Bodies of state power under Catherine 2. Municipal government under Catherine II

Abstract

Topic: System public administration during the reign of Catherine II

Introduction

1 Catherine II - features for the portrait

2 The system of public administration during the reign of Catherine II. The policy of “enlightened absolutism” and a new stage of rationalization of public administration in the second half of the 18th century

3 Catherine’s “Order” and the activities of the Legislative Commission

4 Estate and administrative reforms of Catherine II

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

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

Several decades are usually called the time of enlightened absolutism. European history before the French Revolution of 1789.

The policy of absolutism in a number of European countries in the 2nd half of the 18th century was expressed in the destruction “from above” and in the transformation of the most outdated feudal institutions (abolition of some class privileges, subordination of the church to the state, reforms - peasant, judicial, schooling, easing censorship, etc.). Representatives of enlightened absolutism - Joseph II in Austria, Frederick II in Prussia, Catherine II in Russia (until the early 70s of the 18th century), etc., using the popularity of the ideas of the French Enlightenment, portrayed their activities as a “union of philosophers and sovereigns” . Enlightened absolutism was aimed at establishing the dominance of the nobility, although some reforms contributed to the development of the capitalist system. An important feature of the policy of enlightened absolutism was the desire of monarchs to ease the severity of social contradictions by improving the political superstructure. This policy of the enlightened sovereigns represented rationalization innovations in the field of government, without radically changing its foundations.

Among the autocrats of the Russian Empire there were many strong, strong-willed individuals, whose political and legislative activities had a huge impact on the growth of not only Russia as a whole (in terms of the economy, foreign policy relations), but also individual social strata, the life and culture of society. The gradual modernization of life in Russia, the main impetus of which was given by the “European policy” of Peter I, was continued by other monarchs, whose era played an equally important role in the formation of the powerful Russian Empire. The Russian Empress Catherine II was a powerful legislator; In her government, she sought reforms and made an invaluable contribution to the development and strengthening of Russia. The era of her reign (the second half of the 18th century) is highlighted by historians as a separate stage in the development of the empire, since it was Catherine II who carried out a course of reforms in the socio-political life of Russia, aimed at its modernization and strengthening state power in the country. This legislative activity of the empress responded to the spirit of the times, new European trends and ideas that the Enlightenment brought with it in the 18th century.

The policy of enlightened absolutism of Catherine II, as the main reflection of the principles of the Enlightenment in Russia, is interesting not only for its innovations, but also for the combination of Western trends with the originality of Russia.

The purpose of our essay is to analyze the contribution made by Catherine the Great to the development of the Russian state in the second half of the 18th century.

Job objectives:

1. Give a brief description of the character traits of Catherine II;

2. Describe the system of public administration under Catherine II;

3. Characterize Catherine’s “Order” as an attempt to plan reforms in Russia;

4. Consider social reforms empresses;

5. Show the relationship between the state and the church in the second half of the 18th century.

The work is based on documents from Catherine’s era, namely her memoirs, correspondence with Voltaire and the text of the “Instruction” she compiled.

1 Catherine II - features for the portrait

Catherine II the Great (Ekaterina Alekseevna; at birth Sophia Frederika Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst, born April 21 (May 2), 1729, Stettin, Prussia - died November 6 (17), 1796, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg) - Empress of All Russia (1762- 1796). The period of her reign is often considered the golden age of the Russian Empire.

Sophia Frederika Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was born on April 21 (May 2), 1729 in the German Pomeranian city of Stettin (now Szczecin in Poland). Father, Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, came from the Zerbst-Dornburg line of the Anhalt house and was in the service of the Prussian king, was a regimental commander, commandant, then governor of the city of Stettin, where the future empress was born, and ran for Dukes of Courland, but unsuccessfully, he ended his service as a Prussian field marshal. Mother - Johanna Elisabeth, from the Holstein-Gottorp family, was a cousin of the future Peter III. Maternal uncle Adolf Friedrich (Adolf Fredrik) was King of Sweden from 1751 (elected heir in 1743). The ancestry of Catherine II's mother goes back to Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, first Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and founder of the Oldenburg dynasty.

The Duke of Zerbst's family was not rich; Catherine was educated at home. She studied German and French, dance, music, the basics of history, geography, and theology. She was brought up in strictness. She grew up a playful, inquisitive, playful and even troublesome girl, she loved to play pranks and flaunt her courage in front of the boys, with whom she easily played on the streets of Stetin. Her parents did not burden her with raising her and did not stand on ceremony when expressing their displeasure. Her mother called her in childhood Ficken (German Figchen - comes from the name Frederica, that is, “little Frederica”).

In 1744 Russian empress Elizaveta Petrovna, together with her mother, was invited to Russia for subsequent marriage with the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Emperor Peter III and her second cousin. Immediately after arriving in Russia, she began to study the Russian language, history, Orthodoxy, and Russian traditions, as she sought to become more fully acquainted with Russia, which she perceived as a new homeland. Among her teachers are the famous preacher Simon Todorsky (teacher of Orthodoxy), the author of the first Russian grammar Vasily Adadurov (teacher of the Russian language) and choreographer Lange (dance teacher). She soon fell ill with pneumonia, and her condition was so serious that her mother suggested bringing a Lutheran pastor. Sofia, however, refused and sent for Simon of Todor. This circumstance added to her popularity at the Russian court. On June 28 (July 9), 1744, Sofia Frederica Augusta converted from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy and received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna (the same name and patronymic as Elizabeth’s mother, Catherine I), and the next day she was engaged to the future emperor.

On August 21 (September 1), 1745, at the age of sixteen, Catherine was married to Pyotr Fedorovich, who was 17 years old and was her second cousin. During the first years of his life, Peter was not at all interested in his wife, and there was no marital relationship between them. Catherine would later write about this in her memoirs.

Ekaterina continues to educate herself. She reads books on history, philosophy, jurisprudence, works by Voltaire, Montesquieu, Tacitus, Bayle, and a large amount of other literature. The main entertainment for her was hunting, horse riding, dancing and masquerades. The absence of marital relations with the Grand Duke contributed to the appearance of lovers for Catherine. Meanwhile, Empress Elizabeth expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of children of the spouses.

Finally, after two unsuccessful pregnancies, on September 20 (October 1), 1754, Catherine gave birth to a son, who was immediately taken from her by the will of the reigning Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, they call him Pavel ( future emperor Paul I) and are deprived of the opportunity to educate, allowing them to see only occasionally. A number of sources, including the memoirs of Catherine herself, claim that Pavel’s true father was Catherine’s lover S.V. Saltykov. Others say that such rumors are unfounded, and that Peter underwent an operation that eliminated a defect that made conception impossible. The question of paternity also aroused interest among society.

After the birth of Pavel, relations with Peter and Elizaveta Petrovna completely deteriorated. Peter called his wife “spare madam” and openly took mistresses, however, without preventing Catherine from doing the same, who during this period developed a relationship with Stanislav Poniatowski, the future king of Poland, which arose thanks to the efforts of the English ambassador Sir Charles Hanbury Williams. On December 9 (20), 1758, Catherine gave birth to her daughter Anna, which caused Peter's strong dissatisfaction.

At this time, Elizaveta Petrovna’s condition worsened. All this made the prospect of Catherine’s expulsion from Russia or her imprisonment in a monastery real. Shikman A.P. Figures of Russian history. Biographical reference book. -M.: Nauka, 1997, pp.55-56. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Catherine’s secret correspondence with the disgraced Field Marshal Apraksin and the British Ambassador Williams, dedicated to political issues, was revealed. Her previous favorites were removed, but a circle of new ones began to form: Grigory Orlov and Dashkova.

The death of Elizabeth Petrovna (December 25, 1761 (January 5, 1762)) and the accession to the throne of Peter Fedorovich under the name of Peter III further alienated the spouses. Peter III began to live openly with his mistress Elizaveta Vorontsova, settling his wife at the other end Winter Palace. When Catherine became pregnant from Orlov, this could no longer be explained by an accidental conception from her husband, since communication between the spouses had stopped completely by that time. Catherine hid her pregnancy, and when the time came to give birth, her devoted valet Vasily Grigorievich Shkurin set his house on fire. A lover of such spectacles, Peter and his court left the palace to look at the fire; At this time, Catherine gave birth safely. This is how the first Count Bobrinsky in Rus' was born - the founder of a famous family.

Having ascended the throne, Peter III carried out a number of actions that caused a negative attitude towards him from the officer corps. So, he concluded an agreement with Prussia that was unfavorable for Russia (at a time when Russian troops took Berlin) and returned to it the lands captured by the Russians. At the same time, he intended, in alliance with Prussia, to oppose Denmark (Russia’s ally), in order to return Schleswig, which it had taken from Holstein, and he himself intended to go on a campaign at the head of the guard. Supporters of the coup also accused Peter III of ignorance, dementia, dislike for Russia, and complete inability to rule. Against his background, Catherine looked favorably - an intelligent, well-read, pious and benevolent wife who was persecuted by her husband.

After the relationship with her husband completely deteriorated, and dissatisfaction with the emperor on the part of the guard intensified, Catherine decided to participate in the coup. Her comrades-in-arms, the main of whom were the Orlov brothers, Potemkin and Khitrovo, began campaigning in the guards units and won them over to their side. The immediate cause of the start of the coup was rumors about the arrest of Catherine and the discovery and arrest of one of the participants in the conspiracy, Lieutenant Passek.

Early in the morning On June 28 (July 9), 1762, while Peter III was in Oranienbaum, Catherine, accompanied by Alexei and Grigory Orlov, came from Peterhof to St. Petersburg, where the guards units swore allegiance to her. Peter III, seeing the hopelessness of resistance, abdicated the throne the next day, was taken into custody and died in early July under unclear circumstances.

On September 22 (October 3), 1762, Ekaterina Alekseevna was crowned in Moscow and became the Empress of All Russia with the name Ekaterina.

Catherine belonged to a small number of monarchs who communicated so intensively and directly with their subjects through the drafting of manifestos, instructions, laws, polemical articles and indirectly in the form of satirical works, historical dramas and pedagogical opuses. In her memoirs, she admitted: “I cannot see a clean pen without feeling the desire to immediately dip it in ink.” Thoughts from a special notebook // Empress Catherine II. About the greatness of Russia." - M.: "EXMO", 2003, P. 121.

She had an extraordinary talent as a writer, leaving behind a large collection of works - notes, translations, librettos, fables, fairy tales, comedies “Oh, time!”, “Mrs. Vorchalkina’s Name Day,” “The Hall of a Noble Boyar,” “Mrs. Vestnikova with her Family,” “The Invisible Bride” (1771-1772), essays, etc., participated in the weekly satirical magazine “All sorts of things,” published since 1769. The Empress turned to journalism to influence public opinion, therefore, the main idea of the magazine was criticism of human vices and weaknesses. Other subjects of irony were the superstitions of the population. Catherine herself called the magazine: “Satire in a smiling spirit.”

Catherine considered herself a “philosopher on the throne” and had a favorable attitude toward the Age of Enlightenment, and corresponded with Voltaire, Diderot, and Alembert.

During her reign, the Hermitage and the Public Library appeared in St. Petersburg. She patronized various fields of art - architecture, music, painting.

It is impossible not to mention the mass settlement of German families in various regions initiated by Catherine. modern Russia, Ukraine, as well as the Baltic countries. The goal was the modernization of Russian science and culture.

Ekaterina was a brunette of average height. She combined high intelligence, education, statesmanship and commitment to " free love».

Catherine is known for her connections with numerous lovers, the number of which (according to the list of the authoritative Catherine scholar P. I. Bartenev) reaches 23. The most famous of them were Sergei Saltykov, G. G. Orlov (later count), horse guard lieutenant Vasilchikov, G. A . Potemkin (later prince), hussar Zorich, Lanskoy, the last favorite was the cornet Platon Zubov, who became a count of the Russian Empire and a general. According to some sources, Catherine was secretly married to Potemkin (1775). After 1762, she planned a marriage with Orlov, but on the advice of those close to her, she abandoned this idea.

It is worth noting that Catherine’s “debauchery” was not such a scandalous phenomenon against the background of the general debauchery of morals of the 18th century. Most kings (with the possible exception of Frederick the Great, Louis XVI and Charles XII) had numerous mistresses. Catherine's favorites (with the exception of Potemkin, who had state abilities) did not influence politics. Nevertheless, the institution of favoritism had a negative effect on the higher nobility, who sought benefits through flattery to the new favorite, tried to make “their own man” become lovers of the empress, etc.

Catherine's commitment to the ideas of the Enlightenment determined the character of her domestic policy and directions for reforming various institutions Russian state. The term “enlightened absolutism” is often used to characterize the domestic policy of Catherine’s time. According to Catherine, based on the works of the French philosopher Montesquieu, extensive Russian spaces and the severity of the climate determine the pattern and necessity of autocracy in Russia. Based on this, under Catherine, the autocracy was strengthened, the bureaucratic apparatus was strengthened, the country was centralized and the management system was unified.

At the time of her accession to the throne, Catherine II was well acquainted with liberal ideas European philosophical, political and economic thought. Even in her youth, she read the works of French enlighteners - Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, D'Alembert - and considered herself their student. In 1763, Catherine began correspondence with Voltaire, which continued until 1777, i.e. almost until the death of the famous French enlightener. Based on the ideas of European enlighteners, Catherine developed a certain idea of what needed to be done for the prosperity of the state. This is what the empress saw as her planned plans: “Since you are quite keenly interested, it seems to me, in what I am doing, I am enclosing. to this letter perhaps less bad translation on French my Manifesto, which I signed last year on December 14th and appeared in Dutch newspapers in such a cruelly distorted form that it was hardly possible to get to the meaning of it. In the Russian text, this thing is very valuable and successful... In the month of June, meetings of this great assembly will begin, which will find out for us what we need, and then it will begin to develop laws for which, I hope, future humanity will not reward us with censure. In the meantime, before this time comes, I am going to travel around various provinces...” Letter to Voltaire. Moscow, March 15-26 (1767) // Empress Catherine II. About the greatness of Russia." - M.: "EXMO", 2003, P. 747.

Combined with knowledge of Russian reality, these ideas influenced the formation political program the empress, which she tried to implement in various fields, including in the field of public administration.

How Catherine imagined the tasks of an enlightened monarch, which she sincerely considered herself to be, can be seen from her draft note: “1. It is necessary to educate the nation that is to be governed. 2. It is necessary to introduce good order in the state, support society and force it to comply with the laws. 3. It is necessary to establish a good and accurate police force in the state. 4. It is necessary to promote the flourishing of the state and make it abundant. 5. It is necessary to make the state formidable in itself and inspiring respect among its neighbors.” Thoughts from a special notebook // Empress Catherine II. About the greatness of Russia.” - M.: “EXMO”, 2003, P.123.

The beginning of Catherine II's reign was difficult, primarily politically. No matter how unpopular Peter III was in Russia, he was legal ( By God's grace) sovereign, and also the grandson of Peter the Great, albeit insufficient. The role of Catherine II in the murder of her husband was also unclear. First of all, Catherine II hastened with the coronation, which was supposed to legitimize her accession to the throne. The main participants in the coup (40 people) received ranks, land holdings with serfs and large sums of money. The Empress ordered the return from exile of those who “innocently” suffered, including the former Grand Chancellor Count Bestuzhev-Ryumin, the former Prosecutor General Prince Shakhovsky.

Acting carefully, avoiding dangerous conflicts, Catherine II made it clear from the very beginning that she did not intend to give up autocratic power. She rejected the idea of Count N.I. Panin to establish a Permanent Imperial Council consisting of four secretaries of state, who were supposed to decide all the most important state affairs. In this case, Catherine would only have the right to approve decisions made. Panin’s project reflected the oligarchic hopes of the aristocracy to limit autocratic power, which did not suit Catherine II at all. At the same time, Panin proposed dividing the governing Senate into six departments, which led to a weakening of the role of this highest institution in favor of the Permanent Imperial Council. Catherine II skillfully took advantage of this proposal from Panin in December 1763 (Senate reform). Pavlenko N.I. Catherine the Great // Motherland.- 1995.- No. 10.- P.56.

When assessing the reign of Catherine II, one must keep in mind that the empress had to act not according to a pre-thought-out and planned transformation program, but to consistently take on the tasks that life put forward. Hence the impression of some chaos in her reign. Even if this is so, it is not due to the whims of frequently changing favorites. Undoubtedly, such people influenced the policy of the state, but only to the extent that this was allowed by the empress herself, who never gave up even a particle of her autocratic power.

What the state of the country was is clear from the fact that already in the first days after the coup, Catherine had to think about how to stop the rapid rise in bread prices and find money for the most urgent state needs - the Russian army in Prussia had not received a salary for eight months. She allowed the Senate to use her “room money” - those that were considered the property of the sovereign and were used exclusively for his personal needs. Members of the Senate were touched by the fact that the Empress considers everything that belongs to her to be the property of the state and in the future does not intend to make a distinction between the interests of the state and her own. For Catherine, such a step was completely natural. She saw herself as a servant of the fatherland, called upon to lead her subjects to this common good.

This was something unprecedented in Rus'. The previous authorities considered it sufficient to keep their subjects in fear, but Catherine wanted to win their love.

Reducing duties on salt, abolition of trade monopolies, a decree against bribery, orphanages, the fight against robberies - these first measures taken by Catherine were dictated not by the desire for transformation, but by the necessity and desire to win over her subjects. However, they became for her an excellent practical school of public administration. Very soon Catherine realized how little she knew of the country in which she had to reign, and tried to study it better. In the first five years of her reign, Catherine made several trips around Russia. This allowed her to find out how her subjects lived.

The first years of the reign passed almost cloudlessly. They loved Catherine sincerely, just as they love their hopes for a better future. In this elevated atmosphere, she managed to restore the country's defenses and carry out some measures outlined under Elizabeth and Peter III. First of all, this concerned church property.

Since 1765, Catherine began to write her “Order” - the recommendations of the commission for the development of the New Code. (A major attempt in the field of public administration is to bring Russian legislation into order). It is unlikely that those historians are right who see in the convening of the Statutory Commission a demagogic farce played out by Catherine II. It is impossible to call the Legislative Commission the beginning of Russian parliamentarism. In the specific conditions of Russia in the second half of the 18th century. Catherine II made an attempt to modernize the country and create a legitimate autocratic monarchy.

It must be said that in practical activities Catherine retreated far from her high ideals. She knew that she owed her power to the Russian nobility, and understood: best way winning his love means giving away estates, money and privileges. In total, about a million souls were distributed from state and palace estates during Catherine's reign. In 1765 (while working on the “Order”), she allowed landowners to exile peasants to Siberia without trial “due to insolence” (confirming Elizabeth’s decree of 1760), and in 1767, having received about 600 petitions from peasants with complaints during a trip along the Volga against the landowners, ordered their return without consideration; later a special decree was issued prohibiting peasants from filing complaints against the landowners with the empress. At the time of Catherine’s accession to the throne, the right of free movement of peasants still existed in Ukraine, but already in 1763 she sharply limited it, and 20 years later abolished it altogether.

The curtailment of the policy of enlightened absolutism was influenced by two events of the 18th century: the peasant war under the leadership of E. Pugachev in Russia and the Great french revolution in Europe.

In general, under Catherine, absolutism was strengthened by reforming government institutions and the new administrative structure of the state, protecting the monarchy from any attacks. She carried out socio-economic activities to further “Europeanize” the country and finalization and strengthening of the nobles, liberal educational initiatives, care for education, literature and the arts.

But Russian society demonstrated its unpreparedness not only for the abolition of serfdom, but even for more moderate reforms.

3 Catherine’s “Order” and the activities of the Legislative Commission

Since 1765, Catherine began to write her “Order” - the recommendations of the commission for the development of the New Code. The need for new legislation is long overdue. In 1754, Elizabeth (at the suggestion of Pyotr Shuvalov) already ordered the creation of “clear laws,” but the matter never moved forward. The same attempts were made by Anna Ioannovna, and before her by Peter I. Catherine was determined to see the matter through to the end.

In 1767, deputies from all classes (with the exception of serfs and the clergy) gathered in Moscow in order to begin developing a New Code. Catherine’s “Order” became a guide. Most of Catherine borrowed his articles from Montesquieu’s book “The Spirit of Laws” and the treatise of the Italian lawyer Beccaria “On Crimes and Punishments.” The “Order” consisted of 22 chapters and was divided into 655 articles. cornerstone the state, according to Catherine, remained autocracy: “8. The Russian state's possessions extend to 32 degrees of latitude and 165 degrees of longitude along to the globe. 9. The sovereign is autocratic; for no other power, as soon as the power united in his person, can act similarly to the space of such a great state...11. Any other rule would not only be harmful to Russia, but also completely ruinous. 12. Another reason is that it is better to obey the laws under one master than to please many.” Order of the commission to draw up a draft of a new code. Chapter 2. // Empress Catherine II. About the greatness of Russia. - M.: "EXMO", 2003, P. 72.

But everything else was so new and unusual that this document simply scared many. But Catherine published “The Mandate” only after a discussion with her entourage, who redid or shortened more than half of what the empress wrote.

What shocked the Russian people so much in the second half of the 18th century?

These are the provisions of the “Order”: “34. The equality of all citizens consists in everyone being subject to the same laws. 35. This equality requires a good institution that would prohibit the rich from oppressing those who have less wealth and turning to their own advantage the ranks and titles entrusted to them only as government officials of the state. 36. Social or state freedom does not consist in doing whatever anyone wants. 37. In a state, that is, in an assembly of people living in society, where there are laws, freedom cannot consist in anything other than the ability to do what everyone should want, and not be forced to do what they should not want " Order of the commission to draw up a draft of a new code. Chapter 5. // Empress Catherine II. About the greatness of Russia. - M.: "EXMO", 2003, P. 75.

Thus, it turned out that all citizens are equal before the law. Catherine, however, had to abandon any mention of the need to free the peasants from serfdom, although she considered slavery contrary to the Christian religion and justice. In the “Nakaz” she was forced to admit that “one should not suddenly and through legalization make a large number of people freed.”

The deputies who gathered in Moscow to work on the New Code showed Catherine that Russia was much further away from the latest European ideas than she thought. 564 people, among whom were officials, merchants, Cossacks, “arable soldiers” and foreigners, were not representatives of Russian society, because there was no society in Russia at that time. Each class cared only for its own interests. They understood the welfare of the people only as their own, and the interests of the state as the interests of the empress. Each class demanded exclusive privileges for itself at the expense of others and did not want to bear any responsibility. The nobles advocated the abolition of torture, but exclusively for their class, the merchants demanded that nobles and peasants be prohibited from participating in trade, everyone (with the exception of the nobles who had already received such a privilege) wanted not to serve and not pay taxes, and everyone demanded slaves - they spoke out against serfdom only some deputies. It is clear that it was never possible to create any Code, and in 1768 the commission for its development was dissolved under the pretext of the outbreak of war with Turkey.

However, the work of the Commission was not in vain. The content of local orders and the judgments of deputies gave the government rich material to familiarize itself with the needs and wishes of different groups of the population, and it could use these materials in the future in its reform activities.

4 Estate and administrative reforms of Catherine II

In December 1763. The empress carried out a reform of the Senate, dividing it into six departments, two of which were to be in Moscow and four in St. Petersburg. So the governing Senate lost its former political role, turning into a bureaucratic-clerical superstructure over the central institutions of the empire. In the second half of the 18th century. The territory of Russia expanded significantly, especially in the southern and western directions. The country included the Northern Black Sea region, the Azov region, Crimea, Right Bank Ukraine, Belarus, Courland, Lithuania, etc. Russia occupied an area of 17.4 million m2. According to the 1795 audit, the population of Russia was 37.4 million people. The bulk of the population lived in rural areas. By the end of the century, 10% of the country's population lived in cities. By the beginning of the 19th century. There were 634 cities in Russia, although many of them remained rather administrative and power centers of rural areas. Under Catherine II, a wide administrative reform. In 1775, the country was divided into 50 provinces instead of the previous 20. The population of the province ranged from 300 to 400 thousand people. Empire. From Catherine II to Stalin /Auth.-comp. P.G. Deinichenko.- M.: OLMA Media Group, 2008, P.88.

With the “Manifesto on Freedom for the Nobility” (1762) and the “Charter Granted to the Nobility” (1785), Catherine II finally strengthened the privileges of the nobility. The nobles were exempt from taxes and duties. Noble land ownership increased noticeably. State and palace peasants, as well as uninhabited lands, were distributed to the landowners. Agriculture continued to be the leading sector of the Russian economy. There is an increase in serf relations. They cover new territories and new categories of population. In the lands that became part of Russia during this period of time, serfdom either persisted or became widespread (Ukraine, Crimea, Ciscaucasia). Part of the land was distributed to Russian landowners.

The situation of the serfs worsened - in 1765 the landowners received permission to exile their peasants to Siberia for hard labor, without trial. If the peasants were recognized as the instigators of the unrest, then by the decree of 1763 they themselves had to pay the costs associated with the suppression of their protests. In 1767, a decree was issued prohibiting peasants from complaining to the empress about their landowners. The years 1765-1775 were marked by peasant uprisings (Pugachevshchina). Cruelly suppressed, it still became the last reason, which pushed the government to make some decrees regarding the situation of the peasants.

Of great importance for the development of domestic industrial production was the publication in 1775 of Catherine II’s manifesto on free opening industrial enterprises representatives of all walks of life. Freedom of enterprise was introduced in Russia.

In 1785, a special Crafts Regulation was issued, which was part of the Charter to the cities. Along with urban crafts, crafts were widely developed in fishing villages.

The most important feature late 18th century is an increase in civilian labor and capitalist manufactures.

Since 1762, it was forbidden to buy serfs to join factories, and their assignment to enterprises ceased. Manufactories founded after this by persons not noble origin, used exclusively civilian labor.

In 1775, a decree was issued allowing peasant industry, which stimulated the development of production and influenced the growth in the number of factory owners from merchants and peasants.

An important incentive for industrial entrepreneurship were benefits to the merchants: in 1766 - the exemption of merchants from conscription and replacing it with the payment of a fixed cash contribution; the proclamation of freedom of enterprise in 1775, which consisted of allowing merchants to establish enterprises without approval from official authorities and abolishing the tax on each dignity.

Social policy demonstrates the following facts. In 1768, a network of city schools based on a class-lesson system was created. Schools began to open actively. Under Catherine, the systematic development of women's education began; in 1764, the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens and the Educational Society for Noble Maidens were opened. The Academy of Sciences has become one of the leading scientific bases in Europe. An observatory, a physics laboratory, an anatomical theater, a botanical garden, instrumental workshops, a printing house, a library, and an archive were founded. Founded in 1783 Russian Academy. In the provinces there were orders for public charity. In Moscow and St. Petersburg - Educational homes for street children (currently the building of the Moscow Orphanage is occupied by Military Academy them. Peter the Great), where they received education and upbringing. To help widows, the Widow's Treasury was created.

Compulsory smallpox vaccination was introduced, and Catherine was the first to receive such a vaccination. Under Catherine II, the fight against epidemics in Russia began to acquire the character of state measures that were directly included in the responsibilities of the Imperial Council and the Senate. By decree of Catherine, outposts were created, located not only on the borders, but also on the roads leading to the center of Russia. The “Border and Port Quarantine Charter” was created.

New areas of medicine developed for Russia: hospitals were opened to treat syphilis, psychiatric hospitals and shelters. A number of fundamental works on medical issues.

By the end of the 18th century. the class system was strengthened. Each category of the population (nobility, clergy, various categories of townspeople, peasants, Cossacks, etc.) acquired class isolation, which was determined by the corresponding rights and privileges recorded in laws and decrees. Strengthening the class system was one of the ways to keep power in the hands of the nobility.

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

Wanting to win over the influential Orthodox clergy in Russia, Catherine II, upon her accession to the throne, canceled the decree of Peter III on the confiscation of land property and peasants from monasteries. True, having strengthened her position, the empress, already in 1764, nevertheless took away 990 thousand peasants from the monasteries in favor of the state. The former monastic peasants (there were about 1 million male souls) began to be called economic, since the College of Economy was created to manage them. The number of monasteries in Russia decreased from 881 to 385.

The monastery lands have long been a source of concern for the authorities. Even under Elizabeth, there were constant unrest among the monastery peasants. In order to somehow cope with the situation, under Peter III these lands were transferred to secular management. But then the church authorities were outraged. Catherine reassured them by returning their estates, but this caused even greater indignation among the peasants (the transfer of monastic peasants to state positions made it possible to freely grant them to anyone). In 1762, there were about 150 thousand monastic and landowner peasants, at the same time about 50 thousand mining peasants rebelled. Again, the intervention of military detachments and even artillery was needed. Therefore, a year later, Catherine again established a commission on church estates. Metropolitan of Rostov Arseny Matseevich, who at one time enjoyed the patronage of Elizabeth, sharply spoke out against her - a quarrelsome and cruel person. He demanded that the Synod immediately return the confiscated church properties. His message was so harsh that the Synod, perceiving it as an insult to Her Majesty, referred the matter to Catherine for consideration. She did not show the usual leniency, and Arseny was defrocked and exiled to a remote monastery. Church properties were transferred to the jurisdiction of the College of Economy. The same department maintained homes for the disabled. A completely secular man, Prince Boris Kurakin, was appointed president of the board. Derevyanko A.P., Shabelnikova N.A. History of Russia. - M.: TK Welby, Prospekt Publishing House, 2007, P.44.

After the annexation of lands that had previously been part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the Russian Empire, about a million Jews ended up in Russia - a people with a different religion, culture, way of life and way of life. To prevent their resettlement in the central regions of Russia and attachment to their communities for the convenience of collecting state taxes, Catherine II in 1791 established the Pale of Settlement, beyond which Jews had no right to live. The Pale of Settlement was established in the same place where Jews had lived before - on the lands annexed as a result of the three partitions of Poland, as well as in the steppe regions near the Black Sea and sparsely populated areas east of the Dnieper. The conversion of Jews to Orthodoxy lifted all restrictions on residence.

In 1762-1764, Catherine published two manifestos. The first - “On the permission of all foreigners entering Russia to settle in whichever provinces they wish and the rights granted to them” - called on foreign citizens to move to Russia, the second defined a list of benefits and privileges for immigrants. Soon the first German settlements arose in the Volga region, reserved for settlers. The influx of German colonists was so great that already in 1766 it was necessary to temporarily suspend the reception of new settlers until those who had already arrived were settled. In the future, the German community will play a significant role in the life of Russia.

By 1786, the country included the Northern Black Sea region, the Azov region, Crimea, Right Bank Ukraine, the lands between the Dniester and the Bug, Belarus, Courland and Lithuania.

The population of Russia in 1747 was 18 million people, by the end of the century - 36 million people.

In general, a policy of religious tolerance was pursued in Russia under Catherine II. Representatives of all traditional religions did not experience pressure or oppression. Thus, in 1773, a law on tolerance of all religions was issued, prohibiting Orthodox clergy interfere in the affairs of other faiths; secular authorities reserve the right to decide on the establishment of churches of any faith. Muravyova M. The Tolerant Empress // Nezavisimaya Gazeta. - November 3, 2004. - P.4.

Catherine obtained from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth government equalization of the rights of religious minorities - Orthodox and Protestants.

Under Catherine II, the persecution of Old Believers ceased. The Empress initiated the return of Old Believers, an economically active population, from abroad. They were specially allocated a place on the Irgiz (modern Saratov and Samara region). They were allowed to have priests.

The free migration of Germans to Russia led to a significant increase in the number of Protestants (mostly Lutherans) in Russia. They were also allowed to build churches, schools, and freely perform religious services. At the end of the 18th century, in St. Petersburg alone there were more than 20 thousand Lutherans.

The Jewish religion retained the right to publicly practice its faith. Religious matters and disputes were left to the Jewish courts. Jews, depending on the capital they had, were assigned to the appropriate class and could be elected to government bodies local government, become judges and other civil servants.

By decree of Catherine II in 1787, in the printing house of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, for the first time in Russia, a complete Arabic text Islamic holy book The Koran for free distribution to the Kyrgyz people. The publication differed significantly from European ones, primarily in that it was Muslim in nature: the text for publication was prepared by Mullah Usman Ibrahim. In St. Petersburg, from 1789 to 1798, 5 editions of the Koran were published. In 1788, a manifesto was issued in which the Empress ordered the establishment of a spiritual assembly of Mohammedan law in Ufa. Thus, Catherine began to integrate the Muslim community into the system of government of the empire. Muslims received the right to build and restore mosques.

Buddhism also received government support in regions where it was traditionally practiced. In 1764, Catherine established the post of Habo Lama - the head of the Buddhists of Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia. In 1766, the Buryat lamas recognized Catherine as the embodiment of White Tara for her benevolence towards Buddhism and her humane rule.

The long reign of Catherine II 1762-1796 was filled with significant and highly controversial events and processes. The “Golden Age of the Russian Nobility” was at the same time the age of Pugachevism, the “Nakaz” and the Statutory Commission coexisted with persecution. And yet it was an integral era, which had its own core, its own logic, its own ultimate task. This was a time when the imperial government was trying to implement one of the most thoughtful, consistent and successful reform programs in Russian history. The ideological basis of the reforms was the philosophy of the European Enlightenment, with which the empress was well acquainted.

Conclusion

The reign of Catherine II fell on the years -1762-1796. Educated and wise Catherine managed to win over not only those close to her, but also foreign monarchs, diplomats, and scientists. Having come to power as a result of a palace coup, Catherine II was forced to pursue a flexible policy, taking into account public opinion and the interests of the nobles. At the same time standing in front of her the most difficult task strengthening the regime of personal power and increasing its authority. For this, the empress called upon the French Enlightenment (ideas of the philosophers Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot).

In this regard, the reign of Catherine is called the period of enlightened absolutism, i.e. the period when supreme power strengthened through the use of advanced ideas, and, in addition, sought to correct the barbaric remnants of the feudal system. The Russian version of enlightened absolutism represented a special stage of state-political development, associated in socio-economic terms with the decomposition of the feudal system, and in political terms - with the search for a compromise with the nobility and aristocracy, which were the main driving force of previous coups d'etat. Moreover, the legal principles of enlightened absolutism were not principles rule of law, since all power (legislative, judicial and administrative) was in the hands of the monarch, in addition, the inviolability of the class division of society was affirmed.

At the same time, Catherine II wanted not so much to drape Russian absolutism with advanced ideas, but to advance the country along the path of European progress. A clear confirmation of this is the “Order” of the Legislative Commission, convened under the influence of the ideas of French enlighteners, to develop reforms that were supposed to ease social tension and strengthen the base of autocracy.

In the "Nakaz", written in 1765-1767, the empress expressed thoughts about spreading enlightenment, eradicating lawlessness, cruelty, despotism, and increasing the people's well-being. In addition, the document substantiated the “naturalness” of unlimited autocracy in Russia and social inequality. The “Order” was supposed to serve as a guide in the work of the commission that met in July 1767 to prepare a new Code.

The established commission was a special temporary form of attracting representatives of free classes to govern the state on an administrative and bureaucratic basis and became another step towards formalizing class representation. Main task The commission's mandate (the creation of a new set of laws) was never carried out.

Further strengthening of absolutism required the concentration of power in the hands of the empress and the maximum limitation of the powers of the Senate. The fragmentation of the functions of the Senate and its filling with obedient officials significantly weakened its importance. Thus, already at the beginning of the reign, measures were taken to stop any restrictions of the autocracy.

During the reign of Catherine II, absolutist tendencies aimed at eliminating differences in management were most fully revealed, so the government began to abolish the autonomy of the outskirts and adopted a decree on the further secularization of the estates of churches and monasteries and the transfer of their peasants to the category of state peasants, under the control of the College of Economy. In the second half of the 18th century. Feudal legislation expanded significantly.

In 1775, Catherine II carried out a regional reform, which was based on the principle of the size of the tax-paying population.

Started economic reforms.

The charter granted to the nobility in 1785 completed the legal formation of the first estate and granted it broad rights.

The charter granted to the cities included the release of the top merchant class from poll tax and conscription. She also introduced city self-government.

By the end of the reign of Catherine II, there was a sharp turn in the government course to the right, associated with the reaction to the Great French Revolution and the Peasant War led by E. Pugachev. The ideas of the Enlightenment discredited themselves, becoming the ideological basis of the Great French Revolution.

The aging empress could no longer control public thought, financial disorder and bureaucracy. On November 6, 1796, Catherine the Great died, leaving the throne to her son, 42-year-old Pavel Petrovich.

The era of Catherine's reign demonstrated:

1. Imperial events in foreign and domestic policy.

2. Strengthening absolutism by reforming government institutions and the new administrative structure of the state, protecting the monarchy from any attacks.

3. Socio-economic measures for the further “Europeanization” of the country and the final formation and strengthening of the nobility.

4. Liberal educational initiatives, care for education, literature and the arts.

5. The unpreparedness of Russian society not only for the abolition of serfdom, but even for more moderate reforms.

List of used literature

1. Bushuev S.V., Mironov G.E. History of the Russian State: Historical and biographical essays. Book 2: 16-18 centuries - M.: Bustard, 1994. - 459 p.

2. Derevyanko A.P., Shabelnikova N.A. History of Russia. - M.: TK Welby, Prospekt Publishing House, 2007. - 560 p.

3. Catherine II: Annotated bibliography of publications / Compiled by: I.V. Babich, M.V. Babich, T.A. Laptev. M.: ROSSPEN, 2004. - 928 p.

4. Empress Catherine II. About the greatness of Russia. - M.: "EXMO", 2003. - 856 p. (series “Anthology of Thought”).

5. Empire. From Catherine II to Stalin /Auth.-comp. P.G. Deinichenko.- M.: OLMA Media Group, 2008.- 192 p.

6. Klyuchevsky V. O. Course of Russian History. Part V. - M.: State Socio-Economic Publishing House, 1937. - 367 p.

8. Pavlenko N.I. Catherine the Great // Motherland. - 1995 (No. 10, 11), 1996 (No. 1, 2).

9. Shikman A.P. Figures of national history. Biographical reference book. -M.: Nauka, 1997.- 567 p.

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Abstract

Topic: The system of public administration during the reign of CatherineII

Introduction

1 Catherine II – features for the portrait

3 Catherine’s “Order” and the activities of the Legislative Commission

4 Estate and administrative reforms of Catherine II

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

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The time of enlightened absolutism is usually called the several decades of European history before the French Revolution of 1789.

The policy of absolutism in a number of European countries in the 2nd half of the 18th century was expressed in the destruction “from above” and in the transformation of the most outdated feudal institutions (abolition of some class privileges, subordination of the church to the state, reforms - peasant, judicial, school education, softening of censorship and etc.). Representatives of enlightened absolutism - Joseph II in Austria, Frederick II in Prussia, Catherine II in Russia (until the early 70s of the 18th century), etc., using the popularity of the ideas of the French Enlightenment, portrayed their activities as a “union of philosophers and sovereigns” . Enlightened absolutism was aimed at establishing the dominance of the nobility, although some reforms contributed to the development of the capitalist system. An important feature of the policy of enlightened absolutism was the desire of monarchs to ease the severity of social contradictions by improving the political superstructure. This policy of the enlightened sovereigns represented rationalization innovations in the field of government, without radically changing its foundations.

The purpose of our essay is to analyze the contribution made by Catherine the Great to the development of the Russian state in the second half of the 18th century.

Job objectives:

1. Give a brief description of the character traits of Catherine II;

2. Describe the system of public administration under Catherine II;

3. Characterize Catherine’s “Order” as an attempt to plan reforms in Russia;

4. Consider the social reforms of the Empress;

5. Show the relationship between the state and the church in the second half of the 18th century.

The work is based on documents from Catherine’s era, namely her memoirs, correspondence with Voltaire and the text of the “Instruction” she compiled.

1 EkaterinaII– features for the portrait

Sophia Frederika Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was born on April 21 (May 2), 1729 in the German Pomeranian city of Stettin (now Szczecin in Poland). Father, Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, came from the Zerbst-Dornburg line of the Anhalt house and was in the service of the Prussian king, was a regimental commander, commandant, then governor of the city of Stettin, where the future empress was born, ran for duke of Courland, but unsuccessfully , ended his service as a Prussian field marshal. Mother - Johanna Elisabeth, from the Holstein-Gottorp family, was a cousin of the future Peter III. Maternal uncle Adolf Friedrich (Adolf Fredrik) was King of Sweden from 1751 (elected heir in 1743). The ancestry of Catherine II's mother goes back to Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, first Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and founder of the Oldenburg dynasty.

In 1744, the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and her mother were invited to Russia for subsequent marriage with the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Emperor Peter III and her second cousin. Immediately after arriving in Russia, she began to study the Russian language, history, Orthodoxy, and Russian traditions, as she sought to become more fully acquainted with Russia, which she perceived as a new homeland. Among her teachers are the famous preacher Simon Todorsky (teacher of Orthodoxy), the author of the first Russian grammar Vasily Adadurov (teacher of the Russian language) and choreographer Lange (dance teacher). She soon fell ill with pneumonia, and her condition was so serious that her mother suggested bringing a Lutheran pastor. Sofia, however, refused and sent for Simon of Todor. This circumstance added to her popularity at the Russian court. On June 28 (July 9), 1744, Sofia Frederica Augusta converted from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy and received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna (the same name and patronymic as Elizabeth’s mother, Catherine I), and the next day she was engaged to the future emperor.

Finally, after two unsuccessful pregnancies, on September 20 (October 1), 1754, Catherine gave birth to a son, who was immediately taken from her by the will of the reigning Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, they call him Pavel (the future Emperor Paul I) and are deprived of the opportunity to raise him, allowing him to see him only occasionally. A number of sources, including the memoirs of Catherine herself, claim that Pavel’s true father was Catherine’s lover S.V. Saltykov. Others say that such rumors are unfounded, and that Peter underwent an operation that eliminated a defect that made conception impossible. The question of paternity also aroused interest among society.

At this time, Elizaveta Petrovna’s condition worsened. All this made the prospect of Catherine’s expulsion from Russia or her imprisonment in a monastery real. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Catherine’s secret correspondence with the disgraced Field Marshal Apraksin and the British Ambassador Williams, dedicated to political issues, was revealed. Her previous favorites were removed, but a circle of new ones began to form: Grigory Orlov and Dashkova.

The death of Elizabeth Petrovna (December 25, 1761 (January 5, 1762)) and the accession to the throne of Peter Fedorovich under the name of Peter III further alienated the spouses. Peter III began to live openly with his mistress Elizaveta Vorontsova, settling his wife at the other end of the Winter Palace. When Catherine became pregnant from Orlov, this could no longer be explained by an accidental conception from her husband, since communication between the spouses had stopped completely by that time. Catherine hid her pregnancy, and when the time came to give birth, her devoted valet Vasily Grigorievich Shkurin set his house on fire. A lover of such spectacles, Peter and his court left the palace to look at the fire; At this time, Catherine gave birth safely. This is how the first Count Bobrinsky in Rus' was born - the founder of a famous family.

Early in the morning of June 28 (July 9), 1762, while Peter III was in Oranienbaum, Catherine, accompanied by Alexei and Grigory Orlov, arrived from Peterhof to St. Petersburg, where the guards units swore allegiance to her. Peter III, seeing the hopelessness of resistance, abdicated the throne the next day, was taken into custody and died in early July under unclear circumstances.

On September 22 (October 3), 1762, Ekaterina Alekseevna was crowned in Moscow and became the Empress of All Russia with the name Ekaterina.

She had an extraordinary talent as a writer, leaving behind a large collection of works - notes, translations, librettos, fables, fairy tales, comedies “Oh, time!”, “Mrs. Vorchalkina’s Name Day,” “The Hall of a Noble Boyar,” “Mrs. Vestnikova with her Family,” “The Invisible Bride” (1771-1772), essays, etc., participated in the weekly satirical magazine “All sorts of things,” published since 1769. The Empress turned to journalism in order to influence public opinion, so the main idea of the magazine was to criticize human vices and weaknesses. Other subjects of irony were the superstitions of the population. Catherine herself called the magazine: “Satire in a smiling spirit.”

Catherine considered herself a “philosopher on the throne” and had a favorable attitude toward the Age of Enlightenment, and corresponded with Voltaire, Diderot, and Alembert.

During her reign, the Hermitage and the Public Library appeared in St. Petersburg. She patronized various fields of art - architecture, music, painting.

It is impossible not to mention the mass settlement of German families in various regions of modern Russia, Ukraine, as well as the Baltic countries, initiated by Catherine. The goal was the modernization of Russian science and culture.

Ekaterina was a brunette of average height. She combined high intelligence, education, statesmanship and a commitment to “free love.”

Catherine’s commitment to the ideas of the Enlightenment determined the nature of her domestic policy and the direction of reforming various institutions of the Russian state. The term “enlightened absolutism” is often used to characterize the domestic policy of Catherine’s time. According to Catherine, based on the works of the French philosopher Montesquieu, the vast Russian spaces and the severity of the climate determine the pattern and necessity of autocracy in Russia. Based on this, under Catherine, the autocracy was strengthened, the bureaucratic apparatus was strengthened, the country was centralized and the management system was unified.

2 The system of public administration during the reign of CatherineII. The policy of “enlightened absolutism” and a new stage of rationalization of public administration in the second half of the 18th century

By the time of her accession to the throne, Catherine II was well acquainted with the liberal ideas of European philosophical, political and economic thought. Even in her youth, she read the works of French enlighteners - Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, D'Alembert - and considered herself their student. In 1763, Catherine began correspondence with Voltaire, which continued until 1777, i.e. almost until the death of the famous French enlightener. Based on the ideas of European enlighteners, Catherine developed a certain idea of what needed to be done for the prosperity of the state. This is what the empress saw as her planned plans: “Since you are quite keenly interested, it seems to me, in what I am doing, I am enclosing. In addition to this letter, perhaps a less bad translation into French of my Manifesto, signed by me last year on December 14th and which appeared in the Dutch newspapers in such a cruelly distorted form that it was hardly possible to get to the meaning of this thing in the Russian text. valuable and successful... In the month of June, meetings of this great assembly will begin, which will find out for us what we need, and then it will begin to develop laws for which, I hope, future humanity will not reward us with censure. In the meantime, before that time comes, I am going to travel around various provinces...”

Combined with knowledge of Russian reality, these ideas influenced the formation of the empress’s political program, which she tried to implement in various fields, including in the field of public administration.

The beginning of Catherine II's reign was difficult, primarily politically. No matter how unpopular Peter III was in Russia, he was a legitimate (by God's grace) sovereign, and, moreover, the grandson of Peter the Great, albeit insufficient. The role of Catherine II in the murder of her husband was also unclear. First of all, Catherine II hastened with the coronation, which was supposed to legitimize her accession to the throne. The main participants in the coup (40 people) received ranks, land holdings with serfs and large sums of money. The Empress ordered the return from exile of those who “innocently” suffered, including the former Grand Chancellor Count Bestuzhev-Ryumin, the former Prosecutor General Prince Shakhovsky.

This was something unprecedented in Rus'. The previous authorities considered it sufficient to keep their subjects in fear, but Catherine wanted to win their love.

The first years of the reign passed almost cloudlessly. They loved Catherine sincerely, just as they love their hopes for a better future. In this elevated atmosphere, she managed to restore the country's defenses and carry out some measures planned under Elizabeth and Peter III. First of all, this concerned church property.

It must be said that in practical activities Catherine deviated far from her high ideals. She knew that she owed her power to the Russian nobility, and she understood that the best way to win his love was to distribute estates, money and privileges. In total, about a million souls were distributed from state and palace estates during Catherine's reign. In 1765 (while working on the “Order”), she allowed landowners to exile peasants to Siberia without trial “due to insolence” (confirming Elizabeth’s decree of 1760), and in 1767, having received about 600 petitions from peasants with complaints during a trip along the Volga against the landowners, ordered their return without consideration; later a special decree was issued prohibiting peasants from filing complaints against the landowners with the empress. At the time of Catherine’s accession to the throne, the right of free movement of peasants still existed in Ukraine, but already in 1763 she sharply limited it, and 20 years later abolished it altogether.

In general, under Catherine, absolutism was strengthened by reforming government institutions and the new administrative structure of the state, protecting the monarchy from any attacks. She carried out socio-economic measures for the further “Europeanization” of the country and the final formation and strengthening of the nobility, liberal educational initiatives, and care for education, literature and the arts.

But Russian society demonstrated its unpreparedness not only for the abolition of serfdom, but even for more moderate reforms.

3 Catherine’s “Order” and the activities of the Legislative Commission

In 1767, deputies from all classes (with the exception of serfs and the clergy) gathered in Moscow in order to begin developing a New Code. Catherine’s “Order” became a guide. Catherine borrowed most of his articles from Montesquieu’s book “The Spirit of Laws” and the treatise of the Italian lawyer Beccaria “On Crimes and Punishments.” The “Order” consisted of 22 chapters and was divided into 655 articles. The cornerstone of the state, according to Catherine, remained autocracy: “8. The Russian state's possessions extend over 32 degrees of latitude and 165 degrees of longitude around the globe. 9. The sovereign is autocratic; for no other power, as soon as the power united in his person, can act similarly to the space of such a great state...11. Any other rule would not only be harmful to Russia, but also completely ruinous. 12. Another reason is that it is better to obey the laws under one master than to please many.”

What shocked the Russian people so much in the second half of the 18th century?

4 Estate and administrative reforms of CatherineII

In December 1763. The empress carried out a reform of the Senate, dividing it into six departments, two of which were to be in Moscow and four in St. Petersburg. Thus, the governing Senate lost its former political role, turning into a bureaucratic clerical superstructure over the central institutions of the empire. In the second half of the 18th century. The territory of Russia expanded significantly, especially in the southern and western directions. The country included the Northern Black Sea region, the Azov region, Crimea, Right Bank Ukraine, Belarus, Courland, Lithuania, etc. Russia occupied an area of 17.4 million m2. According to the 1795 audit, the population of Russia was 37.4 million people. The bulk of the population lived in rural areas. By the end of the century, 10% of the country's population lived in cities. By the beginning of the 19th century. There were 634 cities in Russia, although many of them remained rather administrative and power centers of rural areas. Under Catherine II, a broad administrative reform was carried out. In 1775, the country was divided into 50 provinces instead of the previous 20. The population of the province ranged from 300 to 400 thousand people.

The situation of the serfs worsened - in 1765 the landowners received permission to exile their peasants to Siberia for hard labor, without trial. If the peasants were recognized as the instigators of the unrest, then by the decree of 1763 they themselves had to pay the costs associated with the suppression of their protests. In 1767, a decree was issued prohibiting peasants from complaining to the empress about their landowners. The years 1765-1775 were marked by peasant uprisings (Pugachevshchina). Cruelly suppressed, it was still not the last reason that pushed the government to certain decrees regarding the situation of the peasants.

The publication in 1775 of Catherine II’s manifesto on the free opening of industrial enterprises by representatives of all walks of life was important for the development of domestic industrial production. Freedom of enterprise was introduced in Russia.

In 1785, a special Crafts Regulation was issued, which was part of the Charter to the cities. Along with urban crafts, crafts were widely developed in fishing villages.

The most important feature of the late 18th century. is an increase in civilian labor and capitalist manufactures.

Since 1762, it was forbidden to buy serfs to join factories, and their assignment to enterprises ceased. Manufactories, founded after this by persons of non-noble origin, used exclusively civilian labor.

In 1775, a decree was issued allowing peasant industry, which stimulated the development of production and influenced the growth in the number of factory owners from merchants and peasants.

An important incentive for industrial entrepreneurship were benefits to the merchants: in 1766 - the exemption of merchants from conscription duty and its replacement with the payment of a fixed cash contribution; the proclamation of freedom of enterprise in 1775, which consisted of allowing merchants to establish enterprises without approval from official authorities and abolishing the tax on each dignity.

Social policy demonstrates the following facts. In 1768, a network of city schools based on a class-lesson system was created. Schools began to open actively. Under Catherine, the systematic development of women's education began; in 1764, the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens and the Educational Society for Noble Maidens were opened. The Academy of Sciences has become one of the leading scientific bases in Europe. An observatory, a physics laboratory, an anatomical theater, a botanical garden, instrumental workshops, a printing house, a library, and an archive were founded. The Russian Academy was founded in 1783. In the provinces there were orders for public charity. In Moscow and St. Petersburg there are educational homes for street children (currently the building of the Moscow Orphanage is occupied by the Peter the Great Military Academy), where they received education and upbringing. To help widows, the Widow's Treasury was created.

New areas of medicine for Russia developed: hospitals for the treatment of syphilis, psychiatric hospitals and shelters were opened. A number of fundamental works on medical issues have been published.

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

The monastery lands have long been a source of concern for the authorities. Even under Elizabeth, there were constant unrest among the monastery peasants. In order to somehow cope with the situation, under Peter III these lands were transferred to secular management. But then the church authorities were outraged. Catherine reassured them by returning their estates, but this caused even greater indignation among the peasants (the transfer of monastic peasants to state positions made it possible to freely grant them to anyone). In 1762, about 150 thousand monastery and landowner peasants were “in obvious indignation,” and at the same time about 50 thousand mining peasants rebelled. Again, the intervention of military detachments and even artillery was needed. Therefore, a year later, Catherine again established a commission on church estates. Metropolitan of Rostov Arseny Matseevich, who at one time enjoyed the patronage of Elizabeth, sharply spoke out against her - a quarrelsome and cruel person. He demanded that the Synod immediately return the confiscated church properties. His message was so harsh that the Synod, perceiving it as an insult to Her Majesty, referred the matter to Catherine for consideration. She did not show the usual leniency, and Arseny was defrocked and exiled to a remote monastery. Church properties were transferred to the jurisdiction of the College of Economy. The same department maintained homes for the disabled. A completely secular man, Prince Boris Kurakin, was appointed president of the board.

By 1786, the country included the Northern Black Sea region, the Azov region, Crimea, Right Bank Ukraine, the lands between the Dniester and the Bug, Belarus, Courland and Lithuania.

The population of Russia in 1747 was 18 million people, by the end of the century - 36 million people.

In general, a policy of religious tolerance was pursued in Russia under Catherine II. Representatives of all traditional religions did not experience pressure or oppression. Thus, in 1773, a law on tolerance of all religions was issued, prohibiting the Orthodox clergy from interfering in the affairs of other faiths; secular authorities reserve the right to decide on the establishment of churches of any faith.

Catherine obtained from the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth government equalization of the rights of religious minorities - Orthodox and Protestants.

Under Catherine II, the persecution of Old Believers ceased. The Empress initiated the return of Old Believers, an economically active population, from abroad. They were specially allocated a place in Irgiz (modern Saratov and Samara regions). They were allowed to have priests.

The Jewish religion retained the right to publicly practice its faith. Religious matters and disputes were left to the Jewish courts. Jews, depending on the capital they had, were assigned to the appropriate class and could be elected to local government bodies, become judges and other civil servants.

By decree of Catherine II, in 1787, in the printing house of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, for the first time in Russia, the complete Arabic text of the Islamic holy book of the Koran was printed for free distribution to the “Kyrgyz”. The publication differed significantly from European ones, primarily in that it was Muslim in nature: the text for publication was prepared by Mullah Usman Ibrahim. In St. Petersburg, from 1789 to 1798, 5 editions of the Koran were published. In 1788, a manifesto was issued in which the Empress ordered the establishment of a spiritual assembly of Mohammedan law in Ufa. Thus, Catherine began to integrate the Muslim community into the system of government of the empire. Muslims received the right to build and restore mosques.

Conclusion

The reign of Catherine II fell on the years -1762-1796. Educated and wise Catherine managed to win over not only those close to her, but also foreign monarchs, diplomats, and scientists. Having come to power as a result of a palace coup, Catherine II was forced to pursue a flexible policy, taking into account public opinion and the interests of the nobles. At the same time, she faced the most difficult task of strengthening the regime of personal power and increasing its authority. For this, the empress called upon the French Enlightenment (ideas of the philosophers Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot).

In this regard, the reign of Catherine is called the period of enlightened absolutism, that is, the period when the supreme power was strengthened through the use of advanced ideas, and, in addition, sought to correct the barbaric remnants of the feudal system. The Russian version of enlightened absolutism represented a special stage of state-political development, associated in socio-economic terms with the decomposition of the feudal system, and in political terms - with the search for a compromise with the nobility and aristocracy, which were the main driving force of previous coups d'etat. Moreover, the legal principles of enlightened absolutism were not the principles of the rule of law, since all power (legislative, judicial and administrative) was in the hands of the monarch, in addition, the inviolability of the class division of society was affirmed.

The established commission was a special temporary form of attracting representatives of free classes to govern the state on an administrative and bureaucratic basis and became another step towards formalizing class representation. The main task of the Statutory Commission (the creation of a new set of laws) was never completed.

In 1775, Catherine II carried out a regional reform, which was based on the principle of the size of the tax-paying population.

Economic reforms began to be carried out.

The charter granted to the nobility in 1785 completed the legal formation of the first estate and granted it broad rights.

The charter granted to the cities included the exemption of the top merchant class from poll tax and conscription. She also introduced city self-government.

The era of Catherine's reign demonstrated:

1. Imperial events in foreign and domestic policy.

2. Strengthening absolutism by reforming government institutions and the new administrative structure of the state, protecting the monarchy from any attacks.

3. Socio-economic measures for the further “Europeanization” of the country and the final formation and strengthening of the nobility.

4. Liberal educational initiatives, care for education, literature and the arts.

5. The unpreparedness of Russian society not only for the abolition of serfdom, but even for more moderate reforms.

List of used literature

1. Bushuev S.V., Mironov G.E. History of the Russian State: Historical and biographical essays. Book 2: 16-18 centuries - M.: Bustard, 1994. - 459 p.

2. Derevyanko A.P., Shabelnikova N.A. History of Russia. - M.: TK Welby, Prospekt Publishing House, 2007. - 560 p.

3. Catherine II: Annotated bibliography of publications / Compiled by: I.V. Babich, M.V. Babich, T.A. Laptev. M.: ROSSPEN, 2004. - 928 p.

4. Empress Catherine II. About the greatness of Russia. - M.: "EXMO", 2003. - 856 p. (series “Anthology of Thought”).

5. Empire. From Catherine II to Stalin /Auth.-comp. P.G. Deinichenko.- M.: OLMA Media Group, 2008.- 192 p.

6. Klyuchevsky V. O. Course of Russian History. Part V. - M.: State Socio-Economic Publishing House, 1937. - 367 p.

8. Pavlenko N.I. Catherine the Great // Motherland. - 1995 (No. 10, 11), 1996 (No. 1, 2).

9. Shikman A.P. Figures of national history. Biographical reference book. –M.: Nauka, 1997.- 567 p.

Shikman A.P. Figures of Russian history. Biographical reference book. –M.: Nauka, 1997, pp.55-56.

Thoughts from a special notebook // Empress Catherine II. About the greatness of Russia." - M.: "EXMO", 2003, P. 121.

Letter to Voltaire. Moscow, March 15-26 (1767) // Empress Catherine II. About the greatness of Russia." - M.: "EXMO", 2003, P. 747.

Thoughts from a special notebook // Empress Catherine II. About the greatness of Russia.” - M.: “EXMO”, 2003, P.123.

Pavlenko N.I. Catherine the Great // Motherland.- 1995.- No. 10.- P.56.

Order of the commission to draw up a draft of a new code. Chapter 2. // Empress Catherine II. About the greatness of Russia. - M.: "EXMO", 2003, P. 72.

Questions:

The system of public administration during the reign of Catherine II

Public administration under Paul I

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

In the second half of the 18th century. In many European countries, including Russia, a certain modernization of the political and economic system is taking place, associated with the implementation of a policy of enlightened absolutism. The main goal is to adapt the essentially feudal absolute monarchy to new (capitalist) relations that begin to objectively prevail in society.

The ideological basis of this policy was the Enlightenment, closely related to the formation in the 18th century. new human type- an independent, reasonable, active personality, critical of authorities, accustomed to relying on one’s own strengths in everything. The restructuring of society on new principles attracted particular attention from educators. The head of the state, they believed, should be an enlightened monarch, whose main task is to create the kingdom of reason, i.e. a society based on bourgeois values: civil equality, freedom of the individual and its economic activities, inviolability of private property, etc. It was precisely this kind of monarch that Catherine II aspired to become in the eyes of Europe, with whose reign the policy of enlightened absolutism in Russia is traditionally associated.

The system of public administration during the reign of Catherine II

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

The princess received a good education at home, and during her childhood and adolescence she traveled quite a lot with her family, which helped her broaden her horizons. In 1745, Sophia Augusta Frederica, having adopted Orthodoxy and the name - Ekaterina Alekseevna, she married the heir to the Russian throne - Peter Fedorovich (before baptism Karl Peter Ulrich), the son of the elder sister of Empress Elizabeth - Anna Petrovna, who married the Holstein Duke Karl Friedrich .

Finding herself in Russia at the age of 16, Ekaterina, having realistically assessed the situation, decided to become “one of her own”, Russian, as quickly as possible - to master the language perfectly, to assimilate Russian customs - and she spared no effort to achieve her goal. She read a lot and educated herself. Catherine showed particular interest in descriptions of travel, works of classics, history, philosophy, and the works of French encyclopedists.

By nature, Catherine had a sober mind, observation, the ability to suppress her emotions, listen carefully to her interlocutor, and be pleasant in communication. These qualities were very useful to her in the first years of her stay in Russia, since relations with her husband and, most importantly, with Empress Elizaveta Petrovna were quite difficult.

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

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

Great ambition, willpower, and efficiency helped Catherine ultimately achieve power. A group of conspirators, mostly guards officers, rallied around the future Catherine II. Particularly active were Catherine's favorite - Grigory Orlov (1734-1783) and his brother Alexei (1737-1808). On the night of June 28, 1762, Catherine, together with Alexei Orlov, arrived from Peterhof to St. Petersburg, where on the same day the Senate proclaimed her empress and declared Peter III deposed. On June 29, he was taken into custody, and in July he was killed under unclear circumstances. In September 1762, Catherine II was crowned in Moscow.

The Empress devoted the first years of her reign to strengthening her power, selecting trusted persons, studying the state of affairs in the state, as well as becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Russia (in 1763-1767 she made three trips to the European part of the country). Considering herself a student of French philosophers of the 18th century, Catherine II sought, with the help of some transformations, to eliminate elements of “barbarism” from the life of the country, to make Russian society more “enlightened”, closer to Western European, but at the same time to preserve intact the autocracy and its social base - the nobility .

The need for change was largely determined by the socio-economic situation that had developed at the beginning of the reign of Catherine II. Throughout the 18th century. Elements of capitalist relations developed in Russia, the ideas of entrepreneurship gradually penetrated into various strata of society - the nobility, merchants, and peasants. Special difficulty internal situation countries in the early 60s. XVIII century gave the peasant movement in which factory and monastery peasants most actively participated. All this, along with the ideas of the Enlightenment, determined the internal policy of Russia, especially in the first two decades of the reign of Catherine II.

In the 60-70s. it was forbidden to buy peasants for industrial enterprises, freedom to organize industrial affairs was declared, all kinds of monopolies were abolished, as well as internal customs duties, which contributed to the inclusion in internal trade of new lands annexed to the Russian state during the reign of Catherine II: some regions of Ukraine, Belarus, Baltic states, Black Sea, Azov, Kuban steppes, Crimea.

Under Catherine II, considerable attention was paid to the development of the education system: educational homes, institutes for girls, and cadet corps were created. In the 80s When organizing provincial and district public schools, the principle of classless education was proclaimed.

However, along with such progressive measures, which objectively contributed to the development of bourgeois relations, in Russia serfdom is intensifying. Already in the manifesto of July 6, 1762, which explained the reasons for the coup, it was defined one of the main goals of Catherine's domestic policyII- support the landowners in every possible way and keep the peasants in obedience. In the 60s, when the empress still verbally supported the idea of emancipating the peasants, serfs were forbidden to complain about the master, and landowners were allowed to send their peasants to hard labor. In order to destroy explosive hotbeds in the south, self-government was eliminated and the Cossack districts were reorganized - here at the end of the 18th century. Serfdom was widespread. Subsequently, during the reign of Catherine II, there was an increase in the exploitation of peasants: serfs made up about 50% of their total number, more than half of them were in corvée, which in the country as a whole by the 80s. increased to 5 days a week instead of 3 days in the 60s; especially widely in the second half of the 18th century. trade in serfs spread. The situation of state peasants also worsened - the duties imposed on them were increased, and their distribution to landowners was actively carried out.

However, trying to maintain her reputation as an “enlightened monarch,” Catherine II could not allow the complete transformation of serfs into slaves: they continued to be considered a tax-paying class, could go to court and be witnesses in it! They could, however, with the consent of the landowner, register as merchants, engage in farming, etc.

During the last years of his reign under the influence of the peasant war led by E. Pugachev (1773-1775), especially the Great French Revolution (1789-1794), Catherine II gradually moved away from enlightened absolutism. This mainly concerns the ideological sphere - there is a pursuit of advanced ideas that can lead to a change in the existing order, which the empress seeks to avoid at all costs. However, the foundation of social life, laid by the policy of enlightened absolutism, remained virtually unchanged until the death of Catherine II.

One of the characteristic, essential features of the policy of enlightened absolutism of Catherine II was the streamlining of the system of public administration. The idea of the need for this was already expressed in the manifesto of July 6, 1762, its implementation began with the transformation of the Senate.

Higher and central management apparatus. Immediately upon the accession of Catherine II to the throne, participant in the coup N.I. Panin(1718-1783), famous diplomat, adviser to the College of Foreign Affairs, presented the empress with a draft of changes in the central administration. He proposed creating a permanent imperial council consisting of four secretaries (foreign and internal affairs, military and naval departments) and two advisers. All major issues were to be considered by the Council in the presence of the Empress, who made the final decisions. In addition, it was proposed to divide the Senate into six departments.

Project N.I. Panin, as limiting the autocratic power of the empress, was rejected by her, however, to speed up and streamline office work, the idea of dividing the Senate was put into practice in 1763. Six departments were created, four of which were located in St. Petersburg: the first dealt with the most important internal and political affairs , the second - judicial, the third was in charge of the affairs of the western outskirts of the state, communications, higher education, and the police; the fourth - military and naval affairs. The two Moscow departments corresponded to the first and second St. Petersburg departments.

Catherine II decided many important issues without the participation of the Senate. She maintained relations with him through the Prosecutor General AL. Vyazemsky (1727-1793), who received secret instructions to obstruct the legislative activities of the Senate. As a result, the importance of the Senate decreased; from the highest body of government, as it was under Elizaveta Petrovna, it turned into a central administrative and judicial institution. In the 70-80s. XVIII century There was a further weakening of central government bodies. After the reform of 1775, the activities of the Senate were limited to judicial functions; the affairs of most collegiums were transferred to new provincial institutions.

By the 90s. most colleges ceased to exist: in 1779 - Manufactory College (industry), in 1780 - States Office (state expenditures), in 1783 - Berg (mining industry), in 1784 - Kamer (state revenues) , in 1786 - the College of Justice (judicial) and Patrimonial (issues of land ownership), in 1788 - the Board of Revision (control of public expenditures). Only those boards were retained whose affairs could not be transferred to local authorities: the Foreign, Military, Naval and Commerce boards.

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

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

The “Order” quite fully covers the most important issues of legislation: its tasks, features of government, legal proceedings, the punishment system, the position of classes, etc. The initial edition of the "Nakaz", shown to some of the empress's close associates, caused many objections on their part as being too free-thinking and not in accordance with Russian customs. As a result, the “Nakaz” was significantly reduced, mainly due to liberal provisions, for example, articles on improving the situation of peasants, on the separation of legislative power from the judicial branch, etc. The articles relating to legal proceedings and education remained closest to educational ideology. In general, the "Order" was a statement general principles, which should guide the Statutory Commission in its work. In December 1766, a manifesto was issued convening a “Commission for drawing up a new code.” Elected deputies from all classes were to be represented on the Commission.

A total of 564 deputies were elected: 161 from nobles, 208 from cities, 167 from rural population, 28 - from central institutions (Senate, Synod, collegiums and other public places). Each deputy received an order from his constituents that reflected their wishes. Total 1465 orders were presented in, and most of them (1066) were from the rural population. During the work of the Statutory Commission, the deputies were paid a salary from the treasury: nobles - 400 rubles, townspeople - 120 rubles, peasants - 37 rubles. Deputies were forever exempt from death penalty, corporal punishment, confiscation of property.

On July 30, 1767, the established commission began its work in Moscow. General A.I. was elected chairman, on the recommendation of Catherine II. Bibikov (1729-1774), he had the right to schedule meetings, introduce and put proposals to a vote.

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

In general, the activities of the Legislative Commission were doomed to failure from the very beginning due to the lack of preliminary preparation, as well as the enormous volume and complexity of the work: to create new laws, deputies needed to understand the old legislation, which included more than 10 thousand different provisions, study parliamentary orders, remove the contradictions, often irreconcilable, between the wishes of different classes and, finally, draw up a new legislative code, based on the principles set out in Catherine’s “Order”, which often contradict parliamentary orders. In December 1768, due to the beginning of the Russian-Turkish war and the fact that a significant part of the noble deputies had to go to the troops, The commission was dissolved for an indefinite period, however, later the deputies did not gather.

Although the attempt to create new legislation ended in failure, the work of the Legislative Commission had a significant influence on the subsequent activities of Catherine I. The orders of the deputies showed the position of the various classes of Russian society, their wishes and largely determined the direction of further reforms.

The local government system included the administration of provinces and districts, as well as cities and individual estates. In November 1775, the “Institution for the Administration of the Provinces of the Russian Empire” was published. The introduction to this document pointed out the shortcomings that caused the need for reform: the vastness of the provinces, the insufficient number of governing bodies, and the displacement of various affairs in them.

As a result of the reform, the previous administrative division (province, province, district) was changed: the provinces were abolished, the number of provinces was increased to 40 (by the end of the reign of Catherine II, due to the annexation of new territories to Russia, there were already 51 provinces). Previously, regional division was carried out randomly, and provinces with very different populations had approximately the same staff of officials. Now it was established that the provinces should be approximately the same in number of inhabitants - from 300 to 400 thousand people; for the county, the population was determined to be 20-30 thousand. Since the new administrative division was more fractional, about 200 large villages were transformed into county ones cities. With changes in administrative boundaries within provincial reform Local government was also changed: administrative, financial and judicial affairs were separated. Subsequently, the unification of local government bodies throughout the country led to abolition of autonomy some outskirts: in Ukraine this finally happened in 1781, and from 1783 the national system of administrative management was extended to the Baltic states.

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

The administration of a separate province was entrusted to a governor appointed by the Senate, who headed the provincial government - the main administrative body. In addition to the governor, it included two provincial councilors and a provincial prosecutor. The board dealt with various administrative issues, controlled the management of the province, and, together with the vice-governor, was in charge of all police agencies of the province and district.

The vice-governor (or lieutenant of the ruler, i.e. the governor) was appointed by the Senate, if necessary could replace the governor, and was also the chairman of the treasury chamber - the highest financial body of the province that managed state property. She was in charge of tax collection, government contracts and buildings, provincial and district treasuries, and economic peasants of former church estates.

In addition to administrative, financial and special judicial institutions, a new body was created in each provincial city - an order of public charity, which was in charge of schools, hospitals, almshouses and shelters. Unlike the provincial government and the treasury chamber, the order of public charity had an elected composition.

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

The head of the administrative and police power in the district city was the mayor, appointed by the Senate.

Since 1775, class-based legal proceedings were introduced in the provinces. The provincial court of justice for the nobles was the Supreme Zemstvo Court, for the urban population - the provincial magistrate, for personally free peasants - upper reprisal. These judicial bodies consisted of assessors - elected from the corresponding class, and were headed by specially appointed officials. At each upper zemstvo court, a noble guardianship was established, dealing with the affairs of widows and young orphans of nobles. In addition, special conscientious courts were established in provincial cities to deal with criminal cases related to the insanity of the criminal, and civil cases resolved through a settlement deal.

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

In each district, for the nobles there was a district court, subordinate to the Supreme Zemstvo Court, for the urban population - a city magistrate, under the jurisdiction of the provincial magistrate. In the districts where over 10 thousand personally free peasants lived, for them there was a lower reprisal, subordinate to the upper reprisal. In district judicial institutions, judges and assessors were elected from representatives of the class whose affairs they were in charge of; the government appointed only the chairman of the lower court. An orphan's court was established under each city magistrate, dealing with the affairs of widows and young orphans of the townspeople.

The role of supervisory authorities in each province was performed by provincial prosecutors and their assistants - criminal and civil attorneys. Subordinate to the provincial prosecutor were the prosecutors at the upper zemstvo court, the provincial magistrate and the upper justice, as well as the district solicitor, who performed the duties of the prosecutor in the district.

Noble self-government. In her domestic policy, Catherine II focused primarily on the nobility, and already in the first years of her reign the foundations for self-government of this class were laid. In preparation for the convening of the Statutory Commission in 1766, the nobles of each district were ordered to elect a district leader for two years to lead the elections of deputies to the Commission and in case of any other demands from the supreme power.

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

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

Ultimately, the system of noble governance that developed during the reign of Catherine II had the following form. Once every three years, at district and provincial assemblies, the nobles elected district and provincial noble leaders and other officials, respectively. Only that nobleman whose income from the estate was not less than 100 rubles could be elected. per year. Nobles who had reached the age of 25 and had the rank of officer could participate in the elections. In addition to electing officials, noble assemblies resolved issues posed by the government, as well as problems related to class discipline. In addition, the assemblies had the right to present their wishes to the governor or governor-general; a specially elected deputation led by the leader of the nobility could appeal to the empress.

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

In accordance with the Charter, the population of each city was divided into six categories. The first included “real city dwellers”, i.e. everyone, without distinction of origin, rank or occupation, who has a house or land in the city. The second category consisted of merchants, divided into three guilds depending on the amount of capital: 1st guild - from 10 to 50 thousand rubles, 2nd - from 5 to 10 thousand rubles, 3rd - from 1 to 5 thousand rubles. The third category included urban guild artisans, V fourth - out-of-town and foreign guests who permanently resided in this city. The fifth category consisted of “eminent citizens” - elected officials, scientists and artists(painters, sculptors, architects, composers) with academic certificates or university diplomas, persons with capital from 50 thousand rubles, bankers with capital from 100 to 200 thousand rubles, wholesale traders, shipowners. The sixth category included “townspeople” - townspeople engaged in crafts, crafts, etc., and not included in other categories. Townspeople of the third and sixth categories received the general name "philistines". The entire population of the city, in accordance with its category, was included in the City Philistine Book.

Citizens of all ranks from the age of 25 had the right to elect a city head and vowels (representatives from ranks) from among themselves to the general city duma once every three years. The nobles were not widely represented in the city duma, since they had the right to refuse to perform city posts. The general city duma met once every three years or, if necessary, it was in charge of the city’s economy and was obliged to report to the governor on all income and expenses. In addition, the General Duma elected six representatives (one from each rank) to the six-vote Duma, whose meetings were held every week under the chairmanship of the mayor. The Six-Party Duma was in charge of the collection of taxes, the fulfillment of government duties, the improvement of the city, its expenses and income, i.e. was the executive body of city government. Supervision of city self-government was carried out by the governor, to whom the Six-Voice Duma could turn for help.

The rights of the city as a whole were protected by the city magistrate, who interceded for the city before the highest authorities and ensured that no new taxes or duties were imposed on it without government orders.

In her memoirs, Catherine characterized the state of Russia at the beginning of her reign as follows:

Finances were depleted. The army did not receive pay for 3 months. Trade was in decline, because many of its branches were given over to monopoly. There was no proper system in state economy. The War Department was plunged into debt; the sea barely held on, being in extreme neglect. The clergy was dissatisfied with the taking of his lands. Justice was sold at auction, and laws were followed only in cases where they favored the powerful.

The Empress formulated the tasks facing the Russian monarch as follows:

The nation that is to be governed must be enlightened.

It is necessary to introduce good order in the state, support society and force it to comply with the laws.

It is necessary to establish a good and accurate police force in the state.

It is necessary to promote the flourishing of the state and make it abundant.

It is necessary to make the state formidable in itself and inspiring respect among its neighbors.

The policy of Catherine II was characterized by progressive development, without sharp fluctuations. Upon her accession to the throne, she carried out a number of reforms - judicial, administrative, provincial, etc. The territory of the Russian state increased significantly due to the annexation of fertile southern lands - Crimea, the Black Sea region, as well as the eastern part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, etc. The population increased from 23.2 million ( in 1763) to 37.4 million (in 1796), Russia became the most populous European country (it accounted for 20% of the European population). Catherine II formed 29 new provinces and built about 144 cities. As Klyuchevsky wrote:

The army with 162 thousand people was strengthened to 312 thousand, the fleet, in 1757 consisting of 21 battleships and 6 frigates, in 1790 counted 67 battleships and 40 frigates and 300 rowing ships, the amount of state revenues from 16 million rubles. rose to 69 million, that is, it more than quadrupled, the success of foreign trade: the Baltic - in increasing imports and exports, from 9 million to 44 million rubles, the Black Sea, Catherine and created - from 390 thousand in 1776 to 1900 thousand rubles in 1796, the growth of internal circulation was indicated by the issue of coins worth 148 million rubles in the 34 years of his reign, while in the previous 62 years only 97 million were issued.”

The Russian economy continued to remain agricultural. The share of the urban population in 1796 was 6.3%. At the same time, a number of cities were founded (Tiraspol, Grigoriopol, etc.), iron smelting more than doubled (for which Russia took 1st place in the world), and the number of sailing and linen manufactories increased. Total k end of the XVIII V. there were 1,200 large enterprises in the country (in 1767 there were 663). The export of Russian goods to other European countries has increased significantly, including through the established Black Sea ports.

Catherine II established a loan bank and introduced paper money into circulation.

Domestic policy

Imperial Council and transformation of the Senate

Soon after the coup statesman N.I. Panin proposed creating an Imperial Council: 6 or 8 highest dignitaries rule together with the monarch (as was the case in 1730). Catherine rejected this project.

According to another Panin project, the Senate was transformed - December 15. 1763 It was divided into 6 departments, headed by chief prosecutors, and the prosecutor general became its head. Each department had certain powers. The general powers of the Senate were reduced, in particular, it lost legislative initiative and became a body for monitoring the activities of state apparatus and the highest court. The center of legislative activity moved directly to Catherine and her office with secretaries of state.

Personal information: Created a “State Commission” - (chief Raevsky, consisted of 600 people) Resolved the main issues.

“Personal Office” - Her imperial office.

“Council” - at the highest court.

Question 29

Development of local government under Catherine II.

Catherine II, first through individual measures and then through a broadly conceived reform, recreated all local government on the basis of decentralization. This reform was successively carried out by the Institution on the Provinces of 1775 (its second part was published in 1780), a charter to the nobility (1785) and a charter on the rights and benefits of cities (1785). The general system of local government established by these laws and preserved in many respects until the end of the 19th century boiled down to the following.

The governor-general was placed at the head of the province, endowed as the “sovereign governor” with very broad powers to supervise all local administration and the court. The actual administration was entrusted to the governors, the highest institution in the province was the provincial government - for purely administrative matters, and the treasury chamber for financial matters; their ranks were appointed by the government; a significant part of management affairs was transferred to “orders of public charity”, the composition of which was elected. The district administration, represented by police officers and “lower zemstvo courts” (a purely administrative institution), was also elected. Elected judicial institutions represented a very complex organization. The nobility under Catherine received a corporate structure for the first time. Provincial and district noble assemblies were established to elect officials of the local administration and court, to discuss issues proposed by the government, and to manage class needs. To manage class affairs, leaders (provincial and district), noble deputy assemblies and guardianships were established. The cities also received an estate cooperative structure, all local economic and police affairs were transferred to the “citywide Duma” and its executive body, the “six-voice Duma”; but at the same time, mayors and police chiefs were installed, whose relationship to the Duma was not firmly clarified. The judicial body in the city was the elected magistrate.

The main principles of Catherine's reform: decentralization, election of office, independence of the court were distorted under Paul I. Alexander I, upon ascending the throne, returned to the principles of decentralization and self-government and to Catherine's institutions. During the first half of the 19th century, these institutions underwent a mass of partial alterations, which in general significantly changed their character. The supervision of the Governor-General, due to the breadth of powers granted to him and their uncertainty, accepted highest degree personal and autocratic character; after several attempts to reform this position, it was excluded in 1837 from among the general provincial positions and left as an exception, due to certain political conditions, only on the outskirts. General supervision of provincial regulations passed to the ministers. The powers of governors and provincial regulations were somewhat changed by an extensive order to governors in 1837 and the establishment of provincial boards in 1845. Noble elections took place under the overwhelming attention of governors, and elected officials in their position were no different from those appointed.

Measures were taken to strengthen the nobility in the center and locally. For the first time in Russian legislation, a document appeared that determined the activities of local government bodies and courts. This system of local authorities existed until the Great Reforms of the 60s of the XIX century. Introduced by Catherine II administrative division the country remained until 1917.

On November 7, 1775, the “Institution for the management of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire” was adopted. The country was divided into provinces, each of which was supposed to have a population of 300-400 thousand male souls. By the end of Catherine's reign, there were 50 provinces in Russia. At the head of the provinces were governors who reported directly to the empress, and their power was significantly expanded. The capitals and several other provinces were subordinate to governors general.

Under the governor, a provincial government was created, and the provincial prosecutor was subordinate to him. Finances in the province were handled by the Treasury Chamber, headed by the vice-governor. The provincial land surveyor was engaged in land management. Schools, hospitals, almshouses were in charge of the Order of Public Charity (look after - look after, patronize, take care of); were first created government agencies with social functions.

The provinces were divided into districts of 20-30 thousand male souls in each. Since the city centers of the districts were clearly not enough, Catherine II renamed many large rural settlements into cities, making them administrative centers. The main authority of the county became the Lower Zemstvo Court, headed by a police captain elected by the local nobility. A district treasurer and a district surveyor were appointed to the districts, following the model of the provinces.

Using the theory of separation of powers and improving the management system, Catherine II separated the judiciary from the executive. All classes, except for the serfs (for them the landowner was the owner and judge), had to take part in local government. Each class received its own court. The landowner was judged by the Upper Zemstvo Court in the provinces and the district court in the counties. State peasants were judged by the Upper Judgment in the province and the Lower Jurisprudence in the district, the townspeople were judged by the city magistrate in the district and the provincial magistrate in the province. All these courts were elected, with the exception of the lower courts, which were appointed by the governor. Supreme judicial authority a Senate was established in the country, and in the provinces - chambers of criminal and civil courts, whose members were appointed by the state. New for Russia was the Conscientious Court, designed to stop strife and reconcile those who were quarreling. He was classless. The separation of powers was not complete, since the governor could interfere in court affairs.

In a separate administrative unit the city was allocated. At its head was the mayor, endowed with all rights and powers. Strict police control was introduced in cities. The city was divided into parts (districts), which were under the supervision of a private bailiff, and the parts, in turn, were divided into quarters, which were controlled by a quarterly overseer.

After the provincial reform, all boards ceased to function, with the exception of the Foreign, Military and Admiralty boards. The functions of the boards were transferred to provincial bodies. In 1775, the Zaporozhye Sich was liquidated, and most of the Cossacks were resettled to Kuban.

The existing system of managing the territory of the country in the new conditions solved the problem of strengthening the power of the nobility locally, its goal was to prevent new popular performances. The fear of the rebels was so great that Catherine II ordered the Yaik River to be renamed the Ural, and the Yaik Cossacks to be renamed the Ural. The number of local officials has more than doubled.

Letters granted to the nobility and cities

On April 21, 1785, on the birthday of Catherine II, Letters of Grant to the nobility and cities were simultaneously issued. It is known that Catherine II also prepared a draft Charter for state (state) peasants, but it was not published due to fears of noble discontent.

By issuing two charters, Catherine II regulated the legislation on the rights and responsibilities of the estates. In accordance with the “Certificate of Rights, Liberties and Advantages of the Noble Russian nobility“It was exempt from compulsory service, personal taxes, and corporal punishment. The estates were declared the full property of the landowners, who, in addition, had the right to establish their own factories and factories. Nobles could only sue their peers and, without a noble court, could not be deprived of noble honor, life and property. The nobles of the province and district constituted the provincial and district corporations of the nobility, respectively, and elected their leaders, as well as local government officials. Provincial and district noble assemblies had the right to make representations to the government about their needs. The charter granted to the nobility consolidated and legally formalized the power of the nobility in Russia. The ruling class was given the name “noble”. The “Certificate of Rights and Benefits to the Cities of the Russian Empire” determined the rights and responsibilities of the urban population and the management system in cities. All townspeople were registered in the City Book of Philistines and formed a “city society.” It was announced that “the townspeople or real city dwellers are those who have a house or other building, or place, or land in that city.” Urban population divided into six categories. The first of them included the nobles and clergy living in the city; the second included merchants, divided into three guilds; in the third - guild artisans; the fourth category consisted of foreigners permanently living in the city; fifth - eminent townspeople, who included people with higher education and capitalists. The sixth are the townspeople who lived by crafts or work. Residents of the city elected a self-government body every three years - the General City Duma, the mayor and judges. The general city duma elected executive body- a six-vote Duma, which included one representative from each category of the urban population. The City Duma decided on matters related to landscaping, public education, compliance with trade rules, etc. only with the knowledge of the mayor appointed by the government.

The charter placed all six categories of the urban population under state control. Real power in the city was in the hands of the mayor, the deanery and the governor.

Education reform

Catherine II gave great importance education in the life of the country. In the 60-70s of the 18th century. she, together with the President of the Academy of Arts and the Director of the Land Noble Corps I. I. Betsky, made an attempt to create a system of closed estates educational institutions. Their structure was based on the idea of the priority of upbringing over education. Believing that “the root of all evil and good is education,” Catherine II and I. I. Betskoy decided to create a “new breed of people.” According to the plan of I. I. Betsky, Orphanages, the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens with a department for bourgeois girls in St. Petersburg, a Commercial School in Moscow were opened in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and Cadet Corps were transformed.

The views of I. I. Betsky were progressive for their time, providing for the humane upbringing of children, the development of their natural talents, the prohibition of corporal punishment, and the organization of women's education. However, “greenhouse” conditions, isolation from real life, from the influence of family and society, of course, made I. I. Betsky’s attempts to form a “new man” utopian.

The general line of development of Russian education did not go through the utopian ideas of I. I. Betsky, but along the path of creating a comprehensive school system. It began with the school reform of 1782-1786. The Serbian teacher F.I. Jankovic de Mirievo played a major role in carrying out this reform. Two-year small public schools were established in district towns, and four-year main public schools in provincial towns. In the newly created schools, uniform start and end dates for classes, a classroom lesson system were introduced, methods of teaching disciplines and educational literature, and unified curricula were developed.

New schools, together with closed gentry buildings, noble boarding schools and gymnasiums at Moscow University, formed the structure of secondary education in Russia. According to experts, in Russia by the end of the century there were 550 educational institutions with total number 60-70 thousand students, not counting home education. Education, like all other spheres of the country's life, was fundamentally class-based.

A. N. Radishchev

The Peasant War, the ideas of Russian and French enlighteners, the Great French Revolution and the War of Independence in North America (1775-1783), which led to the formation of the United States, the emergence of Russian anti-serfdom thought in the person of N. I. Novikov, and the leading deputies of the Statutory Commission influenced the formation views of Alexander Nikolaevich Radishchev (1749-1802). In “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow,” in the ode “Liberty,” in “Conversation about the Son of the Fatherland,” A. N. Radishchev called for the “complete abolition of slavery” and the transfer of land to the peasants. He believed that “autocracy is the state most contrary to human nature,” and insisted on its revolutionary overthrow. A true patriot true son Fatherland A. N. Radishchev called the one who fights for the interests of the people, “for freedom - a priceless gift, the source of all great deeds.” For the first time in Russia there was a call for a revolutionary overthrow of autocracy and serfdom.

“A rebel is worse than Pugachev,” this is how Catherine II assessed the first Russian revolutionary. By her order, the circulation of the book “Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow” was confiscated, and its author was arrested and sentenced to death, replaced by ten years of exile in the Ilimsky prison in Siberia.

Paul I

The reign of Paul I (1796-1801) is called “unenlightened absolutism” by some historians, by others as a “military-police dictatorship”, by others – by others – by Paul as a “Russian Hamlet”, by others as a “romantic emperor”. However, even those historians who find positive traits in Paul's reign, they recognize that he equated autocracy with personal despotism.

Paul I ascended the throne after the death of his mother at the age of 42, already a mature, established man. Catherine II, having given her son Gatchina near St. Petersburg, removed him from the court. In Gatchina, Paul introduced strict rules based on iron discipline and asceticism, contrasting them with the luxury and wealth of the St. Petersburg court. Having become emperor, he tried to strengthen the regime by strengthening discipline and power in order to exclude all manifestations of liberalism and free-thinking in Russia. Characteristics Pavel was harsh, unbalanced and hot-tempered. He believed that everything in the country should be subordinated to the orders established by the tsar; he put diligence and accuracy in the first place, did not tolerate objections, sometimes reaching the point of tyranny.

In 1797, Paul published the “Institution on imperial family", according to which Peter's decree on succession to the throne was canceled. From now on, the throne was supposed to pass strictly through the male line from father to son, and in the absence of sons, to the eldest of the brothers. To maintain the imperial house, a department of “appanages” was formed, which managed the lands that belonged to the imperial family and the peasants who lived on them. The procedure for the service of nobles was tightened, and the effect of the Letter of Grant to the nobility was limited. Prussian order was imposed in the army.

In 1797, the Manifesto on the three-day corvee was published. He forbade landowners from using peasants for field work on Sundays, recommending that corvée be limited to three days a week.

Paul I took the Order of Malta under his protection, and when Napoleon captured Malta in 1798, he declared war on France in an alliance with England and Austria. When England occupied Malta, winning it from the French, there followed a severance of relations with England and an alliance with France. By agreement with Napoleon, Paul sent 40 regiments Don Cossacks to conquer India to annoy the British.

Paul's continued stay in power was fraught with loss of political stability for the country. The emperor’s foreign policy also did not meet the interests of Russia. On March 12, 1801, with the participation of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander I, the last in the history of Russia was committed. palace coup. Paul I was killed in the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg.