Central place in the history of Russia in the first half of the 18th century. Peter's transformations and the Northern War are occupied. The transformations did not break the existing socio-economic system of the country; on the contrary, they further strengthened serfdom and strengthened the dominance of the nobility, while simultaneously raising the importance of the merchants. At the same time, the reforms carried out by Peter I had a profound impact on the subsequent development of Russia. Russian Empire of the first half of the 18th century. differed significantly from the economically, militarily and culturally backward Russia of the 17th century in the presence of a more developed industry, centralized and streamlined administrative institutions, a first-class army and navy, secular schools and a general rise in science and culture.
1. Domestic and foreign policy of Russia at the end of the 17th century.
The transformations were preceded by an intense struggle between factions within the ruling class. The noble boyar nobility gradually lost its leadership position in the state and was wiped out by people of humble origin from the ordinary nobility. Along with their ranks, the new service nobility received large land grants. The establishment of absolutism also changed the position of the church in the state. The church increasingly turned into an instrument of secular power. The growth of church land ownership was limited. The fate of the noble nobility and spiritual feudal lords was to a certain extent shared by the Streltsy army. The conservative boyars and clergy considered the archers as an armed support and a tool for achieving their goals. The increase in the hardships of military service, the separation from trades and trades in connection with campaigns, and the creation of new regular regiments caused discontent among the archers. Therefore, the interests of part of the boyars and clergy at a certain stage coincided with the interests of the archers.
As a result of the Streltsy uprising of 1682, power fell into the hands of Peter I's elder sister, Princess Sophia, and her favorite, Prince V.V. Golitsyn. However, Sophia was not satisfied with the position of ruler under the minor Tsars Peter (born in 1672) and Ivan (seriously ill, he did not take part in affairs and died in 1696) and sought to be crowned king. The forces opposing Sophia's plans were concentrated in the village of Preobrazhenskoye near Moscow, in the residence of Peter and his mother. Here, in contrast to the Streltsy army, on which Sophia relied, amusing regiments were created. Initially, they were intended for the military amusements of the growing Peter, and then gradually turned into a real regular army.
Both groups were gradually preparing for a fight, which took place in the summer of 1689. On the night of August 8, Peter received information about a conspiracy of archers who intended to capture and kill him in Preobrazhenskoye. Wearing only a shirt, he jumped on his horse and galloped to the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. Here, under the powerful walls of the monastery-fortress, supporters of Peter began to flock, and the amusing Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments were hastily called here. Sophia tried to appeal again to the Streltsy army, but the overwhelming majority of the nobles were on Peter’s side. The Sagittarius did not dare to support Sophia, and she was imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent. Thus, the attempt of reactionary feudal circles to seize power was a complete failure. Peter I established himself on the throne and proved himself to be an outstanding statesman and commander.
Azov campaigns
The first major step in the foreign policy of the new government headed by Peter was the organization of a campaign in the traditional manner for the second half of the 17th century. direction - south, to the shores of the Azov and Black Seas. But this time the government took into account all the disadvantages of the previous operational direction, when the Russian army, in order to overtake the enemy, had to overcome waterless steppes, and sent its main forces not against the Crimea, but against Azov, the largest Turkish fortress at the mouth of the Don. In the summer of 1695, Russian troops besieged Azov. However, it was not possible to block it due to the lack of a fleet, while the Turks continuously delivered reinforcements and supplies to the besieged by sea, and the Tatar cavalry attacked the Russian rear. The inconsistency of the actions of the Russian troops, who were under the command of three commanders independent from each other, led to the fact that the twice carried out assault on Azov did not bring success, the siege was lifted, and the troops retreated into the interior of the country.
In the winter of 1695, energetic preparations began for the second Azov campaign. At the same time, the main attention was focused on building a fleet. This time the siege of Azov was successful, part of the fortress was destroyed by bombing, and the presence of the fleet made it possible to blockade Azov from the sea. Without waiting for the assault, the Turks surrendered the fortress (July 18, 1696). This victory gave Russia access to the Sea of Azov and allowed it to begin building a broader navy. A solemn meeting was arranged for the victors in Moscow; troops led by Peter marched through the Triumphal Gate.
The occupation of Azov, however, did not yet provide access to the Black Sea, which remained an internal Turkish sea; it was necessary to take possession of the Kerch Strait. To continue the war, it was decided in the same 1696 to build 52 large ships within two years.
Grand Embassy
Simultaneously with the construction of the fleet, steps were taken to create an anti-Turkish coalition of European states. In 1697, Russia, Austria and Venice entered into an offensive alliance against the Turks for a period of three years. Russian diplomacy was faced with the task of strengthening this union and achieving the attraction of new states to its composition. For this purpose, in the same 1697, the “great embassy” went abroad. In addition to performing diplomatic tasks, the embassy had to hire sailors, artisans, artillerymen and other specialists for the Russian service. The embassy was accompanied by volunteers from among the noble youth sent abroad to study naval affairs and shipbuilding.
The embassy, officially headed by F. Ya. Lefort, F. A. Golovin and P. B. Voznitsyn, included Peter I incognito. Abroad, the inquisitive and energetic tsar filled in the gaps of his meager education. Working at the Zaandam (Saardam) shipyard as a carpenter and visiting England, where Peter improved his knowledge of shipbuilding acquired in Holland, did not prevent him from leading the diplomatic activities of the embassy.
However, the plan to expand the union did not meet with support in Western Europe. The maritime powers - Holland and England - rejected it due to their interest in trade with Turkey, as well as in connection with the impending War of the Spanish Succession. Fearing the strengthening of Russia, Austria also abandoned active action, in whose capital Peter arrived in the summer of 1698. From Vienna he was going to go to Venice, but in July he received alarming news from Moscow and urgently left for Russia. On the way back, Peter negotiated with the Polish king Augustus II. These negotiations were completed later in Moscow with the conclusion of an agreement on joint struggle with Sweden, to which Denmark also joined.
Streltsy riot of 1698
The news that alarmed Peter during his stay in Vienna was a report of a new Streltsy revolt. The Streltsy army, being on the western border, in the Velikiye Luki region, arbitrarily moved towards Moscow. It was defeated by troops loyal to the government near Moscow, near New Jerusalem. An additional investigation into the reasons for the action of the archers, carried out with the participation of Peter upon his return to Moscow, showed that the threads of the conspiracy were in the hands of Princess Sophia, who was kept in the monastery. After an investigation established that Sophia, with the help of the Streltsy, intended to overthrow Peter, about 800 Streltsy were executed, and the rest were sent into exile. This massacre meant the end of the Streltsy army.
2. Social and economic development of Russia in the first quarter of the 18th century.
Agriculture. The situation of the peasants
Feudal land ownership, as in pre-Petrine times, continued to expand due to royal grants. From 1682 to 1710 alone, 273 volosts from more than 43 thousand peasant households were distributed from the palace fund. Huge awards were received by the most prominent employees of Peter I - A. D. Menshikov, Admiral F. A. Golovin and other nobles. Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev “for many faithful services” received the palace Yukhotsk volost (Rostov district) as a reward from the tsar. Large land holdings went to immigrant nobles from Georgia, Kabarda, and Moldova.
Simultaneously with the growth of noble land ownership in the central regions of the country, the penetration of serfdom into the South and Southeast continued. The nobles received lands in the Belgorod and Voronezh provinces, the borders of which moved further to the south. Relying on the support of the government, which pursued a colonialist policy towards the peoples of the Volga region, Russian landowners themselves seized the lands of the local feudal nobility, mainly Tatar. Feudal land ownership expanded in Ukraine. Hetman I. S. Mazepa issued over a thousand universals (letters) to the Cossack elders for estates, and he himself captured about 20 thousand households. By 1729-1730 about two-thirds of peasant households in Ukraine found themselves in feudal dependence on secular and spiritual landowners.
In agriculture, the same routine technique remained (the predominance of three-field, wooden plow); harvests were as low as in previous times. The most significant shift was the expansion of industrial crops and the development of sheep farming. Both processes were closely related to the construction of new industrial enterprises and an increase in demand for raw materials for them.
The development of commodity-money relations expanded the connections between landowners and peasants with the market and influenced their organization. Hence the further growth of two trends that expressed the adaptation of serfdom to these relations: in non-chernozem regions, where the soil was infertile, the importance of quitrent duties, natural and monetary, increased; in the South, lordly plowing grew, and corvee service among peasants prevailed. But in most cases, the landowner, as in the 17th century, combined lordly plowing with the collection of quitrent taxes. For example, on the estate of Prince M.P. Gagarin in Kolomna district, peasants supplied annually from each tax a ram, a pig, half a pound of pork, a goose, a duck, four chickens and 50 eggs. “Besides that, they plow the arable land, and mow hay, and do all sorts of landowner work, and they used to bring supplies to Moscow.”
The most common was a three-day corvee, but many landowners sent peasants to corvee more often. The well-known publicist of that time, I. T. Pososhkov, noted that “there are such inhumane nobles that during working hours they do not give their peasants a single day... many nobles,” he continued, “say: “Don’t let the peasant grow up, but cut his hair.” It’s like a naked sheep.”
The situation of peasants was heavily affected by the growth of state duties, and the peculiarities of recruitment, as well as numerous direct and indirect taxes. The state annually involved the population in various construction works. Tens of thousands of peasants, driven from all over the country, built a fleet in Voronezh, Taganrog, Azov, St. Petersburg, Kazan, dug canals, erected fortresses and cities. Compared to the 17th century. Residential (lodging) and underwater duties increased: peasants were obliged to provide military teams with food and horses with fodder during camping periods. The stationed troops caused “much destruction, losses and insults” to the peasants. In order to increase revenue, the government introduced new types of fees. On the advice of inventive profit-makers (this was the name given to numerous authors of projects in that era to increase treasury revenues), home baths and mills were taxed, and stamp paper was introduced. A special tax was paid by those wishing to maintain a beard in defiance of the royal order.
The monetary reform, accompanied by a decrease in the amount of silver in the coin, brought large income to the treasury. In just three years (1701-1703), during which the minting of new coins was carried out most intensively, the treasury received a net profit of over 2.8 million rubles. At the same time, as a result of the coin operation, the ruble exchange rate almost halved, and accordingly, prices for goods increased.
And yet, already in the third year of the war with Sweden, expenses significantly exceeded current income. In search of sources of increasing state revenues, the government in 1710 conducted a house-to-house census. But contrary to expectations, the census revealed a decrease in the number of peasant and townsman households compared to the final data of the last census of 1678. The “emptiness” was explained by the mass exodus of peasants from the central counties to the outskirts. At the same time, many landowners, in order to reduce taxation and increase their own income, united several peasant households into one household.
Then it was decided to switch from household taxation to capitation taxation. For this purpose, a census of the population (male) began in 1718, the results of which, however, also did not satisfy the government, since the landowners provided underestimated information about the number of serfs they had. To clarify the size of the tax-paying population, the census was carried out anew, and therefore received the name “audit”. Based on its data, the population in Russia can be estimated at approximately 14 million people. The main direct tax was a poll tax of 70 kopecks for each male “peasant soul.”
The significance of the first audit was not limited to the interests of the fiscal. In addition, it had great social significance, since with its implementation the number of serfs increased. If previously enslaved slaves received freedom after the death of their master, then during the first audit they were equated to serfs and, like them, were obliged to pay the poll tax. Thus, the indentured servants merged with the mass of the enslaved peasantry and became the hereditary property of the landowner. Feudal exploitation of the so-called state peasants also increased. According to the revision, these included the black-plowed peasants of the northern regions and the arable peasants of Siberia, the peoples of the Middle Volga region and single-family dwellers (in total over 1 million male souls). In addition to the poll tax, they paid an additional rent of 40 kopecks per male soul.
At the same time, the economic influence of more prosperous (“subsistence” and “family”) households grew in the village. The village rich started trades and trades, and, along with merchants, carried out contracts for construction work and to supply the army with food and fodder. The cost of such contracts was often estimated at tens of thousands of rubles. Some of the trading peasants and contractors joined the ranks of the merchants, moved to the cities and invested in industry.
Nobility
In the XVI-XVII centuries. There were two forms of feudal land tenure: conditional estate, lifelong ownership, mainly noble, and patrimony - unconditional and hereditary, mainly boyar property. The distinction between an estate and a patrimony had practically no significant significance already in the second half of the 17th century, but only a decree of 1714 declared the estate the full property of the owner. The estate and patrimony merged into one legal concept of “real estate” property. This contributed to the consolidation of the ruling class, the merger of the boyars and the nobility. The decree of 1714 ordered the nobleman to inherit his estate only to one of his sons, so that the rest would receive an inheritance in money and other movable property. But this restriction on inheritance rights was abolished in 1730.
The Table of Ranks of 1722, which determined the order of service, was important for the nobility. The table of ranks put first place not the origin, but the service suitability of the nobleman, his personal abilities. It established a career ladder of 14 steps, or ranks, from ensign and artillery constable in the military and naval service or collegiate registrar in the civil service to the first rank - field marshal, admiral general and chancellor. The table of ranks opened up access for the unborn nobility to the highest ranks and helped identify its more capable representatives for use in military and civil service. According to Peter, ranks should complain to those who serve, “and not to impudent and parasites” who boast of their nobility. Thanks to their personal abilities, such famous figures of Peter the Great’s time as Admiral General F. M. Apraksin, diplomats P. A. Tolstoy, I. I. Neplyuev, and others emerged from among the unborn nobility.
At the same time, the Table of Ranks provided the opportunity, albeit limited, to “become noble” to individual representatives of other classes: upon receiving the eighth rank, they became hereditary nobles. Among the outstanding statesmen of the first quarter of the 18th century. there are people of humble origin. First of all, they included A.D. Menshikov, who, according to rumor, sold pies in childhood. Peter brought him closer to himself, recognizing in him an intelligent, energetic and efficient person; not a single important event of that time could have happened without the active participation of Menshikov. He became president of the Military Collegium, His Serene Highness and Generalissimo.
The well-known profit-maker A. A. Kurbatov, who held the post of Arkhangelsk vice-governor, put forward his project to collect duties for stamp paper. Kurbatov, like the Moscow vice-governor V.S. Ershov, was a serf before his rise.
Industrial development
Innovations and successes in industry were especially significant. One of his contemporaries, I.K. Kirillov, in 1727 wrote an essay under the characteristic title “The Blooming State of the All-Russian State,” which seemed to sum up the results of the vigorous activity of Peter I. Along with a geographical description of Russia, Kirillov gave a list of industrial enterprises, of which, as has now been established, about 200 were manufactories.
The greatest success fell on the share of metallurgy. If by the beginning of the 18th century. the total production of large metallurgical plants was approximately 150 thousand pounds of cast iron, then by 1726 it reached 800 thousand. Even at the end of the 17th century. Russia purchased iron for weapons production in Sweden, and by the end of the first quarter of the 18th century. She herself began to export metal abroad. The creation of a new metallurgical region in the Urals dates back to this time. In 1701, two water-operating factories were launched there, and by 1725 there were 13 of them, and these factories produced twice as much cast iron as all other Russian enterprises combined.
In direct connection with the needs of the army was the development of light industry, especially linen and cloth industry, which supplied the army and navy with sailing cloth and uniforms. Only a few years after the Poltava victory, the treasury weakened the demand for manufactured goods, and some industrial goods began to enter the market. The emergence of manufactories designed for the production of household goods - stockings, trellises (wallpaper), playing cards, buttons, smoking pipes - consumed mainly by nobles and the most prosperous townspeople dates back to this time.
Compared with the initial period of development of the manufacturing industry, the share of private capital in it has increased. During the first decade of the 18th century. the treasury built 14 metallurgical enterprises, and private individuals - only 2; over the next 15 years, 5 factories were built using government funds, and 10 by private industrialists. There was not a single private enterprise in the cloth industry until 1715, and by the end of the first quarter of the 18th century. there were 10 of them. The diplomat P.P. Shafirov, not without pride, noted in 1717 that the production of such goods had been established, “many of which and their names had never been heard of in Russia before.”
Large-scale industry also appeared on the outskirts of the empire. At the beginning of the 18th century. A group of Olonets factories was built on the territory of Karelia, a large shipyard was founded in Kazan, and cloth and leather factories arose. Saltpeter production and gunpowder production developed in Ukraine. In the first quarter of the 18th century. The large Putivl cloth manufactory was founded, as well as the first Akhtyrka tobacco manufactory in Russia.
However, despite the spread of manufactories, urban crafts and peasant crafts retained their paramount importance. The vast majority of rural residents continued to be content with simple household items made on their own farms. However, the patriarchal isolation of household crafts was gradually broken; Millions of arshins of peasant linen and other products, through buyers, ended up not only in the markets of large cities, but also abroad.
The strengthening of commodity production attracted rural artisans to the cities. Among those who signed up for the Moscow guilds, about half were not native residents of the capital, but peasants who had moved there. The proportion of non-residents was especially large in such workshops as shoemaking, bread, bakery, and kvass; The peasants who signed up for them were doing their usual business. In large cities, primarily in Moscow and St. Petersburg, due to changes in everyday life, new branches of small-scale commodity production arose: the production of thin cloth, braids, and wigs.
Some of the small commodity producers managed to become manufacturers, although such cases in the first quarter of the 18th century. were isolated. Major industrialists of the 18th century. The Demidovs, Mosolovs, Batashovs, who became manufacturers at the time in question, trace their ancestry to Tula gunsmiths.
Industrial policy. Mercantilism
Even in the economic policy of the 17th century. there were elements of mercantilism. Now, along with the government protecting the interests of domestic trade, energetic and comprehensive measures to encourage industry began to be carried out. As in a number of Western European states, under Peter I, the construction of manufactories was organized using government funds with their subsequent transfer on preferential terms to private individuals. Industrialists received large cash loans from the treasury. The state often resorted to the forced organization of industrial companies - “even if they don’t want to, although in captivity.”
The government also sought to regulate small-scale production. In order to expand exports, for example, the production of narrow cloth, which was not in sufficient demand abroad, was prohibited; specialists were brought in to train tanners in improved methods of leather processing. An important measure was the organization of craft workshops. In the early 30s of the 18th century. in Russia there were up to 15 thousand guild artisans, more than half of them in Moscow (8.5 thousand).
Russian guild legislation, unlike Western European legislation, regulated the production process less strictly, did not limit the number of journeymen and apprentices, and allowed peasants to engage in crafts. The absolutist state created workshops with the aim of improving the skills of small producers and for more convenient distribution of government orders among them.
The government's concerns about the development of manufactories were expressed primarily in its efforts to provide them with forced labor. Already in the 17th century. Due to the lack of hired workers, the government took the path of assigning palace peasants to factories. In the first quarter of the 18th century. new forms of providing industry with labor appeared. In 1721, the owners of manufactories were given the opportunity to buy serf peasants for factories (such peasants were later called possessions); In addition, they were allowed to keep runaway peasants “until decree”; finally, those convicted of various crimes, as well as homeless people and prisoners of war were sent to work in factories. Legislation to provide enterprises with labor for assigned workers, as well as serfs and workers, is a characteristic feature of Russian mercantilism. The labor of assigned peasants was paid at reduced rates established by the government.
Thus, in Russia, as in other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, a special type of manufactory has developed. In terms of technical equipment, division of labor, relations with the market, Russian manufactories of the 18th century. were not much different from the manufactories of capitalist England. The Ural blast furnaces were even superior in size and productivity to the English ones. But the composition of the labor force in Russian manufactories was more complex than in large enterprises in England and even in feudal-absolutist France, where serfdom had long disappeared. Some Russian manufactories, especially in metallurgy, were completely serviced by forced labor. At other enterprises, along with hired workers, serf workers also worked. Finally, the third group of manufactories, mainly in light industry, employed mainly hired people. It was the manufactories of this group that laid the foundation for capitalist production relations in industry.
The provision of various privileges to manufacturers also had political significance, since by this absolutism firmly connected the emerging bourgeoisie with the feudal-serf system. The owners of manufactories dreamed of nothing with such desire as receiving a noble title, and with it broader rights to exploit serf labor.
Domestic and foreign trade
Based on the further development of the social division of labor, the growth of manufactures, small-scale commodity production and the increased specialization of agriculture, internal trade expanded. Moscow remained the center of the all-Russian market. Fairs remained of great importance, especially Makaryevskaya, Svenskaya, Arkhangelogorodskaya and others. Goods were brought to these centers from all over the country.
The increase in trade turnover was facilitated by the construction of canals: in 1703, the construction of the Vyshnevolotsk Canal began, connecting the Volga basin with the Baltic Sea. The cheap waterway opened up wide opportunities for the delivery of goods to St. Petersburg and from there abroad. Construction of a bypass canal began around the stormy Lake Ladoga, completed in the second quarter of the 18th century; projects for a number of other canals were developed (though they remained unimplemented), including connecting the Volga with the Don and the Moscow River with the Volga.
The annexation of the Baltic coast changed the direction of Russia's foreign trade. The importance of Arkhangelsk and the route through the White Sea fell. In 1726, half of all Russian goods sent to Western Europe were already exported through St. Petersburg alone. The main item exported were agricultural products: hemp, flax, leather. What was new in the structure of Russian exports was the export of manufactured goods abroad. In 1726, over 55 thousand pounds of iron and more than 10 million yards of linen were exported abroad. Among the imported goods, luxury goods predominated, consumed mainly by the nobility: wine, sugar, silk and woolen fabrics. About the great growth of foreign trade in the first quarter of the 18th century. can be judged by the following data: in 1701, 103 foreign ships arrived in Arkhangelsk; in 1725, 914 ships arrived in the Russian ports of the Baltic Sea - St. Petersburg, Narva, Riga, Revel (Tallinn), Vyborg, and 12 - in Arkhangelsk.
Russia has achieved success in its mercantilist policy - it has increased its trade surplus. Export of goods through St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk and Riga in 1726 amounted to 4.2 million rubles, and import - 2.1 million. This was largely facilitated by the customs tariff imbued with protectionist principles, issued in 1724. In the interests of Russian industry, high taxes were imposed duties on goods already produced on a large scale within the country. Duties from foreigners were collected in efimki, that is, in foreign currency accepted at a reduced rate. This doubled the duty and helped attract precious metals into the country. The highest duty (75%) was levied on imported iron, canvas, silk fabrics, braids, ribbons, needles, turpentine, wax, etc. A high protective duty (50%) was also imposed on the import of Dutch linen, velvet, drawn and spinning silver, kart. A more moderate duty was imposed on goods that, although produced in Russia, were in insufficient quantities, such as woolen fabrics (except for cloth) and writing paper. Only a 10 percent duty was levied on goods not produced in the country. A duty of 3% was established on Russian goods exported from Russia, with the exception of industrial raw materials or semi-finished products (for example, wool and linen yarn), which were subject to a prohibitive duty “for what is needed in Russian factories.” Trading companies were established to strengthen trade. They were often created forcibly. For example, in the decree on organizing a company for trade with Spain, it was noted that “coercion is necessary.”
City and urban population
In the first quarter of the 18th century. There are significant changes in the composition and size of the urban population. Recruitment and the growth of state duties caused a temporary decline in the urban population, who fled, like the peasants, to the outskirts. At the same time, in cities such as Kazan, Tula and especially Moscow, where there were about 30 manufactories, the stratum of working people among the population increased. The development of manufactories is associated with the emergence of new types of settlements, which later became cities - Yekaterinburg in the Urals, Petrozavodsk in Karelia, Lipetsk in the Voronezh province, etc.
In 1703 St. Petersburg was founded. It was built in difficult conditions by tens of thousands of soldiers and peasants driven from all over the country. The new city was populated by artisans and merchants who were forcibly transferred from other commercial and industrial centers. St. Petersburg differed from the old cities, which were built up randomly with wooden buildings, by its strict street layout, stone houses, pavements and street lighting. With the move of the royal court here in 1712, St. Petersburg became the official capital of the state; it was a seaport, a “window to Europe,” a cultural, commercial and industrial center. The Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg, the largest enterprise in Russia, employed over 10 thousand workers.
The increased economic role of the merchants and the city was reflected in urban reform. Back in 1667, the government promised to organize a “Decent Order”, which would “be a protection and control for the merchant people from the voivodship taxes.” It took, however, over 30 years to realize this intention. By decree of 1699, the Burmister Chamber was created in Moscow, soon renamed the Town Hall, and in other cities - zemstvo huts. These were bodies of city government that were not subordinate to local governors and administrative institutions in the center. The urban reform was motivated by the fact that merchants “suffered losses and ruin from many administrative red tape and oppression.” But the main goal of the reform was to transform the Town Hall and zemstvo huts into responsible collectors of customs and tavern money. As soon as in connection with the provincial reform of 1708-1710. the need for financial and administrative services of the merchants decreased, the government subordinated the city government bodies to the regional administration.
The cities received a new administrative structure in 1720 with the formation of the Chief Magistrate in St. Petersburg and magistrates in the cities. The regulations of the Chief Magistrate reflected changes in the social structure of the urban population, but framed these changes in a feudal manner. He divided the inhabitants of the town into “regular” citizens consisting of two guilds, which included merchants and guild artisans, and “irregular” or “mean” people, i.e. unskilled workers and factory workers. The latter represented the disadvantaged mass of the urban population, deprived of the right to participate in elections of self-government bodies. Social differences were also sharply reflected among “regular” citizens. General township assemblies, at which elections of city bodies took place, represented an arena of fierce struggle between the top of the nascent bourgeoisie and the small craft people. The government focused on the rich strata of citizens, proposing to elect “the efficient and best people among the merchants” to city bodies. Thus, in the social structure of Russian society, along with the old classes-estates - the peasantry and the nobility - elements of new classes began to take shape: factory workers (pre-proletariat) and the bourgeoisie (manufacturers, elite artisans, merchants, etc.). The latter received a class organization with very significant privileges, which fenced it off from the “vile” people.
As a result of reforms that accelerated the pace of social, economic and cultural development, Russia largely overcame its lag behind the advanced states of Western Europe, which had a strong impact in the 17th century. But its successes should be considered relative. Thus, the size of the urban population, which is one of the indicators of the level of social division of labor, according to the first audit, reached only 3%.
3. The struggle of the masses against feudal oppression
At the beginning of the 18th century. Large anti-feudal protests of the masses unfolded in Russia. The first decade of this century marks the most intense period of the Northern War, when the population especially suffered from the continuous increase in taxes and intensive recruitment. Military teams on the ground collected taxes imposed by the government; many people sought salvation from the oppression of the landowners and the tsarist administration by fleeing to the outskirts, to the Don and Lower Volga region, where the main centers of uprisings arose.
Astrakhan uprising 1705-1706
Astrakhan was a major commercial and industrial center, a transit point, where, along with Russian merchants, Indian, Iranian, Central Asian and Armenian merchants conducted brisk trade. Fishing, salt production and shipping attracted many newcomers to Astrakhan, who became barge haulers, rowers and working people. The Astrakhan garrison numbered more than 3,500 people, among whom were many disgraced archers exiled from Moscow.
The impetus for the uprising was the brutal forms of tax collection and abuse of the local administration, especially the governor T.I. Rzhevsky. The voivode used the archers for personal services and in barbaric ways forced the population to comply with decrees on shaving their beards and wearing Western European dress. The initiators of the uprising were archers and soldiers, and the city population also joined them.
The uprising began on the night of July 30, 1705. The “initial people” and foreign officers were killed. Instead of the murdered governor Rzhevsky, the rebels elected their own administration, headed by the Yaroslavl merchant Yakov Nosov and the Astrakhan resident Gavrila Ganchikov. The Circle ordered the abolition of numerous newly introduced taxes. Salaries were distributed to the archers and soldiers from the confiscated treasury. Soon the uprising engulfed the military towns of Krasny Yar and Guryev, where the Astrakhan circle sent detachments of archers. The rebels tried to raise the Don Cossacks. However, the military circle in Cherkessk refused to join the uprising. Moreover, 2 thousand Cossacks were sent from Cherkassk to help government troops. The rebels made an attempt to expand the area of the uprising by attracting the cities of the Volga region. In August 1705, the Astrakhan people sent a detachment to Tsaritsyn, inviting the garrison and residents to come over to their side, but the latter refused to join the uprising, and the detachment returned to Astrakhan with nothing.
To suppress the uprising, military units were allocated under the command of Field Marshal Sheremetev. On March 13, 1706, they captured the city in battle. Over 300 Astrakhan residents were executed, many participants in the uprising were exiled to Siberia.
Uprising on the Don 1707-1708
Following the suppression of the Astrakhan uprising, unrest began on the Don. In 1707, a punitive detachment under the command of Prince Yu. V. Dolgoruky arrived on the Don to search for and return fugitive peasants. He acted with incredible cruelty and caused severe discontent among the population. Newly arrived people and salt workers from the Bakhmut fields, led by Kondraty Bulavin, attacked Dolgoruky’s detachment and completely destroyed it. Expanding the area of the uprising, Bulavin moved to Cossack settlements along the tributaries of the Don (Medveditsa and Khopru), where he defeated other groups of the punitive detachment. Loyal to the tsarist government, the lower-ranking Cossacks sent troops to the area of the uprising. It defeated the rebel forces. Bulavin hid in Ukraine, in Zaporozhye, from where he sent out “charming” letters (proclamations) calling on him to “beat” the boyars and governors. These calls were close and understandable to the masses: “We don’t care about the rabble, we care about the boyars and those who do lies.” The appeals found a wide response among the Cossacks of the upper Don, Zaporozhye Cossacks and peasants of neighboring counties - Tambov, Kozlov and Voronezh. When Bulavin reappeared on Khoper in the spring of 1708, the number of rebels reached several thousand people.
The government sent a 7,000-strong detachment to the Don, replenished with mobilized nobles, as well as Don Cossacks led by their military ataman. But the Cossacks of the cities located in the upper reaches of the Don betrayed the government and went over to the side of the rebels. In April 1708, the Bulavinians without a fight captured the center of the Don Cossacks - Cherkasy, where they executed the military chieftain along with five elders. Bulavin was elected military chieftain.
In Cherkassk, the rebel army was divided into several detachments, of which one went to meet the advancing tsarist troops, the other two were sent to the Volga region, and the main forces went to Azov. The fragmentation of the forces of the rebels weakened them and accelerated the defeat of the uprising. After the unsuccessful attempt of the Bulavinites to seize Azov, the lower-class wealthy Cossacks, who temporarily joined the uprising, organized a conspiracy against Bulavin in Cherkassk. He was killed or, according to other news, surrounded by conspirators, he shot himself.
At the end of July, government troops, having defeated scattered rebel forces, approached Cherkassk. The lower-ranking Cossacks confessed and handed over active participants in the uprising. The Bulavinians fought their last major battle in October, but were defeated and almost completely exterminated.
After the pacification of the Don, pockets of uprising arose in many districts of Russia. Gavrila Starchenko’s detachment operated successfully on the Volga. In some central districts, the rebels burned landowners' estates, drove out officials, dealt with landowners and created their own administration.
The disunited actions of the rebels, their poor organization, and the general spontaneous nature of the movement made its defeat inevitable. Nevertheless, the uprising of 1707-1708. showed the readiness of the masses to fight against the strengthening of feudal exploitation.
Uprising in Bashkiria in 1705-1711.
In 1705, an uprising began in Bashkiria, which lasted until 1711. The inclusion of Bashkiria into the Russian state (back in the 16th century) had progressive significance for the Bashkir people. Economic and cultural ties with the Russian people contributed to the development of productive forces among the Bashkirs and accelerated the transition from a semi-nomadic economy to sedentism and agriculture. The closer the Bashkirs lived to Russian settlements, the more developed their agriculture was. However, the tsarist government and local authorities pursued a colonial policy in Bashkiria, mercilessly exacted taxes, and sometimes demanded excessive duties.
The impetus for the uprising was the attempt of profit-makers who came to Ufa in 1704 to collect new emergency taxes, as well as the demand to send a thousand people to replenish the army and 5 thousand horses. All this was accompanied by violence and abuse of the Bashkirs by tsarist officials.
The Bashkir uprising was an expression of protest against the colonial policies of tsarism. But the Bashkir feudal lords, using their influence, directed the masses to fight not only against tsarist officials and punitive detachments, but also against the Russian working population. Hundreds of Russian villages were devastated, many peasants were captured and sold into slavery. During the uprising, the Bashkir feudal lords sent embassies to Turkey and Crimea, where they negotiated the transition to the power of the Crimean Khan.
Armed forces were sent to Bashkiria and suppressed this uprising.
4. Affirmation of absolutism
Transformation of central and local government
Absolutism in Russia took shape in the second half of the 17th century, but its final approval and formalization dates back to the first quarter of the 18th century. The absolute monarchy exercised the dominance of the nobility in the presence of the emerging bourgeois class. Absolutism also enjoyed the support of merchants and manufacturers, who increased their wealth thanks to the benefits received and the encouragement of trade and industry.
The establishment of absolutism was accompanied by increased centralization and bureaucratization of the state apparatus and the creation of a regular army and navy.
There were two stages in the implementation of public administration reforms. The first of them covers 1699-1711 - from the creation of the Burmister Chamber, or Town Hall, and the first regional reform to the establishment of the Senate. Administrative transformations of this period were carried out hastily, without a clearly developed plan.
The second stage falls on calmer years, when the most difficult period of the Northern War was left behind. The transformation at this stage was preceded by long and systematic preparation: the government structure of Western European states was studied; With the participation of foreign legal experts, regulations for new institutions were drawn up. When compiling them, Swedish regulations were used, appropriately revised and supplemented in relation to Russian conditions. Peter I warned: “Which points in the Swedish regulations are inconvenient or are not similar to the situation of this state, put them according to your own judgment.” In carrying out reforms, Peter I showed outstanding abilities, exceptional energy and persistence in implementing his plans.
Legislative acts of the early 18th century. secured the unlimited nature of royal power: “His Royal Majesty is an autocratic monarch who cannot give an answer to anyone in the world about his affairs.” Instead of the Boyar Duma, which by this time had reduced its composition, the Governing Senate was established. Initially, the Senate was created as the supreme governing body during the absence of the tsar, who personally participated in the Prut campaign, but then it turned into a higher bureaucratic institution, directly subordinate to the tsar. Unlike the Boyar Duma, which was staffed on the basis of nobility, the Senate consisted of a few (9 people) proxies appointed by the tsar regardless of their nobility.
The Senate prepared new laws, was in charge of the entire system of central and local government, was engaged in recruiting the army and navy and collecting taxes. Simultaneously with the Senate, the institution of fiscals was established to secretly supervise the execution of decrees. Fiscals in cities and provinces were subordinate to the chief fiscal of the Senate.
After the organization of the Senate, the old orders began to be replaced by new central institutions - collegiums. The collegial system differed from the order system primarily in the more strict distribution of responsibilities between central departments. If before that dozens of different orders were in charge of collecting taxes and their distribution, then since the organization of the collegiums, the main budget items were under the jurisdiction of two institutions - the Chamber Collegium and the State Office Collegium. As part of the new collegial system, previously absent institutions appeared that were in charge of justice, industry and trade. In the boards, each of which consisted of ten people (president, vice-president, four advisers and four of their assistants - assessors), all decisions were made not individually, but by a majority vote. Unlike orders, the competence of the boards on a certain range of issues extended to the entire country.
In 1718-1721 11 boards were created. Collegiums - Military, Admiralty and Foreign Affairs constituted the group of “three first state collegiums”. The Chamber Board was in charge of expenses, and the State Office Board was in charge of state revenues. The Audit Board exercised financial control. Trade and industry were under the jurisdiction of the Berg College, the Manufacturer College and the Commerce College. The College of Justice was in charge of the courts and served as an appellate authority for them. The Patrimonial Collegium, which replaced the Local Prikaz, protected the ownership rights of the nobility to land and serfs.
Initially, all college presidents were members of the Senate. But already in 1722, Peter I admitted that “this was done inadvertently at first,” because such a composition of the Senate made it impossible to control the work of the collegiums and contradicted the principle of subordination of lower institutions to higher ones. The presidents of most colleges, with the exception of the “three first”, were removed from the Senate. In the same year, Peter established the highest position in the state - prosecutor general. In the founding decree, the Prosecutor General is called “like our eye and attorney on state affairs.” He was instructed to “closely monitor” the activities of the Senate and all government agencies.
Local institutions were also transformed. The old fractional division of the country into districts, subordinated directly to orders located in the capital, did not satisfy the new needs of the state. According to the new administrative division introduced after the suppression of the uprising on the Don, larger units were established - provinces. The country was divided into eight provinces (Arkhangelsk, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Smolensk, Kiev, Kazan, Azov and Siberian) headed by governors who had broad military, financial and police powers. Subordinate to the governors were officials in charge of certain branches of government (the chief commandant, who was responsible for the state of military affairs, the chief commissar, who was in charge of collecting cash and in-kind taxes, etc.).
The second regional reform (1719) made the province, smaller than the province, the main unit of administration. There were about fifty such provinces. The division into provinces was preserved, but only military affairs remained in the power of the governors, and on other issues the provincial governors communicated directly with the central institutions. The provinces into which Russia was divided under the second regional reform were distant predecessors of the provinces organized under Catherine II. Officials of provincial and provincial institutions, as well as members of the collegiums, were appointed from among the nobles and formed an expensive bureaucratic management machine.
Reorganization of the army and creation of the navy
Along with the transformations of the administrative apparatus, a newly organized regular army and navy were created - a military stronghold of absolutism. The reorganization of the army began with the development of a new military charter (1698) and the creation of guards and regular regiments. The archers who performed three times (in 1682, 1689 and 1698), according to Peter, “were truly only pranksters, not warriors” and did not inspire confidence in the tsar either militarily or politically. In 1699, the government produced the first set of recruits for permanent combat service in regular regiments, one person each from a certain number of peasant and township households. 27 infantry regiments were formed from recruits. In addition to the special military educational institutions organized during these years, the guards regiments, Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky, were a kind of school for training officers, in which noblemen served as privates, after which they were appointed officers to field regiments.
Under Peter I, 53 recruitments were carried out. By 1725, the field army (infantry, cavalry, artillery) numbered about 130 thousand people, not counting garrison and irregular troops.
Access to the Azov and Baltic Seas made it possible to begin creating a navy. In 1703, a shipyard began operating on the Svir River. Here, in August of the same year, the first-born of the Baltic Fleet, the frigate “Standard,” was launched. Soon other ships began to leave the slipways of the Admiralty Shipyard in St. Petersburg. By 1724, the Russian fleet had become the most powerful in the Baltic.
Church governance reform
The establishment of absolutism significantly changed the position of the church. The government has been since the 16th century. began to take measures to limit the growth of land ownership and the number of peasants in spiritual feudal lords, bearing in mind the interests of secular land ownership. However, the church and monasteries in the first quarter of the 18th century. still owned about a fifth of the country's rural population. The policy of subordination of the spiritual hierarchy to secular power in the first quarter of the 18th century. carried out more decisively than before. In 1701, Peter carried out a partial secularization of church property, for which he restored the Monastic Prikaz, which administered the monastic estates through secular officials. From this time on, a significant part of the income from the monastic estates went to the national treasury.
Instead of patriarchal power, following the model of secular colleges, a Spiritual College was established to govern the church, later renamed the Holy Synod. Members of the Synod, as well as other collegiums, were appointed by the tsar. This reform completed the subordination of the church to secular power.
The case of Tsarevich Alexei
Dissatisfied with the reforms, the circles of the clergy and nobility pinned their hopes on Tsarevich Alexei. This weak-willed and inactive heir to the throne became a tool in the hands of a reactionary group of boyars who sought to return to the old order and abandon active foreign policy and government reforms. The Tsarevich said: “When I become a sovereign, I will live in Moscow, and I will leave Petersburg as a simple city, I will not keep ships... I will live in Moscow in the winter, and in Yaroslavl in the summer.”
Peter repeatedly suggested that his son either actively participate in government affairs or become a monk. Alexey, following the advice of one of his closest supporters, A. Kikin, agreed to be tonsured. Kikin told the prince that “the hood is not nailed to the head” and, if necessary, it can be removed. Then Alexei adopted another plan: counting on the support of Emperor Charles VI (Alexey was married to the empress’s sister), he fled to Vienna in 1717, but the following year, at the insistence of Peter I, he was taken to Russia. An investigation began that revealed the plans of the prince and his accomplices. A special court consisting of the generals, the Senate and the Synod sentenced the prince to death.
The failure of the conspiracy was not accidental. The defeat of the boyar opposition indicated that the reforms of Peter I met the interests of the bulk of the nobility.
5. Northern War. Russian foreign policy in the first quarter of the 18th century.
The main task of Russian foreign policy after the Azov campaigns was the capture of the shores of the Baltic Sea, which were in the power of the Swedes. Back at the beginning of the 17th century. Sweden captured ancient Russian lands along the Neva River and closed access to the sea. The turn in Russian foreign policy found expression in the alliance of Peter I with the Saxon Elector Augustus, who then occupied the Polish throne, and with the Danish king to fight Sweden (Northern Alliance). In January 1699, an agreement was reached in Karlowice on a two-year Russian-Turkish truce. On July 3, 1700, in Istanbul (Constantinople), the Russian ambassador E.I. Ukraintsev concluded a peace treaty with Turkey, which had renounced Azov. As soon as the courier delivered this news to Moscow, Russian troops were moved to the Swedish border.
Beginning of the Northern War
The beginning of the war was unsuccessful for the participants of the Northern Alliance. The Swedish king Charles XII unexpectedly landed a 15,000-strong landing force near Copenhagen and forced Denmark to withdraw from the war. Russia's second ally, the Polish king Augustus II, unsuccessfully attempted to capture Riga, a strong fortress in the hands of the Swedes. Russian military operations began with the siege of Narva. Charles XII, having signed a peace treaty with Denmark in Travendal, hastily transferred troops to Narva and in November 1700 suddenly attacked the Russians. The poor training of the noble cavalry and the newly formed infantry, as well as the betrayal of foreign officers, led to the defeat of the Russian troops.
Narva, according to Marx, “was the first serious defeat of a rising nation, which knew how to turn even defeats into instruments of victory” ( K. Marx, A Retrospective View of the Crimean Campaign, K. Marx and F. Engels, Works, vol. 10, p. 589.). After the loss of almost all artillery near Narva, feverish construction of new industrial enterprises began. In the Urals in 1701-1704. The country's four largest metallurgical plants began producing iron, cast iron, cannons and cannonballs. Closer to the theater of military operations, in the area of the Olonets and Belozersk ore deposits, five metallurgical and weapons factories were built. At the same time, the construction of manufactories began that were supposed to provide the army with uniforms and equipment - tanneries, belt factories, cloth factories, etc. This made it possible to quickly eliminate the severe consequences of the defeat near Narva and speed up the formation of a regular army. The February decree of 1705 determined the rules for recruiting recruits and completed the design of the recruitment system. Starting from 1705, an annual replenishment of more than 30 thousand people was envisaged; every 20-30 peasant and township households were supposed to supply one recruit. The rank and file of the army was replenished with peasants and townspeople, officer positions were occupied by nobles who underwent special training in educational institutions organized during these years or in guards regiments. The recruitment of the army and navy on the basis of conscription quickly increased the size of the armed forces, reaching 113 thousand people in 1708 instead of 40 thousand available at the beginning of the war.
Charles XII, believing that the Russian armed forces were finished at Narva, sent his troops against the third member of the Northern Alliance, Polish King Augustus II. But while, in the words of Peter I, “the Swede got stuck in Poland,” the recovered Russian troops began to win one victory after another. Following the capture in 1702 of the Noteburg fortress (renamed by Peter to Shlisselburg, the ancient Russian Oreshek), located at the exit of the Neva from Lake Ladoga, the Russians took the Nyenschanz fortress at the confluence of the Neva into the sea; On May 16, 1703, construction began on the Peter and Paul Fortress, which laid the foundation for St. Petersburg. The security of St. Petersburg from the sea was ensured by the Kronstadt Fortress built on the island of Kotlin. Having examined it, Peter ordered “to maintain this stronghold with God’s help, if it happens, even to the last man.” In 1704, Russian troops besieged Narva for the second time and took it.
To assist Poland in its fight against the Swedes, the Russian command concentrated its army in 1706 near Grodno. Charles XII, approaching Grodno, threatened to cut off the Russian troops. With a skillful maneuver developed by Peter I, Russian troops emerged from the trap set by the Swedes and were withdrawn to Ukraine without losses. Meanwhile, the Polish-Saxon troops were defeated, and in September 1706, Charles XII forced Augustus II to conclude the Peace of Altranstadt, according to which Poland and Saxony renounced the alliance with Russia, and Augustus II was deprived of the Polish crown, retaining only the Saxon electorate, thus the Northern the union no longer existed and Russia had to wage further struggle with Sweden alone. The most intense and at the same time the most brilliant period for Russian weapons of the Northern War began.
The Battle of Poltava and its historical significance
Charles XII hoped to bring Russia to its knees without much difficulty. In the fall of 1707, Swedish troops began their march to the east with the goal of invading Russian borders and marching on Moscow.
Charles XII's campaign of conquest ended, however, in complete failure. The Russian army by this time had become much stronger than at the beginning of the war. The enemy met resistance not only from the army; partisan detachments arose, smashing the enemy's rear and striking at small detachments of Swedes.
Conducting defensive battles, the Russian army in 1708 retreated to the borders of Russia. The Swedes' attempts to force a general battle on the Russians under unfavorable conditions for the latter were unsuccessful. Fierce defensive battles waged by Russian troops forced Charles XII to change the invasion plan. Instead of going through Smolensk to Moscow, he was forced to adopt a plan of a roundabout movement and go to Ukraine, where the traitor Hetman Mazepa was waiting for him. The Swedish corps under the command of A. Levenhaupt, located near Riga, was also supposed to arrive there, intended to replenish the battle-worn troops of Charles XII. But this strategic plan of the Swedish king also failed. Mazepa managed to bring only about 2 thousand people to Charles XII, some of whom were also deceived and believed that they were going on a campaign against the Swedes. The Ukrainian people remained faithful to the alliance with the Russian people and did not follow the hetman. Ukrainian peasants and townspeople provided significant assistance to the Russian army with bold raids on enemy troops and staunch defense of a number of cities. Levenhaupt's corps also failed to fulfill its task. In the battle near the village of Lesnoy on September 28, 1708, he was completely defeated; more than 8 thousand Swedes died; the entire convoy and artillery fell into Russian hands. Instead of the expected reinforcements, Charles XII received 5-6 thousand demoralized soldiers. The brilliant victory near Lesnaya, which took place nine months before the battle of Poltava, was later called by Peter I “the mother of the Poltava battle.”
Since April 1709, the main forces of the Swedish army were concentrated near Poltava. The heroic defense of this city by the garrison and population under the command of Colonel A.S. Kelin pinned down the enemy forces and made it possible to concentrate Russian troops near Poltava. The battlefield, 5 versts from Poltava, was fortified by order of Peter I with earthen redoubts in order to delay the first onslaught of the Swedes. The Russian army was by this time well trained, had excellent artillery and numbered 42 thousand people, while Charles XII had about 30 thousand at his disposal. The battle began early in the morning of June 27, 1709 with a Swedish attack on earthen redoubts that protected the approaches to the Russian camp . At the most critical moment of the battle, Peter rushed forward with the battalion of the Novgorod regiment. Unable to withstand the onslaught, the Swedes began a retreat, which turned into a disorderly flight. They left over 9 thousand corpses on the battlefield, and about 3 thousand people were captured. “The invincible Swedes soon showed their backbone,” wrote Peter from the battlefield in a report about the Poltava victory. The victory was celebrated on the same day with a feast in the royal tent with the participation of captured Swedish generals. The remnants of the defeated army, led by the wounded Charles XII, fled to the Dnieper, where on June 30 Menshikov overtook them at Perevolochna. About 17 thousand Swedes surrendered to the 9 thousand-strong Russian detachment. Charles XII, together with Mazepa and a small detachment, escaped captivity and took refuge in Turkish possessions, in the city of Bendery.
The defeat of the first-class Swedish army at Poltava at that time radically changed the military and foreign policy situation. Engels wrote: “...Charles XII made an attempt to penetrate inside Russia; with this he destroyed Sweden and showed everyone the invulnerability of Russia" ( F. Engels, Foreign policy of Russian tsarism, K. Marx and F. Engels, Works, T. XVI, part II, p. 9.).
As a result of the Poltava victory in the fall of 1709, Russia's ally Augustus II was restored to the Polish throne. Denmark re-entered the coalition, and Prussia joined it. Thus, the Northern Alliance was restored and even expanded thanks to the successes of Russian weapons.
The most important result of the Poltava victory was the consolidation of Russian conquests in the Baltic states, which could no longer be threatened by the Swedish army. According to Peter I, after the defeat of the Swedish army, “the foundation stone of St. Petersburg was completely laid.” Following Poltava, Russian troops won a number of victories in the Baltic states. In 1710, Riga, Revel, Vyborg and Kexholm were taken.
Prut campaign
After the Poltava victory, Türkiye renewed the peace treaty with Russia in November 1709. But then Russian-Turkish relations deteriorated again. Charles XII tried to restore the Turkish government against Russia. The naval powers, England and Holland, as well as the Empire, acted in the same direction, interested in weakening Russia, tying up its forces in the south and avoiding its influence on the course of the War of the Spanish Succession. In addition, Turkey was dissatisfied with the presence of Russian troops in Poland, close to the Turkish borders, and feared Russia's transformation into a maritime power with a strong fleet on the Sea of Azov.
A year after the renewal of the peace treaty, in November 1710, the Turkish government imprisoned the Russian ambassador in the Seven Tower Castle (prison in Istanbul) and declared war on Russia. In January 1711, the Crimean Tatars invaded Russian lands and the territory of Right Bank Ukraine.
Peter I hoped to win over the Christian and Slavic population of the Balkan Peninsula to his side. Manifestos of Peter I with a call to rebel against the Turkish yoke were distributed in Serbia, and 30 thousand rebels were ready to join the Russians. The Moldavian ruler D. Cantemir went over to the side of Russia. But the Wallachian ruler K. Brankovan remained on the side of the Turks and prevented the Serbs from uniting with the Russian army.
Russian troops led by Peter I were drawn to the borders of Moldova. In difficult conditions, in extreme heat, and lacking food, they reached the river. Prut. Here, in early July 1711, they met with numerically superior forces of the Turks and Tatars under the command of the great vizier Baltaji Mehmed Pasha: there were 38 thousand Russians, and 188 thousand Turks and Tatars. The position of the Russian troops was extremely difficult, but and the Turks failed to realize their advantage. In the battle that took place on July 9, the Turks suffered heavy losses, and the Janissaries demanded that the Grand Vizier begin peace negotiations. Peter sent Vice-Chancellor P.P. Shafirov to the Turkish camp, and on July 12, 1711, a peace treaty was concluded. It contained difficult conditions for Russia: the return of Azov to the Turks, the obligation to raze fortresses in the South, etc. Nevertheless, in the current situation, the Prut Peace had a positive meaning for Russia, since it freed up its armed forces to continue military operations in the main theater of war - in the Baltic states.
Continuation of the Northern War
The failure of the Prut Campaign did not have a significant impact on the favorable course of the Northern War for Russia. The defeat suffered by the Swedes near Poltava was so crushing that after that they could no longer restore their former power. Now military operations unfolded far from the Russian borders - in the Swedish province of Pomerania, where in 1713 Russian troops, despite the indecisive actions of their allies (Danes and Saxons), defeated the Swedes near Stettin, and in Finland, where in the same year the Russians captured Helsingfors (Helsinki) and Abo (Turku).
By this time, the struggle at sea, where the Swedes had a strong navy, had acquired paramount importance. But the Russian fleet already had a considerable number of ships, especially galleys. A large naval battle took place at Cape Gangut on July 27, 1714. The fierce battle ended with the surrender of the Swedish squadron led by Admiral Ehrenschild. The Battle of Gangut was essential for establishing the dominance of the Russian fleet in the Baltic Sea.
Nystadt Peace
The successes of Russian troops in Finland and on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, as well as the victory of the Russian fleet in the Baltic waters and the threat of transferring hostilities to the territory of Sweden itself forced Charles XII to enter into peace negotiations. This was also facilitated by the negotiations conducted by Peter I and Russian diplomats who went abroad with him in 1716. In August 1717, after Peter I visited Paris, an alliance treaty was concluded in Amsterdam between Russia, France and Prussia. France promised its mediation to conclude peace between Russia and Sweden and at the same time pledged to renounce its alliance with Sweden and stop paying it cash subsidies. The Treaty of Amsterdam weakened Sweden's position and brought France closer to Russia. This prompted the Swedes to make concessions, and negotiations began in Holland between the Russian ambassador B.I. Kurakin and the Swedish representative, Holstein minister Hertz. As a result of these negotiations, on May 10, 1718, a peace congress opened on the Åland Islands. The draft treaty prepared at this congress satisfied the territorial demands of the Russian government. Ingria, Livonia, Estland and part of Karelia were to go to Russia; Russia agreed to Sweden's return to Finland, occupied by Russian troops. Sweden insisted on receiving an “equivalent” in the form of the return of Bremen and Verden, taken from it during the Northern War and annexed to Hanover. Russia agreed to provide the Swedes with military assistance for the war against Hanover, and therefore against England, since the Elector of Hanover, George I, was the English king. However, in November 1718, Charles XII was killed during the siege of a fortress in Norway, and opponents of peace with Russia gained the upper hand in Sweden. The Åland Congress dragged on, and then the negotiations were interrupted.
The English government achieved the conclusion of a convention between Sweden and Hanover in 1719, according to which Sweden ceded Bremen and Verdun to Hanover, and for this England entered into an alliance with Sweden against Russia. In the summer of 1719, in accordance with the treaty, an English squadron under the command of Admiral Norris entered the Baltic Sea for a surprise attack on the Russian fleet, but the British failed to take the Russians by surprise. Under pressure from England, Prussia signed a treaty with Sweden in 1720 and broke the alliance with Russia. In the same year, the English fleet entered the Baltic Sea for the second time. Nevertheless, the Russian squadron defeated the Swedes at Grengam, after which troops were landed on the Swedish coast. In 1721, the English squadron again tried to attack the Russian fleet in the Baltic Sea and was also unsuccessful. All this forced the British to recommend that the Swedish government resume peace negotiations.
The peace congress opened in Nystadt in Finland in April 1721. Here Russia achieved the acceptance of all its territorial demands put forward at the Åland Congress, and even with smaller concessions on its part.
The Treaty of Nystadt, signed on August 30, 1721, was a huge success for Russia. “Eternal, true and indestructible peace” and friendship between Russia and Sweden were established. Ingria, part of Karelia, Estland, Livonia with the sea coast from Vyborg to Riga and the islands of Ezel, Dago and Moon were transferred to Russia into “eternal possession” and “property”. Russia pledged to return Finland to the Swedes, pay 2 million efimki and refused to support the contender for the Swedish throne - the Duke of Holstein, the fiancé of Peter I's daughter Anna.
The Peace of Nystadt brought important changes to the balance of power in Europe. Sweden has lost its importance as a great power. The treaty consolidated Russia's successes achieved through victories in a long and difficult war. The most important task of Russian foreign policy, set back in the 16th-17th centuries, was solved - access to the Baltic Sea was acquired. Russia received a number of first-class ports and thus placed its trade relations with Western Europe in favorable conditions. The significance of the Nystadt Peace was very great for strengthening the country’s defense capability: the northwestern borders of Russia moved far to the west and from land became sea; A powerful Russian navy appeared in the Baltic Sea. Before the negotiations in Nystadt, Menshikov told the French representative Compradon: “We no longer want to have clashes with our neighbors, and for this we need to be separated by the sea.” Subsequently, Compradon, who became the French ambassador in St. Petersburg, noted that “the Treaty of Nystadt made him (Peter I) the ruler of the two best ports on the Baltic Sea.”
Sweden abandoned the alliance with England and concluded an alliance treaty with Russia in 1724 with the obligation of mutual assistance in case of attack by another power (with the exception of Turkey). Subsequent attempts by Sweden to return the Baltic provinces were unsuccessful.
An external expression of the increased international importance of Russia and the establishment of absolutism was the proclamation by the Senate of Peter I as emperor in the same 1721. The Russian state began to be called the Russian Empire.
Estland and Livonia, which became part of the Russian Empire, were previously possessions of Sweden. The landowners here were German and Swedish feudal lords, and their serfs were Estonians and Latvians.
The annexation of the Baltic states to Russia put an end to the struggle of the northern powers for its possession. Economic, political and cultural ties between the Russian and Baltic lands were restored. This contributed to the further development of industry and trade in Estonia and Livonia. The local German nobility received great benefit from joining Russia, becoming the support of the Russian autocracy. It had enormous power over the dependent peasantry. The class privileges of the Baltic nobility were broader than the privileges of the Russian nobles: the Baltic nobles, according to the Treaty of Nystadt, retained class self-government and patrimonial police. In St. Petersburg, a special Justice Collegium and a Chamber Office for the Affairs of Estonia and Livonia were created.
Persian campaign. Liberation struggle of the peoples of Transcaucasia
Russia's policy in the Caspian Sea and Transcaucasia region was dictated by serious economic and political interests. Through Astrakhan, trade relations were established with the Central Asian khanates, as well as with Iran and Transcaucasia. On the other hand, Turkey, taking advantage of the weakening of Iran, sought to expand its borders in the Caucasus, which posed a threat to the Russians in the Caspian region. Armenians and Georgians have repeatedly asked the Russian government to accept them as Russian citizens for protection from Iranian and Turkish oppression. The end of the Northern War allowed Russia to intensify its policy in this area. In Central Asia, the Russian government failed. Back in 1716, A. Bekovich Cherkassky was entrusted with persuading the Khan of Khiva to Russian citizenship, and the Khan of Bukhara to friendship with Russia. After an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the Bekovich-Cherkassky expedition in open battle, the Khiva Khan decided to achieve this goal in a different way. He convinced Cherkassky to divide his armed forces into several parts, supposedly to better provide the troops with apartments and food. When this was done, the dismembered Russian detachments were subjected to a treacherous attack and were slaughtered.
In the first quarter of the 18th century. Russia's ties with the peoples of Transcaucasia are strengthening. Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan have long been objects of robbery and brutal exploitation for the Turks and Iranians. During frequent wars, Iranian and Turkish hordes, passing through these countries, left behind ashes in the place of cities and villages. Economic oppression and political lawlessness of the peoples of Transcaucasia were aggravated by religious persecution. To force Georgians and Armenians to convert to Islam, the Iranian shahs, for example, used the so-called law of Imam Jafar, according to which a family member who converted to Islam became the sole heir to the property of all his Christian relatives; Often people who converted to Islam were recognized as relatives of wealthy Christians on the basis of false testimony and appropriated their property.
At the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th century. Iran was experiencing a period of economic decline and political decentralization. One of the important factors in its weakening was the liberation struggle of the peoples of Transcaucasia.
The Russian government closely monitored developments in the Transcaucasian countries. It was aware of the situation in these countries in detail both through Russian and Armenian merchants, and especially through numerous envoys arriving from Georgia and Armenia in St. Petersburg with requests for help. The Russian government sought to prevent Azerbaijan, Eastern Georgia and Eastern Armenia from falling into the hands of a stronger Turkey, whose establishment on the western coast of the Caspian Sea would create an immediate threat to Russia's borders and Russian trade with the East. In addition, Peter I planned to direct Iran's foreign trade with Europe along the Volga transit route and ensure dominance in this trade for the Russian merchants. The Afghan invasion of Iran (1722) and the rise of the liberation movement in the countries of Transcaucasia created an extremely favorable environment for Russia to rise up. It was accelerated by the threat of a Turkish invasion of Iranian possessions.
In 1722, Peter I began his campaign in the Caucasus and Iran, which went down in history under the name of the Persian Campaign. In July, Russian troops set off from Astrakhan by land and sea to the south and in August captured Derbent without a fight. The appearance of Russian troops, their first successes and the manifesto of Peter I to the local population caused a new upsurge of the liberation movement.
In September, the Georgian king Vakhtang VI and his troops went to Ganja to join the military forces of the Armenian Catholicos Esai and troops of Azerbaijanis. They were supposed to establish contact with the Russians in Shamakhi. However, the expected meeting of Georgian, Armenian and Azerbaijani troops with the Russians did not take place, since the latter, due to lack of food and losses suffered from disease, returned to Astrakhan in the fall.
In 1723, Russian troops resumed the interrupted campaign and occupied Baku. The friendly attitude of the Azerbaijanis towards Russia was expressed in the fact that Russian troops, when entering Derbent, Baku and other cities, met resistance only from Iranian garrisons, while the local population provided them with support. From there, Russian troops moved to Gilan and captured Rasht.
In September 1723, an agreement was concluded with Iran in St. Petersburg, according to which the western and southern coasts of the Caspian Sea remained with Russia.
Taking advantage of the collapse of the Safavid state, Türkiye undertook the conquest of its Transcaucasian possessions. The peoples of Transcaucasia offered heroic resistance to the Turks, but the forces were unequal. The Turks barbarously exterminated the defenders of Tbilisi, Yerevan, and Tabriz. Russia, having just experienced a difficult Northern War, was not ready for a long struggle. Therefore, in 1724, the Russian government concluded the Treaty of Constantinople with Turkey, according to which the Sultan recognized Russia’s acquisitions in the Caspian region, and Russia recognized Turkey’s rights to Western Transcaucasia.
Thus, the Persian campaign of Peter I did not lead to the liberation of the peoples of Transcaucasia from the oppression of the Iranian and Turkish conquerors. Nevertheless, he contributed to the growth of Russian influence in Transcaucasia. The movement of the broad masses to join Russia developed with particular force in Armenia, where numerous appeals were drawn up to the Russian Tsar with a request to be accepted into Russian citizenship.
As a result of foreign policy successes, Russia's international importance has increased, it has taken a primary place in international life in Europe and Asia, and not a single important issue of European politics has been resolved without its participation.
6. Culture of Russia in the first quarter of the 18th century.
Science and school. Development of technology
The development of Russian culture under Peter I is closely connected with the changes that took place in economic life and with the transformations of the state apparatus. The establishment of manufactories, the construction of canals, and the creation of a navy required the training of specialists in various fields of science and technology. The regular army and navy and the new bureaucratic institutions needed trained officers and officials. Meanwhile, in the 17th century. training was still imbued with medieval religious ideology and was far from practical tasks.
In the first quarter of the 18th century. the work of education largely passes from the clergy to the state. Theology gives way to applied sciences. The noble minors were forced to master mathematics, engineering, shipbuilding and navigation techniques, fortification, etc. Some of them were sent to Western Europe for training.
In Moscow, in 1701, classes began at the Navigation and Artillery schools, where they studied engineering and artillery; later, in 1715, instead of the Navigation School, the Naval Academy was established in St. Petersburg. In 1712, an Engineering School opened in Moscow; Medical personnel were trained at the Medical School at the Moscow Hospital, where classes began in 1707.
In addition to the Maritime Academy and schools organized in the capitals, educational institutions, special and general education, were created in the provinces. At the Petrovsky factories in Karelia and the Urals, the first mining schools in Russia were organized, where qualified craftsmen were trained for the metallurgical industry. In many cities, digital (for townspeople), diocesan (for clergy) and garrison (for children of soldiers) schools arose. Educational literature was produced for schools - primers, manuals on mathematics and mechanics, manuals on military engineering. In 1703, the teacher of the Navigation School L. Magnitsky published the famous “Arithmetic”, which was used by more than one generation of Russian people to study.
In January 1703, the first printed newspaper, “Vedomosti about military and other affairs worthy of knowledge and memory that happened in the Moscow State and other surrounding countries,” began to be published in Moscow. Along with political and military news, Vedomosti published reports about new factories, discoveries of ore deposits, oil, etc.
The spread of printed literature was facilitated by the introduction in 1710 of a new civil font, more simplified compared to the complex style of the old Church Slavonic letters. The works of Western European scientists began to be systematically translated into Russian. This was a process of enriching the country with the achievements of foreign science and technology.
The largest writer and publicist of this time was Pskov Archbishop Feofan Prokopovich. Along with works of art and theological writings, he delivered sermons and writings on political topics. In laudatory words and sermons, Theophan defended the reforms of Peter I. In the treatises “Spiritual Regulations” and “The Truth of the Will of the Monarchs,” he substantiated absolutism and the complete subordination of the church to state power.
An outstanding work of Russian economic thought and journalism is the “Book of Poverty and Wealth” by I. T. Pososhkov (1652-1726), distributed in manuscript (the first “Book of Poverty and Wealth” was published only in 1842). Pososhkov was a native of a village near Moscow and belonged to the family of a silversmith, later he became a “money master”, and by the end of his life he became a “merchant man”. The ideologist of the emerging bourgeoisie, Pososhkov, proposed in his book measures to encourage trade and industry, consistent with developed mercantilism. Engagement in trade, in his opinion, should be exclusively the privilege of the merchants; trade should be prohibited for nobles and peasants; it is necessary to protect the Russian merchants from foreign competition. He recommended building state-owned factories and then transferring them into private hands, and providing merchants with cheap credit. He proposed limiting serfdom by establishing in law the exact amount of peasant duties in favor of landowners and separating peasant lands from landowners. His writings are imbued with a sense of deep patriotism and faith in the strength of the Russian people.
Remarkable advances were made in geographical science, in the search for new trade routes, in cartographic work, and in the study of the country's fossil riches.
In 1697, V. Atlasov conducted an expedition to Kamchatka and compiled its geographical and ethnographic description. At the beginning of the 18th century. The northern group of the Kuril Islands was discovered. In 1715, an expedition by I. Buchholz was sent to Central Asia to search for gold. The path taken by Buchholz was later repeated by Likharev and I. Unkovsky. For the first time, a map of the Caspian and Aral Seas was compiled. The results of the work of Russian cartographers were summed up in 1732 by I.K. Kirillov, who compiled the major “Atlas of the All-Russian Empire”. He also owns a statistical and geographical description of Russia - “The Blooming State of the All-Russian State.” Systematic study of minerals led to the discovery of deposits of sulfur and oil in the Volga region, coal in the Donbass, iron ores were widely explored in the Urals, and silver-lead ores were found in Transbaikalia.
Talented technicians and administrators V.N. Tatishchev, V. Genii, N. Kleopin and others emerged in metallurgy. The self-taught inventor, merchant and contractor M. Serdyukov reconstructed the Vyshnevolotsk Canal in 1722 and made it practically suitable for navigation. Mechanic A.K. Nartov invented a mechanical support for a lathe. Foreign experts were also invited.
To develop and disseminate scientific knowledge, the Academy of Sciences was established in St. Petersburg. It was supposed to serve as a center for research work and train young scientists. The opening of the Academy took place after the death of Peter I, at the end of 1725. The Academy, along with research institutions, included a gymnasium and a university. The first natural science museum in Russia (Kunstkamera), organized back in 1714, was transferred to the Academy.
Arts and literature
In 1702, a public theater opened in Moscow, in a building built on Red Square. Before that, there was only a court theater. Along with foreign actors, Russian artists soon began performing here. Later, the plays were performed by students of the Medical School and the Theological Academy; performances were also staged at the court of Peter’s sister, Princess Natalya Alekseevna. The theater served the cause of promoting reforms. The plays made allusions to current political events, for example, the mutinies of the Streltsy, the betrayal of Mazepa, and ridiculed the enemies of enlightenment.
New trends are penetrating fiction and the visual arts. In the stories of the first quarter of the 18th century. new heroes are introduced - energetic and enterprising people of “sharp mind” and “worthy intelligence”. In this regard, the “History of the Russian sailor Vasily Koriotsky and the beautiful princess Irakli of the Florensky land” is indicative. The hero of the story, a small nobleman by origin, perfectly comprehended the dangerous work of a sailor and mastered the necessary scientific knowledge. He earned the recognition and respect of the Austrian Emperor, the “King of Florence” and a wealthy merchant. At the same time, the hero is endowed with all the qualities of a gallant gentleman.
In contrast to the architecture of the 17th century, which was predominantly ecclesiastical in nature, in the first quarter of the 18th century. Civil engineering took the leading place. At this time, buildings were constructed for large industrial enterprises - Khamovny Dvor, Cloth Dvor, Arsenal in Moscow, Arms Factory in Tula, fortress factories in the Urals, as well as public buildings: Main Pharmacy, "Comedy Khoromina" (theater building) in Moscow, the monumental buildings of the Kunstkamera, the Admiralty and the Twelve Colleges in St. Petersburg, etc. For the first time in the history of Russian architecture, the development of the new capital, St. Petersburg, was carried out according to a pre-developed plan, which provided for the construction of buildings along wide straight streets.
The turning point in fine art was expressed in the replacement of biblical and evangelical subjects with themes from real life. Portraiture reached a particularly high level. Portraits of Peter I by I. M. Nikitin are distinguished by deep psychological characteristics; the artist expressed the unyielding will and determination of a statesman. Nikitin’s battle paintings (“Battle of Poltava”, “Battle of Kulikovo”) depict with deep patriotism the heroic struggle of the Russian people against foreign invaders. The sculptural portraits of Peter I and Menshikov, made by Rastrelli the Father, were of great artistic value. The art of engraving was widely used, capturing the most important events of modern life.
7. Russia in the second quarter of the 18th century.
The struggle for power within the ruling class
In the political life of Russia, the second quarter of the 18th century. characterized by struggles within the nobility and palace coups.
Peter I died on January 28, 1725 and did not have time to appoint a successor for himself before his death. The nobles who emerged under Peter I wanted to see the wife of the deceased emperor, Catherine, on the throne; the old nobility had their own candidate - the son of the executed Tsarevich Alexei, the young Peter. The dispute over a successor was resolved by the guards regiments, which from that time became the main weapon in the struggle for power. Menshikov, Tolstoy, Apraksin and other representatives of the new nobility, who came to the fore under Peter I, enlisted the support of the guards regiments called to the palace, and elevated Catherine (1725-1727) to the throne.
Contradictions between the old and new nobility led to the creation of the Supreme Privy Council, which included Menshikov and other supporters of Catherine. With such a composition of this institution, the empress was completely dependent on Menshikov, who concentrated the actual power in the state in his hands. In order to weaken the influence of the temporary worker, as well as to reach a compromise with the old nobility, a representative of the noble aristocracy, Prince D. M. Golitsyn, was introduced into the Supreme Privy Council. The Supreme Privy Council became the highest body, the three “first” collegiums - Military, Admiralty and Foreign Affairs - were directly subordinate to it, and the Senate lost the title of government and began to be called high.
After the death of Catherine, the grandson of Peter I, the son of the executed Tsarevich Alexei, Peter II, was proclaimed emperor in accordance with her will, and the functions of the regent were transferred to the Supreme Privy Council. In reality, the Supreme Privy Council was an obedient instrument of Menshikov. To further strengthen his influence, Menshikov was going to marry the young emperor to his daughter Maria. But Menshikov's omnipotence and his unlimited ambition caused discontent even among his recent allies. Even on the eve of the death of Catherine I, a conspiracy arose against him, led by Tolstoy. Menshikov won, the conspirators paid with exile, but the number of supporters of the temporary worker decreased, which prepared the way for his fall. In 1727 Menshikov was exiled to Berezov. This was tantamount to a palace coup: in the Supreme Privy Council, the majority now received the aristocratic surnames of Golitsyn and Dolgoruky. The latter brought their relatives into its composition. Having achieved predominant influence in the Supreme Privy Council, the aristocratic group sought to restore the order that existed in Russia before the reforms. The “Verkhovniki” moved the capital from St. Petersburg to Moscow, disrupted the regional administration, restoring institutions that existed in the 17th century.
The Dolgorukys, like Menshikov, tried to consolidate their influence through the marriage of Peter II with the daughter of A.G. Dolgoruky. The royal wedding was scheduled for mid-January 1730, and therefore, in addition to the highest dignitaries, the guard and numerous representatives of the provincial nobility arrived in Moscow for the expected celebrations. But the wedding did not take place: Peter II fell ill with smallpox and died suddenly.
The Supreme Privy Council offered the crown to the early widowed Duchess of Courland Anna Ivanovna, the niece of Peter I. Conditions were hastily drawn up, that is, the conditions for Anna Ivanovna’s accession to the throne. The Empress had to govern the state together with the Supreme Privy Council; without its consent she could not declare war or make peace, introduce new taxes, promote her to a rank higher than colonel, grant or take away estates. Command of the guard passed to the Supreme Privy Council. Thus, the conditions limited the autocracy in favor of the rulers, who expected that the Duchess of Courland would find herself without support after arriving in Russia and would unconditionally agree to fulfill their demands.
However, the nobles, who arrived in large numbers in Moscow for the expected wedding of Peter II, were hostile to the oligarchic aspirations of the leaders and demanded the preservation of “autocracy.”
In contrast to the demands of the leaders, various groups of the nobility drew up several projects listing their class demands, namely: reducing the length of service, abolishing restrictions on the inheritance of real estate, exempting nobles from military service as privates and organizing schools for training officers. Anna Ivanovna, in the presence of the supreme leaders, the assembly of the nobility and guards officers, tore up a sheet of paper with the conditions signed by her. After some time, the “inventors” from the aristocracy, under plausible pretexts, were expelled from Moscow to the provinces, and were subsequently subjected to severe punishments.
During the reign of Anna Ivanovna, the influence of foreigners reached unprecedented proportions. Their influx into Russia began at the end of the 17th century, but until the accession of Anna Ivanovna they did not play a significant role in the political life of the country. These were mainly specialists used by the government to carry out individual assignments. The position of foreigners under Anna Ivanovna became different. The ignorant favorite of the Empress, the Courland German E. Biron, who, according to contemporaries, “speaked of horses like a man, and about people like a horse,” gained enormous influence on government affairs. Under his patronage, rogue foreigners, having reached the management of state property, robbed the treasury with impunity. One of them, Baron A. Shemberg, embezzled about half a million rubles (4 million rubles in money from the beginning of the 20th century) during his tenure in the Russian metallurgical industry.
Under Anna Ivanovna, a new institution arises - the Cabinet of Ministers. Although the demand of the nobility for the restoration of the rights of the Senate was satisfied and the Senate again began to be called the government, the actual power was in the hands of the Cabinet of Ministers. It consisted of Anna Ivanovna’s trusted representatives, and its work was supervised by Biron, who did not occupy an official position.
The nobility's dissatisfaction with foreign domination increased. Cabinet Minister A.P. Volynsky with a circle of like-minded people developed a “Project on the improvement of state affairs.” Volynsky demanded a further expansion of the privileges of the nobility, filling all positions in the state apparatus from clerk to senator with nobles, sending noble children abroad for education, “so that over time there will be natural ministers.” Harsh comments about Anna Ivanovna (“our empress is a fool and no matter how you report, you won’t get any resolution from her”), protest against the dominance of Biron and his entourage brought Volynsky to the chopping block.
After the death of Anna Ivanovna (1740), Biron, with the help of foreigners, was proclaimed regent under the emperor - the infant Ivan Antonovich, the son of Anna Ivanovna's niece, the Mecklenburg princess Anna Leopoldovna and the Duke of Brunswick. However, Biron lasted only three weeks in power. The Guard, led by Field Marshal B. Minikh, overthrew Biron, and the regency passed to Anna Leopoldovna. Actual power for some time was in the hands of the President of the Military Collegium, Minich, but the aggravation of contradictions within the German group led to the fall of Minich. On November 25, 1741, with the help of the guard, Elizaveta Petrovna, the youngest daughter of Peter I, a protege of the Russian nobility, came to power. The Germans lost high positions in the state. The ease of coups is explained by the fact that the struggle for power took place between separate groups of the nobility, but did not affect the foundations of the state system.
The new government restored the institutions created during the period of transformation in the first quarter of the 18th century - the Berg College, the Manufactory College, as well as magistrates in cities, consisting of elected merchant representatives; The Senate was restored to its former importance in the field of domestic politics.
Expanding the privileges of the nobility and strengthening serfdom
The “extreme, complete ruin” of the peasantry, caused by the long Northern War, the increase in duties and severe crop failures of 1723-1726, became so obvious that they started talking about it in government circles the very next year after the death of Peter I. The mass exodus of peasants was alarming, growth of arrears, state budget deficit. All this weakened the strength of the noble state, for, according to Menshikov, “the soldier is connected to the peasant like the soul is connected to the body, and if there is no peasant, then there will be no soldier.” It was necessary to change the procedure for collecting taxes, which were previously collected by military units stationed in the districts. The officers of these units, as well as numerous officials of the provincial administration, even seemed to members of the government to be “wolves breaking into the herd.” Landowners were declared responsible tax collectors. In order to save money, the staff of central institutions was reduced, the number of boards was reduced, and some local institutions organized in 1718-1719 were abolished, since their maintenance excessively burdened the state budget. When making these changes, the government always emphasized that they would provide “prosperity” for the people. In fact, the general line of government policy in the second quarter of the 18th century. consisted of strengthening landlord ownership of land, expanding noble privileges and intensifying feudal exploitation of the masses, as well as developing large-scale industry and promoting the merchant class.
The successors of Peter I continued the practice of widespread distribution of lands and serfs to the nobility. The Dolgoruky princes appropriated 40 thousand acres of land for themselves under Peter II. The Leibcampans - the guard companies that performed guard duty at the court - who took an active part in the coup in favor of Elizabeth Petrovna received 14 thousand male souls as a gift from the new empress. The brother of Elizabeth Petrovna's favorite, Count K. G. Razumovsky, was granted about 100 thousand souls.
In the second quarter of the 18th century. the nobility receives numerous benefits and privileges established by law. In 1730, the nobles achieved the abolition of that part of the decree of 1714 on single inheritance, which prohibited the division of estates during inheritance, and received the right to transfer real estate to children “to all of them.”
New benefits for the nobility made it easier for him to perform military service. Already in 1727, two thirds of the officers and privates from the nobility were allowed to leave the army for a period of three years. Satisfying the demands of the nobility, the government in 1731 organized the Gentry Cadet Corps. Training in military affairs from a young age freed nobles from hard service as ordinary soldiers and sailors. However, already in the early 30s, it was common among the nobility to enroll young children in military service, so that by the time they reached adulthood, they received an officer’s rank based on “length of service,” without having the slightest idea about military affairs.
Finally, in 1736, the nobles' demands for the abolition of indefinite service were satisfied. In order to better maintain the “gentry’s houses and villages,” one of the sons in the nobleman’s family was released from service to manage the estate. The remaining sons had a limited service life of 25 years, after which they could retire. The extent to which the nobility was burdened by compulsory military service is evidenced by the fact that in 1739, after the end of the Russian-Turkish War, half of the officers resigned. Even young nobles, who had barely reached 35 years of age and were enrolled in regiments at the age of 10 or 12, were concerned about being released from service.
Numerous decrees of the second quarter of the 18th century. confirmed the nobility's exclusive class right to own serfs. The power of the landowner over the peasants expanded even more; from 1731, even the landowners began to take an oath of loyalty for the peasants.
Secular and spiritual feudal lords drew up instructions for the managers of their estates - clerks, who regulated to the smallest detail the economic activities of the peasants, their family and spiritual life. The clerk had to ensure that the peasant did not go to the city to the market without his knowledge, and that the serf girls did not stay too long as brides, and that all the peasants regularly attended church.
An indicator of the strain on the village's payment forces was the increasing amount of arrears in collecting the poll tax. Already by 1732 it amounted to 15 million rubles. (about 120 million in money from the beginning of the 20th century). In lean years, poverty in the village reached appalling proportions. Crop failures 1733-1735 struck a huge territory from the Smolensk region to the Volga region. Tens of thousands of peasant families ate roots, died of hunger, or left their homes.
The decade from 1730 to 1740, known as the Bironovschina (after the favorite of the Empress Anna Ivanovna), cost the masses dearly. A large number of decrees were issued to search for fugitives, punitive detachments were rampant, extorting taxes and arrears from the tax-paying population. Bironovism is characterized by the unprecedented extravagance of the royal court, the prosperity of embezzlement and extortion. Balls, “maskerades” and similar entertainments replaced each other. Expenses for maintaining the courtyard tripled compared to the first quarter of the 18th century. 100 thousand rubles per year were spent on maintaining the royal stables, while less than 50 thousand rubles were allocated per year for the needs of the Academy of Sciences and the Admiralty Academy.
The process of intensifying feudal exploitation in the 30s of the 18th century. also spread to the peoples that were part of the Russian Empire. In Ukraine, wealthy Cossacks occupied a privileged position; their duties since 1735 were limited to military service, while ordinary Cossacks were equalized with peasants. The Cossack elite - the elders - appropriated to themselves the right of full ownership of the land.
The tsarist government limited the self-government of Ukraine. Instead of an elected hetman, the management of Left Bank Ukraine was carried out by the Little Russian Collegium. In 1727, the election of a hetman was allowed, but since 1734, power was again concentrated in the Hetman's Board, which consisted of government-appointed officials and representatives of the Cossack elders.
Among the peoples of the Volga region (Tatars, Chuvash, Mari, Bashkirs), state duties increased, and attempts were made to forcibly convert Muslims to Christianity. The seizure of Bashkir lands for the construction of factories, the increase in taxes and the brutal methods of collecting them testified to the growth of colonial exploitation of the Bashkirs. The construction of the Orenburg fortress was supposed to strengthen the power of tsarism in Bashkiria and ensure further advance into Central Asia. The Bashkir uprisings that broke out in 1735-1740 were an expression of their protest against the colonial policy of tsarism.
Development of industry and trade
In the second quarter of the 18th century. there was further growth in industry and trade. The development of Russian metallurgy is especially indicative: iron smelting in 1750 amounted to 2 million poods, having increased 2.5 times over a quarter of a century. Iron exports abroad in the same year reached a record figure of 1.2 million poods. Copper smelters fully satisfied the country's needs, and copper also became an export item. For the metallurgical industry of the second quarter of the 18th century. Characterized by a further increase in the share of private capital, dozens of new private factories were built in the Urals and other parts of the empire. In 1750, there were about 100 iron foundries, iron making and copper smelting enterprises in the country.
Over the second quarter of the century, the number of manufactories in light industry also increased significantly. By 1753 there were 153 of them, including 10 cloth, 29 silk and 51 linen. Already in the mid-30s of the 18th century. The government noted that “many manufactories and factories” in Russia are able to meet demand without importing foreign goods.
In the first quarter of the 18th century. large light industry enterprises were located mainly in Moscow. Subsequently, a large number of cloth, linen, glass and other manufactories were built on the periphery - closer to the sources of raw materials.
A noble entrepreneur was rare among the industrialists of the first decades of the 18th century; they were usually merchants. In the middle of the 18th century. The construction of manufactories began by nobles, initially in light industry. In 1749-1751 The nobles built 13 linen manufactories, serviced by the labor of serfs.
In manufactories by the middle of the 18th century. About 50 thousand serfs and hired workers and artisans were employed, 2.5 times more than in 1725. In addition, about 100 thousand assigned and purchased serfs worked at metallurgical plants.
Even after the death of Peter I, the Russian government continued to pursue a policy of mercantilism. Industrialists and large merchants continued to receive government loans and privileges. Providing large enterprises with labor in the second quarter of the 18th century. was carried out in the same ways as during the time of Peter I: through free hiring and the use of forced labor. However, the proportion of forced labor has increased significantly. In 1736, a decree was issued by which all workers and their families employed in production were “forever” assigned to large enterprises. In addition, in the 30-40s of the 18th century. The assignment of state peasants to private factories became widespread.
Expansion of the privileges of the nobility in the second quarter of the 18th century. was also reflected in the government's trade and industrial policy. High protective duties were beneficial to industrialists, but infringed on the interests of the nobility, who were the main consumers of imported goods. The new tariff (1731) did not have such a pronounced protective nature; the highest duty was 20% of the price of the goods.
The reduction in import duties contributed to the growth of foreign trade turnover. In 1749, Russian goods worth 6.9 million rubles were exported abroad, and imports from abroad amounted to 5.7 million rubles. Thus, the trade balance remained active, but the excess of exports over imports decreased noticeably.
In the 30s of the XVIII century. A reorganization of institutions in charge of the commercial and industrial population was carried out. After the abolition of the Chief Magistrate in 1727, city magistrates began to submit to the governors. At the beginning of the 30s, the Berg Collegium and the Manufacturer Collegium were merged with the Commerce Collegium under the pretext that “one thing is found in different hands.”
The listed measures indicate that trade and industrial policy, to a greater extent than in previous times, was subordinated to the interests of the nobility.
Thus, in the first half of the 18th century. Large industry was created in Russia, domestic and foreign trade grew. All this was achieved in Russia, as in the countries of Western Europe, by cruel and coercive measures characteristic of the era of primitive accumulation. But the process of primitive accumulation took place in Russia under the dominance of feudal-serf relations. The methods of feudal-serf exploitation were extended to large-scale industry. Hired workers in large factories were turned into serfs. Throughout the first half of the 18th century. the number of serfs and assigned peasants working in factories continued to increase. Tax oppression in the first half of the 18th century. put pressure on the working masses with much greater force compared to the end of the 17th century, ruining the peasants and townspeople. The tax system allowed the treasury to provide large loans to merchants and industrialists, transfer to them industrial enterprises built with state funds, etc.
Simultaneously with the use of forced labor in factories, many capitalist-type enterprises arose in Russia, based on the labor of hired workers. These enterprises successfully competed with privileged noble and possessional manufactories, preparing the ground for the development of a capitalist structure in the country.
Foreign policy
Russian foreign policy in the second quarter of the 18th century. continued, in general, the traditions of Peter I, but foreign policy tasks were now solved less energetically, and the plans were often not implemented. The main objectives were to continue the struggle with Turkey for access to the Black Sea and to consolidate the successes achieved in the Baltic states as a result of the Northern War. Once again, foreign policy problems in the Caspian region also had to be resolved. Particularly great disorder and routine were found in military and naval affairs. Artillery lost its former maneuverability, the importance of bayonet combat was belittled in the infantry, and blind imitation of the linear tactics that prevailed in Europe was inculcated. The construction of the fleet almost stopped; many ships were not manned and were rotting laid up in the harbors.
Russia entered into a defensive alliance with Austria in 1726. France sought to oppose Russia to a coalition consisting of Sweden, Poland and Turkey. After the death of Augustus II in 1733, kinglessness began in Poland, accompanied by the struggle of magnate-gentry groups. France supported its protege to the throne - Stanislav Leszczynski. The second contender for the Polish throne, Augustus, the son of the deceased King Augustus II, enjoyed the support of Russia and Austria. France managed to achieve the proclamation of Leszczynski as king; then Augustus' supporters among the Polish gentry turned to Russia for help. The War of the Polish Succession began, in which Russia and Austria opposed France. The hostilities continued for two years. Leszczynski was forced to flee by sea from besieged Gdansk, and Augustus III became king.
During the Russo-Polish War, French diplomacy incited Turkey to act against Russia. In an effort to secure the friendly attitude of Iran, which had by this time strengthened in the brewing conflict with Turkey, Russia in 1735 returned to Iran possessions along the western and southern shores of the Caspian Sea (Baku, Derbent, Gilan) and entered into an alliance with it. To capture the Caspian regions ceded by Russia to Iran, Türkiye sent a 20,000-strong army of the Crimean Khan. The robberies and violence of the Crimean Tatars, who invaded Russian possessions, caused a new war with Turkey. Russia led it in alliance with Austria.
In the fall of 1735, a 40,000-strong corps led by M. I. Leontyev moved to Perekop, but the troops, due to impassable roads and poorly organized supplies, failed to reach the goal and suffered heavy losses and were forced to return. In the next campaign in 1736, the Russians crossed Perekop, occupied the capital of the Khanate, Bakhchisarai, but did not destroy the Tatar troops. The commander of the troops, Minich, was afraid of being locked on the peninsula by the Tatars returning from the Iranian provinces and hastily retreated from Crimea. Military operations near Azov proceeded more successfully. In the summer of 1736, the Russians captured this fortress.
Military operations in 1737 unfolded in two theaters of war: in the Crimea, where the Russians defeated a 15,000-strong Tatar army, and in the Northwestern Black Sea region, where the Ochakov fortress was occupied. However, the victories of the Russian army were not consolidated this time either. The vicious tactics of Minich, who avoided a general battle, gave the Turks the opportunity to preserve their manpower. General Lassi, who commanded the Russian troops in the Crimea, and Minikh returned to their original lines. Negotiations between Russian, Austrian and Turkish representatives at the congress that met in Nemirov in the summer of 1737 did not lead to peace. Fearing the strengthening of Russia, the Austrians did not support it and sought to limit Russian acquisitions to Azov alone. The Nemirov congress was interrupted and the war resumed. The largest battle of the Russian-Turkish war took place in 1739, when Russian troops defeated the Turks near Stavuchany and captured the Khotyn fortress. But in the same year, Russia's ally Austria suffered one defeat after another. At the cost of the loss of previously captured Serbia and Wallachia, Austria made peace with the Turks.
Soldiers of Peter's time. Bas-relief by K. B. Rastrelli "Battle of Dobro in 1708"
In the same 1739, peace was concluded between Russia and Turkey. According to the Belgrade Treaty, Russia received Azov, but had to demolish its fortifications. In addition, a small territory in Right Bank Ukraine along the middle reaches of the Dnieper went to Russia. The northern coast of the Black Sea remained in the hands of the Turks, and Kabarda, from the 16th century. being a Russian citizen, was recognized as free and declared a “barrier between two empires.” Thus, the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739. led to only a partial abolition of the peace conditions that ended the Prut campaign of 1711.
Sweden, having secured the promise of financial support from France, declared war on Russia in 1741. But the war was unsuccessful for her and ended with the Peace of Abo in 1743, according to which part of the Finnish territory up to the Kymene River went to Russia.
In 1746, Russia strengthened its ties with Austria by renewing its defensive alliance with it. In this way, the balance of forces was prepared, which was intended to prevent the further strengthening of aggressive Prussia. In 1747, a convention was concluded with England, which also prepared the position that both sides took in the subsequent Seven Years' War, when, despite the alliance of England with Prussia, there was no rupture in Russian-English relations.
Culture
Under Peter I, the rapid development of national culture began, combined with the mastery of advanced European culture. This process continued in the second quarter of the 18th century. Since 1725, the Academy of Sciences has become the center of scientific thought. The largest Western European and Russian scientists took part in its work. Works of an outstanding scientist of the 18th century. L. Euler laid the foundation of modern analytical mechanics. Euler also studied astronomy, general mathematics, and theoretical issues of shipbuilding and navigation. The works of Academician D. Bernoulli were important in the development of mathematics and physiology.
The Academy of Sciences took an active part in organizing the second Kamchatka expedition, which continued the geographical discoveries of the 17th and early 18th centuries. The results of the first Kamchatka expedition (1725-1730) did not satisfy the government, since it was not possible to discover the American coast and resolve the question of “whether there is a connection between Kamchatka land and America.” In 1732, the second Kamchatka expedition was sent. The expedition was tasked with answering not only the question of whether Asia is connected to America (which was clarified by Dezhnev back in 1648, but was soon forgotten), but also to carry out a comprehensive study of Siberia. The work of the expedition lasted eleven years (until 1743); its participants split into several detachments, which included academicians, Academy students, surveyors and sailors. Acting in the most difficult conditions, they mapped the northern coast of Siberia, carried out an ethnographic study of Kamchatka and collected numerous archival materials on the history of Siberia. The names of S. Chelyuskin, who discovered the northern tip of Asia, D. and X. Laptev, V. Pronchishchev and others, who mapped the vast territory from Lake Baikal to Anadyr, S. Krasheninnikov, who gave the wonderful “Description of the Land of Kamchatka,” are the pride of Russian science.
The main scientific feat of the expedition was to reach the northwestern coast of America. In July 1741, V. Bering, A.I. Chirikov and their companions were the first Europeans to see the northwestern region of America, about which they provided reliable information.
Russian cartography has achieved significant success. In 1745, the Academic Atlas was published. In connection with its publication, Euler noted: “Russian geography has been brought into much better condition than the geography of German soil.”
Historical science of the second quarter of the 18th century. represented by the works of V. N. Tatishchev (1686-1750). His five-volume “Russian History” brings the account of events to the end of the 16th century. This work was preceded by painstaking work on collecting and studying Russian chronicles and other sources. Tatishchev’s pen also includes a second, unfinished work, “The Russian Historical, Geographical and Political Lexicon,” which contains a variety of information on the history, geography, and ethnography of Russia. Both works were published after the author's death.
Expeditions to Siberia were of great importance for geographical and historical science, the participant of which, historian G. F. Miller, discovered many valuable materials preserved in Siberian archives.
Russian literature in the second quarter of the 18th century. entered the stage of classicism, represented in Russia by the works of A. D. Kantemir, V. K. Trediakovsky, M. V. Lomonosov, A. P. Sumarokov.
Cantemir's satires denounced the enemies of science, ridiculed ignorance, bribery, and hypocrisy. Cantemir sharply criticized representatives of the aristocracy, whose arrogance was combined with deep ignorance and cruel arbitrariness towards the serfs. The edge of Kantemir's satires was directed against real historical figures - the famous enemy of Peter's reforms, Bishop of Rostov - G. Dashkov, against I. Dolgoruky, the favorite of Peter II, and others. V. G. Belinsky called Kantemir "the first associate of Peter the Great in the field of literature" .
V.K. Trediakovsky (1703-1769) was the first Russian philologist and professional writer. He wrote a textbook on the theory of poetry - “A New and Brief Method for Composing Russian Poems”, a number of critical and historical-philological works. “His philological and grammatical research is very remarkable” (Pushkin). In these works, Trediakovsky promoted more advanced versification. Trediakovsky himself, deprived of significant poetic talent, was unable to implement the innovations he proposed in his work. This task turned out to be within the power of only Lomonosov. Translations occupied a significant place in Trediakovsky’s work. His translation of the French novel “A Trip to the Island of Love” by Paul Talleman was one of the first printed works with a new secular theme and, according to the translator, aroused the indignation of bigots.
In the field of architecture, the second quarter of the 18th century. marked by high creative achievements. During this period, mainly palace and church buildings were constructed. Grandiose palaces are created with luxurious decoration, with parks, gardens and sculptural decorations. Architect V.V. Rastrelli built a huge palace for Biron in Mitava (Jelgava). A wonderful monument of that time is the Great Tsarskoe Selo Palace, which amazed with its splendor.
M.V. Lomonosov
The most striking indicator of the level achieved by Russian science and culture in the 18th century is the multifaceted creativity of the brilliant scientist and thinker Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (1711-1765). He came from the masses, the son of a Pomor fisherman.
An irresistible thirst for knowledge led nineteen-year-old Lomonosov to Moscow, where he entered the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy. Recalling his five-year stay at the academy, Lomonosov wrote: “Having one altyn (3 kopecks) per day of salary, it was impossible to have more for food per day than for a coin of bread and a coin of kvass, etc. for paper, for shoes and other needs.” . In 1735, Lomonosov was sent to St. Petersburg to the university at the Academy of Sciences. A year later, he was already on a scientific trip to Germany, from where he returned to St. Petersburg in 1741. Lomonosov was the first Russian scientist to receive the title of professor and academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1745).
The range of interests of Lomonosov and his scientific research is extremely wide; in this respect, he stands on a par with such luminaries of science as Leonardo da Vinci. Leibniz, Franklin, Newton. Chemistry and mathematics, physics and geology, astronomy and mechanics, geography and botany, philosophy, linguistics and history were among his interests. An expression of recognition of Lomonosov's merits was his election as a member of the Stockholm and Bologna academies.
Lomonosov considered natural phenomena in their development. He wrote: “We must firmly remember that visible physical things on earth and the whole world were not in such a state from the beginning from creation as we now find, but great changes took place in it, as history and ancient geography show.” In 1748, Lomonosov discovered the law of conservation of matter and energy. Lomonosov sought to introduce scientific discoveries into metallurgy, mining, and the production of glass, porcelain, and paints. The organic unity of theory and practice was the main feature of Lomonosov's work. 0n invented a “night vision telescope”, with the help of which it was possible at night “to distinguish rocks and ships more clearly and clearly”, created a reflective mirror telescope, etc. Shortly before his death, Lomonosov published “A brief description of various journeys through the northern seas and an indication of the possible passage of the Siberian ocean to East India" (1763).
In the field of humanities, Lomonosov's activities were no less varied. He was the author of the first scientific grammar of the Russian language. Lomonosov's “Ancient Russian History” was directed against the anti-scientific Norman theory of the origin of the Russian state.
Lomonosov's poetic creativity was distinguished by life-affirming optimism, faith in the great future of his people. The main themes of Lomonosov's laudatory and solemn odes were Russia, peaceful labor; he glorified Peter I, in whom he found the ideal traits of an “enlightened monarch.” “Ode to the Capture of Khotin” (1739) V. G. Belinsky considered the beginning of modern Russian literature.
Lomonosov used his poetic talent to promote science. His “Letter on the Benefits of Glass,” like many other poems, is distinguished by its scientific and journalistic content. Lomonosov was an ardent supporter of the dissemination of scientific knowledge among the Russian people, firmly believed in the creative abilities of the Russian people and was convinced that the Russian land could “give birth to its own Platos and quick-witted Newtons.” In order to spread education in the country and train his own Russian personnel in the field of education, science and culture, Lomonosov devoted a lot of effort to organizing teaching in the gymnasium and university located at the Academy of Sciences. In 1755, on his initiative and according to his plan, Moscow University was founded. Thanks to the efforts of Lomonosov, Moscow University did not have a theological faculty, which contributed to the development of the materialist direction in science and its liberation from the influence of the church. Teaching at the university was conducted in Russian, not Latin. People from unprivileged classes had the opportunity to study at the university. The university received a number of laboratories, scientific offices and a printing house at its disposal. All this contributed to its transformation into the most important center of Russian education, culture and science.
Lomonosov’s “great struggle” for “Russian sciences” soon bore fruit: a whole galaxy of Russian scientists appeared, Lomonosov’s students - philosopher D. S. Anichkov, lawyer S. E. Desnitsky, physician S. G. Zybelin. and etc.
1.Peter I and the beginning of the modernization of the country. The era of palace coups.
2. Russia in the second half of the 18th century. Catherine II.
3. Russia in the first quarter of the 19th century. Alexandra I.
4. Russia in the second quarter of the 19th century. Nicholas I.
At the time of receiving full power, Peter turned 17 years old. Peter's character was greatly influenced by his acquaintance with the residents of the German settlement in Moscow, where all foreigners settled, and from whom he received an idea of life in Europe, the development of its technology, science and culture. The Swiss Franz stood out especially Lefort. From early childhood, Peter showed interest in military affairs; the so-called "funny" shelves, Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky, which became the basis of the Russian regular army. On Lake Pleshcheyevo near Pereyaslavl, the young tsar builds an amusing flotilla, where he learns the basics of shipbuilding and navigation, and naval tactics.
But gradually Peter moves from fun to serious government affairs, in particular in the field of foreign policy. As a legacy from previous times, he inherited the traditional Tatar-Turkish problem for Russia, and, first of all, Peter takes on solving it. In 1695-1696 he made two Azov campaigns, as a result of which the strongest Turkish fortress at the mouth of the Don fell. Azov, together with part of the Azov Sea coast, passed into the hands of Russia. Moreover, it was possible to take it with the help of the fleet built by Peter during one winter near Voronezh. Thus, Russia has a fleet in the Sea of Azov. But this did not provide free access to the Black and Mediterranean regions, since the Kerch Strait remained in Turkish possessions. A new, stubborn struggle lay ahead.
To continue the war against Turkey, Russia began to look for allies. For this purpose, as well as to hire foreign specialists and train his own, Peter sends a Grand Embassy abroad, where he himself follows incognito. As a result of the embassy, Peter came up with the idea of the need to fight with Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea. Returning to Russia in 1698, the tsar begins preparations for the war with Sweden, for this purpose a recruitment drive is carried out, in addition, "willing" people. Begins in 1700 North War, which lasts until 1721, when it was concluded Nystadt Peace .
Most of the reign of Peter I, therefore, passed in the context of an ongoing war. And the military situation was directly reflected in the reforms he carried out. Thus, the creation of a regular army entailed the need to organize the production of weapons, equipment and uniforms. Regular recruitment required accurate knowledge of the population, as a result of which the census was compiled. The maintenance of a permanent and large army and the creation of a navy required regular collection of taxes, which entailed the streamlining of the system of local government, the creation of provinces, etc. Peter's constant absences gave rise to the establishment Governing Senate who decided all current affairs in the absence of the king. The development of industry was impossible, or extremely difficult, without its own raw material base, hence Peter’s concerns about searching for ore deposits, and the full support of the Ural factories, which began to be founded under him. The implementation of all these innovations was impossible while maintaining the old bureaucratic apparatus, which was based on the order system, so Peter gradually replaced the orders collegiums, who had collective leadership. It cannot be said that the tsar had a specific plan for transformation from the very beginning; he often acted on a whim, but his transformations cannot be denied internal logic, although some innovations did not take root in Russia.
During his reign, the total amount of hardships placed on the population increased noticeably, which caused a series of uprisings: the Streltsy revolts, the Astrakhan uprising, the unrest of the Bashkirs, and, finally, the peasant war and the uprising of the Cossacks under the leadership of Kondratiya Bulavina. They were all brutally suppressed. The slogan of most movements was a return to antiquity; many were led by schismatics. As was the case during the Nikon reform period, the target was the external signs of transformation - the introduction of foreign clothing, shaving beards, the appearance of numerous foreigners, smoking tobacco, drinking coffee, etc. But the reasons for the discontent were much deeper.
Peter's activities cost the people great sacrifices; in addition to direct military losses, many people died during construction activities: at the Voronezh shipyards, the construction of Taganrog, St. Petersburg, Kronstadt, Rogervik, etc. In 1710, Peter moved the capital of the state to the city of St. Petersburg, founded in 1703. This act of moving the capital to the newly conquered region was supposed to demonstrate the seriousness of the king’s intentions. In addition, in the new city the inertia of the old boyar aristocracy, which resisted innovation, was not so felt.
In foreign policy, along with brilliant results, there were also failures, for example, the Prut campaign, when only Shafirov’s diplomatic dexterity saved both the tsar and the army. The Persian campaign can also be considered unsuccessful, which cost great sacrifices, but did not bring significant results. But all these failures are more than compensated by the success that Russia won in the main - the Swedish theater of operations. Started with failure, with the complete defeat of the Russian army near Narva, the war gradually, with the formation of a regular army, took on a different character. The main forces of the Swedish army, led by King Charles XII, were defeated in 1709 under Poltava, after which the war moved to Germany, Finland, and in 1719 - 1720 to Sweden. According to the peace treaty, a significant part of the Baltic states goes to Russia, the state gains access to the sea, for which it fought during the Livonian War under Ivan the Terrible.
As a result of the activities of Peter the Great, Russia becomes the most important factor in European politics. The external expression of this situation was the presentation of the title of emperor to Peter. From this moment on, Russia becomes an empire.
Under Peter, Western European knowledge and culture began to actively penetrate into Russia, a stratum of society was formed that received a European education and was oriented towards progressive trends. It cannot be said that before this there were no people in Rus' who sought to introduce progressive ideas. Especially obvious to thinking people was Russia's lag in the military sphere. Already during the reign of Mikhail Fedorovich, in preparation for the Smolensk War of 1632 -1634, the first soldier and reiter regiments, trained in European style, with European officers. But the state at that time did not have the financial capacity to constantly maintain such an army, so until the end of the 17th century, the main type of armed forces in terms of numbers was the noble militia.
In 1721, Peter, by decree, assigned peasants to factories and mines, that is, serfdom extended to the industrial sphere. Thus, the emerging Russian bourgeoisie is deprived of the most important incentive to fight against tsarist power. In Western Europe, the bourgeoisie advocates the liberation of workers so that they can be used in industry; in Russia, serfdom does not hinder the development of industry, but, on the contrary, stimulates it, since there was a need for a large amount of unskilled labor. And this labor was given to the breeders completely free of charge. This is one of the reasons for such a long existence of serfdom in Russia, and the weakness of the Russian bourgeoisie, which did not have a long tradition of opposing the authorities to protect its interests.
Speaking about the era of Peter the Great, one cannot fail to note the radical transformations in the cultural sphere. Peter 1 was the founder secular education Russia. European teachers of many specialties were called to the country, and Russian young people were sent abroad to study. A secular school was created, books of secular content were published, ranging from alphabet books, textbooks, calendars and ending with historical works and political treatises. Peter 1 laid the foundation for periodical printing. With his reign, the process of formation of the Russian intelligentsia began.
In domestic historical literature, the reform activities of Peter 1 are assessed ambiguously: while some historians focus on Peter 1’s devotion to the fatherland, his real contribution to large-scale reforms in the country, others emphasize cruelty and violence in the implementation of Peter’s program for reforming the entire life of the country, they criticize Peter 1 for blindly transferring the experience of Western Europe to Russian soil.
No matter how the activities of Peter I are assessed, one thing is indisputable: in Russia a powerful impetus was given to the development of industry, the army and navy, science and culture. A capable state apparatus was formed in the country. Under Peter 1, Russia received wide international recognition.
After Peter's death in 1725, his wife ascended the throne Catherine, largely thanks to the young guard officers. Thus began the era of palace coups. Catherine's reign was nothing special. Menshikov reigned supreme in the country, and the Empress was practically not involved in state affairs. In 1727 she died, and Peter the Great's grandson, Peter II, became emperor. Menshikov's omnipotence was put to an end. The Dolgorukys began to play a leading role under the teenage emperor.
In 1730, the emperor dies from smallpox, and Anna takes the throne. Ioannovna - the eldest daughter of Peter the Great's brother, who had previously vegetated in Courland. Before her accession to the throne, the Supreme Privy Council, from among the most influential nobles, hands her “conditions,” which, in essence, meant a serious limitation of the absolute power of the monarch. But upon arrival in Moscow, Anna publicly broke these standards. In this action she was supported by the nobility, who feared the excessive strengthening of the old boyar families.
Anna's reign is characterized by an unprecedented strengthening of the role of foreigners at court and in government in general. Having spent a long time outside Russia, Anna naturally did not trust Russian nobles and tried to surround herself with foreigners, mainly Germans. Gained special influence under her Biron. The head of the state's foreign policy was the Chancellor Osterman, and the army was in the hands Minikha. Under Anna Ioannovna, Russia participates in the War of the Polish Succession in 1734, where Russian troops meet the French ones for the first time, and wages war with the Turks in 1735 - 1739. Both wars were victorious, although with great casualties, especially the last one.
After the death of Anna Ioannovna in 1740, the infant Ivan Antonovich, who was several months old, became emperor, and his mother Anna Leopoldovna became his regent. A few months later, in 1741, a palace coup took place, as a result of which the daughter of Peter the Great, Elizabeth, ascended the throne. The coup was carried out by several guards companies. The ease of such changes is explained by the fact that the guard, in fact, was a representative of the country's nobility, and it was this class that determined its destinies. Therefore, everything that the guard did in the capital was supported by the majority of the nobles.
At Elizaveta Petrovna Russia had to wage a war with Sweden, which began under Anna Leopoldovna in 1740 - 1741, and also participate in the Seven Years' War (1756 - 1763), when for the first time after the reign of Peter the Great, Russia again showed itself as an active participant in European politics. During this war, Russian troops several times managed to defeat the best army in Europe at that time - the Prussian one. Frederick II of Prussia suffered the biggest defeat in his life from the Russian army in 1759. During this war, Russian troops occupy Berlin. Unfortunately, Russia did not have the opportunity to benefit from the fruits of its victories, since after the death of Elizabeth in 1762, her nephew ascended the throne. Peter III, formerly a passionate admirer of the Prussian king. Russia concludes not only peace with Prussia, but also an alliance, which did not at all meet the national interests of the country. Another palace coup carried out by guards officers in favor of Peter III's wife, Catherine, put an end to this short reign.
Nee Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst, entered our history under the name Catherine II, She had extraordinary abilities in public administration. She quickly learned Russian, easily won over people, and knew how to select assistants for herself. Being at the same time very hardworking and educated, she, without a doubt, can be classified as an outstanding statesman.
Under her, Russia managed to solve two age-old problems that traditionally faced Russian foreign policy. After Peter the Great won access to the Baltic Sea from Sweden, it remained to resolve the Tatar-Turkish issue, where the main thing was to stop the raids of Tatar troops on the southern provinces of Russia, and to complete the return of Russian lands that were under the rule of the Polish state, which began under Ivan III . As a result of a series of wars (two with Turkey, two with Poland), Russia managed to solve these problems. In addition, in the war with Sweden, it was possible to defend the territorial acquisitions that Peter the Great received under the Treaty of Nystadt.
During these wars, the national school of military art finally took shape, the most prominent representatives of which were Pyotr Rumyantsev, Grigory Potemkin, Alexander Suvorov, Grigory Spiridov, Fyodor Ushakov. The Russian army and navy won numerous victories that contributed to the development of military art. Among them are victories Rumyantseva over Turkamiu Largi And Cahula, defeat of the Turkish fleet at Chesme under the leadership of Admiral Spiridov, repeated victories of Ushakov’s squadron over the Turkish fleet in the Black Sea (Fidonisi, Tendra, Kerch Strait, Kaliakria), victories of Suvorov at Focsani and Ramnike, taking them Ishmael. Outstanding achievements include the military-administrative activities of Catherine Potemkin’s favorite. The basis for the development of the Russian military school was the specific qualities of the Russian soldier and the Russian army, which our best commanders traditionally relied on, starting with Alexander Nevsky. These include selfless courage in battle, which at times reached the scale of mass heroism, the desire to support a comrade in battle even at the cost of one’s own life, and the willingness to die for the Motherland. The method of replenishing the army and the principle of forming individual units contributed to maintaining high morale in the army. The army was recruited and replenished by recruitment kits, and not by recruitment, as was customary at that time in most European countries. The units were formed according to the principle of community, characterized by mutual assistance and mutual assistance. It is no coincidence that there was practically no problem for the Russian army of that time. desertion, especially outside Russia. All this made the Russian army a very dangerous enemy even with very mediocre leadership, especially when it was led by outstanding commanders. The soldier's understanding of the main tasks facing the army as a whole and in each battle, and high motivation for victory made it possible to neglect some of the formal requirements of the regulations and act in accordance with the situation. It was precisely towards the development of initiative, energy, and ingenuity of subordinates that the educational aspirations of such excellent military teachers as Rumyantsev, Suvorov and Ushakov were aimed. One of the strongest elements of influence was instilling in the soldiers the confidence that nothing was impossible for them. And brilliant confirmation of the correctness of such education and training of troops was Italian and Swiss campaigns Suvorov and Mediterranean expedition Ushakov in 1799, when the best French army in Europe at that time was repeatedly defeated. In Northern Italy, Suvorov defeated the French at Adda, Trebia and Novi, after which he made an unprecedented crossing of the Alps, about which one of Napoleon's most capable marshals Massena said that he would give all his victories for one Suvorov's Swiss campaign. At this time, Ushakov, in a series of lightning-fast operations, cleared the Ionian Islands of the French, and then Southern and Central Italy, while the fortress of Corfu, which was considered impregnable, was taken by storm.
The domestic policy of Catherine II can be characterized as a period of strengthening and finalization of the noble empire. Manifesto on the freedom of the nobility, issued by Peter III in 1762 and confirmed by Catherine in 1785, exempted the nobility from compulsory military or civil service and allowed them to retire at any time. Locally, in the provinces, the nobles formed an assembly of the nobility headed by a leader of the nobility chosen by them. "Certificate of Complaint to Cities" introducing elements of self-government, also gave advantages to the noble class. More than a hundred years have passed since the adoption of the Council Code. Therefore, Catherine convened "Stacked commission" to develop new laws, but, leaving a huge amount of material, the commission did not complete its work, but was dissolved. True, Catherine’s later legislative initiatives show that she actively used these materials.
The biggest shock to the empire was the last and most powerful of Russia's peasant wars - an uprising led by Emelyan Pugacheva, to suppress which significant forces were deployed, the best commanders, including Suvorov. In order to quickly defeat the rebels, it was necessary to conclude peace with Turkey, without achieving all the planned concessions from it. The uprising, which raged from 1773 to 1775, covered vast territories. As in previous peasant wars, its instigators were the Cossacks. The cause of the uprising was increased exploitation. The introduction of elements of the Western way of life among the nobility, the desire to imitate the metropolitan nobility: led to an increase in both corvee and quitrents. In addition, the exemption of nobles from compulsory service led to them visiting their estates more often, which also led to increased exploitation. We must not forget that after the nobles were released from service, the peasants expected a natural, from their point of view, continuation - the abolition of serfdom. By chance, a legend about the salvation of Tsar Peter Fedorovich lived among the people, and a number of impostors appeared. Pugachev, in particular, also performs under the name of Peter III. The people believed that the Tsar-Father was tormented by his evil German wife and the boyars because he wanted to free the people. This explains the popularity of impostors. After the suppression of the uprising, Catherine stops all flirtations with liberals, the period of “enlightened absolutism” ends; she is already trying to look progressive in the eyes of her correspondents from France - Voltaire and Diderot. One of the consequences of the uprising was the disintegration of the provinces (there were about 50 of them) in order to strengthen control over the situation locally. Catherine’s reign can also be described as a time of strengthening and improving the bureaucratic apparatus of the empire.
A huge role in the life of the state in that era was played by favorites, among whom we can name the Orlov brothers, Potemkin, and Zubov. Many of them, especially Potemkin, did a lot of useful things for the country, but many shamelessly took advantage of their position, begging for awards, positions, money and land grants. All this caused understandable irritation in society. In general, abuses by officials during Catherine's reign sometimes reached fantastic proportions; without bribes, no business could be set in motion. Both judges and officials considered their positions to be completely legal sources of income in addition to salaries. Abuses especially grew towards the end of her reign, when the empress, due to her advanced age, could no longer refuse her favorites and weakened her control over state affairs.
In 1796, Catherine dies and her unloved son inherits the throne. Pavel Petrovich, who lived all his life in Gatchina, hated his mother and sought to eradicate all her endeavors. Contemporaries remembered Pavel mainly for his tyranny, rudeness and love for drills and parades. His idol was the Prussian king Frederick, following the example of whose army he wanted to rebuild the Russian army. In this he encountered opposition from many military men, including Suvorov. Being an impulsive man and in many ways an idealist, Pavel took to heart the idea of vengeance on the French revolutionaries for the execution of the royal couple. The Russian army began to prepare for a campaign in Italy and Holland, where, according to an agreement with the allies, it was supposed to help the allied forces. The Russian army covered itself with glory in the Italian campaign, but it turned out to be completely meaningless. Pavel, offended by the self-interest of his allies, abruptly changes his political orientation and is rapidly moving towards concluding an alliance with Napoleon. This displeased England, and its ambassador in St. Petersburg financed a conspiracy against the emperor. However, Pavel had enough ill-wishers among the guards officers. On the night of March 11-12, 1801, Pavel was killed by a group of conspirators in his Mikhailovsky Castle.
After Paul's death, his eldest son ascended the throne Alexander. Brought up in a liberal spirit, he inspired many progressive and liberal-minded people with hopes for serious changes in the country’s internal policy towards its liberalization. Alexander canceled the most odious and ridiculous decrees of his father, but in general, things did not move beyond projects and promises. The most painful issue in Russia was the peasant question. The serfdom of the peasants, who at the beginning of the 19th century could be sold wholesale and retail, with or without land, was glaring. Advertisements for the sale of peasants were published in newspapers. Alexander, on the sidelines, was sincerely indignant at this state of affairs, but beyond the issuance of the decree about free farmers, according to which landowners could free their serfs, things did not work out. According to this decree, only a few tens of thousands of peasants were released.
At the beginning of his reign, reform projects under Alexander were carried out by young aristocrats. Over time, the emperor removes them from himself and brings the humble official closer M.M. Speransky, to whom he entrusts transformation projects. Even before Speransky, the outdated Peter's collegiums were gradually replaced by ministries. In 1810, the State Advice, besides the Senate; Education reform led to the opening of a number of new universities. But all these transformations did not touch the very essence of the noble empire.
The first half of Alexander's reign took place in conditions of almost continuous wars, the most fierce of which were the wars with France. One list of these wars sufficiently characterizes the military tension of the state: the Russian-Iranian war of 1804 - 1813, the war with France of 1805, 1806-1807, the Russian-Turkish war of 1806-1812, the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809 gg., Patriotic War of 1812, foreign campaign of the Russian army of 1813-1814. During this period, the Russian army had to face the most advanced military art of the French generals and soldiers at that time; The most talented general was undoubtedly Napoleon. Napoleon Bonaparte
During his life he participated in 50 major battles - more than all the great commanders of world history combined, and won most of them. So the opponent that the Russian army had to meet on the fields of Europe and Russia was more than serious. The first war with Napoleon, despite a number of brilliant deeds, ended in a major defeat for the Russian army. Austerlitz in 1805, the next war, in 1806 - 1807, took place with varying success, but in the end Napoleon again defeated the Russians under Friedland. Emperor Alexander had to conclude a deal with Napoleon in 1807 Treaty of Tilsit,
Another clash between the two states was inevitable, since Russia could not put up with participation in the continental blockade for long, and Napoleon understood perfectly well that until Russia was completely subjugated there could be no talk of world domination. The war broke out in 1812 and immediately took on a character completely unexpected for the French. They had already encountered something similar during the war in Spain (we are talking about nationwide resistance to the invaders), but in Russia the resistance of the peasant masses was combined with the actions of the army, which, despite the great numerical superiority of the French, fully retained its combat capability and offered fierce resistance , which intensified as Napoleon moved deeper into the country. After the appointment of Field Marshal Prince M.I. Kutuzova, Napoleon began to be opposed by a strategist who was well versed in the intricacies of military science and understood the nature of the ongoing war much more deeply. It is no coincidence that immediately after taking office, Kutuzov began organizing military partisan detachments, the first of which was the detachment of the famous hussar poet Denis Davydova. The general battle took place August 26, 1812 near the village of Borodino. It is very difficult to identify the winning side based on purely military results of the battle; there is still controversy about this. Most likely, if we keep in mind the military results, we are dealing with an undecided battle, but the moral victory, of course, remained with the Russian troops. Napoleon's dream of finishing the entire campaign in one general battle failed. The system used by Kutuzov of combining battles with constant harassing actions of small military units, keeping the enemy in suspense, prevailed. The result of the war was devastating for Napoleon: out of the 640,000-strong army he brought to Russia, barely 40,000 left its borders. Almost without interruption, the Russian army began actions to liberate Europe from Napoleon's rule. A series of battles in the spring and autumn of 1813 led to the Allied armies being in Paris in March 1814. Napoleon abdicated the throne, a short return from the island of Elba in 1815 ("Hundred Days") only worsened his situation: he was exiled to the island of St. Helena.
It was no coincidence that M.I. Kutuzov, who happily combined the best traits of the Russian character, found himself at the center of events. Nominated by the people, society, he became essentially a national leader. The very name of the Patriotic War seems to emphasize its social, national character. In 1812, Russian society again took, as in the times of Minin and Pozharsky, the matter of defending the Fatherland into its own hands. In the fight against foreign invaders, Russia defended its independence and territorial integrity.
The epic of 1812 and subsequent army campaigns deeply shocked the entire Russian society. The patriotism demonstrated by all layers without exception clearly showed that the nobles had no moral right to keep the masses of peasants, who had so clearly proven their devotion to the Fatherland, in serfdom. And many expected the sovereign to take some steps in this direction. But the expectations were in vain, after the victory everything turned out to be as before: the peasant militias again turned out to be serfs, the army soldiers - in the barracks with marching, the most severe discipline and petty quibbles at the slightest reason. The disillusionment of society led to the emergence of secret societies, from which the movement soon grew Decembrists.
The situation was aggravated by the fact that Alexander, imbued with mystical sentiments after the events of 1812, entrusted internal politics into the hands of his close count A.A. Drakcheeva, a narrow-minded, petty, terrible formalist and cruel person. The population was particularly dissatisfied with the planting military settlements, where residents, in addition to agricultural work, had to undergo military training, which was supposed to achieve savings for the treasury. Arising from the thoughts of Alexander himself, military settlements were created directly under the leadership of Arakcheev, often with senseless regulation and cruelty. In subsequent years, there were frequent uprisings in the settlements, which were invariably suppressed by troops. Alexander, despite all his liberalism, was a passionate admirer of the Prussian military system with its automatic drill training and punctuality. After the end of foreign campaigns in the army, officers began to be promoted to command posts who had not shown themselves to be anything special during the wars, but knew very well the combat service and considered completely understandable disciplinary relaxations in the troops during combat operations as impermissible deviations from the regulations. Upon returning to Russia, these commanders began to “tighten the screws.” The most outrageous thing was that honored veterans and war heroes were often punished. Many military officers resigned during these years. The unrest of soldiers and the reprisal against them in the Semyonovsky regiment, where the lower ranks could not withstand the cruel treatment of the regimental commander, received a huge resonance in the country.
All these reasons led to the emergence of thoughts among a number of young representatives of aristocratic families, guards and army officers about the violent overthrow of power and the establishment of a more just order. In the first half of the 20s. two secret societies finally took shape - North and South, acting in contact with each other and having specific plans for the reorganization of the country in the form of a draft constitution Nikita Muravyov in Northern and "Russian Truth" Pavel Pestel in Yuzhny. The influence of the European revolutionary movement is clearly felt in the organizations and methods of the Decembrists. They sought a military revolution like the Spanish or Portuguese, without involving the masses in the movement, because they were afraid of a repetition of Pugachevism.
Foreign policy during the reign of Alexander) is characterized mainly by the creation "Holy Alliance" European monarchs in order to prevent revolutions and the active participation of the Russian emperor in the activities of this union. Under Alexander, the Caucasian War began. In 1816, General Alexander was appointed governor of the Caucasus. Ermolov, in which military operations begin to be carried out on a special scale and success. Quite soon, many mountain tribes and peoples recognize the power of Russia. Ermolov's policy, which was distinguished by quick and decisive actions in relation to hostile villages and tribes, and complete forgiveness and patronage of the “pacified” territories, promised the rapid subjugation of the region.
In November 1825, during a trip to the south of the country, Alexander I unexpectedly died in Taganrog. Since he did not leave a male heir, the next eldest son of Paul I, Konstantin, was supposed to take the throne, but he abdicated the throne in favor of Nikolai Pavlovich. Only Alexander himself, Constantine, the mother empress and the rector of St. Isaac's Cathedral, where the renunciation was placed, knew about this. Immediately after the death of Alexander, Nikolai swore the St. Petersburg garrison and the Senate to Konstantin, but Konstantin categorically did not want to give up his renunciation; the courier between him and Nikolai, due to the extreme secrecy of the matter, was his youngest brother, Mikhail. All this confusion lasted for about a month; in the end, they decided that Nicholas would ascend the throne, and the country should swear allegiance to him. The day of the oath was chosen by the Decembrists as the most successful for their performance.
In the morning December 14, 1825 Several military units entered Senate Square, including the Moscow Regiment and the Guards Fleet Crew, led by conspiratorial officers. The rebels were going to interfere with the oath of the Senate to Nicholas, but the senators were already brought to her early in the morning and went home. In addition, the dictator, Trubetskoy, did not appear on the square. While they were waiting for him and choosing a new one, time was lost; Nikolai was able to pull up the loyal units and dispersed the rebels with several artillery salvos.
As a result of the investigation into the Decembrist case, five were hanged, most were exiled to Siberia for hard labor, and some were sent to the Caucasus to serve in the army as privates. The lower ranks - participants in the uprising - also suffered punishments of varying severity.
This event left its mark on the entire reign Nicholas I, which is usually characterized as a reaction period. And it’s hard to expect anything else from a monarch whose reign began with an attempt to overthrow and murder him. Nicholas lost confidence in the upper strata of society, where the Decembrists largely came from, and therefore tried to shift the center of gravity of government to a large army of officials. During his reign, the bureaucracy developed incredibly; every action of power was accompanied by a huge amount of paperwork, since the emperor wanted to control everything, if not personally, then through the apparatus of the ministries, which were overwhelmed with reports on a variety of issues. Paperwork sometimes became an end in itself; a well-written report was more important than a specific case.
In order to prevent incidents similar to the Decembrists' speech, Nicholas established the Separate Corps of Gendarmerie Guards and the Third Department of His Imperial Majesty's own Chancellery - the secret political police. Surveillance of liberal-minded figures and censorship permeated all layers of society. It cannot be said that Nicholas did not understand the need for change; he was also aware of the urgent need to abolish serfdom, but his main slogan was “Do no harm.” The emperor was afraid of changes that could lead to unpredictable consequences. This attitude of the tsar also affected the development of the country’s productive forces: technical innovations were introduced with great difficulty in Russia, which, with the beginning of the industrial revolution, led to the inevitable lag of the country behind its Western neighbors. A crisis in agricultural production was brewing. Landowners could increase the profitability of their farms only by increasing the level of exploitation; in many estates in the black earth region, peasants were transferred to “monthly work,” that is, they were deprived of their allotment, and were forced to work only for the landowner, giving food products.
Much attention was paid to issues of ideology: the minister formed Count S.S. Uvarov developed the formula “Orthodoxy, autocracy, nationality,” which was supposed to determine the main direction of official policy.
The social life of the country at this time is characterized by the presence of various circles, where the main role is played by the so-called "Westerners" and "Slavophiles", arguing about the essence of Russia and its historical prospects.
Foreign policy in the era of Nicholas the First is characterized to a large extent by the role of the “European gendarme”, seeking to suppress revolutionary excesses. The first action in this direction was the suppression of the uprising in the Kingdom of Poland in 1830 - 1831, then the assistance of the Austrian Empire in suppressing the revolution in Hungary and Transylvania in 1849.
The second direction in the foreign policy of Nicholas I was the solution of the Balkan and Transcaucasian issues, where Russia had to confront Turkey and Iran. In 1826 - 1828 there was a war with Iran, which ended with the assignment of those regions of the Transcaucasus to Russia
Russia during the reign of Peter I . In the historical literature there is no single assessment of the activities PetraI(1682-1725). Even in pre-revolutionary historiography, there were two points of view on his reign. Some believed that Peter’s reforms disrupted the natural course of the country’s development, others insisted that they were vitally necessary for Russia, and the country was prepared for them by the entire previous course of historical development. Most historians are currently inclined to the point of view that the reforms of Peter I are a forced “Europeanization of Russia”, which marked the beginning of the modernization of the country, and during which absolutism was formalized.
After the death of Tsar Fyodor Alekseevich, the question of succession to the throne arose. Power was supposed to pass to Peter's older brother, the sickly and feeble-minded Ivan. But the closest circle of the deceased king insisted on transferring power to a healthy heir, Peter. Violation of the principle of seniority when inheriting the throne gave rise to Ivan's relatives - the Miloslavsky boyars - to raise the archers to revolt. As a result, Ivan was also proclaimed tsar, along with Peter, and before they came of age, the elder sister, Sophia, became the ruler of the state. Peter and his mother left Moscow for the village of Preobrazhenskoye, where they lived until he came of age.
In August 1689, having received news that Princess Sophia was preparing a new uprising of the Streltsy in order to remove him from power, Peter fled to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. Boyars, nobles, and military men also began to flock there, feeling that Sophia’s reign was coming to an end. In September, Peter entered Moscow and ordered Sophia to be imprisoned in the Novodevichy Convent. Thus began the reign of Peter the Great.
Peter I went down in history as a reformer tsar. Peter did not have a unified plan for transforming the Russian state, but it can be noted that his reforms were subordinated primarily to the military needs of Russia.
Primary attention was paid to military reform, which began in 1699, on the eve of the Northern War. For the first time in Russia, a regular army was created on the basis of recruitment. The Streltsy army was disbanded. The formation of the new army was completed by the decree of 1705, which introduced uniform small arms, equipment, uniforms, and a training and education system. To create qualified officer personnel, navigation, artillery, engineering, and surgical schools were opened. In 1716, the “Military Charter” was adopted, and a little later the “Naval Charter” - the first sets of military laws in the history of Russia.
Russia could not have become a great power without a powerful navy. In 1708, the first 28-gun frigate was launched. The fleet was built in the south, in the north, in the Baltic. By the end of Peter's reign, the Russian fleet consisted of about 900 ships.
An equally important component of the military reform was the creation of our own military industry. In 1701 – 1704 By decree of the tsar, the country's first large metallurgical plants were built in the Urals, working exclusively for the army. State-owned manufactories were also created to produce gunpowder, weapons, and cloth. The result of the military reform was impressive: Russia became one of the great military and naval powers of Europe.
The continuous military actions waged by Russia caused an acute financial crisis. In order to get out of it, monetary and tax reforms were carried out. New types of coins were introduced, including copper ones. In 1711, by decree of the tsar, the silver content in coins was reduced by 20%. In 1710, a house-to-house census was carried out. The census formed the basis of tax reform. In 1718 - 1724 The poll tax was introduced - a single cash tax on men. All these measures made it possible to increase revenues to the state treasury by 3 times.
Public administration was radically changed. In 1699, the Near Chancellery was established, soon renamed the “consultation of ministers.” The Senate became the highest government institution in 1711. Its functions included: court, adoption of laws and control over the work of the state apparatus. The Senate consisted of 9 people - representatives of the family nobility and Peter's nominees. The Senate was also controlled by the Prosecutor General, whose position was established in 1722.
In 1718 – 1720 orders were replaced by collegiums in which decisions were made collectively. The board was led by a president, vice-president, and several advisors. The activities of the boards were determined by the General Regulations and internal regulations of each board.
Cases of state crimes were handled by the Secret Chancellery, which was under the authority of the emperor himself.
Local government has also changed. In 1708, Russia was divided into 8 provinces, headed by governors appointed by the tsar, who had full administrative, military and judicial power. The provinces were divided into districts. In 1719, Peter again turned to the reform of local government. The country was divided into 50 provinces (led by governors) and counties. The provincial division was preserved, but only military and judicial functions remained under the authority of the governors.
In 1703, the Tsar ordered the construction of a new capital, St. Petersburg, to begin at the mouth of the Neva. It was built with straight streets, spacious squares, and numerous stone buildings. In 1710, the court moved here, and in 1712, St. Petersburg officially acquired the status of the capital of the state.
In 1721, Peter I became emperor, and Russia became an empire.
The patriarchate was abolished, and a special board, the Holy Governing Synod, dealt with the affairs of the church. The Spiritual Collegium included representatives of the highest Russian clergy appointed by the Tsar. The decisions of the Synod were approved by the emperor. His activities were supervised by the chief prosecutor. In fact, the Tsar himself became the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. Part of the church's income began to flow into the state treasury. Thus, the church turned into a state institution, completely subordinate to secular power.
The social policy of Peter I was aimed at strengthening the ruling class and strengthening its role in the state. In 1714, a Decree on Single Inheritance was issued, according to which the noble estate was equal in rights to the boyar estate, i.e. A single ruling class was formed - the nobles. In 1722, the “Table of Ranks” was published, according to which the nobles were obliged to serve the emperor in military, civil or court service. 14 classes (ranks) of officials were defined. A commoner who achieved the rank of 8th grade became a hereditary nobleman. For their service, officials received land, peasants and salary.
According to the city reform of 1720, a chief magistrate was created in St. Petersburg, to whom local magistrates, headed by mayors and elected representatives of the city population, were subordinate. The townspeople were divided into “regular” (higher) and “mean” (lower). “Regulars” enjoyed special government support and benefits. The reform contributed to the economic recovery of cities.
In 1722, Peter I issued a Decree on Succession to the Throne, according to which the emperor himself appointed an heir, based on the interests of the state.
The main feature of the economic policy of Peter I was the strengthening of state intervention in the economic life of the country. Almost all industrial production worked for the needs of the army and navy. The Tsar also encouraged private enterprise. The main directions of economic transformation were protectionism and mercantilism. Peter provided all possible support to the domestic industry and ensured that the export of goods from the country prevailed over the import.
Manufacturing production was actively developing. Russia has taken third place in Europe in metal production (after England and Sweden). The peculiarity of Russian industry was that it was based on serf labor. The government allowed breeders to buy peasants, who were called sessional. Harsh working conditions and high mortality rates led to frequent changes of workers. The number of artisans continued to grow. The largest centers of crafts were Moscow and St. Petersburg. The main types of production were household items: locks, knives, pewter, canvas, jewelry made of gold, silver, and enamel. Felting craft (felt boots and hats), candle and soap production developed.
Unlike industry, changes in agriculture were not significant. Peter ordered the use of a Lithuanian scythe and rake when harvesting grain. They were purchased in thousands and distributed throughout the provinces, which made it possible to increase the productivity of peasant labor. Agricultural development of lands in the Volga region and Siberia continued. For the production of cloth, Merino sheep were purchased from Holland and Spain. The first stud farms were created. Silkworms were bred for the needs of the yard. The plantings of industrial crops - flax and hemp, which were required for army needs, increased significantly. Peter I brought potatoes, tomatoes and tobacco to Russia.
The all-Russian market was developing. The main centers of trade were rural markets, where sellers and buyers from neighboring villages gathered two or three times a week. Wholesale fairs also appeared.
Peter I improved the means of communication: he built the Vyshnevolotsky Canal and began construction of the Ladoga Bypass Canal, which had a positive effect on the development of domestic trade. This was also facilitated by the growth in the number of cities and urban population, the increase in the volume of manufacturing production, and the creation of a large army.
Access to the Baltic Sea also contributed to an increase in the volume of foreign trade. Russia's main European trading partners were England and Holland. Through Astrakhan, Russia traded with Persia and Transcaucasia. As part of the policy of protectionism, Peter in 1724 adopted a Customs Tariff, which established a 75% duty on the import of foreign goods if they were produced in sufficient quantities in Russia. It was also prohibited to export raw materials needed by domestic industry.
Among the most significant cultural transformations of Peter it is necessary to mention: the emergence of a secular school, the publication of the first newspaper "Vedomosti", the founding of the Academy of Sciences (1705), the appearance of the first geographical maps, the opening of the first museum and the first library at the Academy of Sciences, the introduction of European clothing and a new calendar from Christmas Christova (from January 1, 1700).
Peter I faced two strategic foreign policy tasks: to achieve access to the Black and Baltic Seas. In the south in 1695-1696. Peter I managed to gain a foothold only on the shores of the Sea of Azov. But his life's work was North War(1700-1721) with Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea. Having first suffered a crushing defeat near Narva in 1700, Peter I threw all his efforts into creating a regular army and navy. The results were not long in coming. Already in 1709, Russian troops defeated the Swedish army in the Battle of Poltava. But in 1710 Türkiye intervened in the war. Russia was not ready to conduct military operations on two fronts, and the Azov acquisitions had to be returned. Having won two major victories in the Baltic Sea - in 1714 at Cape Gangut and in 1720 at Grengam Island, Peter I clearly showed the superiority of the Russian fleet over the Swedish. According to the Treaty of Nystadt, Russia received the Baltic coast from Vyborg to Riga. Immediately after the end of the Northern War, taking advantage of the internal political crisis in Iran, a campaign was undertaken in the Transcaucasus (Persian Campaign). The campaign was successful, and Russia received the western shore of the Caspian Sea.
Assessing the results of the reforms of Peter I, we can note:
– the creation of a strong army and regular fleet, which turned Russia into a powerful European power;
– reforms of the state apparatus were the formalization of absolutism and culminated in the creation of a bureaucratic-bureaucratic empire;
– great successes in science, enlightenment and education;
– successes in economic development;
- achieving access to Europe, which was vital for the economic and political development of Russia.
The time of Peter I also meant a change in the political model - from the Moscow autocracy, implying the harmony of secular and church power - to the European type of absolutism. The results were: the abolition of the autonomy of the church, the elimination of the conciliar-consultative principle of power, the growth and strengthening of the bureaucratic apparatus, the predominance of a voluntaristic style of government.
The era of palace coups. The period from Peter I to Catherine II (1725 – 1762) was called in history era of palace coups. Over the course of 37 years, rulers were changed by force 5 times. Among the main reasons for the frequency and ease of coups are Peter the Great's decree on succession to the throne, the strengthening of the role of the guard in state affairs, and the intense struggle for power in court circles. The main content of the domestic policy of those years was the expansion of the privileges of the nobility, the further enslavement of the peasants, and the strengthening of absolutism.
Ironically, Peter I did not have time to appoint an heir for himself. The only male heir of the tsar was his 9-year-old grandson Pyotr Alekseevich, whose accession to the throne was advocated by the old family aristocracy (Dolgoruky, Golitsyn, Repnin). However, the emperor’s nominees (Menshikov, Golovkin, Prokopovich, etc.), fearing for their position, sought to enthrone the emperor’s wife, Catherine. By order of Menshikov, the Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments came out in support of the empress. In gratitude, Catherine I (1725 – 1727) appointed Menshikov as her first minister. In 1726 it was created Supreme Privy Council, who helped the empress govern the state. It included both the “old aristocracy” and Peter’s associates. But the reign of Catherine I did not last long. Dying, she handed over the throne to Peter's grandson, Peter II, indicating that until the emperor came of age, he should be under the care of the Supreme Privy Council, headed by Menshikov.
Menshikov hoped to marry his daughter Maria to the young emperor, but this plan was not destined to come true. Through the emperor’s peer and friend, Ivan Dolgoruky, Peter II was influenced by the “old aristocracy.” Menshikov's fall turned out to be a matter of time. He was accused of abuses, deprived of his property and exiled with his family to Siberia, where he soon died. The Tsar's new bride was Ekaterina Dolgorukaya. Their wedding was supposed to take place in 1730, but Peter II caught a cold while hunting and died on the day of his wedding. With his death, the male line of the Romanovs was cut short. The question of succession to the throne arose again.
Members of the Supreme Privy Council rejected Peter's two daughters as candidates for the throne, pointing out their illegal origin (born before Peter's marriage to Catherine). They decided to turn to the line of Ivan V. His daughter Anna, the widow of the Duke of Courland, was invited to the Russian throne. The council drew up conditions - the conditions for inviting Anna to the throne. She was not supposed to marry, appoint an heir, start a war and make peace, introduce new taxes, assign military ranks, encroach on the lives, honor and estates of nobles, grant estates with serfs. Anna Ioannovna signed these conditions, but upon arriving in Russia, she received a “petition” from the nobles and the guards, in which they showed their dissatisfaction with the conditions. Anna tore up the terms and abolished the Supreme Privy Council.
Anna Ioannovna ruled Russia for 10 years (1730 – 1740). She was not too interested in state affairs, leaving the sphere of management to her favorite E.I. Biron (former groom) and Vice-Chancellor A.I. Osterman. Under Anna Ioannovna, the period of compulsory noble service was limited to 25 years (but one of the sons could not serve and remain on the estate); Peter I's decree on unified inheritance was cancelled; To educate the children of nobles, the Gentry Corps was opened, graduating officers. The Empress wanted to secure the throne for the descendants of her father. For this purpose, her niece, Anna Leopoldovna, the wife of Prince Anton of Brunswick, was invited to the court. In 1740, Anna Leopoldovna gave birth to a son, Ivan, who was declared heir to the Russian throne (Ivan VI). Dying, Anna appointed Biron as regent for the young emperor. However, the nobles and the guard supported the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth.
During the next palace coup, Elizaveta Petrovna became the Russian Empress (1741 - 1761), Biron was exiled, and Ivan VI and his mother were imprisoned. Administration of the state was entrusted to Elizabeth's favorites and confidants - A. G. Razumovsky, P. I. Shuvalov, A. P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, M. I. Vorontsov. Elizaveta Petrovna secured the right to own land and peasants only for the nobles, distillation was declared a monopoly of the nobility, they received the right to judge their peasants and exile them to Siberia, and the Noble Land Bank was created for the economic support of the nobles. Thinking about an heir, the empress invited her nephew, Peter Fedorovich, to the court, and soon married him to the German princess Sophia Augusta Frederick of Anhalt-Zerbt, who received the name Catherine at baptism. However, the hot-tempered and rude nephew soon disappointed Elizabeth. After the birth of Peter and Catherine’s son, Paul, Elizabeth took him into her care, intending to transfer the throne to him. But she did not have time to make the appropriate orders on this matter. In December 1761, Elizaveta Petrovna died. Peter III became emperor.
Among the acts of Peter III (1761 - 1762) there were many important government measures - the destruction of the Secret Chancellery, the end of the persecution of schismatics, the announcement of the secularization of church lands (the decree was finally implemented under Catherine II), the proclamation of freedom of foreign trade. Peter III completed the transformation of the nobility from the service class into the privileged one. According to the “Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility,” nobles were exempted from compulsory service to the state, they were allowed to educate their children at home, and to travel abroad to serve another sovereign. However, this was not enough to keep him on the throne. Behind Peter III, a hostile political group of the highest bureaucracy formed, which, with the help of the guard, overthrew the emperor and elevated his wife, Catherine, to the Russian throne.
Russia during the era of palace coups faced three foreign policy tasks: the struggle for access to the Black Sea, the preservation of Peter's conquests in the Baltic, and advancement to the East. During the Russian-Turkish war of 1736 - 1739. Russia managed to annex minor territories of right-bank Ukraine. But Russia never received access to the Black Sea and the right to have fortresses and a navy on the Sea of Azov. Sweden could not come to terms with the results of the Northern War and provoked the Russian-Swedish War of 1741 - 1743. But this war also turned out to be successful for Russia, which managed not only to defend Peter’s conquests, but also to obtain part of the Finnish lands as far as Vyborg. In the second quarter of the 18th century. Kazakh lands were annexed to Russia. Under Elizaveta Petrovna, Russia took part in the Seven Years' War of 1756 - 1762, in which, together with France and Austria, it opposed Prussia and England. Russian troops successfully acted against the Prussian army. In September 1760, the Russian army entered Berlin. Prussia was on the verge of complete collapse. But the death of Elizabeth Petrovna and the accession of Peter III radically changed the course of the war. The new Russian emperor stopped hostilities and entered into an alliance with Frederick II. The coup in favor of Catherine marked Russia's exit from the war.
1. Socio-economic development of Russia in the 18th century..
In the 18th century The development of Russia, as in previous times, was carried out on a feudal-serf basis. Feudal relations covered all spheres of public life, they spread to new territories and categories of the population, and took on increasingly severe forms. At the same time, the 18th century. was a period when capitalist relations began to take shape within the feudal system, which was an event of exceptional importance in the process of the country’s socio-economic development. The new way of life, being very weak, was strongly influenced by the dominant system and retained a number of features of serfdom. Socio-economic development of Russia in the 18th century. took place in complex and contradictory conditions.
The basis of the population structure in the 18th century. lay the class principle. The Russian nobility became the dominant class, consolidating in the first quarter of the 18th century into a single class-estate. The class rights and privileges of the nobility, which secured its dominance in economics and politics, were strengthened and expanded throughout the century. By the end of the 18th century. nobles made up about 1% of the country's population. Certain benefits (exemption from poll tax, conscription, corporal punishment) were provided to the clergy and guild merchants, the so-called semi-privileged classes. The category of guild merchants accounted for only 0.5% of the population. By the end of the century, a semi-privileged military service class (Cossacks, Kalmyks, part of the Bashkirs) had emerged, accounting for less than 2% of the total population. It was exempt from poll tax and conscription, but performed compulsory military service under special conditions. The bulk of the country's population consisted of tax-paying classes (peasants, townspeople, guild artisans). By the end of the century, the tax-paying population of cities accounted for slightly more than 3% of the total population. Over 90% of the country's population were peasants, divided into two large categories: state and landowners. Peasants of all categories were serfs. They were attached to the land, paid feudal rent, carried out conscription duties, and experienced all the hardships of class inferiority.
The most difficult situation was for the privately owned peasants, who were under the unlimited power and ownership of the landowners. In the non-chernozem zone, in conditions of infertile soils, about 55% of the landowner peasants were transferred to cash rent, which was often supplemented by natural rent. Its size grew rapidly. The quitrent, according to experts, from 1713 to 1753 increased from 30 rubles to 200. A significant part was paid by peasants through the sale of their handicrafts and non-agricultural products on the market, as well as from money received from various jobs in cities and towns. in factories. All this testified to the destruction of the natural economy of the village, to the strengthening of ties between the quitrent peasant economy and the market. In the non-chernozem zone, areas appeared in which residents of villages and villages specialized in certain non-agricultural trades: leather production (Kimry, Tver province), weaving (Ivanovo-Vladimir province), metalworking (Lyskovo, Pavlovo, Murashkino, Nizhny Novgorod province). Craft production here gradually developed into manufacturing.
In the black earth part of the country, working rent was widely practiced, sometimes reaching 4-5 days a week. The growth of corvée was accompanied by a sharp increase in the size of the lord's arable land due to the reduction of peasant plots. The landowners took away plots from some of the peasants and transferred them for a month. Such peasants, as a rule, did not have their own farm and worked almost the entire week in the master's plowing, receiving a meager monthly allowance. They had no time left to engage in crafts or trade. It was not the peasant, but the landowner, who was associated with the market in this zone. And the connection between the landowners' economy and the market strengthened. The nobles' desire for a luxurious life led to increased exploitation of the peasants, to the undermining of the peasant economy, and to the impoverishment of the peasants. Serfdom slowed down the process of social stratification of the peasantry and the formation of a class of rural bourgeoisie. Capitalist relations began to penetrate into the countryside (mainly their germs are felt in village crafts, which grew into manufacture), but they were still very weak and had a semi-feudal character.
The 18th century was a time of intensive development of industry, primarily manufacturing. The dynamics of its development are as follows. By the end of the first quarter of the century, there were more than 100 manufactories in Russia, in 1760 - about 500, and by the end of the century - over 1000. The Urals became the most important center of the metallurgical industry. By the middle of the century, 18 state-owned and 11 private ironworks operated in the Urals. Thanks to the high scale of Ural production at that time, Russia was smelting 2 million pounds of cast iron by the middle of the century, one and a half times more than England, which was advanced at that time. At the beginning of the century, Russia imported iron from abroad, and in the middle of the century, soft, malleable Ural iron became one of the important Russian exports. Following ferrous metallurgy, non-ferrous metallurgy developed. The arms industry and shipbuilding received a powerful impetus in its development.
Moscow and St. Petersburg became major centers of light industry. Linen, cloth, sailing, and leather manufactories arose in the central regions of Russia. In the 18th century A new branch of textile production for the country - cotton - received significant development. Calico-printing factories arose in Moscow, Kolomna, Arzamas, in the Vladimir province, etc. Some factories employed hundreds or even thousands of workers.
In Russia in the 18th century. There were two types of manufactories: a) based on the use of forced labor (state-owned and patrimonial manufactories); b) based on hired labor (merchant and peasant manufactories).
In the 18th century, the role of manufactories based on wage labor increased. Their owners, as a rule, were merchants and wealthy peasants. The majority of those who worked were peasants. In relation to the owners of manufactories, they acted as hired workers, but at the same time continued to remain serfs, paying feudal rent to their landowners. These manufactories successfully competed with state-owned and patrimonial ones.
XVIII century brought a lot of new things into the life of the city. From the end of the 17th century. The growth of the urban population intensified, more than tripling over the century. The number of cities also grew rapidly. If at the end of the 17th century. there were about 250 of them, then in the second half of the 18th century. - already about 400. An important distinguishing feature of the cities of the 18th century. - the presence in many of them of large and small manufactories. The largest industrial region of the country was developing in the Moscow region. Moscow, Tula, Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Kaluga had a developed and diverse manufacturing industry.
The expansion of internal volume led to deepening specialization in the production of goods and products of all kinds, which in turn determined the further development of the All-Russian market. At the end of the century, over 1,600 fairs were involved in domestic trade. The largest of them were: Nizhny Novgorod, Irbit (in the Urals), Svensk (near Bryansk), Korennaya (near Kursk), Nezhinsk (in Ukraine).
In foreign trade, Russia's partners were England, Sweden, Denmark, and in the East: Turkey, Iran, India and China. Foreign trade was now carried out through St. Petersburg, Riga, Narva, Revel and other Baltic ports. In the south, Astrakhan remained the main trade gate. A feature of Russian foreign trade in the 18th century. there was a significant predominance of exports over imports. The main goods exported were flax, hemp, timber, leather, canvas, canvas, and bread. In the second half of the century, iron exports increased sharply. All this testified to the increasing role of commodity-money relations and the manufacturing industry in the country's economy.
2. Domestic policy of Russia in 1725-1800.
The 37-year period of political instability (1725-1762) that followed the death of Peter I was called the “Era of Palace Revolutions.” During this period, state policy was determined by individual groups of the palace nobility, who actively intervened in resolving the issue of the heir to the throne, fought among themselves for power, and carried out palace coups. The reason for such an intervention was the Charter on the Succession to the Throne, issued by Peter I on February 5, 1722, which abolished “both orders of succession to the throne that were in force before, both the will and the conciliar election, replacing both with personal appointment, at the discretion of the reigning sovereign.” 5 (*) Peter himself did not take advantage of this charter; he died on January 28, 1725, without appointing a successor. Therefore, immediately after his death, a struggle for power began between representatives of the ruling elite.
The decisive force in the palace coups was the guard, a privileged part of the regular army created by Peter (these are the famous Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments, in the 30s two new ones were added to them, the Izmailovsky and Horse Guards). Her participation decided the outcome of the matter: which side the guard was on, that group would win. The Guard was not only a privileged part of the Russian army, it was a representative of an entire class (the nobility), from whose midst it was almost exclusively formed and whose interests it represented.
Palace coups testified to the weakness of absolute power under the successors of Peter I, who were unable to continue reforms with energy and in the spirit of a pioneer and who could govern the state only by relying on their entourage. Favoritism flourished in full bloom during this period. Temporary favorites received unlimited influence on state policy.
The only heir of Peter I in the male line was his grandson - the son of the executed Tsarevich Alexei Peter. But the wife of Peter I, Catherine, laid claim to the throne. Peter's two daughters, Anna (married to a Holstein prince) and Elizabeth, who was still a minor by that time, were also heirs. The issue of a successor was resolved by the quick actions of A. Menshikov, who, relying on the guard, carried out the first palace coup in favor of Catherine I (1725-1727). and became an all-powerful temporary worker under her.
At this time, the territory of the Russian Empire expanded significantly. It included Belarus and Right Bank Ukraine, Crimea and the Azov region, part of the Northern Black Sea region and Lithuania. For 1747-1796. The population doubled: from 18 to 36 million people. If by the end of the reign of Peter I there were 336 cities in the country, then by the beginning of the 19th century. - 634. And yet Russia remained an agricultural country - only 4.1% of the population lived in cities. Most of it was peasants. 54% of the peasants belonged to the landowners, 40% to the treasury, and the rest to the palace department.
Agriculture developed mainly extensively - due to the development of newly annexed sparsely populated lands in the south - in Novorossiya. To attract the population here, the government allocated plots of 60 dessiatines. to everyone, with the exception of serfs: retired soldiers, state peasants, foreign colonists. In the conditions of the existence of serfdom in the country there were not enough free people who could settle in the fertile, empty region. True, Potemkin, who led the development of the Black Sea lands, achieved a decree not to extradite to the landowners fugitive serfs who found themselves in the Novorossiysk and Azov provinces. And yet, landowner colonization played a decisive role in the settlement of New Russia. To those landowners who undertook to resettle their peasants in the Black Sea region, the government allocated land with an area of 1.5 thousand to 12 thousand dessiatines. Already by the end of the 18th century. Novorossiya began to supply grain to the market and even sell it abroad through the Black Sea ports. Later it turned into one of the most important granaries of Russia.
The agricultural development of the eastern regions of the country also took place, albeit slowly: the Southern Urals and Siberia, where the indigenous population, under the influence of Russian settlers, moved from nomadic cattle breeding to arable land cultivation.
Agriculture
Under the influence of the growth of cities, industry, and foreign trade, the landlord economy was increasingly drawn into market relations. In the south of the country, where the production of bread for sale had become a profitable business, landowners sought to expand the lordly plowing by reducing peasant plots. At the same time, the time spent by the peasant in corvee work increased. As a rule, peasants worked in corvee 3-4 days a week, but sometimes all 6 days. In some cases, the landowner completely deprived the serf of his land allotment and forced him to work in his field all week, providing him and his family with a monthly allowance. Therefore, this form of dependence began to be called mesyachina. Serfdom in Russia was often called slavery. The month actually turned the serf into a slave, completely depriving him of his property.
In the Non-Black Earth Region, organizing their own large agricultural enterprises did not bring significant benefits to the landowners. Therefore, quitrent prevailed here, which was collected mainly in cash. The size of the quitrent increased in the 1760s-90s. from 1-2 rub. up to 5-10 rub. from the revision “soul”. Peasants obtained money to pay their dues by engaging in trades and by going to work: in carpenter's artels, in barge haulers, in carriages, in manufactories. Thus, the dependence of the worker on the land inherent in the serf economy was violated. Serfdom turned out to be in conflict with the needs of the country's economic development.
The sharp increase in the interest of the nobles in their farms (after 1762) and the desire to increase the income of their estates immediately affected the increased exploitation of the peasants.
First of all, landowners, where grain farming was profitable, sought to expand their part of the arable land. This led to the expansion of lordly arable land and the reduction of peasant plots to 1.5 dessiatines. per male soul or less.
In addition to the reduction in allotment, the heaviest burden for corvee peasants was work on the landowner's field. These jobs typically amounted to three days a week. In some areas, corvee reached in the middle of the 18th century. monstrous sizes - 5-6 days a week. The nobles developed especially large arable lands in the fertile regions of the Black Earth Center. At the same time, landowners were increasingly focused on producing bread for sale. However, in reducing the peasant's allotment, the landowner cut down the branch on which he himself sat. The degradation of the peasant economy was a manifestation of the crisis of the feudal-serf economic system. In the 18th century manifestations of these crisis features are observed mainly in the non-chernozem zone, in areas where grain is profitable for sale. But in the 18th century. these crisis phenomena end without consequences. This is explained by a number of circumstances.
By the middle of the 18th century, the period of more or less harmonious combination in the exploitation of peasants by landowners of all three types of feudal rent was coming to an end: labor rent, natural rent and cash rent. The landowners of the non-Black Earth region of Russia are gradually switching to quitrent. The role of natural taxes becomes secondary.
Corvee form of exploitation in the 18th century. became predominant in the zone of the most fertile lands. These are areas of Tula, Ryazan, Tambov, Oryol, Kursk, Voronezh, Penza and other provinces. In these areas, the nobility starts large lordly arable lands of 1000, 2000 and even 3000 dessiatines. However, such large plows in the 18th century. are still relatively rare. Most often, their value reaches 100 - 300 dessiatines, but this grain of small and medium-sized landowners also went to the market.
So, from the middle of the 18th century, the regions of the black earth provinces became the focus of the corvée economy of landowners with grain production oriented towards the market. This leads to a sharp increase in the exploitation of peasants. It was during this era that the impetus was given to the process that in the middle of the 19th century led to the collapse of the feudal-serf system.
The main factor in the deepening and development of the domestic market was the growth of the non-agricultural population engaged in commercial and industrial activities. This growth was carried out mainly due to the fishing peasantry. External export of grain in the 18th century. accounted for only 3% to 7% of the total grain balance. At the same time, landowners were not suppliers of commercial grain. The bulk of it was provided by peasants, who were increasingly drawn into the system of commodity-money relations.
In the course of the historical process, the social division of labor develops. Because of this, there is a gradual specialization of production, the relationship between sectors of which is carried out through the market. In the field of agriculture, these processes of specialization occur extremely slowly and much later than in industry. However, in the 18th century. Peasant farming is gradually ceasing to be an absolutely closed farm. Peasants are now buying tools for their labor and some household items. The state's transition to collecting cash rather than in-kind taxes increases the peasant's need for money, forces him to transport the products of his labor to the market, and draws him into the system of commodity-money relations. This process was gradual and lengthy. In the time we are describing, he, as in the 17th century. was somewhere within its initial stage. The basis of the peasant's economy still remained subsistence.
The specific natural and climatic conditions of Russia provided the local population with very unfavorable conditions for farming. The Russian peasant was engaged in farming not from February to November, as in Western Europe, but only from April-May to August-September, because the rest of the time belonged to either cold weather with frosts or severe winter. Because of this, the farmer could more or less normally plow and harrow a very small plot of land, and the choice of crops was small: rye, most often winter rye, which was sown in the fall, overwintered as seedlings under the snow and ripened by July-August of the next summer, and oats, which were sown in April-May and ripened in August-September. These two crops occupied up to 80% of the arable land, because they were the most important and at the same time unpretentious and hardy crops. But the inhabitants of the East European Plain most often had poor podzolic soil. The yield on such lands was mostly sam-3 and only sometimes sam-4. With a harvest of sam-3, the peasant could barely make ends meet, and with a harvest of sam-4 he could sell about 17 pounds of grain. However, the harvest itself was not always there either, and crop failures were frequent, and then the peasant could not even harvest new grain for seeds. Prince M.M. Shcherbatov, making a similar calculation, came to the conclusion that the country was almost constantly on the brink of famine. The weather and work helped her out.
Three-field crop rotation put a barrier to marketability and changes in the profile of peasant farming. After all, the winter field was occupied by rye. Up to 50% of the spring field was occupied by oats, and the rest of the plot of land was divided into barley, flax, peas, lentils, buckwheat, millet, hemp, etc. The peasant could not refuse winter rye; he could not sow the spring field with flax instead of oats, since without it is impossible to live on oats, although he might sell flax at a profit. The market in the 18th century was not so developed as to satisfy the needs of the peasants themselves for one or another agricultural product. It satisfied the needs of only a small non-agricultural population and, above all, the urban population. Thus, the specialization of peasant farming proceeded very slowly, maintaining its natural basis.
However, the most serious problem in the development of Russian agriculture was the acute shortage of time and the small size of the land, the harvest from which was barely enough for its own maintenance. At the same time, the objective needs of the developing Russian state required a much larger gross agricultural product.
Thus, gradually the task of increasing the peasant’s workload arose, and increasing this load in that short agricultural season that Nature had gifted Russia with. This is where the characteristics characteristic of the 18th century came from. processes of sharp intensification of exploitation of the forced Russian peasantry.
Nevertheless, specialization gradually developed. The peasantry of Central Russia has long paid attention to flax crops, expanding them in the spring field and crowding out other crops. The areas around Pskov and Yaroslavl were famous for their excellent flax. Buyers collected small lots of flax from villages and villages, and merchants sent them in huge quantities abroad or to weaving factories in Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Vladimir, Moscow and other cities.
An equally important crop, which early became an item of trade and a raw material for industry, was hemp, which can be sown in the same field for many decades in a row with abundant fertilization of the land. The peasantry of the regions of Kaluga, Bryansk, Orel, Kursk and other areas planted special fields for hemp and received abundant harvests of this crop. Huge quantities of hemp hemp were used, just like flax, for export and for the needs of the sailing and linen industry within the country.
Finally, another important point in the development of marketability of the country's agriculture in the 18th century. We are talking about the development of the process of development of vast sparsely populated but fertile territories to the south and southeast of the center of the country. In the 18th century the advancement of the peasantry to the southern fertile lands intensified. The Russian population was already significant in the Volga region, the lower reaches of the Don, areas of the Ciscaucasia, Bashkiria, etc. The territory where the Tatars, Chuvashs, Maris, and Bashkirs lived, at the time being described already had a large layer of Russian population. Russian peasants lived peacefully side by side with the Tatars, Bashkirs, Chuvashs and other nationalities and even entered into family ties with them. Conflicts arose, as a rule, when, following peasant colonization, Russian feudal lords appeared in these lands, land seizures began, etc.
The development of fertile black soil was another important factor in bringing the peasant economy into the orbit of commodity-money relations and in overcoming its former isolation. Despite the fact that the black soil areas often suffered from drought, their fertility was so high that a harvest year not only covered the meager crop failures, but also produced a surplus of grain products. Rye yields sometimes reached 10, 15, wheat - 5, 8, millet - 20, 30 and more. More free maneuvering of the sown area than with a conventional three-field system made it possible to allocate large tracts of land for wheat, millet, buckwheat, etc.
Industry and craft
In Russian industry in the second half of the 18th century. big changes have taken place. If in the middle of the century there were 600 manufactories in Russia, then at the end there were 1200. Pig iron smelting increased sharply. By the middle of the 18th century. Russia came out on top in the world in iron smelting. Sail-linen and cloth manufactories developed successfully. The rapid growth of production was explained by growing demand from the treasury and great opportunities for export: Russian sailing cloth and iron were willingly purchased by European countries, especially England.
In metallurgy, Ural factories reigned supreme. The Olonets and Tula-Kashira metallurgical regions fell into decay. The Urals took first place in metallurgical production. The Lipetsk factories also grew rapidly. In light industry, new centers were formed to the north and west of the traditional center - Moscow, in the Voronezh province, in Little Russia. Cloth making developed in the south, where sheep were traditionally bred; linen factories were built in flax-growing areas: near Smolensk, Pskov and Novgorod.
The textile industry has undergone significant development. True, in the cloth industry, the most privileged, there were constant interruptions. The entire production of these manufactories was supplied to the treasury. However, the purchasing conditions were unfavorable and the cloth factories declined. A sharp contrast was made by silk establishments that operated for free sale. Their number steadily increased. The main center of the silk industry was Moscow and the Moscow region.
The sailing and linen industry also developed. Russian canvas was in great demand in England and other maritime powers. New enterprises in this industry arose in cities such as Yaroslavl, Vologda, Kaluga, and Borovsk. Serpukhov became a major center of linen production.
The production of paper, leather, glass, chemicals, etc. is being developed. By the middle of the 18th century. There were 15 paper-making factories, 10 glass factories, 9 chemical factories, etc.
If at the beginning of the 18th century. Manufactories belonged primarily to the treasury, then later, an increasing number of owners of factories and factories came from merchants, as well as peasants and nobles. Another area of application of forced labor is landowners' patrimonial enterprises. In Russia there was a state wine monopoly and the supply of wine (i.e. vodka) to the treasury was a very profitable business. This was soon realized by the owners of such estates, which were located in fertile but remote areas from markets: the south of the Tambov province, Voronezh, Kursk, Penza provinces, Slobodskaya Ukraine, etc. Large distilleries using the labor of their own serfs very quickly appeared here.
Another industry where noble entrepreneurship manifested itself was the cloth and partly sailing and linen industry. Organized on the basis of serf labor, the noble cloth industry became widespread mainly in the southern regions of the country: Voronezh, Kursk, and partially Tambov provinces. etc. There were, as a rule, small enterprises with 2-3 dozen mills. But there were also big ones. By the end of the 60s. the total number of cloth factories in the country reaches 73 units.
In metallurgy, possession and state-owned manufactories predominated. But at the same time, peasant-merchant manufactory (especially in the textile industry), based on civilian labor, also began to develop successfully. To a large extent this was a consequence of government policy. At the beginning of her reign, trying to enlist the support of the ruling class - the nobility, Catherine II in 1762. satisfied the most important demand of the landowners: she prohibited all non-nobles from acquiring peasants to work in factories. The Ural industrialists found a way out of the situation: they already had tens of thousands of serfs who could be used in newly built factories. And manufacturers who opened new silk, glass, paper and other enterprises had to recruit free-lance workers. Thus, in factories founded after 1762, only hired labor was used.
It hardly occurred to anyone at that moment that the decline of forced labor in industry had begun. On the contrary, the owners of factories insisted on the restoration of the right to purchase workers that had been taken away from them. But later it turned out that hired workers work better, more productively, and the competitiveness of enterprises using hired labor is incomparably higher. After a few decades, the patrimonial manufactories began to wither away, unable to withstand the competition. The number of hired workers increased from 220 thousand in the early 1760s. up to 420 thousand by the end of the 18th century.
Who worked in manufactories for free hire? For the most part, they were peasant otkhodniks who earned rent. The peculiarity of the Russian worker was that he was a free employee only in relation to the breeder, while remaining at the same time a slave in relation to his master.
In her economic policy, Catherine II proceeded from the theory of natural rights, which included the right of private property. Government intervention in economic life, restrictions and regulation of economic activity were, from her point of view, a violation of natural rights. On the contrary, unrestricted freedom of competition was consistent with natural law.
Encouraging entrepreneurship promised the Russian treasury a significant increase in income from tax revenues. In 1767, farming and monopolies were abolished. In 1775, the tsar’s manifesto allowed “everyone to set up all kinds of camps and produce all kinds of handicrafts on them.” Thus, the right of peasants to engage in fishing was recognized.
For a long time, the peasants of the Non-Black Earth Region, receiving little profit from agriculture, used their free time to earn money. The peasants were sophisticated, “inventing”, i.e. inventing ways of their more or less tolerable existence. Hence the side activities of the peasantry received the name “trades”. Large masses of the peasantry were involved in industrial activities.
In addition to local crafts, peasants were engaged in latrine trades, i.e. went to work in cities or other areas. The river was a powerful consumer of peasant otkhodniks. Volga and the Volga cities of Tver, Rybnaya Sloboda, Yaroslavl, Nizhny Novgorod, Astrakhan, etc. Tens of thousands of peasants worked as barge haulers and were employed in the fisheries of Astrakhan and Guryev. Thousands of peasants went to work in St. Petersburg. A lot of working people were required to escort ships from the Volga to the Neva. Finally, Moscow and its industry were a serious consumer of labor.
In addition to industrial waste, agricultural waste developed in Russia. From Tula, Ryazan, Tambov villages, as well as from non-Black Earth regions, thousands of peasants flocked to summer work in the southern Black Earth regions. The corvee peasantry of the Non-Black Earth center of the country used the autumn-winter period to go to fishing. And now the landowners, not content with corvée, began to supplement it with monetary rent. Moreover, in view of the prospects of peasant crafts, many landowners began to transfer peasants from corvee to cash rent.
However, the exploitation of peasants through monetary rent very soon also ceased to meet the “standards” of a typical feudal economy. The landowner already receives increased amounts of quitrent only due to the personal serfdom of the peasant; land relations here have lost their former meaning.
The growth rate of peasant crafts is accompanied by a rapid growth rate of monetary rent. So, in the 60s. XVIII century landowners took an average of 1-2 rubles. from a male soul per year, in the 70s. - 2-3 rubles, in the 80s -4-5 rubles, and in the 90s. in some areas of the center of the country the rent reached 8-10 rubles. from the male soul.
One of the most striking features of Russia's economic development was the emergence of industrial centers not so much in the city as in the village. Thus, from the end of the 17th to the beginning of the 18th century, dozens of commercial and industrial settlements appeared, where the population focused their attention not on agriculture, but on “crafts.” These are the Vladimir villages of Dunilovo, Kokhma, Palekh, Mstera, Kholui, the Nizhny Novgorod villages of Pavlovo, Vorsma, Bezvodnoye, Lyskovo, Bogorodskoye, Gorodets, Rabotki, many in Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Tver, etc. villages and villages. By the middle of the 18th century. many of them were larger in population than other cities. In the village Pavlov, for example, by the middle of the century the population was over 4 thousand people. In other words, the process of social division of labor developed in such a way that in each specific village specialization developed predominantly in one type of production. In such a village, everyone, or almost everyone, was either a shoemaker, a cooper, or a weaver.
It was a typical small-scale production. Sometimes small commodity producers hired an additional 1-2 workers. Over time, the practice of using hired labor expanded. In the process of competition, two groups inevitably emerge: one of them consists of those who are forced to live only by selling their labor; the second group is very small, but it consists of commodity producers who use hired labor. Over time, larger ones emerge from them. Thus, from the depths of small-scale commodity production, manufacturing production gradually grows, and capitalist manufactories appear. However, due to the seasonality of production and short-term hiring of workers, the consolidation process was very slow and the number of large industries remained small.
A similar process of development of capitalism is observed in other regions. The so-called scattered manufacturing, whose workers work in their homes, in small rooms.
The consolidation of small-scale production and the growing use of hired labor in the 18th century can be observed in other branches of production - in metallurgy and metalworking, tanning, the chemical industry, etc. There are enterprises of the capitalist type in the largest cities of Russia (Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, etc.). A capitalist structure is gradually being formed in the country.
Trade
The increased specialization of various regions of the country, the growth of industrial production and otkhodnichestvo required further development of trade. Grain and livestock products arrived in the non-Black Earth zone from the south; fabrics, metal products, dishes, etc. were brought to the Black Earth Region. Fairs were major centers of domestic trade. The most important among them were: Makaryevskaya, Irbitskaya, Orenburgskaya, Nezhinskaya, Korennaya (near Kursk), Arkhangelskaya, Svenskaya (near Bryansk) and a number of others. In 1788, there were 1,100 fairs and markets in Russia (excluding the Baltic states), of which 565 were in Left Bank Ukraine. There were also numerous local fairs and markets. The development of trade was greatly facilitated by the abolition in 1754 of all internal customs and duties. By the end of the century, the domestic market had largely emerged.
Foreign trade turnover has increased significantly. If in 1763 - 1765. Russian exports amounted to 12 million rubles, and imports - 9.3 million rubles, then in 1781 - 1785. - 23.7 and 17.9 million rubles, respectively. Mostly agricultural raw materials were exported: flax, hemp, tow. But the export of industrial products also grew: linen fabrics, sailcloth and especially iron. Russia was also becoming a major exporter of grain (previously, almost no grain was exported abroad). Sugar, wool and cotton fabrics, metals, and luxury goods were imported. The customs tariff of 1767 completely prohibited the import of goods, the production of which within the country could satisfy the dispute; on the contrary, raw materials for industry were subject to a minimum duty, and the import of those products that were in sharp shortage was completely duty-free. However, in 1782, Catherine, carried away by the ideas of Adam Smith, actually abandoned protectionism, ceasing to patronize trade and industry. This, however, did not mean a refusal to patronize their development. So, to reduce the cost of credit, Catherine opened one State Loan Bank instead of estate banks, which issued loans at only 5% per annum.
Up to 60% of all maritime trade went through St. Petersburg. With the establishment of Russia in the Black Sea region, the role of commercial seaports is played by Taganrog, Odessa, Kherson, and, partly, Sevastopol. Trade with the countries of the East was carried out through Astrakhan, Orenburg, and Kyakhta.
Numerous wars and the growth of the bureaucracy required enormous expenses. In order to make ends meet, the government was forced to increase taxes. During the 34 years of Catherine's reign, tax revenues increased 4 times. And yet there was not enough money. We had to borrow from foreign bankers (by the end of Catherine’s reign, a considerable foreign debt had accumulated).
The lack of funds forced the government to resort to issuing paper money - banknotes (for which a special Bank of Assignations was created). Initially (in 1768) it was planned to issue them for 1 million rubles, but by 1774 there were 20 million rubles in circulation. banknotes, and by 1796 - 157 million rubles. The banknote rate dropped to 70 kopecks. silver Since that time, there have been two monetary units in Russia - the silver ruble and the banknote ruble. Monetary circulation became increasingly disordered. However, in that era there was no clear consciousness anywhere in the world. that paper money in itself has no value and must be backed by goods and obligations of the treasury.
Russian nobility and problems of socio-economic development of the country
In July 1762, Catherine II, with her manifesto, announced the so-called. "general land survey", which strengthened the agricultural rights of the nobles. At the same time, she presented (ostensibly in the form of a reward for the quick and indisputable establishment of the boundaries of their possessions) to the nobles a huge fund of state lands, arbitrarily seized by landowners in the post-Petrine period. Simultaneously with the strengthening of noble land ownership, there was a steady attack on peasant rights. Thus, laws softened the punishments of nobles for torturing and killing their serfs, and under Catherine II, only church repentance became the punishment for nobles. The practice of selling serfs wholesale and retail was now legalized.
All R. XVIII century There were clear signs of dismantling the traditional policy of feudal regulation in the field of economics. Moreover, the gradual nature of the changes and their obvious inconsistency indicate the purely pragmatic nature of this policy, i.e. about the absence of any theoretical concepts at its basis.
Following the proclamation of the abandonment of the system of monopolies in industry and trade on March 28, 1762. in July of the same year, freedom of calico production was announced throughout the country, except for Moscow and St. Petersburg. A little earlier, the export of bread abroad was allowed. And from 1766 to 1772 Duty-free export of wheat and wheat flour was introduced from almost all ports of the empire. In 1763 the principle of freedom of industrial activity was again proclaimed. In April 1767 A very laconic decree was issued, declaring complete freedom for “handicrafts and needlework” in the cities of Russia. And September 10, 1769 there was a personal decree on the freedom to start weaving mills with only one condition: payment of a fee of 1 ruble. for the camp
In the 70s The government of Catherine II is making even more drastic decisions. By decree of March 17, 1775 freedom to establish industrial enterprises was declared for all branches of industry, and all fees from small industries were abolished. In 1777, taxes were abolished from home mills belonging to factories, i.e. The conditions for the activity of scattered manufactories were sharply improved. In 1784, there was again a personal decree to encourage local light industry.
Thus, the strengthening of serfdom and the encouragement of crafts practically occurred simultaneously.
There is a very real opportunity to give the most convincing assessment of such a policy as an integral phenomenon. To do this, it is necessary once again to understand the cardinal feature of the history of the Russian state, which lies in the fact that natural and climatic conditions created in the country from century to century an extremely unfavorable situation for the development of the basis of its existence - agriculture.
Russian society, up until the twentieth century, developed as a society with a relatively low volume of total surplus product, which, in principle, would forever doom it to the fate of a primitive agricultural society.
Therefore, historical necessity already in the Middle Ages led in Russia to the formation of a special type of statehood, unusual for Europe, with very strict levers of the state mechanism, because the main function of the Russian state was the concentration and redistribution of the relative minimum of surplus product in the interests of the development of both society itself and its ruling class. Therefore, it was far from accidental that in the east of Europe there was a centuries-old tradition of centralized, autocratic, essentially despotic power. The unusually harsh regime of serfdom was also no accident. For many centuries, this regime was designed to ensure the progressive development of both society and the state. This development was carried out mainly through the use of the over-extended labor of the peasantry, whose economic situation was on the verge of losing its own reproduction.
The vast expanses of the Russian Non-Black Earth Region have been the scene of almost unprofitable agriculture for centuries. In the second half of the 18th century. in the Vladimir province, only one district out of 12 (Pokrovsky) had some surplus of grain. In four counties there was enough grain for only 6-8 months of the year.
wiki.304.ru / History of Russia. Dmitry Alkhazashvili.
