At the head of the state is the monarch, who has full power.
The Council of State is an advisory body appointed by the emperor. All branches of government converge in it.
The executive power belongs to the ministries.
Legislative power is vested in representative assemblies at all levels. The volost duma is elected by persons having the right to vote and resolves issues of local importance. It elects deputies to the district duma, and that to the provincial one. The deputies of the State Duma are elected by the provincial dumas from among their members. Thus, the elections were supposed to be multistage. The State Duma was supposed to discuss the bills submitted to it from above, which are then submitted for approval by the State Council and the emperor.
Judicial power belongs to the Senate, whose members are appointed by the emperor for life. The lower courts must be elected.
5. What was the expected social structure of the Russian population according to the project of Speransky. What rights did the estates get?
The population was divided into three estates:
the nobility, which had all civil and political rights;
"average condition" (merchants, petty bourgeois, state peasants);
"working people" (landlord peasants, artisans, servants).
The first two estates received the right to vote. For the "third estate" the serfdom was preserved, but some civil rights were provided and the opportunity in the future to move into the "middle state" by acquiring property.
6. Project M.M. Speransky caused sharp discontent on the part of the nobility. Explain how, in your opinion, the project infringed upon the interests of the nobility. Why Alexander I could not go to the implementation of the project?
7. After reading the document, state the reasons for resignation and referencesMM . Speransky.
Document
From the “Report in the Affairs of 1810”, presented by M.M. Speransky to Emperor Alexander February 111, 1811 G.
“... Too often and on almost all paths I meet with passions, and pride, and envy, and even more so with unreason. ...a crowd of nobles...whole clans are persecuted as a dangerous innovator. ... hiding their own passions under the guise of public good, they try to decorate their personal enmity with the name of state enmity; I know that the same people exalted me and my rules to the skies, when they assumed that I would agree with them in everything, when they demanded the benefits of their passions to oppose me to another. I was then one of the best and most reliable performers; but as soon as the movement of affairs brought me into opposition to them and into dissent, so soon I turned into a dangerous person ... "
Document assignment. Explain who Speransky accuses of persecution? Why do you think he is being persecuted?
8. “Could at the beginning of the XIX century. to realize the plans of M.M. Speransky? Justify your answer.
Speech by the participants of group work on issues. The rest should ask questions.
At the end of the discussion of the topic - answer the question
Compare plans and their specific implementation. What is the conclusion from this comparison?
Students conclude that it was not possible to carry out the abolition of serfdom, the introduction of a constitution and a parliament.
The question arises: why did the tsar, the autocrat of Russia, fail to carry out his plans?
Consolidation.
Drawing up a basic outline
Reforms of Alexander I at the beginning of the reign
Elimination of the consequences of the reign of Paul I
Performed:
Return of the repressed
Paul I -amnesty 12 thousand people
The borders are open.
It is allowed to import goods and books from Western Europe.
Restoration of Letters of Complaint to the nobility and cities.
The Secret Office was abolished.
Solution of the "peasant" issue
Performed:
1803 - Decree on free cultivators (landlords can release peasants with land for ransom (47 thousand peasants were released during the 25 years of Alexander's reign)
1808, 1809 Decrees restricting the arbitrariness of landlords: a ban on selling peasants at fairs, etc., publishing advertisements for the sale of peasants in newspapers
1801 - the right of the townspeople and peasants to buy uninhabited land
Improvement of the state system of Russia
Performed:
1802 - The Senate is the highest judicial body.
Ministries established
The reform of the state power was carried out:
1802-1811 - Ministries were created to replace collegiums. Unity has been established. General issues were decided by the Committee of Ministers.
1810 - Creation State Council
Education reforms were held in 1802 - 1804. On the territory of Russia, 6 educational districts were created, in which there were 4 categories of educational institutions: parish, district schools, provincial gymnasiums and universities.
New universities were opened in Dorpat (1802), Vilna (1803), Kazan and Kharkov (1804), the Main Pedagogical Institute in St. Petersburg (1804), which was transformed into a university in 1819.
Privileged lyceums were created (Demidovsky in Yaroslavl, and Tsarskoye Selo)
Speransky's reforms. Based on the materials of work in groups - 2 schemes.