Table - State administrative and socio-economic reforms of Catherine II
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Senate reform: One of the first reforms of Catherine II. The Senate, created by Peter I as an institution with legislative, judicial and control functions, by the time of Catherine had largely lost its importance in the system of governing bodies. His decrees were poorly executed, matters took months, or even years, to resolve, and the senators themselves were incompetent and, as Catherine found out, did not even know how many cities there were in Russian Empire. The plan for the reorganization of the Senate, approved by the Empress, prepared by N.I. Panin, one of her most educated and capable ministers, provided for the division of the Senate into six departments with strictly defined functions of each in a specific area of government. The Senate lost its legislative branch, but still retained the functions of control and the highest judicial body. |
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Secularization reform: Another important reform of the first years of the reign of Catherine II was associated with the legacy she inherited from Peter III. Having ascended the throne, the empress announced the abolition of the secularization of church lands. However, this did not solve the problem itself, and already in 1762. A special commission was established to resolve it. For a year and a half, the commission prepared a new version of the secularization reform, and in February 1764. Catherine signed a corresponding decree, according to which all monastic lands with the peasants living on them were transferred to the jurisdiction of a specially established College of Economy. The former monastic peasants were called economic, and their legal status became approximately the same as the position of the black soshns, i.e. state peasants. From now on they had to pay all taxes directly to the state, which was much easier. About 2 million peasants got rid of the monastic corvee, their land plots increased, and it became easier for them to engage in crafts and trade. Another consequence of the secularization reform was a change in the position of the Russian Orthodox Church in the system of state power. From that time on, the state itself determined the number of monasteries and monks needed by the country, for it maintained them at the expense of the state treasury. |
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Abolition of hetmanship in Ukraine: The third transformation at the beginning of the reign of Catherine II, which had equally long-term consequences for the fate of the country and its people, concerned the system of managing the territories of the vast empire. For a long time, in accordance with the medieval tradition, the lands that at different times fell under the authority of the Moscow Tsar retained some historically established features in management, and in some cases even elements of autonomy (special authorities, specific legislation and administrative-territorial division). According to Catherine, this situation was intolerable. She was convinced that the entire country should be governed by uniform laws and principles. The autonomous status of Ukraine caused particular irritation. Ukrainian peasants retained the right to freely move from one landowner to another, which made it difficult for Russia to receive taxes from them in full. In the fall of 1764, Catherine accepted the resignation of the last Ukrainian hetman, Count K.G. Razumovsky and appointed Governor-General Count P.A. to Ukraine. Rumyantseva. Over the next decades, the remnants of the former Cossack freemen, the peculiarities of the administrative-territorial division, and city freedoms were gradually eliminated. In May 1783, a decree was issued on the final ban on the transfer of peasants from one owner to another, which meant the establishment of serfdom in Ukraine. |
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Financial reform: The state was constantly short of money, and it was forced to look for various ways their extraction. First, they began to melt down silver and copper money, minting coins with a lower content from them. precious metals. In 1769, paper money began to be printed in Russia for the first time - banknotes, but their distribution at first was not easy: the population hardly agreed to accept paper money instead of “real” ones, and the state printed so many banknotes that their value fell, and surplus money had to be burned. Opening of the noble and merchant banks. |
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Provincial reform:"Institution for the administration of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire." Reorganization of the local government system. During the provincial reform, a new administrative-territorial structure was introduced, according to which the country was divided into 25 provinces: later they were disaggregated again and by the end of Catherine’s reign there were 41 of them. The provincial reform separated the judiciary from the executive authorities, which was a step forward in the implementation of the principle of separation of powers. Moreover, for the first time in Russian judicial practice, criminal proceedings were separated from civil ones. At the same time, the class principle was preserved in the organization of the court, i.e. persons belonging to different classes were tried in different courts, where the judges were representatives of the same classes. |
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Introduction to freedom of enterprise. The Empress was well aware that powerful industry and thriving trade were an indispensable condition for the successful implementation of any plan, both within the country and outside it. The development of industry and trade, she believed, should be based on the principle of free enterprise based on private property. The development and introduction of this principle into Russian life was carried out gradually. Monopolies in some industries were eliminated, the procedure for organizing new enterprises and their registration was simplified. Benefits were introduced for merchants of the first, second and third guilds, and at the same time the property qualification for registration in them was increased, i.e. Only the richest, who were able to “declare” a certain capital, received the right to enroll in the merchant guild. Private ownership of factories and factories was secured, the right to open industrial enterprises without any special permission from government bodies was introduced, international conventions on the protection of merchant shipping were concluded, Russian consulates were opened in foreign seaports, etc. |
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Police reform: Introduction of the “Charter of Deanery, or Policeman,” according to which police and church-moral control were established over the population. |
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Urban reform:“Certificate of rights and benefits to the cities of the Russian Empire.” First of all, it was not addressed to any specific class and it considered not only the personal and class rights of the urban population, but also issues of organizations and activities of merchant guilds, craft guilds and city government bodies. |
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Letter of grant to the nobility:“Certificate on the rights, liberties and advantages of the noble Russian nobility.” Catherine's main idea was to create legislation on estates. On April 21, 1785, she published two extensive documents at once, which historical literature It is customary to call letters of grant to the nobility and cities. The first of these documents legislated all the rights and privileges of the nobility, which they had sought for centuries. The class privileges approved by the charter of 1785 finally separated the nobility from all other layers of Russian society, strengthening the dominant position of this class. |
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Educational reform: system creation educational institutions. A Commission was created to establish schools, in which the famous teacher V.I. Yankovic de Mirievo, specially invited from Austria, worked. The commission developed a plan for the creation of two-year schools in the districts and four-year schools in provincial cities. Their programs included mathematics, history, geography, physics, architecture, Russian and foreign languages. A number of manuals for teachers, instructions, and textbooks were published. As a result of all these measures, a uniform system of educational institutions with general methodology teaching and organization of the educational process based on classroom teaching. Public schools were classless, but they existed only in cities and this practically closed access to education for peasant children in them. |
To a lesser extent, the changes affected agriculture, the development of which was mainly extensive in nature, i.e. was mainly due to the development of new territories, while agricultural machinery, management methods and, consequently, labor productivity remained practically unchanged. True, at this time the first enthusiasts of scientific farming appeared, to which the government contributed in every possible way; in 1765, the Free Economic Society was created to spread scientific knowledge in the field of management and, above all, in agronomy. The Proceedings published by the society were no less popular among the reading public than the works of French enlighteners. All this, however, did not lead to serious changes in agriculture, and could not have led to it as long as agricultural production was based on serfs.
In general, despite all the difficulties and shortcomings, the Russian economy of the second half of the 18th century. developed quite successfully. Government decrees aimed at stimulating production and trade on the principles of free enterprise seemed to open the last floodgates, making it possible to fully exploit the potential of the feudal-serf state. However, this potential could only last for a short time, since on the way normal development Serfdom stood as an insurmountable barrier in the country. What was the empress’s attitude towards serfdom and what happened in this area during her reign?
In her memoirs, Catherine spoke about this very clearly:
“A predisposition to despotism is instilled from a very early age in children who see with what cruelty their parents treat their servants, because there is no home in which there are not iron collars, chains and various other instruments for torture at the slightest offense of those whom nature has placed in this unfortunate class, which cannot break its chains without crime. You hardly dare to say that they are people like us, and even when I say it myself, I risk having stones thrown at me; what have I not suffered from such a reckless and cruel society, when in the commission for drawing up a new Code they began to discuss certain issues related to this subject, and when the ignorant nobles, the number of which was immeasurably greater than I could ever have imagined, for it was too high I assessed those who surrounded me every day and began to guess that these questions could lead to some improvement in the current situation of farmers.”
In another document, written by the Empress, we read:
“The great engine of agriculture is freedom and property. When every peasant is sure that what belongs to him does not belong to another, he will improve it. State taxes are not burdensome for him, due to the fact that they are very moderate; if the state does not need to increase revenue at all, farmers can settle as they please, as long as they have freedom and property.”
Catherine was not far from the truth when she said that she could be stoned at the slightest attempt to raise the issue of abolishing serfdom. In defense of its main privilege, which formed the basis of its economic well-being, the nobility, which by this time had become a serious political force, was ready to go to the end, and the empress could easily lose the throne. However, one should not think that the views of Catherine II were clearly of a serfdom nature and comparable in this respect with the views, for example, of the revolutionary democrats of the 19th century. The empress's denial of serfdom as an inhumane phenomenon, contrary to the basic principles of the Enlightenment and harmful from an economic point of view, was combined with the idea, on the one hand, of the spiritual underdevelopment of the people and the need to educate them, and on the other, of the generally rather good relations between the peasants and their owners. Such a view was characteristic not only of the empress, but also of many enlightened people of this time. So, for example, E.R. Dashkova, in a conversation with Denis Diderot, explained to him that the people remind her of a blind man living on the top of a cliff and not knowing about it. Suddenly regaining his sight, he will become deeply unhappy:
“Enlightenment leads to freedom, but freedom without enlightenment would only give rise to anarchy and disorder. When the lower classes of my compatriots are enlightened, then they will be worthy of freedom, since only then will they be able to take advantage of it without harming their fellow citizens and without destroying the order and relations inevitable under any form of government.”
So, Catherine could not openly fight the serf owners, although she had certain plans for changing the situation of the peasantry. Meanwhile, the very phenomenon of serfdom, like any phenomenon of socio-political life, could not, naturally, remain unchanged, but it changed in the direction of increasing exploitation of the peasants and worsening their situation.
It is clear, however, that Catherine could not complete the implementation of her program to create estates in Russia without bypassing the largest estate - the peasants. Documents indicate that a draft letter of grant to the peasants was also prepared, but it was not approved. The letter was not addressed to all peasants, but only to state peasants, who were called in it “free rural residents” and were endowed with rights similar to the rights of townspeople. According to the draft charter, a new management system was to appear in the villages - a village foreman, a headman and a “administrative room”, similar in function to the provincial noble assembly and town society. Like other classes, peasants were divided into six categories, the first two being exempt from corporal punishment.
Reviewing all three charters, the modern American historian David Griffiths concluded that taken together they form "a constitution in the pre-revolutionary sense of the word", meaning that originally, before the French Revolution of 1789, the word constitution meant in general a way devices, organization of something. A holistic examination of the letters, from the point of view of D. Griffiths, “reveals a holistic political program, reflecting the empress’s clear and interconnected ideas about the form of social order. These are neither liberal nor conservative ideas, neither pro- nor anti-noble. These are typical early modern ideas about a society well regulated by class structure.”
However, as already mentioned, the third charter was never issued. The reasons for this are clear: the resistance of the nobility, which Catherine was unable to overcome. Under these conditions, the empress realized her goal to the extent that it was generally possible without fear of causing serious social upheaval, and from this point of view, her reforms must be considered a success. It was from Catherine’s time, according to historians, that we can talk about the emergence of full-fledged estates in Russia. But the empress herself continued to work on legislation after 1785 and, as evidenced by surviving archival documents, did not abandon the idea of creating a class system in full. Thus, she intended to establish a special body with the functions of the supreme court, consisting of elected representatives of three classes: nobles, burghers and peasants. Her developments in the field of family, property, and criminal law have also been preserved. A new reform of the Senate was planned for 1797. Among the projects one can also find reflections on ways to eliminate serfdom. So, in one of the notes we read:
“Here is a convenient way: to assume that as soon as from now on someone sells land, all serfs will be declared free from the moment of purchase by the new owner, and within a hundred years all or at least most of the lands change owners, and now the people are free "
As we can see, Catherine did not hope for the quick liberation of the peasants, and in general she considered the “sharp revolution” harmful. According to other sources, she was preparing a decree that declared free all children of serfs born after 1785; however, all these were just projects. Real reforms seemed to be not only in the spheres of internal governance, class organization and the economy. Among the most important is education reform.
Being a diligent student of enlightenment philosophers, Catherine understood that the success of any social transformation depends on the level of enlightenment of the people, on their ability to perceive new things.
At the beginning it was mentioned that the example of the empress, who was fond of reading and writing, had beneficial influence and on the development of Russian culture. This was that short period during which there was a kind of union of state and culture, when culture was in dire need of state support.
Catherine’s great merit is the rise of cultural life in the country. She had little understanding of fine art, but with her, an impressive foundation of the collections of today’s Hermitage arose: her art agents traveled to the impoverished courts of European rulers and nobles, buying masterpieces and entire collections for the northern Semiramis, as the French enlighteners called Catherine. The Empress, to put it mildly, did not really feel musical harmony, but under her rule an Italian opera troupe received permanent “registration” in St. Petersburg, and Paisiello’s opera “The Barber of Seville” was performed for the first time in 1782 in the Hermitage concert hall, after its first trip to Russia in the year sixty-six, Catherine, when she had a chance to see and hear the singing of greeting cants, folk melodies and dances, turned her attention to the education of the domestic musical movement. And this was expressed in concrete support for Russian musicians through the directorate of the imperial theaters.
The era of Catherine II is the heyday of Russian architecture. At this time, the architects R.P. Nikitin, Yu.M. lived and worked. Felten, J.B. Wallen - Delamoth, I.E. Starov, V.I. Bazhenov.
Special merit belongs to the empress in the development of Russian journalism, which flourished in the 60-70s of the 18th century. In 1769, the Empress founded the satirical magazine “Everything and Everything,” the official editor of which was her Secretary of State G.V. Kozitsky. Catherine needed this publication in order to be able to express her point of view on socially significant problems. She published several articles in the magazine in which she explained in an allegorical form the reasons for the failure of the Statutory Commission.
Provincial reform:
“Institution for the administration of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire” was adopted on November 7, 1775. Instead of the previous administrative division into provinces, provinces and districts, territories began to be divided into provinces and districts. The number of provinces increased from twenty-three to fifty. They, in turn, were divided into 10-12 counties. The troops of two or three provinces were commanded by a governor-general, otherwise called a governor. Each province was headed by a governor, appointed by the Senate and reporting directly to the empress. The vice-governor was in charge of finances, and the Treasury Chamber was subordinate to him. The highest official of the district was the police captain. The centers of the counties were cities, but since there were not enough of them, 216 large rural settlements received city status.
Judicial reform:
Each class had its own court. The nobles were tried by the zemstvo court, the townspeople by magistrates, and the peasants by reprisals. Conscientious courts were also established, consisting of representatives of all three classes, which performed the function of a conciliation authority. All these courts were elective. A higher authority were the judicial chambers, whose members were appointed. And the highest judicial body of the Russian Empire was the Senate.
Secularization reform:
It was held in 1764. All monastic lands, as well as the peasants living on them, were transferred to the jurisdiction of a specially established College of Economy. The state took upon itself the maintenance of monasticism, but from that moment it acquired the right to determine the number of monasteries and monks required by the empire.
Senate Reform:
On December 15, 1763, the manifesto of Catherine 2 was published “On the establishment of departments in the Senate, Justice, Patrimonial and Revision Boards, on the division of their affairs.” The role of the Senate was narrowed, and the powers of its head, the Prosecutor General, on the contrary, were expanded. The Senate became the highest court. It was divided into six departments: the first (headed by the Prosecutor General himself) was in charge of state and political affairs in St. Petersburg, the second was in charge of judicial affairs in St. Petersburg, the third was in charge of transport, medicine, science, education, art, the fourth was in charge of military and land affairs. and naval affairs, the fifth - state and political in Moscow and the sixth - the Moscow judicial department. The heads of all departments, except the first, were chief prosecutors subordinate to the prosecutor general.
Urban reform:
The reform of Russian cities was regulated by the “Charter on the rights and benefits of cities of the Russian Empire,” which was issued by Catherine II in 1785. New elected institutions were introduced. The number of voters has increased. City residents were divided into six categories according to various property, class characteristics, as well as merits to society and the state, namely: real city inhabitants - those who owned real estate within the city; merchants of the three guilds; guild artisans; foreign and out-of-town guests; eminent citizens - architects, painters, composers, scientists, as well as wealthy merchants and bankers; townspeople - those who were engaged in handicrafts and crafts in the city. Each rank had its own rights, responsibilities and privileges.
Police reform:
In 1782, Empress Catherine 2 introduced the “Charter of Deanery or Police”. According to it, the deanery board became the body of the city police department. It consisted of bailiffs, mayor and chief of police, as well as townspeople determined by elections. The trial for public violations: drunkenness, insults, gambling, etc., as well as for unauthorized construction and bribes, was carried out by the police themselves, and in other cases a preliminary investigation was carried out, after which the case was transferred to court. The punishments applied by the police were arrest, censure, imprisonment in a workhouse, a fine, and in addition, the prohibition of certain types of activities.
Education reform
The creation of public schools in cities marked the beginning of the state system secondary schools in Russia. They were of two types: main schools in provincial cities and small schools in district ones. Contained these educational establishments at the expense of the treasury, and people of all classes could study there. School reform was carried out in 1782, and earlier in 1764 a school was opened at the Academy of Arts, as well as the Society of Two Hundred Noble Maidens, then (in 1772) a commercial school.
Currency reform
During the reign of Catherine 2, the State Bank and Loan Bank were formed. And also, for the first time in Russia, paper money (banknotes) was introduced into circulation.
Under Catherine II they got theirs further development undertakings of Peter I in the field of administrative structure and local government. Judicial reform also continued.
In 1775, in order to improve financial, supervisory and judicial activities, the three-member division of the empire into provinces, provinces and districts was reorganized into a two-member division: province - district. At the same time, the provinces were disaggregated, their number increased first to 40, and a little later to 50. According to the Institution on the Governorates, administrative units were created according to the number of population (300–400 thousand souls in the province, 20–30 thousand in the district). At the head of the province was a governor appointed by the tsar, at the head of the county was the zemstvo police officer, elected by the nobility of the county. Several provinces were dominated by a governor-general, under whose command were troops.
Catherine II called the governor the “master” of the province. Until February 1917, all administrative, financial and military power in the region was concentrated in his hands. Governors acted as local agents of the center's policies and as administrators of large territories. Provincial power was a flexible, tenacious and maneuverable institution of power, which combined centralization and decentralization of management in accordance with the characteristics of the region, period, the personality of the king and the personality of the governor.
The apparatus of the provincial government handled financial affairs (Treasury Chamber), social activities(Order of public charity, which was in charge of educational, charitable and sanitary institutions), supervision and legality (provincial prosecutor with a staff of prosecutors and solicitors). All officials were elected at noble meetings, with the exception of elected representatives from the 3 estates who sat in the Order of Public Charity. In the cities of centuries
In 1782, a new body of police administration was created - the Deanery Board, the competence and composition of which were determined by a special Charter. It consisted of 5 persons: chief police officer (in capitals) or mayor (in other cities), two bailiffs (for criminal and civil cases), appointed by the government, and two ratmans (advisers), elected by a meeting of citizens. In terms of police, cities were divided into parts headed by private bailiffs, into quarters headed by quarter overseers, appointed by the Deanery, and quarter lieutenants, elected by the townspeople from among themselves. The functions of the police authorities were very extensive: security, sanitation, morality, family relations, criminal investigations, arrest houses, prisons - this is only an incomplete list of what the police did.
As we see, already during the organization of local administration, elected representatives of the estates were involved in its work. The main violin in the process of forming a new generation of bureaucratic bureaucracy was played by the nobility, which greatly expanded due to people from other classes by the middle of the 18th century. The empress did not ignore the merchants, whose share in connection with the development of industry and trade increased greatly. Catherine II granted these main classes of the Russian Empire the right to organize their own representative bodies locally. However, more about them a little later, after characterizing the class system.
Legal status of estates. In the 18th century, with a significant lag behind the West, in Russia 4 estates were finally formed from the class groups of Moscow society: the gentry (nobility), the clergy, the bourgeoisie (from urban townspeople) and the peasantry.. The main feature of the class system is the presence and transmission of inheritance of personal rights of the estate and corporate rights and obligations.
Registration of the nobility. The nobility was formed from different categories of service people (boyars, okolnichi, clerks, clerks, children of boyars, etc.), received the name of the nobility under Peter I, was renamed the nobility under Catherine II (in the acts of the Statutory Commission of 1767), and transformed over the course of a century from the service class to the ruling, privileged class. Some of the former service people (nobles and children of boyars) settled on. in the outskirts of the state, by the decrees of Peter I of 1698–1703, which formalized the nobility, she was not included in this class, but was transferred under the name of single-lords to the position of state-owned peasants.
The leveling of the position of feudal lords of all ranks was completed by the decree of Peter I of 1714 “On Single Inheritance”, according to which estates were equated to estates and assigned to the nobles on the right of ownership. In 1722, the “Table of Ranks” established methods for obtaining the nobility by length of service. She also secured the status of the ruling class for the gentry.
According to the “Table of Ranks”, everyone in the public service (civil, military, naval) was divided into 14 ranks or ranks, from the highest field marshal and chancellor to the lowest - adjutant to lieutenants and collegiate registrar. All persons from 14th to 8th rank became personal, and from 8th rank - hereditary nobles. Hereditary nobility was passed on to the wife, children and distant descendants in the male line. Daughters who got married acquired the class status of their husband (if he was higher). Before 1874, of the children born before receiving hereditary nobility, only one son received the status of a father, the rest were registered as “honorary citizens” (this status was established in 1832), after 1874 - all.
Under Peter I, the service of nobles with compulsory education began at the age of 15 and was for life. Anna Ioanovna somewhat eased their situation by limiting their service to 25 years and placing its beginning at the age of 20. She also allowed one of the sons or brothers in the noble family to stay at home and take care of the house.
In 1762, Peter III, who stayed on the throne for a short time, abolished by a special decree not only the compulsory education of nobles, but also the compulsory service of the nobility. And Catherine II’s 1785 “Certificate on the Rights and Advantages of the Russian Nobility” finally turned the nobility into a “noble” class.
So, the main sources of the noble class were in the 18th century. birth and length of service. Longevity included the acquisition of nobility through a grant and indigenat for foreigners (according to the “Table of Ranks”), through receiving an order (according to the “Charter of Grant” of Catherine II). In the 19th century higher education and an academic degree will be added to them.
Belonging to the rank of nobility was secured by an entry in the “Velvet Book”, established in 1682 during the abolition of localism, and from 1785 by inclusion in the local (provincial) lists - noble books, divided into 6 parts (according to the sources of the nobility): grant, military length of service, civil service, indigenous, title (order), prescription. Since Peter I, the estate was subordinate to a special department - the Heraldry Office, and from 1748 - to the Department of Heraldry under the Senate.
Rights and advantages of the nobility. 1. Exclusive right of ownership of land. 2. The right to own serfs (with the exception of the 1st half of the 18th century, when persons of all statuses could own serfs: townspeople, priests and even peasants). 3. Personal exemption from taxes and duties, from corporal punishment. 4. The right to build factories and plants (from Catherine II only in the countryside), to develop mineral resources on their land. 5. Since 1771, the exclusive right to serve in a civil department, in the bureaucracy (after the ban on recruiting persons from tax-paying classes), and since 1798 to form an officer corps in the army. 6. The corporate right to have the title of "nobility", which could only be taken away by the court of "peers" or by decision of the king. 7. Finally, according to the “Charter of Complaint” of Catherine II, the nobles received the right to form special noble societies, elect their own representative bodies and their own class court. But this was no longer their exclusive right.
Belonging to the noble class gave the right to a coat of arms, a uniform, riding in carriages drawn by four, dressing footmen in special liveries, etc.
The bodies of class self-government were district and provincial noble meetings, held once every three years, at which leaders of the nobility and their assistants - deputies, as well as members of noble courts were elected. Everyone who met the qualifications took part in the elections: residence, age (25 years), gender (men only), property (income from villages not less than 100 rubles), service (not below the rank of chief officer) and integrity.
The noble assemblies acted as legal entities, had property rights, participated in the distribution of duties, checked the genealogical book, expelled defamed members, submitted complaints to the emperor and the Senate, etc. The leaders of the nobility exercised serious influence on provincial and district authorities.
Formation of the bourgeois class. The original name was citizens (“Regulations of the Chief Magistrate”), then, following the example of Poland and Lithuania, they began to be called burghers. The estate was created gradually, as Peter I introduced European models of the middle class (third estate). It included former guests, townspeople, lower groups of service people - gunners, strikers, etc.
By the “Regulations of the Chief Magistrate,” Peter I divided the emerging class into 2 groups: regular and irregular citizens. The regular ones, in turn, consisted of two guilds. The first guild included bankers, noble merchants, doctors, pharmacists, skippers, silversmiths, icon painters, painters, the second - all those “who trade in small goods and all kinds of food supplies, as well as handcrafted carvers, turners, carpenters, tailors, shoemakers, etc. similar." Craftsmen, as in the West, were divided into guilds. At the head of the guilds and workshops were foremen, who often performed the functions government agencies. Irregular citizens or “vile people” (in the sense of low origin - from slaves, serfs, etc.) included everyone “found in hire and menial work.”
The final registration of the bourgeois class took place in 1785 according to the “Charter of Grant for Rights and Benefits to the Cities of the Russian Empire” of Catherine II. By this time, the entrepreneurial layer in the cities had noticeably “strengthened, in order to stimulate trade, customs outposts and duties, monopolies and other restrictions were eliminated, freedom to establish industrial enterprises (that is, freedom of entrepreneurship) was announced, and peasant crafts were legalized. In 1785, the population cities were finally divided according to the property principle into 6 categories: 1) “real city inhabitants”, owners of real estate within the city; 2) merchants of three guilds; 3) artisans; 4) foreigners and out-of-towners; 5) eminent citizens; 6) the rest townspeople population. Belonging to the class was confirmed by inclusion in the city philistine book. Belonging to a merchant guild was determined by the size of the capital: the first - from 10 to 50 thousand rubles, the second - from 5 to 10 thousand, the third - from 1 to 5 thousand.
The exclusive right of the petty bourgeois class was to engage in crafts and trade. Duties included taxes and conscription. True, there were many exceptions. Already in 1775, Catherine II freed the inhabitants of the suburbs, who had a capital of over 500 rubles, from the poll tax, replacing it with a one percent tax on the declared capital. In 1766, merchants were exempted from conscription. Instead of each recruit, they paid first 360 and then 500 rubles. They were also exempt from corporal punishment. Merchants, especially those of the first guild, were granted certain honorary rights (riding in carriages and carriages).
Corporate law for the bourgeois class also included the creation of associations and self-government bodies. According to the “Charter of Grant”, city residents who had reached the age of 25 and had a certain income (capital, the interest charge on which was not less than 50 rubles) were united into a city society. The meeting of its members elected the mayor and the vowels (deputies) of the city duma. All six categories of the city population sent their elected representatives to the general duma; in the six-voice duma, 6 representatives of each category, elected by the general duma, worked to carry out current affairs. Elections took place every 3 years. The main field of activity was urban management and everything that “serves to the benefit and need of the city.” Of course, governors supervised local governments, including the spending of city funds. However, these amounts, donated by the merchants for urban improvement, for the construction of schools, hospitals, and cultural institutions, were sometimes very significant. They, as Catherine II planned, played an important role in the matter of “benefits and beautification of the city.” It was not for nothing that Alexander I, having come to power in 1801, immediately confirmed the “Charter of Grant”, which had been canceled by Paul I, and restored all the “rights and benefits” of the townspeople and all Catherine’s city institutions.
Peasants. In the 18th century Several categories of peasantry took shape. The category of state peasants was formed from former black-growing peasants and from peoples who paid yasak. Later, the already mentioned odnodvortsy, descendants of Moscow service people, settled on the southern outskirts of the state, who did not know communal life, joined it. In 1764, by decree of Catherine II, the secularization of church estates was carried out, which came under the jurisdiction of the College of Economy. The peasants taken away from the church began to be called economic peasants. But since 1786, they too became state peasants.
Privately owned (landowner) peasants absorbed all the previous categories of dependent people (serfs, serfs) who belonged to factories and factories since the time of Peter I (possession). Before Catherine II, this category of peasants was also replenished by clergy who remained on staff, retired priests and deacons, sextons and sextons. Catherine II stopped converting people of spiritual origin into serfdom and blocked all other ways of replenishing it (marriage, loan agreement, hiring and service, captivity), except for two: birth and distribution of state lands from peasants into private hands. Distributions - awards were especially widely practiced by Catherine herself and her son, Paul 1, and were stopped in 1801 by one of the first decrees of Alexander I. From that time on, the only source of replenishment of the serf class remained birth.
In 1797, by decree of Paul I, another category was formed from the palace peasants - appanage peasants (on the lands of the royal appanage), whose position was similar to the position of state peasants. They were the property of the imperial family.
In the 18th century The situation of the peasants, especially those belonging to the landowners, noticeably worsened. Under Peter I, they turned into a thing that could be sold, donated, exchanged (without land and separately from the family). In 1721, it was recommended to stop the sale of children separately from their parents in order to “calm the cry” among the peasants. But the separation of families continued until 1843.
The landowner used the labor of serfs at his own discretion, quitrent and corvee were not limited by any law, and the previous recommendations of the authorities to take from them “according to force” were a thing of the past. The peasants found themselves deprived not only of personal but also property rights, for all their property was considered to belong to their owner. The law and the right of court of the landowner did not regulate. He was not allowed only to use the death penalty and hand over peasants in his place to justice (under Peter I). True, the same king in the instructions to the governors from 1719. ordered to identify landowners who ruined peasants and transfer management of such estates to relatives.
Restrictions on the rights of serfs, starting in the 1730s, were enshrined in laws. They were forbidden to purchase real estate, open factories, work under contract, be bound by bills, assume obligations without the owner's permission, or enroll in guilds. Landowners were allowed to use corporal punishment and send peasants to restraining houses. The procedure for filing complaints against landowners has become more complicated.
Impunity contributed to the increase in crimes among landowners. An illustrative example is provided by the story of the landowner Saltykova, who killed more than 30 of her serfs, who was exposed and sentenced to death (commuted to life imprisonment) only after a complaint against her fell into the hands of Empress Catherine II.
Only after the uprising of E.I. Pugachev, in which the serfs took an active part, the government began to strengthen state control over their situation and take steps towards mitigating the state of serfdom. The release of peasants to freedom was legalized, including after serving conscription (together with their wife), after exile to Siberia, for ransom at the request of the landowner (since 1775 without land, and since 1801 - the Decree of Paul I on “free cultivators" - with the land).
Despite the hardships of serfdom, exchange and entrepreneurship developed among the peasantry, and “capitalist” people appeared. The law allowed peasants to trade, first with individual goods, then even with “overseas countries”, and in 1814 people of all conditions were allowed to trade at fairs. Many wealthy peasants, who became rich through trade, were bought out of serfdom and, even before the abolition of serfdom, constituted a significant part of the emerging class of entrepreneurs.
State peasants were, in comparison with serfs, in a much better position. Their personal rights were never subject to such restrictions as the personal rights of serfs. Their taxes were moderate, they could buy land (while retaining duties), and were engaged in entrepreneurial activities. Attempts to curtail their property rights (taking out farm-outs and contracts, purchasing real estate in cities and counties, obliging themselves with bills of exchange) did not have such a detrimental effect on the state of the economy of state peasants, especially those living on the outskirts (in Siberia). Here, the communal orders preserved by the state (land redistribution, mutual responsibility for the payment of taxes), which held back the development of the private economy, were much more energetically destroyed.
Self-government was of greater importance among state peasants. Since ancient times, elders elected at gatherings have played a prominent role. According to the provincial reform of 1775, state peasants, like other classes, received their own court. Under Paul I, volost self-governing organizations were created. Each volost (with a certain number of villages and no more than 3 thousand souls) could elect a volost administration, consisting of a volost head, a headman and a clerk. In the villages, elders and tens were elected. All these bodies performed financial, police and judicial functions.
Clergy. The Orthodox clergy consisted of two parts: white, parish (from ordination) and black, monastic (from tonsure). Only the first constituted the estate itself, for the second part had no heirs (monasticism took a vow of celibacy). The white clergy occupied the lowest positions in the church hierarchy: clergy (from deacon to protopresbyter) and clergy (sacristans, sextons). The highest positions (from bishop to metropolitan) belonged to the black clergy.
In the 18th century the clergy class became hereditary and closed, since the law prohibited persons of other classes from accepting the priesthood. Leaving the class, for a number of formal reasons, was extremely difficult. Among the class rights of the clergy, one can note freedom from personal taxes, from conscription, and from military quarters. It had privilege in the field of legal proceedings. In general courts, the priesthood was tried only for particularly serious criminal offenses; civil cases involving lay people were resolved in the presence of special representatives of the clergy.
The clergy could not engage in activities incompatible with the clergy, including trade, crafts, servicing farm-outs and contracts, producing alcoholic beverages, etc. As we have already seen, in the 18th century. it also lost its main privilege - the right to own estates and serfs. Church ministers were transferred “to pay.”
In the Russian Empire, other Christian and non-Christian faiths coexisted freely with Orthodoxy. Lutheran kirks were built in cities and large villages, and from the middle of the 18th century. and Catholic churches. Mosques were built in places where Muslims lived, and pagodas where Buddhists lived. However, the transition from Orthodoxy to another faith remained prohibited and was severely punished (in the 1730s, there was a known case of an officer being burned in a wooden frame).
Laws that do not preserve measure in good are the reason that immeasurable evil is born from here.
Catherine II
Catherine's policy of enlightened absolutism required reform of the country, which was just beginning to move away from the era of Palace coups. Such changes did occur in Russia, but the reforms of Catherine II, unlike, for example, Peter’s, did not so much create a strong state as create a strong elite in the state. Moreover, the closer to the end of Catherine’s reign, the more pronounced this trend becomes.
The reforms of Catherine 2 affected all aspects domestic policy. She reformed the country, creating a centralization of power in St. Petersburg, as well as influencing the country's social structure to form an elite. Below is a table that examines the main directions of the empress’s reform activities and some of the results to which this led.
| Years of implementation | Name of the reform | Essence and summary results |
|---|---|---|
| 1763 | The Russian judicial system was systematized, and the Senate was divided into 6 departments. | |
| 1763-1764 | Confiscation by the state of church and monastery lands, as well as the peasants who worked on this land. | |
| 1764-1782 | The autonomy of Ukraine and the Cossack regions (Yaik, Zaporozhye, Don) was eliminated - 1764. Provincial reform - 1775 City reform - 1782 Introduction of serfdom in Ukraine - 1783 |
A system of governing the country was established, which was divided into provinces and subdivided into districts. All regions of the country had approximately the same rights. |
| 1785 | Letter of commendation to cities. Letter of grant to the nobility |
A new elite was finally formed, on which the Emperor’s power rested. |
| 1786 | School reform | The first large-scale attempt to introduce primary education for all classes. |
The reform of the reorganization of the Senate by Catherine 2 was carried out on December 25, 1763. The main idea of this reform was to create a system of judicial administration of the country, where the functions of power would be divided between six departments:
The Prosecutor General was appointed head of the Senate and the First Department. He had the right to personally report to the emperor. The remaining Departments were headed by chief prosecutors, who reported and reported to the head of the Senate.
After the death of Peter 1, the church began to restore its privileges and influence. Yes, the church was removed from governing the country, but it retained its lands, property and the right to own serfs. The latter was abolished in 1764, when the Secularization of Church lands took place. This reform included:
This dealt a blow to the independence and autonomy of the church, because it lost its main source of income.
Considering the reforms of local government of Catherine 2, it is important to note that these changes created the foundations of the bureaucracy, significantly expanding the staff of officials. The reform was published in 1775 and was called “Institution for the management of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire.” Provinces in Russia appeared under Peter 1. Peter Alekseevich divided the country into 8 provinces. Catherine 2, instead of 8 provinces, introduced 50, which were also divided into counties.
A brief summary of these reforms of Catherine 2:
Simultaneously with the creation of a local government system, Catherine II limited the independence and autonomy of individual regions of the country. For example, in 1764 Ukraine was deprived of its autonomy and in the same year the hetman system was liquidated. The last hetman of Ukraine was Razumovsky. This was a step to ensure that uniform laws were in force in the country and there were no exceptions. In the same 1764, other Cossack lands were deprived of autonomy - Don, Yaik and Zaporozhye.
Katerina Druga, the great empress, ruled our land for exactly 34 years. This is a great period of history, during which a lot of interesting events have arisen.
The masses know that this ruler is associated with a lady who is insatiable in love. Well, Catherine II is known for her love interests; in many historical novels you can read that the empress changed favorites gradually. But let us marvel at the truth in our eyes: is it really possible that all 34 years of life have been occupied with this? The melodious tone is silent: the period of her reign, all Russian historians revere the development of modern literature, science and painting - this is the Russian opera and the development of theatrical art at a slow pace.
Catherine 2 itself, the reforms of which were thought out, important, and therefore careful, lost a deep trace in the history of Vietnamese diplomacy and legislation.
Don’t forget about the brilliant military victories. While this autocracy occupied the throne, Russia did not recognize the constant military defeat that had taken place in the previous periods. For example, in 1812, our troops defeated the French, although before that they had victories on the battlefield. The Hour of Catherine is characterized by the acquisition of Crimea, as well as harsh “lessons” for the Polish gentry. The answer is, guess what, the reforms of Catherine II.
What was happening at this hour in the middle of the country? It was supposed that Katerina, under the leadership of her rich predecessors, came to possess a ready-made program of action, which allowed her to conduct an effectively effective policy. She positioned herself as “a true follower of the thinkers of the Enlightenment era.” To her credit, Katerina was able to understand what of their theories was suitable for real life, and what was not.
Thus, in 1773, the famous Denis Diderot arrived in Russia with a visit, who was already influenced by the reforms of Catherine II’s government. I'm in a hurry to get them into life . When the philosopher had asked a number of enemies why he was so excited, Katerina said: “Paper can endure everything, otherwise I have to deal with people whose skin is much thinner than paper linen.”
Another important idea was that the reform would be carried out step by step, with marriage being prepared before their acceptance. This obviously shocked Catherine both from the ancient rulers and from the European monarchs, who, in the interests of their subjects, practically did not care about such nutrition
Well, what exactly did Empress Katerina 2 do? Reforms have begun to be described in the provincial government.
She began to spend some time after the Pugachev rebellion, which shook the very foundations of the Empire and appeared as a kind of harbinger of the tragic events to come. Under the reign of Mikoli II, Katerina began to work again.
First of all, the very name of the re-creation is absolutely incorrect. The whole point is that the essence of the reform was much deeper, being the creation of a practically new management system “in the localities”.
A new hem of the edge was created. There were 50 provinces in total, and the group remained virtually unchanged until the collapse of the Empire in 1917. What does this mean? To put it simply, there have been many more places of “federal” significance in the region than ever before. For specific populations, the point of appointment is the governor, and there is a direct mass of energetic, enlightened people there. As a result, the quiet and “musty” village town was soon transformed into a local center of married and political life.
Here the respected reader can ask the question: “And where does Pugachov’s rebellion come from?” It's simple: after these proposals, Katerina wanted most of the local power to be recruited from natives of this same locality. To put it simply, for the first time in the history of the House of Romanov, the people denied the ability to independently choose those who would rule over them. A great jerk for these quiet times! This is what Katerina 2 became famous for. The reforms allowed her to come out of the mossy festivities of the beginning of the 16th century and decided to really develop a lot of problems.
Vinyls are self-propelled organs, which are essential for our time, but were a marvel for this era. Let’s get it straight: everything was theoretical before Katerina. But it did not work directly, but only through the marriage of capital officials, who could be sent to all the towns and villages of the untouchable empire. Of real importance, all these bodies are not small, between the right to collect taxes and other mechanical operations. If we draw parallels with modern times, then the internal reforms of Catherine II were aimed at redistributing the rulers.
All this transformation was the result of the empress’s succession in the fact that all the riots stemmed from the lack of authority of officials to quickly “get into” the problems in the localities and overcome them. In principle, such misters and bosses did not have such a thing: they were important to inform about the achievements of the “people's five-year party” and the collection of taxes. There was no other type of them needed, and the initiative was still there karana.
It is important to remember that after 1775, when the reform was carried out, there was no repetition of the Pugachovsky rebellion. The local authorities, although they were constantly engaged in the same struggles before the riot, were still much more focused on improving the life of their native land. Simply put, the sovereign reforms of Catherine II were effectively aimed at the benefit of the country.
There are many historians who agree on the Duma that from these times the weak began to appear, but there are still visible risks of colossal consolidation and self-indulgence. So, in those very hours it was steadily being wasted so that the inhabitants of small districts localities held collections, collected voluntary donations and attended These include gymnasiums, libraries, churches and other social and spiritual objects.
Until now, it was impossible to recognize such convenience and unity. How is the distant reality of Didro’s fortune-telling in the face of the real rise of serious problems!
Of course, Katerina 2 (the kind of reforms we describe here) was far from being the “spring of democracy.” She couldn’t allow anything nasty about those who wanted to limit their power and weaken the institution of sovereign absolutism. So, bachachi, that the independence of the Senate was emphasized, the lady decided to take it “under the power of the state”, in any way limiting the real power of this important body.
At the end of 1763, the structure of the Senate was declared to be “not consistent with reality.” The role of the Prosecutor General, appointed by the Empress herself, was emphasized.
A. A. Vyazemsky was hanging on the spot. In general, people here know: he was respected by enemies for his integrity, honesty and jealousy in the service of the Fatherland. Having now informed Katerina about the work of the Senate, ordering all the provincial prosecutors, and also simultaneously ending many of the functions that had previously been divided in the Senate. Obviously, the role of this body was gradually declining, although formally everything was not so.
All the functions of the Senate were inevitably divided between absolutely autonomous departments, which in fact were no longer puppets and could no longer pursue a beneficial policy.
At the same time, the incompatibility of the old system of government with the new powers of the state is becoming increasingly apparent. We have already described the provincial reform of Catherine II, which created the locality as an absolutely independent administrative unit. The mayor, whose status was immediately up-to-date, was responsible for their ceremonies.
They were recognized as having served the military service of the nobles and the power of greatness. What kind of person in the village was responsible for the police, and not just administrative functions, and the person in this village was obliged to show enviable practicality. This reform of local government by Katerina 2 immediately brought order to the localities.
As a result, town halls and magistrates practically spent all their administrative significance by turning into judicial authorities for traders and tradesmen. Once a new magistrate was created, people were recruited based on the recommendations of merchants and traders. This organ is controlled by the small head. In addition, there were huge and orphan courts in the area. From this point of view, a kind of self-government was formed, which resulted from the direct reforms of Catherine II. First of all, she was under constant surveillance from the side of the central government, but still there was a breakthrough in the field of social and management ї spheres. However, the authorities had no other way out: the place was growing intensively, resulting in the absence of businesses, communities, lighting and other installations. Everything needed to be “brought to the final flag”, everything required adequate local government lenya, only the provincial government could implement this in practice Catherine's reform 2.
All that has been said can be reduced to a completely simple conclusion: such a turbulent development of the social sphere would be impossible without normal judicial bodies, which could correctly correct the inevitable leaks and leaks, both between the neighboring members of the marriage and between us. and whole groups of them.
It is also necessary to point out that the court reform of Catherine II was based on a similar initiative of Peter I, but the empress was able to find a much more sophisticated solution, and the program was not only put into practice, but also gave even more benefit and results.
In 1775 the first edition of official regulations was published. A lot of administrative courts were limited and completely reorganized. In the end, two branches of power were clearly demarcated: the judicial and the administrative, which had previously been united. Moreover, the administrative authorities retained their unity of authority, while the judicial authorities were governed collectively.
Obviously, this is not what the reforms of Catherine II became famous for. Briefly, their main significance for the judicial system is revealed below.
The most important thing is to establish a separation between civil and criminal calls. At the same time, this “atavism” itself affected the administration of normal justice, since it was difficult to adequately distinguish between the guilt of administrative violations and truly serious actions. The lower authority became the district court. We sorted out the details of the various and insignificant things. Tim himself was significantly less interested in the courts, who were doing something really important.
The results of the reforms of Katerina 2 in all areas, however, have increased - there has been a sharp increase in the efficiency of the work of rich people. This makes it difficult to respect the empress for her extraordinary managerial talent. Let's go back to the courts.
The district authority examined the serious statements. To replace the well-described zemstvo, in whose court assessors were recruited from landowners. The meetings were held exactly three times in the river, and the work of this body was already supervised by the prosecutor, both of which included the function of “internal police”, as they recorded frequent episodes of violation of laws by the judges themselves and additional having seen about those “up”.
At the level of the province, the Supreme Zemsky Court became the head body of the hierarchy, which can be located not only in the province, but also in the district. Now there could be a number of such organs in the skin administrative center. Each of them already had ten witnesses. The heads were chosen inclusively by the Senate, and the head of the state took special care of their strongholds.
Not only were these marked by the reforms of Catherine II: seemingly briefly, the courts became more specialized.
The Upper Zemsky Court was divided into criminal and administrative branches. This was an important authority for “young” organs. In addition, his judges were denied the right to review the completed certificates. On the right, the list of offenses had already been enshrined in law, but representatives of the lower zemstvo and district courts, as well as members of the magistrate, could not see. All this interfered with the development of nepotism in the localities.
The Provincial Court also had a large criminal chamber. The skin has a powerful head, as well as a pair of radiators and an assessor. They could also be elected by the Senate and confirmed by the Supreme Power. This was the main court of law during these hours, in which the most complicated cases were seen, and all the most serious and dangerous crimes were examined.
In a word, the court reform of Catherine II was great and great.
Before her, Katerina arrived in 1764. All lands of the monasteries were now officially transferred to the governing Economic Board. During this reform, Katerina followed in the footsteps of Peter I, who did not even favor the clergy. On the one hand, from now on the power of the Zobs was determined to take over the Church... and at the same time, the secular power itself already determined how many monasteries and clergy were needed in the country. to the state fund.
There is also a reform of the illumination of Catherine 2. The head of this department is the creation of high-ranking houses, which were used to recover penny security, new replacement and illumination. As a result, the country replenished the ranks of its citizens with a great number of enlightened and intelligent young people, who were given to the state and trained in the required moral and ethical spirit.
In 1782, the “Statute of Deanery” was approved. The department began to officially manage the local police department. At the warehouse there were: bailiffs, a police chief and a mayor, as well as a committee of citizens, the warehouse of which was designated as a voting route. This body could impose a fine or conviction, as well as the right to prohibit certain types of activity.
What were the other important reforms of Catherine 2? The table will give us a summary of the food, as well as complement the notes of these entries, which have already been seen in this article.
Name | meta | sense |
managerial activities 1. Complete liquidation of the autonomy of the Cossacks and Zaporizka Sich (until 1781) 2. Provincial reform (1,775) | Squeezing extremely strong and potentially unsafe moldings. We will thoroughly control all areas of the region, but not to the detriment of the population. | Reduction of Cossack rights. Centralized provincial government was also introduced in their territories. There were 50 provinces with approximately 300 thousand people each. There were 30 thousand people in each district. In certain situations, the provinces could have been edited. |
Economic reforms of Catherine 2 1. Freedom of organization of enterprises (1775) 2. Official advances in payment of rural taxes (1779) | Management is becoming increasingly centralized, and at the same time the economic freedom of the population is increasing | The population could freely manufacture chintz and export grain across borders. Whether any person can organize a commercial enterprise. To put it simply, from now on in the industry the doors are open to everyone. |
become reforms Granted letters to the nobility and towns (1775) | At first, the rights and languages of the nobility and townspeople were officially recognized. | The nobles were freed from both language service and rich duties. The right to self-government was denied. Without investigation and court, it was now impossible to relieve their members of power and freedom. |
The axis of Katerina’s other reforms 2. The table clearly reveals their essence.
Without exaggeration, we can say that all the visits were successful. Why were the reforms of Katerini 2 hidden? Briefly (the table reveals this point) seemingly, the stench was aimed at achieving two goals:
The value of autocracy.
Economic freedom of the population, the ability for established people to rise from lower levels.
During her reign, the threat of rebellion from the side of the Cossack freemen was practically completely eliminated. What else can be called the legacy of the reforms of Catherine II? The Church was still subordinated to the will of the state, and the ship's galouze became more of a galloon. The people, no matter how they did, rejected the possibility of participating in the share of the powerful place and in the province.
This is what the reforms of Catherine II meant. Briefly (the table will help you figure it out), it seems that marriage has become more familiar, free and socially protected.
