Map of the Russian Empire in 1912 with provinces. Coats of arms of the provinces of the Russian Empire

Map of the Russian Empire in 1912 By 1914, the length of the territory of the Russian Empire was 4383.2 versts from north to south (467 ... Wikipedia

Provinces and regions of the Russian Empire with district, district, etc. division (without the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Finland) for 1914. The dates of existence of the provinces, the names of administrative units with the names ... Wikipedia are indicated in brackets

Division of Russia into provinces in 1708 The province is the highest unit of administrative-territorial division in Russia (Russian Empire, Russian Republic, RSFSR, USSR) from 1708 to 1929, which took shape under Peter I in the process of organizing ... ... Wikipedia

A departmental district is a territorial administrative structure subordinate to any government agency (department). A district is an administrative territorial unit established for a certain branch of government. There are... ... Wikipedia

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The collapse of the Russian Empire and the formation of the USSR is a period of Russian history from 1916 to 1923 (sometimes until 1924), characterized by the processes of formation of various state entities on the territory of the former Russian Empire, ... ... Wikipedia

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, Ukrainian state and Ukrainian SSR. The head of the province is the governor.

Initial division under Peter I

Division of Russia into provinces in 1708

Until 1708, the territory of the Russian state was divided into counties of different sizes and status (former princely lands, appanages, orders, etc.) and categories.

The first 8 provinces were formed during the Regional Reform, by decree of Peter I of December 18 (29), 1708:

• Ingria (in 1710 transformed into St. Petersburg) - it was headed by Alexander Danilovich Menshikov;
• Moscow - Tikhon Nikitich Streshnev;
• Arkhangelogorodskaya - Pyotr Alekseevich Golitsyn;
• Smolenskaya - Pyotr Samoilovich Saltykov;
• Kyiv - Dmitry Mikhailovich Golitsyn;
• Kazanskaya - Pyotr Matveevich Apraksin;
• Azovskaya - Fedor Matveevich Apraksin;
• Siberian - Matvey Petrovich Gagarin.

During the reform, all counties were abolished, and provinces were made up of cities and adjacent lands. As a result, the boundaries of the provinces were quite arbitrary. The provinces were headed by governors or governors general, who performed administrative, police, financial, and judicial functions. Governors-General were also commanders of troops in the provinces under their control. In 1710-1713, the provinces were divided into shares governed by the Landrat. In 1714, Peter I issued a decree, according to which the shares became a unit of local government, the landrat was elected by local nobles. However, in fact, this order was not carried out; the Senate confirmed the Landrat on the lists submitted by the governors.

Second reform of Peter I

In 1719, Peter I carried out a reform of the administrative division. The provinces were divided into provinces, and the provinces, in turn, into districts. The province was headed by a voivode, and the district was headed by a zemstvo commissar. According to this reform, the province became the highest regional unit of the Russian Empire, and the provinces played the role of military districts. Provincial governors reported to the governors only in military matters; in civil matters, the governors reported only to the Senate.

In 1719, the Nizhny Novgorod province was restored, and the Revel province and 47 provinces were established on the newly acquired lands in the Baltic states. The Astrakhan and Revel provinces were not divided into provinces. Until 1727, the administrative-territorial division of the country did not undergo significant changes. Minor changes include the renaming of the Azov province to Voronezh in 1725 and the restoration of the Smolensk province in 1726.

Reform of 1727

In 1727, the administrative-territorial division was revised. Districts were abolished and uyezds were reintroduced instead. The boundaries of the “old” districts and the “new” counties in many cases coincided or almost coincided. Belgorod (split from Kyiv) and Novgorod (split from St. Petersburg) provinces were formed.

Subsequently, until 1775, the administrative structure remained relatively stable with a tendency towards disaggregation. Gubernias were formed mainly in newly acquired (reconquered) territories; in some cases, several provinces of old provinces were separated into new ones. By October 1775, the territory of Russia was divided into 23 provinces, 62 provinces and 276 districts (the number of districts in the Novorossiysk province is unknown and is not included in the total number).

Reorganization under Catherine II

Coats of arms of the provinces of the Russian Empire

On November 7, 1775, Catherine II issued a decree “Institutions for the management of provinces,” according to which a radical reform of the administrative-territorial division of the Russian Empire was carried out in 1775-1785. In accordance with this decree, the size of the provinces was reduced, provinces were eliminated and the division of counties was changed. The new administrative-territorial division grid was drawn up so that 300-400 thousand people lived in the province, and 20-30 thousand people in the district. Most of the new administrative-territorial units, with rare exceptions, received the official name “governorship”. The governorships, which were extensive in territory, were divided into regions. An additional impetus for the reform was the need to strengthen local central power after the Peasant War under the leadership of E. I. Pugachev.

In 1785, after the completion of the reform, the Russian Empire was divided into 38 governorships, 3 provinces and 1 region (Tauride) with the rights of governorship. In addition, the empire included the Housing of the Don Cossacks, in which there was Cossack self-government.

Several governorships were governed by one governor-general, and the governor of the governorship itself was appointed to the governorship (viceroy or governor), in addition, a body of noble self-government was formed in the governorship - the provincial noble assembly, headed by the provincial leader of the nobility. Viceroys and governors were subordinate to the Senate and prosecutorial supervision, headed by the Prosecutor General. The district was headed by a police captain, who was elected once every 3 years by the district assembly of nobles. The governor-general was appointed personally by the empress and had unlimited power in the governorships entrusted to him. Thus, an emergency management regime was actually introduced throughout the Russian Empire. Subsequently, until 1796, the formation of new governorships occurred mainly as a result of the annexation of new territories.

By the end of the reign of Catherine II (November 1796), the Russian Empire included 48 governorships, 2 provinces, 1 region, as well as the lands of the Don and Black Sea Cossacks.

Pavlovsk reform

In the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries, 20 regions were formed - administrative units corresponding to provinces. As a rule, the regions were located in border areas. Further centralization and bureaucratization of local government continues. There is a simplification of the local apparatus with the strengthening of its direct subordination to the governor personally.

The reforms of the 1860-1870s, especially the zemstvo, city and judicial reforms, introduced the bourgeois principle of elected all-class representation into the organization of local government and courts. Elected bodies of zemstvo self-government (in 34 provinces) were in charge of the local economy, in cities - city dumas and councils. The zemstvo (1890) and city (1892) counter-reforms strengthened the estate-noble representation in local government and the subordination of its administration (see Zemstvo institutions (under the Regulations of 1890)). The introduction of the institution of zemstvo chiefs (1889) as bearers of noble-landowner rights (appointed from among the nobles) with their administrative, judicial and financial functions significantly limited the independence of peasant self-government.

The division of the country into manageable regions has always been one of the foundations of the Russian state structure. Borders within the country change regularly even in the 21st century, subject to administrative reforms. And at the stages of the Moscow Kingdom and the Russian Empire, this happened much more often due to the annexation of new lands, a change in political power or course.

Division of the country in the 15th-17th centuries

At the stage of the Moscow State, the main territorial and administrative unit was the district. They were located within the borders of once independent principalities and were ruled by governors appointed by the king. It is noteworthy that in the European part of the state, large cities (Tver, Vladimir, Rostov, Nizhny Novgorod, etc.) were administratively independent territories and were not part of the district, although they were their capitals. In the 21st century, Moscow found itself in a similar situation, which is the de facto center of its region, but de jure it is a separate region.

Each county, in turn, was divided into volosts - areas, the center of which was a large village or small town with adjacent lands. Also in the northern lands there was a division into camps, graveyards, villages or settlements in a variety of combinations.

Border or recently annexed territories did not have counties. For example, the lands from Lake Onega to the northern part of the Ural Mountains and right up to the shores of the Arctic Ocean were called Pomerania. And which became part of the Moscow kingdom at the end of the 16th century, due to its status as “troubled lands” and the main population (Cossacks), it was divided into regiments - Kiev, Poltava, Chernigov, etc.

In general, the division of the Moscow state was very confusing, but it made it possible to develop the basic principles on which the management of the territories was built in the following centuries. And the most important of them is unity of command.

Division of the country in the 18th century

According to historians, the formation of the administrative division of the country took place in several stages-reforms, the main of which occurred in the 18th century. The provinces of the Russian Empire appeared after 1708, and at first there were only 8 of them - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Smolensk, Arkhangelsk, Kiev, Azov, Kazan and Siberian. A few years later, Rizhskaya was added to them and each of them received not only lands and a governor (governor), but also its own coat of arms.

The educated regions were excessively large and therefore poorly governed. Therefore, the following reforms were aimed at reducing them and dividing them into subordinate units. The main milestones of this process are:

1. The second reform of Peter I in 1719, during which the provinces of the Russian Empire began to be divided into provinces and districts. Subsequently, the latter were replaced by counties.
2. The reform of 1727 continued the process of disaggregation of territories. According to its results, there were 14 provinces and 250 districts in the country.
3. Reform at the beginning of the reign of Catherine I. During 1764-1766, the formation of border and remote territories in the province took place.
4. Catherine's reform of 1775. The “Establishment for the Administration of Provinces” signed by the empress marked the largest administrative and territorial changes in the history of the country, which lasted 10 years.

At the end of the century, the country was divided into 38 governorships, 3 provinces and a region with a special status (Tauride). Within all regions, 483 counties were allocated, which became a secondary territorial unit.

The governorships and provinces of the Russian Empire in the 18th century did not last long within the borders approved by Catherine I. The process of administrative division continued into the next century.

Division of the country in the 19th century

The term "provinces of the Russian Empire" was returned during which he made an unsuccessful attempt to reduce the number of regions from 51 to 42. But most of the transformations he carried out were subsequently canceled.

In the 19th century, the process of administrative-territorial division focused on the formation of regions in the Asian part of the country and in annexed territories. Among the many changes, the following are especially worth highlighting:

• Under Alexander I, the Tomsk and Yenisei provinces appeared in 1803, and the Kamchatka Territory was separated from the Irkutsk lands. During the same period, the Grand Duchy of Finland, the Kingdom of Poland, Ternopil, Bessarabian and Bialystok provinces were formed.
• In 1822, the lands of Siberia were divided into 2 general governorates - Western, with its center in Omsk, and Eastern, which had Irkutsk as its capital.
• Towards the middle of the 19th century, Tiflis, Shemakha (later Baku), Dagestan, Erivan, Terek, Batumi and Kutaisi provinces were created on the annexed lands of the Caucasus. A special region arose in the neighborhood of the lands of modern Dagestan.
• The Primorsky region was formed in 1856 from the landlocked territories of the East Siberian General Government. Soon the Amur Region was separated from it, receiving the left bank of the river of the same name, and in 1884, Sakhalin Island received the status of a special department of Primorye.
• The lands of Central Asia and Kazakhstan were annexed in the 1860-1870s. The resulting territories were organized into regions - Akmola, Semipalatinsk, Ural, Turkestan, Transcaspian, etc.

There were also many changes in the regions of the European part of the country - borders often changed, lands were redistributed, renaming occurred. During the peasant reforms, the districts of the province of the Russian Empire in the 19th century were divided into rural volosts for the convenience of land distribution and accounting.

Division of the country in the 20th century

In the last 17 years of the existence of the Russian Empire, only 2 significant changes occurred in the sphere of administrative-territorial division:

• The Sakhalin region was formed, which included the island of the same name and adjacent small islands and archipelagos.
• On the annexed lands of southern Siberia (the modern Republic of Tuva), the Uriankhai region was created.

The provinces of the Russian Empire retained their borders and names for 6 years after the collapse of this country, that is, until 1923, when the first reforms on the zoning of territories began in the USSR.

Along with the collapse of the Russian Empire, the majority of the population chose to create independent national states. Many of them were never destined to remain sovereign, and they became part of the USSR. Others were incorporated into the Soviet state later. What was the Russian Empire like at the beginning? XXcentury?

By the end of the 19th century, the territory of the Russian Empire was 22.4 million km 2. According to the 1897 census, the population was 128.2 million people, including the population of European Russia - 93.4 million people; Kingdom of Poland - 9.5 million, - 2.6 million, Caucasus Territory - 9.3 million, Siberia - 5.8 million, Central Asia - 7.7 million people. Over 100 peoples lived; 57% of the population were non-Russian peoples. The territory of the Russian Empire in 1914 was divided into 81 provinces and 20 regions; there were 931 cities. Some provinces and regions were united into governorates-general (Warsaw, Irkutsk, Kiev, Moscow, Amur, Stepnoe, Turkestan and Finland).

By 1914, the length of the territory of the Russian Empire was 4383.2 versts (4675.9 km) from north to south and 10,060 versts (10,732.3 km) from east to west. The total length of the land and sea borders is 64,909.5 versts (69,245 km), of which the land borders accounted for 18,639.5 versts (19,941.5 km), and the sea borders accounted for about 46,270 versts (49,360 .4 km).

The entire population was considered subjects of the Russian Empire, the male population (from 20 years old) swore allegiance to the emperor. The subjects of the Russian Empire were divided into four estates (“states”): nobility, clergy, urban and rural inhabitants. The local population of Kazakhstan, Siberia and a number of other regions were distinguished into an independent “state” (foreigners). The coat of arms of the Russian Empire was a double-headed eagle with royal regalia; the state flag is a cloth with white, blue and red horizontal stripes; The national anthem is “God Save the Tsar.” National language - Russian.

Administratively, the Russian Empire by 1914 was divided into 78 provinces, 21 regions and 2 independent districts. The provinces and regions were divided into 777 counties and districts and in Finland - into 51 parishes. Counties, districts and parishes, in turn, were divided into camps, departments and sections (2523 in total), as well as 274 landmanships in Finland.

Territories that were important in military-political terms (metropolitan and border) were united into viceroyalties and general governorships. Some cities were allocated into special administrative units - city governments.

Even before the transformation of the Grand Duchy of Moscow into the Russian Kingdom in 1547, at the beginning of the 16th century, Russian expansion began to expand beyond its ethnic territory and began to absorb the following territories (the table does not include lands lost before the beginning of the 19th century):

First provinces appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century. December 18, 1708 Peter I signed a Decree on dividing the country into provinces: “The Great Sovereign indicated... for the benefit of the whole people, to create provinces and add cities to them.” From this time on, these highest units of administrative division and local government in Russia began to exist.

The immediate reason for the reform of 1708 was the need to change the system of financing and food and material support for the army (land regiments, fortress garrisons, artillery and navy were “assigned” to provinces and received money and provisions through special commissars). Initially there were 8 provinces, then their number increased to 23.

In 1775 Catherine II a reform of provincial government was carried out. In the preface " Institutions for governing the provinces of the All-Russian Empire“The following was noted: “... due to the great vastness of some provinces, they are not sufficiently equipped, both with governments and with the people needed to govern...” The basis for the new division in the province was the statistical principle - the number of the population of the province was limited to 300 - 400 thousand revision souls (20 - 30 thousand per county). As a result, instead of 23 provinces, 50 were created." Establishment"provided for the sectoral construction of local bodies, the creation locally of an extensive network of administrative-police, judicial and financial-economic institutions, which were subject to general supervision and management by the heads of local administration. Almost all local institutions had a "common presence" - a collegial body in which several officials (councilors and assessors) sat. Among these institutions were: the provincial board, in which the governor-general (or “viceroy”), the governor (this position was retained, but sometimes he was called the “governor of the governorship”) and two government councilors sat; chamber (the main financial and economic body, which was headed by the vice-governor or, as he was sometimes called, “the ruler’s lieutenant”); the civil chamber; the order of public charity (issues of education, health care, etc. were decided here); and some others were named provinces with a new administrative apparatus. governorships, although along with the term “government” the term “province” was retained in the legislation and office work of that time.

Governors, unlike former governors, had even broader powers and greater independence. They could be present in the Senate with the right to vote on an equal basis with senators. Their rights were limited only by the Empress and the Council at the Imperial Court. The governors and their apparatus were not at all subordinate to the collegiums. The dismissal and appointment of local officials (except for the ranks of the viceroyal government and prosecutorial ranks) depended on their will. " Establishment"gave the governor-general not only enormous power, but also honor: he had an escort, adjutants and, in addition, a personal retinue consisting of young nobles of the province (one from each district). Often the power of the governor-general extended to several governorships At the end of the 18th century, the positions of governors-general and governorships themselves were eliminated. The leadership of the provinces was again concentrated in the hands of governors.

The provisional government, which came to power in early March 1917, retained the entire system of provincial institutions, only the governors were replaced by provincial commissars. But in parallel, the Soviet system had already arisen and existed. The October Revolution preserved the division into provinces, but eliminated the entire old provincial apparatus. The division into provinces finally disappeared in the 30s of the 20th century.