Physicist and astronomer Stefan Feeney of University College London, one of the...
IN AND. Lenin defined absolutism in his work "Reversing
government in Russian social democracy": "Autocracy (absolutism, unlimited monarchy) is a form of government in which the supreme power belongs entirely and indivisibly (unlimited) to the tsar. The king issues laws, appoints officials, collects and spends
people's money without any participation of the people in legislation and in
management control"
The emergence of absolute monarchy in Russia belongs to the second
half of the 17th century "Only the new period of Russian history (approximately
XVII century), - wrote V.I. Lenin, - is characterized by a really fact-
the matic merging of all such regions, lands and principalities into one
loe. This merger ... was caused by the increasing exchange between the regions
tyami, gradually growing commodity circulation, concentrating
small local markets into one all-Russian market. Since ru-
the leaders and masters of this process were the capitalist merchants, then
the creation of these national bonds was nothing more than the creation
bourgeois ties"1. At this time, bourgeois relations arise.
The role of the townspeople in the political
life of the country, the first manufactories appear. In the 17th century there were
about 30, and by 1725 - already over 200.
V initial period the formation of absolutism in Russia, the monarch in
The fight against the boyar aristocracy also relies on the tops of the settlement. In the 17th century
certain contradictions are also observed between the feudal lords and the
skim population. Thus, the Council Code of 1649 satisfied the requirement
the township population’s desire to eliminate those competing with the township
the house of the so-called "white" settlements, which belonged to secular and spiritual
feudal feudal lords.
In their petitions, the top tenants demanded that the monarch protect them
from the competition of foreign merchants. Russian merchants was interested
sowed in the establishment of absolutism for the successful struggle against penetrating
shimi into the country by foreign merchants.
The emerging absolutism in order to realize its external and
internal tasks encouraged the development of trade and industry, especially
especially in the first quarter of the 18th century. The problem of ensuring emerging
manufactories by labor force was decided by assigning to them the state
venerable peasants. In addition, it was allowed to buy peasants with land
at obligatory condition use of their labor in factories.
As a result of the development of commodity-money relations, an
apparatus, including a large army.
Although during this period the process of the emergence of bourgeois
relations, the foundations of feudalism had not yet been undermined. Dominate-
feudal economy still continued to be the main system
in. However, it was increasingly forced to adapt to the market
ku, to commodity-money relations. In the 17th century there is an increase
the role of the estate economy in the country's economy and, accordingly, the rise
I eat the political significance of the nobility. During the formation of the absolute
tism, the monarch relied on the nobility in the fight against the boyar and church
opposition, opposed to the strengthening of royal power. Absolutism
did everything to consolidate the class of feudal lords, thereby strengthening
their social base. This was largely facilitated by the work begun
The Council Code of 1649 placed the equation in the legal position
estates and estates, completed in 1714 by the Decree of Peter I "On
dii", as well as the abolition of localism in 1682 and the publication in 1722 of the Table
about ranks. As a result, secular feudal lords were turned into a single
estate, which received the name "gentry" under Peter I, and in the far
we call the nobility. All command positions in the state
the military apparatus were replaced by representatives of the nobility.
Strengthening the rule of the feudal lords, as well as the position of the merchants
proceeded through the merciless exploitation of the working masses and led to
exacerbation of the class struggle in the country. Peasant uprisings, speeches
lower classes of the townspeople, the struggle of the oppressed peoples - all this
forced the ruling class to go over to the creation of an absolute power
narchia, in which he could more effectively suppress any speeches
people. To this end, the absolutist state made extensive use of
army, police, court and other government agencies. Circumstances
vom, which contributed to the final formation of absolutism,
la struggle within the most dominant class of feudal lords, between du-
noble and secular feudal lords, between boyars and nobles.
On the importance of the class struggle factor in changing the organization
states indicated V.I. Lenin: "The class struggle, the struggle of exploitation
the exploited part of the people against the exploiting part lies at the basis of the political
tic transformations and ultimately decides the fate of all such
transformations". Moreover, it is necessary to keep in mind the following circumstance: the contradictions within the class of feudal lords were non-antagonistic, while the struggle of the masses against the feudal lords was
antagonistic character.
The establishment of absolutism in Russia was also caused by foreign policy reasons: the need to fight for the political and economic independence of the country, for access to the sea. The absolute monarchy turned out to be more adapted to the solution of these problems than the estate-representative monarchy. Thus, the twenty-five-year Livonian War (1558-1583) ended with the defeat of Russia, and the absolute monarchy as a result of the Northern War (1700-1721) brilliantly
solved this problem.
Absolutism in Russia arose and developed under the specific conditions of the existence of serfdom and the rural community, which had already undergone significant decay. A certain role in the development of absolutism was also played by the policy of the kings, aimed at strengthening their power.
Thus, the emergence of an absolute monarchy in Russia was caused by the entire course of socio-economic development, the emergence of bourgeois relations, the intensification of class contradictions and class struggle, and the foreign policy position of Russia at that time.
Absolutism in Russia arose in the second half of the 17th century. Since
This time Zemsky Sobors ceased to be convened, which to a certain extent limited the power of the tsar. Now he got around
without them. However, there were still state meetings with representatives of certain classes on various issues: on prices for
goods, about the monetary system, about the terms of the trade agreement with Armenian merchants, about localism, etc. (1660, 1662, 1667, 1682, etc.).
strengthened command system government subordinated directly to the king. A permanent royal army was created. Monarch became
less dependent on the noble army, which, for example, in 1681
numbered only 6 thousand people. At the same time, a standing army
consisted of 82 thousand archers, reytars, dragoons, soldiers.
The king acquired significant financial independence, semi-
tea income from their estates, collecting taxes from the conquered peoples, from
customs fees, increased in connection with the development of trade. Important
taxes were important (streltsy, yamsk, etc.), the tsarist monopoly
for the production and sale of vodka, beer, honey. This made it possible
create and maintain an ever-increasing state apparatus.
With the weakening of the economic and political role boyars fell
the significance of the Boyar Duma. Its composition has also changed, replenished with two
ryans. So, in 1688, out of 62 members of the Boyar Duma, only 28 belonged to
they belonged to the old boyar families, the rest were from the nobility and even the merchants. The Boyar Duma rarely convened, its place was
Absolutism receives during this period an ideological justification in
Feofan Prokopovich's work "The Truth of the Monarchs' Will", written according to
special order of Peter I. F. Prokopovich justified the necessary
the power of an absolute monarch
occupy the so-called "Secret" or "Near" Duma from a small
the number of persons close to the tsar with whom he resolved the main issues. About
the decline of the Boyar Duma was also evidenced by a sharp increase in the number
nominal decrees issued by the tsar without consultation with the Duma. Tsar Alexei
Mikhailovich issued 588 nominal decrees, while decrees approved
renny Boyar Duma, there were only 49.
There was an intensive process of subordination of the church to the state.
The conflict between Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich and Patriarch Niko-
nom ended with the defeat of the church and the deposition of the patriarch.
Thus, in the second half of the XVII century. in Russia there was an absolute
Lutism, which, according to V.I. Lenin, was characterized as
absolutism "with the boyar Duma and the boyar aristocracy..."1.
It finally took shape in the first quarter of the 18th century. under Peter I.
Zemsky Sobors have not been convened since 1653. In the first years of the reign
Peter I, the Boyar Duma formally existed, but there was no power
had, and the number of its members was reduced. In 1701, the functions of the Duma were
We decided to go to the "Near Chancellery", which united the work of the most important state bodies. The persons who were in it were called ministers, and their Council then received the name of the Consilia (or council) of ministers (the number of its members varied from 8 to 14 people). Consulting with Consilia, the monarch decided the most important state issues.
Konziliya did not have an aristocratic character, like the Boyar Duma, but was an ordinary bureaucratic body that had regulations for its activities and consisted of officials who were appointed by the tsar and were directly subordinate to him. With establishment in February
1711 The Boyar Duma finally ceased to function. disappeared last organ, which to some extent limited the power of the monarch. The king became the absolute ruler of the country. V
first quarter of the 18th century an extensive bureaucratic state apparatus was created, as well as a standing regular army, directly subordinate to the tsar. There was also a certain subordination
church to the state.
In the first quarter of the XVIII century. absolute monarchy was legalized. In the interpretation of Article 20 of the Military Regulations
(1716) the following is said: "... his majesty is autocratic
The monarch should not give an answer to anyone in the world about his affairs; but force
power has its own states and lands, like a Christian sovereign
govern with your own will and piety."
In the Regulations, or Charter, the spiritual college, Peter I again held
the thought of the absolute power of the monarch is dim: "Monarchic power is self-
sovereign, whom God Himself commands for conscience to obey.
end of the 17th century in Russia, an absolute monarchy begins to take shape, which did not arise immediately after the formation of a centralized state, the establishment of an autocratic system, because. autocracy is not yet absolutism. The latter requires a number of conditions and prerequisites.
An absolute monarchy is characterized by the maximum concentration of power (both secular and spiritual) in the hands of one person. However, this is not the only sign. The concentration of power was carried out by Egyptian pharaohs, Roman emperors and dictators XX v. Yet it was not an absolute monarchy. For the emergence of the latter, a transitional period from the feudal to the capitalist system is necessary. This transition to different countries took place in different historical periods, while maintaining common features.
An absolute monarchy is characterized by the presence of a strong, ramified professional bureaucratic apparatus, a strong standing army, and the elimination of all class-representative bodies and institutions. All these signs were also inherent in Russian absolutism. However, it had its own significant features:
if the absolute monarchy in Europe took shape in the conditions of the development of capitalist relations and the abolition of the old feudal institutions (especially serfdom
rights), then absolutism in Russia coincided with the development of serfdom;
if the social base of Western European absolutism was the union of the nobility with cities (free, imperial), then Russian absolutism relied mainly on the feudal nobility, the service class.
The establishment of an absolute monarchy in Russia was accompanied by a wide expansion of the state, its intrusion into all spheres of public, corporate and private life. Expansionist aspirations were expressed, first of all, in the desire to expand their territory and access to the seas. Another direction of expansion was the policy of further enslavement, which took on the most cruel forms in the 18th century. Finally, the strengthening of the role of the state was manifested in a detailed, thorough regulation of the rights and obligations of individual estates and social groups. Along with this, there was a legal consolidation of the ruling class, from different feudal strata, the estate of the nobility was formed.
The ideology of absolutism can be defined as "patriarchal". The head of state (king, emperor) is presented as the “father of the nation”, “father of the people”, who loves and knows well what his children want. He has the right to educate, teach and punish them. Hence the desire to control everything, even the smallest manifestations of public and private life: decrees of the first quarter of the 18th century. they ordered the population when to turn off the lights, what dances to dance at assemblies, in what coffins to bury, to shave or not to shave their beards, etc.
The state that arose at the beginning of the 18th century is called "police" not only because it was during this period that the professional police was created, but also because the state sought to interfere in all the little things of life, regulating them.
In certain periods of the existence of an absolute monarchy, the ideology of "enlightenment" became its ideology:
arose legal forms reminiscent of Western European (French, English), attempts were made to create the legal foundations of statehood (“rule of law”), constitutions, cultural enlightenment
stva. These trends were determined not only by the personality of this or that monarch (Catherine II, Alexander I), but also by the socio-economic and political situation. Part of the nobility abandoned traditional and conservative methods of management and politics, looking for more flexible forms. This was facilitated by the cultural and industrial development of the country. "Enlightened" absolutism arose during periods when the old (police and patriarchal) methods of government became ineffective. However, at any moment a return to the old methods could be carried out (the liberal period of the reign of Catherine II ends after Pugachev's peasant war).
The system of power established in the era of absolutism is characterized by fairly frequent palace coups carried out by the noble aristocracy and the palace guards. Did this mean the weakening and crisis of the system of absolute monarchy? Apparently not. The ease with which the change of monarchs took place indicates that in the established and strengthened system of the absolutist monarchy, the personality of the monarch no longer had much significance. Everything was decided by the very mechanism of power, in which each member of society and the state was only a “cog”.
The political ideology of absolutism is characterized by the desire for a clear classification of social groups and individuals: the personality is dissolved in such concepts as “soldier”, “prisoner”, “official”, etc. The state, with the help of legal norms, seeks to regulate the activities of each citizen. Therefore, absolutism is characterized by another feature - the abundance of written legal acts adopted on every occasion. The state apparatus as a whole, its individual parts act according to the prescription of special regulations, the hierarchy of which closes the General Regulations.
In the sphere of economic ideology, the philosophy of mercantilism becomes dominant, orienting the economy towards an excess of exports over imports, accumulation, frugality and state protectionism.
The area of the origin of capitalist elements (without the manifestation of which the establishment of absolutism is impossible) in Russia was manufactory production (state
An all-Russian market is taking shape, and Moscow remains the center of trade relations. The merchants include merchants, landowners and peasants. The attitude of the legislator towards the trading peasants is characteristic - along with the establishment of permits and benefits for them, the law is constantly inclined to restrict this activity. In 1711, privileges were established for peasants trading in cities, but already in 1722 village merchants were forbidden to trade in cities, in 1723 restrictions were established for recording peasants in the settlement. From 1726, the issuance of passports to otkhodnik peasants began. In 1731, peasants were forbidden to trade in ports, produce manufactured goods and take contracts. In 1739, serious fines were introduced for the activities of unauthorized manufactories. Peasants are not allowed to sign up as volunteers for the army (1727) and take an oath (1741). In 1745, a Decree was issued allowing peasants to trade in the villages, and in 1748 they received the right to join the merchant class.
The black-eared peasants, who lived in a community, retained ownership of the arable land, meadows and lands that they cultivated, they could sell, mortgage, give as a dowry. They paid the state a cash quitrent and performed duties in kind. The peasants of the non-Russian population of the Volga and Ural regions, in addition, paid yasak (tribute in kind) to the state. A special group of state peasants were odnodvortsy (who did not fall into the nobility-gentry, came from Moscow service people). They paid poll and quitrent taxes, from 1713 they served in the Land Militia, which performed police functions until 1783
Privately owned peasants made up in the XVIII century. the majority of the peasant population. The palace peasants living on the palace lands were in the administration of the palace office (since 1775 - state
The most numerous was the group of landlord peasants. The sources of enslavement included birth, revision records, the fixation of illegitimate foundlings by educators, prisoners of war of non-Christian origin
The termination of the serfdom was associated with: serving a recruiting duty (the wife and children of a recruit were also released), exiling a serf to Siberia, leave on a leave of absence or a spiritual testament, redemption, taking the landlord's estate to the treasury, returning a serf from captivity, fleeing to remote outskirts and recording to state volosts, factories and plants (since 1759).
A serf could purchase real estate only in the name of the landowner. A serf who had a shop or factory paid the land tax to the landowner. Peasant property was inherited only through the male line and
agreement with the landowner. In the name of the landowner, the peasants could acquire
In 1721, a decree was issued allowing merchants and factory owners to acquire populated villages in order to provide workers for the established enterprises. In 1752, a decree determined the number of peasants who could be acquired to work in factories, but already in 1762 such a purchase was prohibited: only civilians with passports could work in factories. Then followed (in 1798)
The differentiation of the peasantry led to the separation of manufacturers, usurers and merchants from among them. The process of this separation ran into many obstacles of a socio-psychological, economic and legal nature. Peasant withdrawal was limited to owners interested in the exploitation of peasants in the corvée. At the same time, the increase in quitrents stimulated landowners to use the labor of peasants on the side, in waste. The ban on selling peasants without land and at retail (1721) made it difficult for industrialists to use their labor in enterprises and manufactories. In the same year, 1721, merchants received the right to buy peasants in whole villages and attribute them to manufactories. The management of these peasants was carried out by the Berg Collegium and the Manufactory Collegium. The sale of these peasants was allowed only together with manufactories. Such an organizational measure was possible only under the conditions of the feudal regime and in its nature resembled the attachment of the townspeople to the towns, and the peasants to the land, carried out by the Council Addition of 1649. It prevented the redistribution of labor within the industry and outside it, did not stimulate an increase in labor productivity and his qualities. On the other side,
The customs charter of 1653 and the Novotrade charter of 1667 granted the trading people of the township the right to free trade. New managerial and financial responsibilities began to be assigned to the merchants, for example, the collection of the “streltsy tax” (1681) or participation in the work of the Ship Chamber.
In cities, self-government bodies began to form:
town councils, magistrates. The urban estate began to legally take shape. According to the regulations of the Chief Magistrate in 1721, it was divided into regular citizens and "vile" people. Regular, in turn, were divided into the first guild (bankers, merchants, doctors, pharmacists, skippers of merchant ships, painters, icon painters and silversmiths) and the second) guild (artisans, joiners, tailors, shoemakers, small merchants). Guilds were controlled by guild meetings and foremen.
In the interests of the nobility, the process of further enslavement of the peasants continued. In 1722-1725. a census was conducted, which provided the basis for the enslavement of the categories of the peasantry, which had previously had a different status. In 1729, bonded (personally dependent, but not serfs) and "walking" people were attached. Repeated attempts were made to extend serfdom to the Cossacks and odnodvortsy, however, these groups continued to occupy an intermediate position between state peasants and service people.
Since 1714, compulsory primary education for noble children has been established. Special maritime and military schools are being created, foreign business trips are being introduced to train young noblemen who apply for an officer rank. In the guards regiments (Semenovsky and Preo
The nobles made up a significant part of the structure of the emerging bureaucratic class: in its upper strata (senators, heads of collegiums, offices, orders, governors, vice-governors) they were monopolists. The vast majority of senior officials (from collegiate advisers to assessors) also consisted of nobles. The lower officials for the most part came from various strata.
The formation of new social groups took place against the backdrop of the breaking up of the old class-representative institutions. The last Zemsky Sobor took place in the middle of the 17th century. After that, class meetings were convened, at which various issues were discussed: about the monetary system, prices, localism, etc. (60-80s of the 17th century). The liquidation of estate-representative bodies was due to the position of the central administration, the reform financial system and armed forces.
The centralization of power, the formation of a professional bureaucracy, on the one hand, and the strengthening of the feudal system (i.e., the elimination of the remnants of peasant self-government), on the other, destroyed the system of zemstvo representation. The nobility became the sole ruling class, capturing almost all the places in the state apparatus and the army in the center, and in the localities becoming the rightful master over the peasants. The nobility had almost equally strong positions in the cities.
Significant changes in the social structure of society at the end of the 17th century. - early 18th century revealed in the course of military reforms. At the end of the XVII century. the basis of the army was still the noble cavalry. More and more, it begins to be supplemented, and then pushed aside by new formations: archery units and regiments of the "foreign system" (reitar and dragoon). These units, who were on a salary, numerically outnumbered the noble contingent: in 1679, about seventy thousand people served "on the instrument", in 1681 - already over eighty thousand. The noble cavalry at the same time numbered no more than six thousand. By 1681, eighty-nine thousand out of one hundred and sixty-four were
transferred to the "foreign system". If the archers were still a semi-regular army (and were tied to their yards and gardening in the suburbs), then the regiments of the "foreign system" were the embryo of a professional army. The officer corps already at the end of the 17th century. quickly replenished with foreign specialists. This path of military reform allowed the central government to become independent of the nobility in the formation of the armed forces, while simultaneously using the service role of the nobility in the creation of officer cadres.
In the financial sector, the end of the 17th century. marked by an intensive transformation of the entire tax and tax system. The plow, which remained the main type of taxation, is replenished with a long series of additional taxes. The most important of them were the customs fee, tavern (indirect taxes), data (direct taxes), quitrent, pit, archery, non-salary fees, salt and tobacco excises. Tax reforms were based on organizational measures designed to streamline, centralize and regulate these activities. At the end of the XVII century. "plow" as a unit of taxation gives way to a new unit - "yard". There is a transfer of fiscal attention from an impersonal territory to the subject, taxation begins to acquire an increasingly personal character. In 1646, a household census was carried out, and in 1678, census books were compiled. In 1679-1681. there was a transition from land to household taxation.
In 1718, a per capita census was carried out, and the financial services switched to a per capita taxation of the population. As a result of this action, groups of non-taxable estates (nobility and clergy) were singled out and, in fact, various groups of the peasant population (state, possessory, sessional,
17. Features of the formation of Russian absolutism in the 17th century.
After a troubled time, the state of the state prompted Michael to make some changes in administration in order to strengthen centralization. The old dynasty left the administration in a state of extreme fragmentation. It was necessary to increase the authority of the dynasty, and to prevent the continuation of unrest.
The country needed the centralization of administrative power in order to overcome the collapse of the tax system, the decline of the economy, rampant crime, and the decline in defense capability. Gradually, the fullness of the supreme, legislative, executive and judicial power was concentrated in the hands of the king. The central state institutions, called orders, reported directly to the king. Under the first Romanovs, the system of orders expanded as administrative tasks became more complex. Orders were divided into nationwide (Ambassadorial, Local, Discharge, Rogue, Big Treasury, Big Parish, etc.) and territorial (Siberian, Little Russian, etc.). With the development of the command system, the number of command people increased. In 1640 there were less than 900 of them, and by the end of the century - more than 3 thousand.
An important place in the administrative structure was occupied by the Boyar Duma, which constituted the circle of the closest advisers and employees of the tsar. From the 15th century, Moscow monarchs ruled the country with the help of the Boyar Duma. During the reign of Mikhail, the role of the boyars and the boyar duma was just as significant. Royal decrees also began with the words: "The great sovereign indicated and the boyars were sentenced."
The Duma consisted mainly of representatives of aristocratic families. Under Tsar Alexei, the most competent people from the middle nobility were introduced into it. Technical functions in the Duma were performed by clerks, secretaries and speakers. The Duma, having legislative powers, discussed administrative and judicial issues, drafted decrees and laws. Members of the Duma created special commissions to carry out specific events, and were also appointed ambassadors, heads of orders, governors. There was also a limitation of the powers of the Boyar Duma. Its functions began to be performed by the so-called "near sovereign Duma", composed of the tsar's proxies. The Order of Secret Affairs arose, which was directly subordinate to the tsar, "so that the boyars and duma people ... knew nothing."
The Muscovite state, being in a state of continuous war, was in dire need of a regular army. With the stabilization of public finances, military units were created that were more regular than the noble militia. These were dragoon, reiter and infantry regiments. Cossack formations were involved in military service.
Strengthening centralism in management, the Muscovite tsars understood the danger of distortions in the direction of total administration. They recognized the existence of church-moral traditions and legal norms that limited the autocracy. It was impossible not to reckon with the increased civic consciousness of the subjects, which was reflected in the work of the Zemsky Sobors, representing all Russian lands and cities. The opinion of the Zemsky Sobors for Mikhail and Alexei Romanov was significant. Zemsky Sobors sat almost continuously during the first 10 years of Mikhail's reign, they actively helped to restore the Russian state after the Time of Troubles. And in the future, the councils were convened less often and mainly decided questions of the foreign policy position of Russia. In 1653, the cathedral decided to accept Ukraine under the rule of Moscow.
To discuss more specific issues, the government repeatedly convened meetings of representatives of individual estates.
After the Time of Troubles, due to the centralization of administration, the powers of local self-government were reduced, and governors were sent from Moscow to all the lands of the country, taking military and civil power into their own hands.
According to Klyuchevsky, after the turmoil, all areas, even internal ones, were in danger of attack. Therefore, even in the inner counties, governors, regional governors with military power began to appear. Voivodeship under Michael became a ubiquitous institution. The governor concentrated in his hands power over the entire county, and in all matters. With the introduction of the voivode, the zemstvo elective administration did not disappear, but was only constrained and largely subordinate to the voivode, to whom court cases, which were in the department of elected zemstvo judges, passed. In the circle of the elective zemstvo administration, there are now criminal police cases, which were conducted by the headman, financial ones, that is. government fees, and local affairs, which consisted in the division of taxes between members of a tax society, fees for worldly needs, in general, in the conduct of a worldly economy.
At the same time, in some central and most northern volosts at the county level, the former self-government was preserved - elected elders were placed at the head of the “all-county worlds”. Peasant and Cossack self-government was also preserved; landlords and officials had to deal with peasant communities that acted on the principles of mutual responsibility and protected their members.
The first Romanovs sought to introduce elements of centralization into social policy as well. All estates were obliged to serve the state, and differed only in the nature of the duties assigned to them. The population was divided into service and tax people.
An essential element of the autocratic trend was the attitude towards the person of the sovereign. It becomes almost religious. Each appearance of the tsar was considered an event; when he went out to the people, he was led under the arms of the boyars. The Council Code contained a whole chapter devoted to “how to protect his state health.”
Thus, in Russia there is a gradual formation autocracy- a national form of absolutism, in which monarchical power, not limited by any elected representative body, is based on a developed administrative apparatus and is regulated by law. The legislative formalization of autocracy is associated with the adoption of the Council Code of 1649. The unity of the central and local authorities, courts, and the territory of the country was ensured by the rule of law and was supplemented by the inseparability of ideas about the unity of church and state. The Code provided for special measures for the protection of royalty. Coming to the palace "en masse and conspiracy" was punishable by death, insulting the monarch entailed severe punishments.
ASSESSMENT OF THE STATE OF THE MOSCOW KINGDOM
Representatives world-historical theory(S. M. Solovyov, V. O. Klyuchevsky and others) drew attention to the fact that the monarchy in the 17th century was recreated after the Time of Troubles thanks to the initiative of the broadest masses of the people, thereby demonstrating that the state is not a “royal fiefdom”, but the common concern of all the people. In some writings, this period is called the "rebellious age", but many researchers have noted relative internal stability.
materialistic direction world-historical theory, studying the progress of mankind, gives it priority to the development of society.
The processes in Russia in the 17th century are interpreted by historians of this trend (B. A. Rybakov, N. I. Pavlenko, L. V. Cherepnin, and others) as “the further development of the feudal-serf system.”
Local historical theory studies the unity of man and territory, which is the concept of local civilization. On the territory of Russia, such a civilization is Eurasia.
The historians of this theory (G.V. Vernadsky, L.N. Gumilyov and others) saw in the restoration of the state the ability of the Russian people, led by monarchs, to “show the unity of the national spirit” and thereby resist external aggression from all directions. Foreign policy was considered, on the one hand, as a continuation of the struggle against the aggression of the Catholic and Protestant West, and on the other hand, as the end of a centuries-old dispute with the Golden Horde for dominance in Eurasia.
Absolutism is characterized primarily by the fact that all the fullness of legislative, executive and judicial power was concentrated in the hands of the hereditary head of state - the king. The entire centralized state mechanism was subordinated to him: the army, the police, the administrative apparatus, the court.
All the French, including the nobles, were subjects of the king, obliged to obey unquestioningly.
At the same time, the absolute monarchy consistently defended the class interests of the nobility.
From the 16th century to the first half of the 17th century, the absolute monarchy undoubtedly played a progressive role in the development of the French state, as it held back the split of the country and promoted the growth of capitalist industry and trade. During this period, the construction of new manufactories was encouraged, high customs duties on imported goods were established, and colonies were founded.
After the death of Henry of Navarre, the mother of Louis XIII, Queen Marie de Medici, became the central political figure, who then enlisted the support of Cardinal Richelieu, who in 1624 became the king's mentor and representative and actually ruled France until the end of his life in 1642.
Richelieu's reputation as one of France's greatest statesmen is based on his consistently far-sighted and skillful foreign policy and on his ruthless suppression of recalcitrant nobles, Richelieu took away from the Huguenots their strongholds, such as La Rochelle, which withstood a siege for 14 months. He was also a patron of the arts and sciences and founded the Académie française.
On the ground, Richelieu preferred to rely on special royal quartermasters, as opposed to governors, whose rights were limited. He also tried to get rid of the provincial estate-representative institutions and belittle the importance of the judicial chambers, trying to centralize the state apparatus and concentrate real control in the hands of the king. He was able to significantly undermine the independence of the nobles. During the reign of Richelieu, indefinite imprisonment came into practice by order of the king.
The concentration of all state power in the hands of the king led to the cessation in 1614 of the activities of the all-French meeting of estates - the States General (formed in 1302, where each estate: - the clergy, the nobility and the "third estate" were represented by a separate chamber and the decision was made by a simple majority of votes) . The secular power, in the person of the king, subordinates the church to its control, and it is he who, after a while, has the exclusive right to appoint candidates to the highest posts in the French church.
The strengthening of the power of the king was accompanied by an increase in the influence of the bureaucratic apparatus. As noted earlier, the state apparatus of French absolutism was characterized by features, which include the sale government positions which generates considerable revenue for the government.
As a result, state bodies functioned simultaneously in the country, which were conventionally divided into two categories. The first included institutions inherited from sold positions controlled by the nobility. They were in charge of a secondary area government controlled. The second category was represented by the bodies created by absolutism, where officials were appointed by the government, and it was they who formed the basis of management.
The bureaucratic mechanism of absolutism was cumbersome, complex, corrupt and costly.
After the death of Louis XIII, the mother Anna of Austria became regent under the infant Louis XIV. In fact, the country was ruled by the favorite of Mazarin, who received the rank of cardinal. He continued the policy of absolutism. The parliaments of the cities were also in opposition to the government, as the authorities demanded their sanctions for new taxes. When the Parlement of Paris, the highest judicial chamber, turned out to approve taxes, its meetings were banned. The Parliament of Paris decided on a series of reforms against the royal decrees, supported by the people and city magistrates. This movement was called the Fronde (1648-1649). In 1650-1653. The Fronde was led by a part of the aristocracy, which demanded the limitation of royal power and the convening of the Estates General. The second Fronde was called the "Fronde of the Princes", Mazarin coped with it.
Since 1661, Louis XIV (“Sun King”) began to rule alone. This is the apogee of absolutism, but also the beginning of its decline. The power of the king increased sharply and state centralization intensified. There were constant festivities, the construction of magnificent palaces, etc. Of the 54 years of Louis XIV's independent reign, 33 years were spent in wars. But their main goal - to achieve hegemony in Europe - was not achieved, and a lot of money was spent. Everyone was dissatisfied. Even the policy of mercantilism (protectionism, subsidies to large manufactories, etc.) of the controller general Colbert did not save the economy.
After the death of Louis XIV, the throne passed to his five-year-old great-grandson Louis XV (1715-1774). Philippe d'Orleans, who ruled for 8 years, became regent. The Scotsman John Low was appointed Comptroller General, who exacerbated the economic crisis by issuing a lot of unsecured banknotes.
New wars were fought (on the side of Prussia against Austria (1740-1748) and in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) against England). France lost all colonies in the New World and India.
The crisis was exacerbated by spending on luxury and favorites. If Louis XIV was credited with the words: “The state is me,” then Louis XV: “After us, even a flood.”
By the time Louis XVI came to power, there were already members of almost all classes against absolutism. Hence the beginning of the French Revolution.
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Introduction……………………………………………………………...................... 3
I. Reforms of Peter I. Features of the establishment of absolutism in Russia………………………………………………………………. …………. 4
1. 1. Economic transformations…………………………………. 4
1. 2. Influence church reform on the approval of absolutism…………………………………………………………7
1. 3. The influence of Europeanization on the processes of social life ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Conclusion…………………………………………………………………... 16
Introduction
time served as the prerequisites for Peter's reforms, the task and content of which was the formation of the nobility and bureaucratic apparatus of absolutism.
Peter turned Russia into a truly European country (at least, as he understood it) - it is not for nothing that the expression “cut a window to Europe” has become so often used. Milestones on this path were the conquest of access to the Baltic, the construction of a new capital - St. Petersburg, active intervention in European politics.
Peter's activity created all the conditions for a wider acquaintance of Russia with the culture, lifestyle, and technologies of European civilization.
Another important feature of Peter's reforms was that they affected all sectors of society, in contrast to the previous attempts of the Russian rulers. The construction of the fleet, the Northern War, the creation of a new capital - all this became the business of the whole country.
The reforms of Catherine II were also aimed at creating a powerful absolute state. The policy pursued by her in the 1960s and early 1970s was called the policy of enlightened absolutism. This policy brought the moment of transition of public life to a new, more progressive formation.
The time of Catherine II was the time of the awakening of scientific, literary and philosophical interests in Russian society, the time of the birth of the Russian intelligentsia.
1. Reforms of Peter I . Features of the establishment of absolutism in Russia
Economic transformation
In the Muscovite state of the XVI-XVII centuries. There were large industrial enterprises - Cannon Yard, Printing Yard, arms factories in Tula, a shipyard in Dedinovo, etc. Peter's policy in relation to economic life was characterized by a high degree of command and protectionist methods.
In agriculture, opportunities for improvement were drawn from the further development of fertile lands, the cultivation of industrial crops that provided raw materials for industry, the development of animal husbandry, the advancement of agriculture to the east and south, as well as the more intensive exploitation of the peasants. The increased needs of the state for raw materials for Russian industry led to the widespread use of crops such as flax and hemp. The decree of 1715 encouraged the cultivation of flax and hemp, as well as tobacco, mulberry trees for silkworms. The decree of 1712 ordered the creation of horse breeding farms in the Kazan, Azov and Kiev provinces, sheep breeding was also encouraged.
In the Petrine era, the country was sharply divided into two zones of feudal economy - the lean North, where the feudal lords transferred their peasants to quitrent, often letting them go to the city and other agricultural areas to earn money, and the fertile South, where the nobles - landowners sought to expand corvee .
The state duties of the peasants also increased. Cities were built by their forces) 40 thousand peasants worked for the construction of St. Petersburg), manufactories, bridges, roads; annual recruiting was carried out, old fees were increased and new ones were introduced. The main goal of Peter's policy all the time was to obtain the largest possible financial and human resources for state needs.
Two censuses were carried out - 1710 and 1718. According to the 1718 census, the male “soul” became the unit of taxation, regardless of age, from which the poll tax was levied in the amount of 70 kopecks per year (from state peasants 1 ruble 10 kopecks per year). This streamlined the tax policy and sharply raised state revenues.
In industry, there was a sharp reorientation from small peasant and handicraft farms to manufactories. Under Peter, at least 200 new manufactories were founded, he encouraged their creation in every possible way. State policy was also aimed at protecting the young Russian industry from Western European competition by introducing very high customs duties (Customs Charter of 1724).
The Russian manufactory, although it had capitalist features, but the use of mainly the labor of peasants - possession, ascribed, quitrent, etc. - made it a serf enterprise. Depending on whose property they were, manufactories were divided into state, merchant and landowner. In 1721, industrialists were granted the right to buy peasants to secure them to the enterprise (possession peasants).
shipyards, mines. The merchant manufactories, which produced mainly consumer goods, employed both sessional and quitrent peasants, as well as civilian labor. Landlord enterprises were fully provided by the forces of the serfs of the landowner.
Peter's protectionist policy led to the emergence of manufactories in various industries, often appearing in Russia for the first time. The main ones were those who worked for the army and navy: metallurgical, weapons, shipbuilding, cloth, linen, leather, etc. Entrepreneurial activity was encouraged, favorable conditions were created for people who created new manufactories or rented state ones.
There are manufactories in many industries - glass, gunpowder, paper, canvas, paint, sawmill and many others. A huge contribution to the development of the metallurgical industry of the Urals was made by Nikita Demidov, who enjoyed the special favor of the king. The emergence of the foundry industry in Karelia on the basis of the Ural ores, the construction of the Vyshevolotsky Canal, contributed to the development of metallurgy in new areas, brought Russia to one of the first places in the world in this industry. At the beginning of the XVIII century. About 150 thousand poods of cast iron were smelted in Russia, in 1725 - more than 800 thousand poods (from 1722 Russia exported cast iron), and by the end of the 18th century. - more than 2 million pounds.
By the end of the reign of Peter in Russia there was a developed diversified industry with centers in St. Petersburg, Moscow, and the Urals. The largest enterprises were the Admiralty Shipyard, Arsenal, Petersburg gunpowder factories, metallurgical plants of the Urals, Khamovny yard in Moscow. There was a strengthening of the all-Russian market, the accumulation of capital thanks to the mercantilist policy of the state. Russia supplied competitive goods to world markets: iron, linen, potash, furs, caviar.
Thousands of Russians were trained in Europe in various specialties, and, in turn, foreigners - weapons engineers, metallurgists, locksmiths were hired into the Russian service. Thanks to this, Russia was enriched with the most advanced technologies in Europe.
As a result of Peter's policy in the economic field, a powerful industry was created in an extremely short period of time, capable of fully meeting military and state needs and not dependent on imports in anything.
1. 2. The influence of church reform on the establishment of absolutism
Peter's church reform played an important role in establishing absolutism. In the second half of the XVII century. Russian positions Orthodox Church were very strong, it retained administrative, financial and judicial autonomy in relation to the royal power. The last patriarchs Joachim (1675-1690) and Adrian (1690-1700) pursued a policy aimed at strengthening these positions.
Church policy of Peter, as well as his policy in other areas of public life. It was aimed primarily at the most efficient use of the church for the needs of the state, and more specifically, at squeezing money out of the church for state programs, primarily for the construction of the fleet. After Peter's journey as part of the great embassy, he is also occupied with the problem of the complete subordination of the church to his authority.
The turn to the new policy took place after the death of Patriarch Hadrian. Peter orders to conduct an audit for the census of the property of the Patriarchal House. Taking advantage of the information about the revealed abuses, Peter cancels the election of a new patriarch, at the same time entrusting Metropolitan Stefan Yavorsky of Ryazan with the post of "locum tenens of the patriarchal throne." In 1701, the Monastery Order was formed - a secular institution for managing the affairs of the church. The church begins to lose its independence from the state, the right to dispose of its property.
Peter, guided by the enlightening idea of the public good, which requires the productive work of all members of society, launches an offensive against monks and monasteries. In 1701, the royal decree limited the number of monks: for permission to be tonsured, now you need to apply to the Monastic order. Subsequently, the king had the idea to use the monasteries as shelters for retired soldiers and beggars. In the decree of 1724, the number of monks in the monastery is directly dependent on the number of people they look after.
The existing relationship between the church and the authorities required a new legal formalization. In 1721, Feofan Prokopovich, a prominent figure in the Petrine era, drew up the Spiritual Regulations, which provided for the destruction of the institution of the patriarchate and the formation of a new body - the Spiritual College, which was soon renamed the "Holy Government Synod", officially equalized in rights with the Senate. Stefan Yavorsky became president, Feodosy Yanovsky and Feofan Prokopovich became vice presidents.
The creation of the Synod was the beginning of the absolutist period of Russian history, since now all power, including church power, was concentrated in the hands of Peter. A contemporary reports that when Russian church leaders tried to protest, Peter pointed them to the Spiritual Regulations and said: “Here is the spiritual patriarch for you, and if you don’t like him, then here you are (throwing a dagger on the table) a damask patriarch.”
The adoption of the Spiritual Regulations actually turned the Russian clergy into state officials, especially since a secular person, the chief prosecutor, was appointed to supervise the Synod.
and Astrakhan provinces (formed as a result of the division of the Kazan province), only 3044 priests out of 8709 (35%) were exempted from taxes. A stormy reaction among the priests was caused by the Resolution of the Synod of May 17, 1722, in which the clergy were charged with the obligation to violate the secrecy of confession if they had the opportunity to communicate any information important to the state.
As a result of the church reform, the church lost a huge part of its influence and turned into a part of the state apparatus, strictly controlled and managed by secular authorities.
1. 3. The influence of Europeanization on the processes of public life.
The process of Europeanization of Russia in the era of Peter the Great is the most controversial part of the Petrine reforms. Even before Perth, the prerequisites for broad Europeanization were created, ties with foreign countries were noticeably strengthened, Western European cultural traditions gradually penetrate into Russia, even barbering goes back to the pre-Petrine era. In 1687, the Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy was opened - the first institution of higher education in Russia. Yet Peter's work was revolutionary. V. Ya. Ulanov wrote: “What was new in the formulation of the cultural issue under Peter the Great was that now culture was called upon as a creative force not only in the field of special technology, but also in its wide cultural and everyday manifestations, and not only in application to the chosen society ... but also in relation to the broad masses of the people.
The most important stage in the implementation of the reforms was the visit of Peter as part of the Great Embassy of a number of European countries. Upon his return, Peter sent many young nobles to Europe to study various specialties, mainly for mastering marine sciences. The tsar also took care of the development of education in Russia. In 1701, in Moscow, in the Sukharev Tower, the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences was opened, headed by a professor at the University of Aberdeen, a Scot Forvarson. One of the teachers of this school was Leonty Magnitsky, the author of "Arithmetic ...". In 1711, an engineering school appeared in Moscow.
Peter sought to overcome as soon as possible the disunity between Russia and Europe that had arisen since the time of the Tatar-Mongol yoke. One of its appearances was a different chronology, and in 1700 Peter transferred Russia to a new calendar - the year 7208 becomes 1700, and the celebration of the New Year is postponed from September 1 to January 1.
In 1703, the first issue of the Vedomosti newspaper, the first Russian newspaper, was published in Moscow; in 1702, the Kunsht troupe was invited to Moscow to create a theater.
There were important changes in the life of the nobles, which remade the Russian nobility “in the image and likeness” of the European one. In 1717, the book “An Honest Mirror of Youth” was published - a kind of textbook of etiquette, and from 1718 there were Assemblies - noble assemblies modeled on European ones.
However, we must not forget that all these transformations came exclusively from above, and therefore were quite painful for both the upper and lower strata of society.
Peter aspired to make Russia a European country in every sense of the word and attached great importance to even the smallest details of the process.
1. Catherine's reforms II . "The Politics of Enlightened Absolutism"
As a result of the latter in the XVIII century. palace coup, carried out on June 28, 1762, the wife of Perth III, who became Empress Catherine II (1762-1796), was elevated to the Russian throne.
Catherine II began her reign with the confirmation of the Manifesto on the Liberty of the Nobility and generous gifts to the participants in the coup. Having proclaimed herself the successor of the cause of Peter I, Catherine directed all her efforts to create a powerful absolute state.
In 1763, the Senate reform was carried out in order to streamline the work of the Senate, which had long turned into a bureaucratic institution. The Senate was divided into six departments with clearly defined functions for each of them. In 1763-1764. the secularization of church lands was carried out, which was associated with a reduction (from 881 to 385) in the number of monasteries. Thus, the economic viability of the church was undermined, which from now on became completely dependent on the state. The process of turning the church into a part of the state apparatus begun by Peter I was completed.
P. A. Rumyantsev. This was accompanied by the transfer of the mass of ordinary Cossacks to the position of peasants, serfdom began to spread to Ukraine.
Catherine received the throne illegally and only thanks to the support of noble officers, she sought support in the nobility, realizing the fragility of her position. A whole series of decrees expanded and strengthened the class rights and privileges of the nobility. The Manifesto of 1765 on the implementation of the General Land Survey for the nobility was assigned a monopoly right to own land, it also provided for the sale to the nobles of 5 kopecks. for a tithe of lands and wastelands.
The nobility was assigned super-preferential conditions for promotion to officer ranks, and funds for the maintenance of class noble educational institutions increased significantly. At the same time, the decrees of the 60s consolidated the omnipotence of the landowners and the complete lack of rights of the peasants. According to the Decree of 1767, any, even just, complaint of the peasants against the landowners was declared the gravest state crime.
So the landowner's power under Catherine II acquired wider legal boundaries.
it is no longer possible to correct the old methods. The policy pursued by her in the 60s - early 70s. called the policy of enlightened absolutism. The socio-economic basis of the policy of enlightened absolutism was the development of a new capitalist order that destroyed the old feudal relations.
The policy of enlightened absolutism was a natural step state development and despite the half-heartedness of the reforms carried out, it brought the moment of transition of public life closer to a new, more progressive formation.
II was the result of her previous reflections on enlightenment literature and a peculiar perception of the ideas of the French and German enlighteners. "Instruction" concerned all the main parts state structure, management, supreme power, the rights and obligations of citizens, estates, to a greater extent legislation and the court. In Nakaz, the principle of autocratic rule was substantiated: “The Sovereign is autocratic; for no other, as soon as the power united in his person, can act similarly to the space of such a great state ... ”A guarantee against despotism, according to Catherine, was the assertion of the principle of strict legality, as well as the separation of the judiciary from the executive and the continuous transformation associated with it legal proceedings, liquidating obsolete feudal institutions.
individual deputies), ready to defend the feudal order by any means. Merchants and Cossacks thought about acquiring privileges to own serfs, and not about softening serfdom.
In the 1960s, a number of decrees were issued that dealt a blow to the prevailing system of monopolies. By decree of 1762, calico factories and sugar factories were allowed to open freely. In 1767, the freedom of urban crafts was declared, which was of great importance. Thus, the laws of the 60-70s. created favorable conditions for the growth of peasant industry and its development into capitalist production.
The time of Catherine II was the time of the awakening of scientific, literary and philosophical interests in Russian society, the time of the birth of the Russian intelligentsia. And although it covered only a small part of the population, it was an important step forward. In the reign of Catherine, the first Russian charitable institutions also appeared. Catherine's time is the heyday of Russian culture, this is the time of A. P. Sumarokov, D. I. Fonvizin, G. I. Derzhavin, N. I. Novikov, A. N. Radishchev, D. G. Levitsky, F. S. Rokotova, and others.
In November 1796, Catherine passed away. Her son Pavel (1796-1801) reigned on the throne. Under Paul I, a course was established to strengthen absolutism, maximize the centralization of the state apparatus, and strengthen the personal power of the monarch.
Conclusion
be called the Russian Empire. Thus, what Peter was going for all the years of his reign was formalized - the creation of a state with a coherent system of government, a strong army and navy, a powerful economy that had an impact on international politics. As a result of Peter's reforms, the state was not bound by anything and could use any means to achieve its goals. As a result, Peter came to his ideal state structure - a warship, where everything and everything is subject to the will of one person - the captain, and managed to bring this ship out of the swamp into the stormy waters of the ocean, bypassing all the reefs and shoals.
world history.
"politics of enlightened absolutism".
building. While strengthening absolutism, it preserved autocracy, introducing only adjustments (greater freedom of economic life, some foundations of the bourgeois legal order, the idea of the need for enlightenment), which contributed to the development of the capitalist way of life.
The undoubted merit of Catherine was the introduction of widespread public education.
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5. “History of the fatherland. Textbook for students of the correspondence department "Under the general editorship of M. V. Zotova. M, MGUP Publishing House, 2000
6. I. Yu. Zaorskaya, M. V. Zotova “The Formation and Rise of the Russian State in the 15th – 18th Centuries (Positions, Comments, Documents). Tutorial." M, Publishing House MGAP "World of Books", 1994
7. M. V. Zotova “Encyclopedic Dictionary. Chronology of Russian history (IX - XIX). Issue 1 "M. Publishing house of MGUP "World of Books", 1998
Anisimov E. V. Time of Peter's reforms. - L .: Lenizdat, 1989., p. 58.
2 Anisimov E. V., Kamensky A. B. Russia in the XVIII - first half of the XIX century: History. Document. - M.: MIROS, 1994., p. 97.
Pavlenko N. I. Peter the Great. - M.: Thought, 1990., p. 112.
Solovyov S. M. On the history of new Russia. - M .: Education, 1993., p. 95.
Pavlenko N. I. Peter the Great. - M.: Thought, 1990., p. 117.
I. Yu. Zaorskaya, M. V. Zotova “The Formation and Rise of the Russian Power in the 15th – 18th Centuries (Positions, Comments, Documents). Tutorial." M, Publishing House MGAP "World of Books", 1994, p. 151.
Solovyov S. M. On the history of new Russia. - M .: Education, 1993., p. 148.
Anisimov E.V., Kamensky A.B. Russia in the 18th - first half of the 19th century: History. Document. - M.: MIROS, 1994., p. 211.
Anisimov E.V., Kamensky A.B. Russia in the 18th - first half of the 19th century: History. Document. - M.: MIROS, 1994., p. 228.
Anisimov E.V., Kamensky A.B. Russia in the 18th - first half of the 19th century: History. Document. - M.: MIROS, 1994., p. 223.
The main political trend in the development of the Russian state in the second half of the XVII century. there was a continuing dominance of the idea of absolutism, and with it the growth of the bureaucratic system of government was associated.
This path will lead to the transformation of Russia into a regular state of the Western type during the reign of Peter the Great. However, before this result could be achieved, the builders of absolutism in Russia - statesmen, military leaders and ideologists - had to overcome many obstacles.
Among the forces that could - and sometimes did - resist the omnipotence of the state were the Church, the aristocracy and the Zemsky Sobor.
The Church, however, was weakened by the schism of the Old Believers. This group did not oppose the supreme authority of the tsar as long as he defended Orthodoxy. But when the king approved the Nikonian reforms of church books and rituals, he, from the point of view of Avvakum and his followers, betrayed the true faith. The persecution of the Old Believers by the combined efforts of the government and the dominant church only strengthened the spirit of the Old Believers, and they turned to open defiance. When government forces crushed their resistance, many of them, in desperation, preferred to save their souls by sacrificing their own bodies.
Nikonianism was preserved in the dominant church, although Nikon himself was deposed and exiled in 1666. Tsar Alexei was forcing the church to make some concessions, which he refused to Nikon. The third patriarch after Nikon, Joachim, turned out to be an energetic and strong-willed man. In the last two years of the reign of Tsar Alexei and during the reign of Tsar Fedor, he played an important role not only in the Church administration, but also in state affairs.
It was during the patriarchate of Joachim that the final measures were taken to abolish the Monastic Order (1667). Having thus restored the exclusion of the clergy from the jurisdiction of secular courts, Joachim joined with the government in its repressive policy towards the Old Believers and supported the tsarist autocracy against the aristocratic projects of the highest group of the boyars.
Joachim had nothing against the institution of the Zemsky Sobor in principle. After the death of Tsar Fedor, he even hastily convened a special assembly that elected the boy Peter as Tsar. This, of course, was a purely puppet Cathedral. When, in 1674, Joachim ascended the patriarchal throne, the institution of the Zemsky Sobor no longer functioned.
In 1653, the Zemsky Sobor approved the decision to extend the tsarist protectorate to Ukraine. After that, it was no longer used. There were several reasons why the tsar stopped convening the Zemsky Sobor.
Firstly, after the unification with Ukraine and the failed unification with Belarus, Alexey became known as the Tsars of All Great, Little and White Russia. In relations with Ukraine, Belarus, and in connection with them and with Poland, the tsar did not want to be limited by the Zemsky Sobor.
Another important reason for the termination of the activity of this council was the growing estrangement between the estates (ranks) in Muscovy, especially between the nobility and the townspeople, two groups that collaborated in the preparation of the code of laws of 1649. Most of the boyars, in turn, objected to the claims of the nobles on an equal footing with the boyars social status. The emerging Russian bourgeoisie - guests (merchants) and industrialists - also demanded more attention to their interests than the boyars were inclined to give them. They sought financial dominance over retailers and townspeople.
As a result of such frictions, the king began to prefer to convene special meetings of representatives of each social group separately, when it became necessary to discuss their requirements.
Before the end of the reign of Tsar Fedor, two such important meetings took place: one to discuss the necessary financial reforms, and the second to abolish localism (genealogical seniority in civil and military service) (1681-1682).
The Boyar Duma constituted an organic part of the Russian government, working in close cooperation with the tsar, as was the case in the second half of the 16th century. Key position in the Duma in the 17th century. belonged to the prime minister.
The first councilors in the first half of the 17th century were the boyar Ivan Nikitich Romanov and, after his death, Prince Ivan Borisovich Cherkassky (died in 1642). The last of the famous first councilors is Prince Nikita Ivanovich Odoevsky, who learned this high post by the end of the reign of Alexei and retained it until his death in 1681.)
Almost all the first councilors belonged to the most eminent princely families and thus represented the aristocratic element in the government. Some of them, like Prince I.B. Cherkassky, were at the head of the central administration of the kingdom. Cherkassky's position, with all the necessary qualifications, can be compared with that of a prime minister. A similar position was occupied by Boris Ivanovich Morozov at the beginning of the reign of Tsar Alexei, but there is no evidence that he had the title of first councilor.
After his second marriage, Tsar Alexei granted the boyar title to a man who did not belong to the circle of ancient boyar families, Artamon Sergeevich Matveev, and put him at the head of the administration, one might say, appointed him prime minister. This caused discontent among many princes and boyars. They had to wait for the death of Alexei in order to be able to get rid of this gifted statesman. The tsar had the prerogative to favor the boyars, but when he was appointed to military and administrative positions, his choice was limited by the patrimonial claims (parochialism) of candidates. The most that the tsar could do was to exempt from considerations of tribal nobility the appointment of commanders for certain campaigns, declaring them without seats, that is, exempted from traditional rules, but even this was not always possible.
Still, the damage caused by localism to the normal functioning of government bodies, especially in the army, was obvious. Initially, localism extended only to princely and eminent boyar families. Preserving the traditions of parochialism, the Moscow aristocracy tried to protect itself from the arbitrariness of the Grand Duke (later, the Tsar) from above, as well as from the claims of the lower nobility from below the social ladder.)
During the 17th century localism lost its purely aristocratic character. The concept of localism spread among the officers of the nobility and even among the deacons. As a result, the nature of the institution has changed. In his new form the parochial system could no longer meet the needs of the leading boyars and princely families. At the same time, parochial claims and litigation continued to sow discord among the boyars themselves and undermine the prestige of the aristocracy as a whole. In connection with this, there new plan- a plan to ensure the political advantage of the ancient boyar and princely families as the upper class of the Russian state. Under these conditions, the boyars did not oppose the idea of abolishing the parochial system.
The initiative for such a move came from army officers who are better than any other social group were aware of the damage caused by localism. By the end of 1681, under the chairmanship of Prince Vasily Vasilyevich Golitsyn, a council of army officers was convened to discuss the main reforms and modernization of the Russian armed forces. The analysis of recent wars spoke of the need for reforms. "In these wars, the opponents have shown new tactics that the tsarist armies must take into account."
It was proposed to replace the traditional noble militia with a regular army, consisting of regiments trained according to modern Western models, and in this regard, to abolish localism. Golitsyn reported this decision to Tsar Fedor. Patriarch Joachim supported him.
On January 12, 1682, Tsar Fedor ordered, “cases of parochialism should be completely eradicated; and for their complete eradication and eternal oblivion, we want all petitions regarding previous cases and category books [which were considered during appointments in the army and government] to be set on fire.") This auto-da-fe was carried out immediately.
To satisfy the desires of the aristocracy, the government of Tsar Fedor ordered the compilation of a book of princely and boyar genealogies. It also included the highest stratum of the nobility, but in its entirety the book emphasized the importance of the aristocracy. It became known as the Velvet Book.)
Fighters for aristocratic principles wanted not only prestige, but also power. They conceived a plan according to which the tsar should have been constitutionally assisted by the elder boyars of the ancient families. The tsar remains the supreme ruler of the country, but the tsarist state is divided into several states, each of which is headed by one of the senior boyars - the tsar's governor.
These governors settle forever in Veliky Novgorod, Kazan, Siberia and some other regions. The project essentially turned Russia into an aristocratic federation under the supreme rule of the tsar. Fedor was ready to accept the plan, but first sent it to Patriarch Joachim for approval. The patriarch vetoed this project. He believed that the implementation of this plan would lead to the disintegration of the kingdom into separate principalities, which would mean a return to the appanage system with its internecine strife, and would destroy Russia.
As Ostrogorsky comments, "Once again, shortly before the abolition of the Moscow Patriarchate [by Peter the Great], the leader of the Russian Church effectively demonstrated his national consciousness.")
Although the aristocratic plan was rejected, there was a feeling in government circles that something had to be done to secure a certain place in the civil service for the high boyars. To this end, another project was developed - a table of ranks for senior posts in government and the army. It was the forerunner of the much more complex report card of Peter the Great. A remarkable feature of this project was the separation of civil and military service.)
The first rank belonged to the chief judge; the second - the governor at the royal court with the functions of a kind of minister of defense. A boyar of the third rank with the title of Vladimir's viceroy was supposed to preside at meetings of the Boyar Duma. Among the employees of lower ranks were infantry and cavalry commanders, heads of military districts (ranks), senior court officials, county administrators, etc.
It is worth noting that the hetman of Ukraine (“both banks of the Dnieper”) also entered the table of ranks. He was assigned a rather low, twenty-fifth, rank. The recipient was mentioned by name (the only such case in this project), Ivan Samoylovich, "a loyal subject of Our Royal Majesty." "He lives with the Zaporizhzhya army in the Little Russian city of Baturin, and they must always be ready to serve wherever We, the Great Sovereign, Our Royal Majesty, we order them."
The autonomous status of the hetman and the Zaporizhian army was not mentioned. This indicates that the government of Tsar Fedor, or rather one of the most influential people in it at that time, Prince Vasily Golitsyn, wanted to reduce, or even eliminate, the autonomy of Ukraine. In foreign policy, Golitsyn advocated an agreement with Poland, according to which the right bank of Ukraine (except Kiev) in 1686 would go to the Poles. In addition, Golitsyn did not like Samoilovich, with whom (and with Prince Grigory Romodanovsky) he did not get along during the second Chigirin campaign of 1678.
A characteristic feature of the project was that in several cases the Russian names of ranks were accompanied by Greek (Byzantine). This suggests that a person, or people familiar with the Greek language, took part in the preparation of the project. Many of these were in the entourage of Patriarch Joachim, which makes it probable that he had a benevolent attitude towards this plan. The project was just ready for final approval by Tsar Fedor when he died, after which the project was abandoned.
For the modernization of the Moscow state, it was important to restore order in the chaotic system of departments of the central administration - the system of orders. Tsar Alexei increased the confusion by creating the Order of Secret Affairs, initially as his office, but subsequently transferring to him the management of his personal estates. In its original form, the purpose of this order was to emphasize the strengthening of royal control over the activities of the government. The mixing of state and personal affairs of the king, which occurred as a result of giving the order new functions, led to a return to the specific path and obscured the idea of absolutism. After the death of Alexei, this hybrid order was abolished.
The government of Tsar Fedor tried to reorganize the structure of the central administration, combining small orders with similar functions into larger and more complex ones. Even before the reign of Fedor, the management of the estates and estates of the boyars and nobles, as well as the conduct of censuses, was concentrated in the Local Order.
Under Fedor, in 1678, the Pushkar (artillery) order was merged with the Reitar (cavalry) order. For 1679‑1680 combined several financial orders. This reform was completed in 1684.)
In the second half of the XVII century. the state paid considerable attention to the organization of regular postal communication between Moscow and foreign countries.) The Russian government needed it to maintain diplomatic and trade relations with both the West and the East. Zapadin government and merchants, in turn, were also interested in such a service.
In 1665, Tsar Alexei ordered the Order of Secret Affairs to conclude a contract with a Dutch merchant, Johann van Sweden, to organize a postal service. For a salary of 1,200 rubles a year, plus 1,000 rubles for expenses, van Sween undertook to deliver mail to Moscow from Western Europe every two weeks and from Turkey, Iran and India periodically, at indefinite intervals.)
In 1667, van Sweden was commissioned to build at Dedinovo (on the Oka River) the first of several planned seagoing vessels for cabotage in the Caspian Sea. The flotilla was supposed to maintain trade relations with Persia and the Middle East, and would also be useful for postal communication between Muscovy and Iran. Van Sveden's nephew, David Butler, was appointed captain of the first (and only) built ship, the Oryol.) During the Razin uprising, this ship was burned by the Cossacks.
After the death of van Sveden, his widow and nephew were ready to sculpt his contract, but soon, at the insistence of Ordin-Nashchokin, the postal service was entrusted to the care of a Dane. ‑th years Ordi-Nashchokin again consulted with Peter Marselis in the preparation of the New Trade Charter. Leonard Marselis concluded an agreement with the Riga postmaster on postal routes from Riga to Novgorod and Moscow via Pskov. By agreement with the postmaster of Vilna in 1669, the Berlin-Vilna-Smolensk-Moscow postal route was organized. In 1670 Leonard Marselis died, his father died two years later. The Russian line of this family was then represented by Leonard's son, Peter, who died in 1675.
In the same year, on the recommendation of the boyar Artamon Sergeevich Matveev (Ordin-Nashchokin's successor as head of the Ambassadorial Order), Tsar Alexei entrusted the management of the postal service to the Russified Dutchman, Andrei Andreevich Vinius, the son of Andrei Denisovich Vinius, who in 1632 received a royal patent for construction ironworks and arms factory near Tula. Lacking funds, Andrei Denisovich was forced to accept Peter Marselis and his relative Akem as partners. In the 1640s. the two removed Vinius from the case and became owners. Appointment A.A. Vinius, thus, was a kind of new twist in the feud between the families of Vinius and Marselis.
Andrei Andreevich Vinius turned out to be an excellent potchmaster. He continued to head the postal service for twenty-six years. In addition, in 1677 he was appointed deacon (secretary) of the Aptekarsky order, and in 1689 - deacon of the Ambassadorial order.
Modernization of the Russian army in the XVII century. imposed a new financial burden on the country. In the 1620s Russia's annual spending on the armed forces was about 275,000 rubles. By 1680 they had reached about 700,000 rubles.)
In 1680, Muscovy's armed forces, ready for action, consisted of (1) nobles, about sixteen thousand; (2) Moscow archers, twenty thousand; (3) regular cavalry (reiters) thirty thousand; and (4) regular infantry (soldiers), over sixty thousand.)
In the second half of the XVII century. Moscow armed forces stood in several groups along the southern and western borders of the kingdom. On this basis, several military districts called ranks were created.)
In 1654, after the capture of Smolensk, the Smolensk discharge was organized, and in 1656, at the beginning of the war with Sweden, the Novgorod discharge.) In 1663, the Belgorod discharge was created, as a stronghold against Crimean Tatars, and two years later - the Sevsky discharge to protect against potential attacks by the Poles and anti-Moscow detachments of Ukrainian Cossacks.
The system of military districts gradually spread to most of Russia. After the suppression of the Razin uprising, the Kazan category appeared. In Siberia, Tobolsk and Tomsk, discharges existed from 1602 and 1627. respectively. In 1676, Yeniseisk became the center of a separate category.)
The organization of the system of military districts was completed in 1680, when four categories were created in the central part of Muscovy - Moscow, Vladimir, Tambov and Ryazan. There they trained recruits, collected weapons and supplies for external discharges. In order to simplify the financing of the ranks and make them economically independent, the funds from taxes collected in the cities belonging to the external ranks were not sent to the central financial order in Moscow, but remained at the disposal of the authorities of each district and were used locally. In the end, the ranks served as a model for the provinces introduced by Tsar Peter.
