In the present year of 1896, the Russian government had already twice addressed the public with a report on the struggle of the workers against the factory owners. In other states, such reports are not uncommon - they do not hide what is happening in the state, and newspapers freely publish news about strikes. But in Russia the government is more afraid than fire of the publicity of factory procedures and incidents: it has forbidden writing about strikes in the newspapers, it has forbidden factory inspectors to print their reports, it has even ceased to examine cases of strikes in ordinary courts open to the public - in a word, it has accepted all measures to keep everything that is done in the factories and among the workers in strict secrecy. And all of a sudden all these police contrivances explode like a soap bubble, and the government itself is compelled to say openly that the workers are fighting against the factory owners. What caused such a change? - In 1895 there were especially many workers' strikes. Yes, but there have been strikes in the past, and yet the government was skilful in not violating secrecy, and these strikes were silent for the entire mass of workers. The current strikes were much stronger than the previous ones and concentrated in one place. Yes, but there have been no less violent strikes before, for example. in 1885-1886 in the Moscow and Vladimir provinces. “But the government was still getting stronger and did not talk about the struggle of the workers against the factory owners. Why did it speak this time? Because this time the socialists came to the aid of the workers, who helped the workers to explain the matter, to make it known everywhere, both among the workers and in society, to set forth precisely the demands of the workers, to show everyone the dishonesty and savage violence of the government. The government saw that it becomes completely stupid to keep silent when everyone knows about the strikes - and it also reached out for everyone. The socialist leaflets demanded that the government be held accountable, and the government appeared and gave an answer.

Let's see what the answer was.

At first, the government tried to evade a public and public response. One of the ministers, Finance Minister Witte, sent a circular to the factory inspectors, and in this circular he called the workers and socialists "the worst enemies of public order", advised the factory inspectors to intimidate the workers, to assure them that the government would forbid the factory owners to make concessions, to point out to them good intentions and the noble intention of the factory owners, to talk about how the factory owners care about the workers and their needs, how the factory owners are full of “good feelings”. The government did not speak about the strikes themselves, it did not say a word about what the strikes were about, what the ugly oppression of the factory owners and violations of the law consisted of, which the workers were striving for; in a word, it is isolgalo All ex summer and in the fall of 1895, the year of the strike, tried to get away with hackneyed official phrases about the violent and “illegal” actions of the workers, although the workers did not commit violence: only the police did violence. The minister wanted to keep this circular a secret, but the officials themselves, to whom he entrusted it, did not keep the secret, and the circular went for a walk in the public. Then it was printed by the socialists. Then the government, seeing itself fooled as usual with its well-known "secrets", published it in the newspapers. This was, as we have already said, a response to the summer and autumn strikes of 1895. But in the spring of 1896 the strikes were repeated even more strongly. Socialist leaflets joined the rumors about them. At first the government was cowardly silent, waiting for things to end, and then, when the uprising of the workers had already subsided, it came out retrospectively with its clerical wisdom, as with a belated police report. This time it was necessary to come out openly and, moreover, to the whole government as a whole. His message was published in issue 158 of the Government Bulletin 3 . This time it was still not possible to tell the workers' strikes. I had to tell how it happened, what the oppression of the factory owners consisted of, what the workers demanded; I had to admit that the workers behaved “decorously”. Thus, the workers weaned the government from the vile police lie: they forced it to admit the truth when they rose in a mass, when they used the sheets to announce the case. This is a big success. The workers will now know what the only means is to achieve a public declaration of their needs, to make the workers of all Russia aware of the struggle. The workers will now know that the lie of the government is refuted only by the united struggle of the workers themselves and their conscious attitude to achieve their right. - Having told what the matter was, the ministers began to invent excuses, they began to assure in their report that the strikes were caused only by "peculiarities of paper-spinning and thread production." That's how! And not the features of the entire Russian production, Is it not the peculiarities of the Russian state order, which allows the police to poison and seize peaceful workers who protect themselves from oppression? Why, good sir. ministers, workers read like hot cakes and demanded leaflets that spoke not at all about paper and thread, but about the lack of rights of Russian citizens and about the wild arbitrariness of the government, serving the capitalists, no, this new excuse is almost worse, more vile than the one that got off in his circular, Finance Minister Witte, blaming everything on "instigators." Minister Witte talks about the strike in the same way as any police official who receives handouts from the factory owners talks about it: the instigators came - the strike appeared. Now, having seen a strike of 30,000 workers, all the ministers began to think together and finally figured out that the strike does not happen because socialist instigators appear, but because socialists appear because strikes begin, the struggle of the workers against the capitalists begins. The ministers now assert that the socialists later "joined" the strikes. This is a good lesson for Finance Minister Witte. Look, Herr Witte, study well! Learn to analyze in advance what caused the strike, learn to look at the demands of the workers, and not at the reports of your police rats, which you yourself don’t believe a penny. gg. the ministers assure the public that it was only "malicious personalities" who tried to give the strikes a "criminal political character" or, as they say in one place, a "social character" social, and nonsense came out: socialist means supporting the workers in the struggle against capital, and social simply means social. How can a strike be given a social character? After all, it’s the same as giving ministers the rank of minister!). Now that's funny! Socialists give strikes a political character! Yes, the government itself, before any socialists, took all measures to give the strikes a political character. Wasn't it the one who began to seize the peaceful workers, as if they were criminals? Arrest and deport? Didn't it send spies and provocateurs everywhere? Didn't it take everyone who came to hand? Didn't it promise to help the manufacturers so that they would not yield? Didn't it persecute the workers for simply collecting money for the benefit of the strikers? The government itself best of all explained to the workers that their war with the factory owners must inevitably be a war with the government. The only thing left for the Socialists to do is to confirm this and publish it in leaflets. That's all. But the Russian government had already gone through fire and water in the art of hypocrisy, and the ministers tried to remain silent about the means by which our government "gave a political character to the strikes", it told the public what numbers the socialist sheets were marked with - why did it not tell what numbers were Are the orders of the mayor and other bashi-bazooks about the arrest of peaceful workers, about arming the troops, about sending spies and provocateurs marked? They listed to the public how many sheets of socialists there were, why did they not list how many workers and socialists were captured, how many ruined families, how many were deported and imprisoned without trial. From what? Yes, because even the Russian ministers, with all their shamelessness, are wary of speaking publicly about such predatory exploits. The whole force of state power, with police and troops, gendarmes and prosecutors, fell upon the peaceful workers who had risen for their rights, defending themselves from the arbitrariness of the factory owners, against the workers who supported themselves on their pennies and the pennies of their comrades, English, Polish, German and Austrian workers, the whole force of the state treasury stepped forward, promising support to the poor factory owners.

The workers were not united. It was impossible for them to arrange a collection of money, to attract other cities and other workers, they were persecuted everywhere, they had to yield to all the power of state power. Lord ministers rejoice that the government has won!

Good win! Against 30,000 peaceful workers who had no money - all the power of power, all the wealth of the capitalists! The ministers would have acted wiser if they had waited to boast of such a victory, otherwise their boasting is very much like that of a police soldier who boasts of having left the strike Not broken.

The “instigations” of the socialists were not successful, the government announces solemnly, reassuring the capitalists. Yes, no amount of insinuation, we will reply to this, could not produce even a hundredth part of the impression that is made on all Petersburg, on all Russian workers by the behavior of the government in this matter! The workers saw clearly the policy of the government - to silence workers' strikes and lie about them. The workers saw how their united struggle forced them to abandon the hypocritical police lie. They saw whose interests were protected by the government, which promised support to the manufacturers. They realized who their real enemy was when they, who did not violate law and order, were sent troops and police as if they were enemies. No matter how much the ministers talk about the futility of the struggle, the workers see how the factory owners everywhere have humbled themselves, and they know that the government is already convening factory inspectors to discuss what concessions should be made to the workers, for it sees that concessions are necessary. The strikes of 1895-1896 were not in vain. They have rendered an enormous service to the Russian workers, they have shown how they should fight for their interests. They taught them to understand the political situation and political needs of the working class.

Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class 4 .

November 1896.

Printed on mimeograph

printed By leaflet text

________________________

1 Leaflet "Tsarist government" written by Lenin in prison earlier on November 25 (December 7), 1896, printed on a mimeograph by the St. Petersburg Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class.

The leaflet was a response to S.Yu. Witte's circular to factory inspectors and the report on the summer strikes of 1896 in St. Petersburg, published on July 19 (31), 1896 in No. 158 of the Government Bulletin.

2 The strikes that took place in May - June 1896, Lenin called the famous St. Petersburg industrial war. The reason for them was the refusal of the manufacturers to fully pay the workers wages for non-working days on the occasion of the coronation of Nicholas II. The strike began at the Russian paper-spinning manufactory (Kalinkinskaya) and quickly spread to all the main paper-spinning and weaving enterprises of St. Petersburg. The St. Petersburg proletariat for the first time came out on a broad front against the exploiters. More than 30,000 workers were on strike. The strike was led by the St. Petersburg Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class, which issued leaflets and proclamations calling on the workers to defend their rights unanimously and staunchly. The Union of Struggle printed and distributed the main demands of the strikers: to reduce the working day to 10? hours, higher rates, timely payment of wages, etc. The St. Petersburg strikes contributed to the development of the labor movement in Moscow and other cities of Russia, forced the government to speed up the revision of factory laws and issue a law on June 2 (14), 1897 on the reduction of the working day in factories and factories up to 11 ? hours. They, as V. I. Lenin later wrote, “opened the era of the then steadily rising labor movement, this most powerful factor in our entire revolution” (Works, 4th ed., vol. 13, p. 78).

3 Government Bulletin" - daily newspaper, the official organ of the tsarist government; published in St. Petersburg from 1869 to 1917.

4 The "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class" was organized by Lenin in the autumn of 1895. About twenty Marxist workers' circles of St. Petersburg united in it. All the work of the "Union of Struggle" was built on the principles of centralism and strict discipline. The Union of Struggle was headed by the Central Group, which included V. I. Lenin, A. A. Vaneev, P. K. Zaporozhets, G. M. Krzhizhanovsky, N. K. Krupskaya, L. Martov (Yu. O Zederbaum), M. A. Silvin, V. V. Starkov, and others. Five members of this group headed by Lenin directly supervised all the work. The organization was divided into district groups. Advanced class-conscious workers (I. V. Babushkin, V. A. Shelgunov, and others) connected these groups with factories and plants. The factories had organizers for collecting information and distributing literature, and workers' circles were created at large enterprises.

The "Union of Struggle" for the first time in Russia began to unite socialism with the working-class movement, the transition from the propaganda of Marxism among a small circle of advanced workers in circles to political agitation among the broad masses of the proletariat. He led the labor movement, linked the workers' struggle for economic demands with the political struggle against tsarism. In November 1895, he organized a strike at the Thornton cloth factory. In the summer of 1896, under the leadership of the "Union", the famous strike of St. Petersburg textile workers took place, in which more than 30 thousand people took part. The Union of Struggle issued leaflets and pamphlets for the workers, prepared the publication of the newspaper Rabocheye Delo. V. I. Lenin was the editor of the publications of the Union of Struggle. The Union of Struggle extended its influence far beyond the borders of St. Petersburg. On his initiative, workers' circles united into similar unions in Moscow, Kyiv, Yekaterinoslav and other cities and regions of Russia.

In December 1895, the tsarist government dealt a serious blow to the Union of Struggle: on the night of 8 to 9 (20 to 21), a significant part of its leaders, led by Lenin, was arrested. The issue of the newspaper Rabocheye Delo, which had been prepared for typesetting, was also seized. In response to the arrest of V. I. Lenin and other members of the “Union”, a leaflet with political demands was issued, in which for the first time the existence of the “Union of Struggle” was announced.

V. I. Lenin, while in prison, still led the "Union", helped him with his advice, sent encrypted letters and leaflets to the will, wrote a pamphlet "On strikes" (still not found), "Draft and explanation of the program Social Democratic Party".

The significance of the St. Petersburg "Union of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class" lay in the fact that, in Lenin's words, it represented the first serious germ of a revolutionary party that relies on the workers' movement and leads the class struggle of the proletariat.

Duma monarchy in faces. Chairmen of the Council of Ministers.

On October 17, 1905, the Manifesto of Emperor Nicholas II was issued, which marked the actual end of the Autocratic Monarchy in Russia. According to the new edition of the "Basic State Laws", the Emperor retained all completeness executive power but his legislative rights were limited. Laws could be adopted only after their approval by the State Duma and the State Council.
This new state structure was called " Duma monarchy».
On October 19, 1905, a reform of the executive power was carried out - the Supreme Decree was issued to the Governing Senate "On measures to strengthen unity in the activities of ministries and main departments." Established Council of Ministers- in the composition of ministers and chief executives of separate parts, “belonging to the general ministerial structure”, with the right of other chief commanders to participate in the Council “on the subjects of their department”. Chairman of the Council of Ministers was appointed by the emperor and had the right:
1. Participate in the affairs of all departments in the State Duma and the State Council and replace any minister or chief executive in these institutions.
2. To enter the emperor with the most humble reports on cases considered in the Council of Ministers and requiring Highest Resolution, as well as on other matters at its own discretion.
3. Request the necessary information and explanations from the heads of individual departments and departments.
4. To invite to meetings of the Council persons who do not have the status of a member of the Council of Ministers.
5. Submit cases to the Council of Ministers.
6. To control the most subordinate reports of ministers and chief executives, to be present at such reports to the emperor.
During the existence of the Duma Monarchy, there were 7 Chairmen of the Council of Ministers, one of whom (I.L. Goremykin) was twice appointed to this post.

Chairmen of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire:

1. gr. Witte Sergey Yulievich (1849 - 1915)
son of Yul.Fed.Witte (1814-1868) and Ekat. Andr. Fadeeva (1819-1898).
married 1st marriage to Nad.Andr.Ivanenko (d.1890), 2nd marriage to Matilda Iv. Nurok (1863-1924), had no children.
Minister of Railways in 1892
Minister of Finance 1892 - 1903
Chairman of the Committee of Ministers 1903-1905
Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 10/19/1905 to 04/22/1906
last rank - actual Privy Councilor (1899)

2. Goremykin Ivan Logginovich(1839-1917)
son of Logg. Iv. Goremykin (1809-1864) and Cap. Iv. Mankosheeva (1818-1856)
married to Alex.Iv. Kapger (1845-1917) and had children: Alexandra (1817-1917), Tatiana (1872-1965) and Mikhail (1879-1927)
Minister of the Interior in 1895-1899
Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 22.04. until 08.07. 1906 and from 01/30/1914 to 01/20/1916
last rank - real Privy Councilor 1st class (1916)
Killed along with his wife and daughter during a robbery.

3. Stolypin Petr Arkadievich(1862-1911)
son of Ark. Dm. Stolypin (1822-1899) and Prince Nat. Mikh. Gorchakova (1827-1889),
married to Ol.Bor. Neidhardt (1859-1944) and had children: Maria (1885-1985), Natalia (1891-1949), Elena (1893-1985), Olga (1895-1920), Alexandra (1897-1987) and Arcadia (1903-1990) ).
Minister of the Interior in 1906 -1911
Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 07/08/1906 to 09/11/1911
last rank - chamberlain of the court (1906).
Killed by a terrorist.

3. gr. Kokovtsev Vladimir Nikolaevich(1853-1943)
son Nick.Vas. Kokovtsev (1814-1873) and Agl. Nick. Insurance, married to Anna Fed. Oom (1860-1950), had a daughter, Olga (1881-after 1945).
Minister of Finance in 1904-1905 and 1906-1914
Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 09/11/1911 to 01/30/1914
last rank - actual Privy Councilor (1905)
Died in exile.

4. Shtyurmer Boris Vladimirovich(1848-1917)
son of Vl. Wilg. Stürmer (1819-1890) and Erm. Nick. Panina (1830-1874), married to Eliz.Vas.Strukova (1865-1917), and had sons: George (1880-after 1917) and Vladimir (1883-after 1917).
Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 20.01. by 10.11. 1916
Minister of the Interior in 1916
Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1916
last rank - chief chamberlain of the court (1916)
Died in custody.

5. Trepov Alexander Fyodorovich(1862-1928)
son of Fed. Fed. Trepov (1809-1889) and Vera Vas. Lukashevich (1821-1866), married to Sof. Dm. Kazina (1863-1941), had daughters: Sophia (1884-1947) and Elena (1885-1960).
Minister of Railways in 1915-1916
Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 10.11. to December 27, 1916
the last rank is the Jägermeister of the court (1905).
Died in exile.

6. book. Golitsyn Nikolay Dmitrievich(1850-1925)
son of Prince Dm.Bor.Golitsyna (1803-1864) and Sof.Nik.Pushchina (1827-1876), married to Evg.Andr.Grunberg (1864-1934) and had children: Dmitry (1882-1928), Nikolai (1883-1931 ), Alexandra (1885-1974), Sophia (1886-1891), Eugene (1888-1928), Olga (1891-1892).
Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 12/27/1916 to 03/02/1917
last rank - real Privy Councilor (1914).
Repressed by the Bolsheviks.

On November 1, 1905, Count Sergei Witte was appointed the first chairman of the Council of Ministers of Russia. Prior to this, the tsar personally was the chairman of the Council of Ministers.

Nicholas II went to the appointment of Witte to this position against the will of his wife Alexandra Feodorovna of the palace environment. “The constitution and parliament are not so terrible as Count Witte as chairman of the Council of Ministers. He will outshine you!" the Empress said to her husband.

Nevertheless, fear of the revolution and Western creditors (Witte had a good reputation among European bankers) forced Nicholas II to appoint the count as chairman of the Council of Ministers.

Witte's first step in this post was to invite the editors of all major St. Petersburg newspapers to his dacha on Kamenny Island in order to announce the creation of a coalition cabinet through the media. However, nothing came of this venture. The editors told Mr. Witte that they "didn't trust the government" and demanded that the troops be withdrawn from St. Petersburg.

As a result, Witte did not receive love and recognition from either the liberal part of Russian society or the tsar's entourage. After five months as chairman of the Council of Ministers, Witte asked the tsar to resign. Nicholas II accepted it with ease.

The post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers lasted until the February Revolution of 1917, it was occupied by seven people.

7 Chairmen of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire

Sergei Yulievich Witte (1849-1915)

Witte began his career in the management of the Odessa Railway. Participated in the work of the Commission for the study of railway business in Russia. In 1889 he was appointed director of the Department of Railways under the Ministry of Finance, and at the end of 1892 - Minister of Finance. Witte actively promoted railway construction, including the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Chinese Eastern Railway. In 1897, he carried out a monetary reform, introducing the gold standard of the ruble, which contributed to the influx of foreign investment.

In the summer of 1905, Witte was sent to Portsmouth to conclude a peace treaty with Japan, where he was able to achieve minimal losses for Russia. For this he was elevated to the rank of count.

Under Witte's leadership, a manifesto was drawn up on October 17, 1905, proclaiming "freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and association" and introducing a representative body - the State Duma. Simultaneously with the promulgation of the manifesto, Witte was appointed the first chairman of the Council of Ministers. He was a supporter of tough measures to suppress revolutionary sentiment, but at the same time tried to cooperate with the liberals.

Ivan Logginovich Goremykin (1839-1917)

In 1895 Goremykin was appointed Minister of the Interior. Under him, in 1897, the first general census of the population was held. Goremykin opposed the policy of the Witte government, believing that it undermined the foundations of the state.

Five days before the start of the session of the First State Duma Goremykin was appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers, after which he fought with the parliament for all 72 days of its existence. After the dissolution of the first convocation of the Duma on July 8, 1906, Goremykin was replaced by Pyotr Stolypin.

In January 1914, Goremykin returned to the post of Chairman of the Council of Ministers, which he held for another two years. In February 1917 he was arrested and gave evidence to the Extraordinary Investigation Commission of the Provisional Government. He died during an attack on his estate in the summer of 1917.

Pyotr Arkadyevich Stolypin (1862-1911)

From 1884 he served in the Ministry of the Interior. In February 1903, Stolypin was appointed leader of the Saratov province, where he led the suppression of peasant unrest. In April 1906, Stolypin was appointed Minister of the Interior, and in July he assumed the position of Chairman of the Council of Ministers. Stolypin proclaimed a course of socio-political reforms, began the agrarian reform. Under his leadership, a number of other bills were developed: on the reform of local self-government, on universal primary education, on religious tolerance, etc.

There were 11 attempts on Stolypin's life. After the first of these, in August 1906, the Council of Ministers adopted a decree on courts-martial. Within nine months, more than a thousand death sentences were handed down.

June 3, 1907 3 Nicholas II signed a decree on the dissolution of the II State Duma. The procedure for elections to the State Duma was changed in favor of right-wing parties. The June 3 coup is considered the end of the revolution of 1905-1907.

On September 1, 1911, Stolypin was mortally wounded by an agent of the Kyiv security department, Dmitry Bogrov. The ultimate goals of his reform were never achieved.

Vladimir Nikolaevich Kokovtsev (1853-1943)

After the assassination of Stolypin, Vladimir Kokovtsev was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers, who since 1904 served as Minister of Finance. He believed that until the end of the Stolypin agrarian reform, industry should be a priority. Over the 11 years of managing Kokovtsev's finances, state revenues have increased significantly.

At the end of January 1914, he was forced to resign due to disagreements with the right-wing parties and Rasputin. In compensation, he received the title of count. In June 1918, Kokovtsev was under arrest for several days, and after his release, he and his wife emigrated to France.

Boris Vladimirovich Shturmer (1848-1917)

Stürmer was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers on January 20, 1916. From March to July, he was also Minister of the Interior, and from July - Minister of Foreign Affairs. Stürmer supported the monarchists, was a member of the Russian Assembly and the Russian Border Society. In 1915 he was elected an honorary member of the Patriotic Union. He fought against the revolutionary movement and the opposition in the State Duma. Upon his retirement on November 10, 1915, he received the rank of chief chamberlain. During February Revolution was arrested and died in the prison hospital.

Alexander Fedorovich Trepov (1862-1928)

In 1915, Trepov became head of the Ministry of Railways. Under him, the Murmansk railway was built, the Vologda-Arkhangelsk branch was transferred to the broad gauge. Trepov established the Department of Highways as part of the ministry. He tried to fight the influence of Rasputin, to achieve the resignation of the Minister of Internal Affairs A. Protopopov. He himself was dismissed on December 27, 1916. After October revolution emigrated, became one of the leaders of the white movement. Died in Nice.

Nikolai Dmitrievich Golitsyn (1850-1925)

From 1871, he held various positions in the Ministry of the Interior. Since 1914 - a real Privy Councilor. In 1915, Golitsyn was appointed chairman of the Committee for Assistance to Russian Prisoners of War, which was patronized by the Empress. At her request, on December 27, 1916, Golitsyn was appointed chairman of the Council of Ministers. He also tried to achieve the resignation of Protopopov, but was against the dissolution of the State Duma.

During the February Revolution, Golitsyn was arrested along with other ministers, testified to the Extraordinary Investigation Commission of the Provisional Government. After these events, he remained in Russia, but stopped working political activities working as a shoemaker and guarding public gardens. In the early 1920s, Golitsyn was arrested three times on suspicion of counter-revolutionary activities, and for the third time, by order of the United State Political Administration (OGPU), he was shot.

Page 1

The tsarist government to a certain extent achieved its goal: the system of land use was somewhat streamlined, but not completely, but it helped to alienate considerable Bashkir lands.

The tsarist government, with cynical frankness, is playing its game of the constitution. It retains its old power, it continues and intensifies the persecution of the freedom fighters, it clearly wants to turn the Duma into an empty talking shop - a screen for the autocracy, an instrument of deception for the people. Whether this tactic will be crowned with success will be decided in the very near future, will be decided by the outcome of a new revolutionary explosion, which is now brewing.

The tsarist government is striving to weaken the revolutionary upsurge, write the Mensheviks in their resolution. But is it only the tsarist government that strives for this? Haven't the Cadets already proved a thousand times over that they, too, are striving both to rely on the people and to weaken their revolutionary upsurge? Is it proper for the Social-Democrats to paint over the Cadets?

The tsarist government, having achieved calm in the Bashkir region, begins to pay attention to economic issues. But he, like any state, is most interested in taxes, more precisely, the collection of taxes.

The tsarist government, pursuing a policy of strict regulation and clearly defining the scope of the activities of Muslim spiritual servants, sought to make the Orenburg Mohammedan Spiritual Assembly an obedient means in carrying out its policy - to keep the masses in obedience. To make the clergy obedient, it provided them with various benefits, for example, exemption from recruitment, from taxes.

The tsarist government in its decrees speaks directly about its policy of supporting the Teptyar population.

The tsarist government and other decrees (November 19, 1870, February 6, 1871, June 4, 1871) generously distribute land to retired officials and officers, military and civilian servants.

During this period, the tsarist government kept under control the activities of the Orenburg Mohammedan Spiritual Assembly and, in general, the activities of Muslim spiritual servants.

The tsarist government, with cynical frankness, is playing its game of the constitution. It retains its old power, it continues and intensifies the persecution of the freedom fighters, it clearly wants to turn the Duma into an empty talking shop-screen for the autocracy, an instrument of deception for the people. Whether this tactic will be crowned with success will be decided in the very near future, will be decided by the outcome of a new revolutionary explosion, which is now brewing.

The tsarist government brutally cracked down on the revolutionary organization of the Polish proletariat: Varynsky was tortured in prison, Stanislav Kunicki, Michal Ossovsky, Piotr Bardovsky and Jan Petrusinsky were executed, many were exiled to hard labor.

The tsarist government for many decades thought about how to populate the eastern uninhabited regions, but it was never able to solve this problem.

The tsarist government was not interested in the development of the productive forces of the region, for it the Transcaucasus, and in particular Georgia, was warm Siberia, where many progressive people of the country were referred for free-thinking.

The tsarist government thanked the venerable scientist in its own way - in 1898 he was forbidden to engage in professorial activities.

The tsarist government drew the same conclusion as the revolutionaries from the events of 1905-1906: the key issue of the situation in Russia was the position of the peasantry. The constitutional Manifesto of October 17, 1905, intended to appease the liberal and radical elements in the cities, was followed by a new one on November 3, in which the peasants were promised relief from the payment of their existing debts.

As a result of the Northern War of 1700-1721, a powerful Swedish army was defeated, and the Russian lands captured by Sweden in the late 16th and early 17th centuries were returned. At the mouth of the Neva, the city of St. Petersburg was built, where in 1712 the capital of Russia was transferred. The Muscovite state becomes in 1721 the Russian Empire, headed by the Emperor of All Russia.

Of course, Russia took a long time to create an empire, and not only the victory in the Northern War contributed to this.

Long haul

At the beginning of the XIII century, Rus' consisted of about 15 principalities. However, the natural course of centralization was crossed out by the Mongol invasion (1237-1240). Further unification of the Russian lands took place in difficult foreign policy conditions and was dictated primarily by political prerequisites.

In the XIV century most of Russian lands were united around Vilna - the capital of the emerging Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Russia. During the XIII-XV centuries, the possession of the great Lithuanian princes from the Gediminovich family was Gorodensky, Polotsk, Vitebsk, Turov-Pinsk, Kiev principalities, as well as most of the Chernihiv region, Volyn, Podolia, Smolensk region and a number of other Russian lands. Thus, the sole rule of the Rurikovichs and the tribal unity of Rus' have gone into the past. Lands were annexed both by military and peaceful means.

The end of the 15th - the beginning of the 16th centuries became a kind of frontier, after which the lands annexed to Russia formed a single whole with it. The process of joining the rest of the inheritance Ancient Rus' stretched out for another two centuries, and by that time their own ethnic processes had gained strength there.

In 1654 Left-Bank Ukraine joined Russia. The lands of the Right-Bank Ukraine (without Galicia) and Belarus became part of the Russian Empire as a result of the second division of the Commonwealth in 1793.

“The Russian kingdom (both conceptually, ideologically, and institutionally) had two sources: the “kingdom” (khanate) of the Golden Horde and the Byzantine Orthodox kingdom (empire).”

One of the first to formulate a new idea of ​​the royal power of the Moscow princes was Metropolitan Zosima. In the essay "Outline of the Paschal", submitted to the Moscow Cathedral in 1492, he emphasized that Moscow became the new Constantinople thanks to Rus''s fidelity to God. God Himself appointed Ivan III - "the new Tsar Constantine to the new city of Constantine - Moscow and the whole Russian land and many other lands of the sovereign." Thus, Ivan IV was the first tsar crowned king. This happened on January 16, 1547.

Under Ivan IV, Russia managed to significantly expand its possessions. As a result of the campaign against Kazan and its capture in 1552, she gained the middle Volga region, and in 1556, with the capture of Astrakhan, the lower Volga region and access to the Caspian Sea, which opened up new trade opportunities with Persia, the Caucasus and Central Asia. At the same time, the ring of hostile Tatar khanates that hampered Rus' was broken, and the road to Siberia was opened.

V. Surikov "Conquest of Siberia by Yermak"

The era of Ivan the Terrible also marked the beginning of the conquest of Siberia. A small detachment of Cossacks Yermak Timofeevich, hired by the Ural industrialists Stroganovs to protect against the raids of the Siberian Tatars, defeated the army of the Siberian Khan Kuchum and took his capital Kashlyk. Despite the fact that due to the attacks of the Tatars, few of the Cossacks managed to return alive, the collapsed Siberian Khanate was no longer restored. A few years later, the tsarist archers of the voivode Voeikov crushed the last resistance. The gradual development of Siberia by the Russians began. Over the next decades, forts and trading settlements began to appear: Tobolsk, Verkhoturye, Mangazeya, Yeniseisk and Bratsk.

Russian empire

P. Zharkov "Portrait of Peter I"

On August 30, 1721, the Treaty of Nystadt was concluded between Russia and Sweden, according to which Russia received access to the Baltic Sea, annexed the territory of Ingria, part of Karelia, Estonia and Livonia.

Russia has become a great European power. Peter I accepted from the Senate the titles "Great" and "Father of the Fatherland", he was proclaimed emperor, and Russia - an empire.

The formation of the Russian Empire was accompanied by a number of reforms.

Public Administration Reform

Creation of the Near Office (or Council of Ministers) in 1699. It was transformed in 1711 into the Governing Senate. Establishment of 12 collegiums with a specific scope of activity and powers.

The system of state administration has become more perfect. Majority activity government agencies became regulated, the boards had a clearly defined area of ​​activity. Supervisory bodies were created.

Regional (provincial) reform

At the first stage of the reform, Peter I divided Russia into 8 provinces: Moscow, Kyiv, Kazan, Ingermanland (later St. Petersburg), Arkhangelsk, Smolensk, Azov, Siberia. They were ruled by governors who were in charge of the troops located on the territory of the province, and also possessed full administrative and judicial power. At the second stage of the reform, the provinces were divided into 50 provinces ruled by governors, and those were divided into districts led by zemstvo commissars. The governors were stripped of their administrative power and were in charge of judicial and military matters.

There was a centralization of power. Local governments have almost completely lost influence.

Judicial reform

Peter 1 formed new judicial bodies: the Senate, the Justic College, the Hofgerichts, and the lower courts. Judicial functions were also performed by all colleagues, except for Foreign. The judges were separated from the administration. The court of kissers (an analogue of the jury trial) was canceled, the principle of the inviolability of an unconvicted person was lost.

A large number of judicial bodies and persons who carried out judicial activities (the emperor himself, governors, governors, etc.) brought confusion and confusion to the proceedings, the introduction of the possibility of "knocking out" testimony under torture created grounds for abuse and bias. At the same time, the adversarial nature of the process was established and the need for the verdict to be based on specific articles of the law corresponding to the case under consideration.

Military reforms

The introduction of recruitment, the creation of the navy, the establishment of the Military Collegium, which was in charge of all military affairs. Introduction with the help of the "Table of Ranks" of military ranks, uniform for all of Russia. Creation of military-industrial enterprises, as well as military educational institutions. Introduction of army discipline and military regulations.

With his reforms, Peter 1 created a formidable regular army, numbering up to 212 thousand people by 1725 and a strong Navy. Subdivisions were created in the army: regiments, brigades and divisions, in the navy - squadrons. Many military victories were won. These reforms (although ambiguously assessed by different historians) created a springboard for the further success of Russian weapons.

Church reform

The institution of the patriarchate was actually liquidated. In 1701, the management of church and monastery lands was reformed. Peter 1 restored the Monastic order, which controlled church revenues and the trial of the monastery peasants. In 1721, the Spiritual Regulations were adopted, which actually deprived the church of independence. To replace the patriarchate, the Holy Synod was created, whose members were subordinate to Peter 1, by whom they were appointed. Church property was often taken away and spent on the needs of the emperor.

The church reforms of Peter 1 led to the almost complete subordination of the clergy to secular power. In addition to the elimination of the patriarchate, many bishops and ordinary clergy were persecuted. The church could no longer pursue an independent spiritual policy and partly lost its authority in society.

Financial reforms

The introduction of many new (including indirect) taxes, the monopolization of the sale of tar, alcohol, salt and other goods. Damage (reduction in weight) of the coin. The penny becomes the main coin. Transition to the poll tax.

Increase in revenues of the treasury several times. But! It was achieved at the expense of the impoverishment of the bulk of the population, and most of this income was embezzled.

Culture and life

Peter I led the fight against the external manifestations of the "outdated" way of life (the most famous ban on beards), but no less paid attention to the introduction of the nobility to education and secular Europeanized culture. Secular educational institutions began to appear, the first Russian newspaper was founded, translations of many books into Russian appeared. Success in the service of Peter made the nobles dependent on education.

N. Nevrev "Peter I"

A number of measures were taken to develop education: on January 14, 1700, a school of mathematical and navigational sciences was opened in Moscow. In 1701-1721, artillery, engineering and medical schools were opened in Moscow, an engineering school and a naval academy in St. Petersburg, mining schools at the Olonets and Ural factories. In 1705, the first gymnasium in Russia was opened. The goals of mass education were to be served by the digital schools created by decree of 1714 in provincial cities, called " to teach children of all ranks literacy, numbers and geometry". It was supposed to create two such schools in each province, where education was supposed to be free. Garrison schools were opened for soldiers' children, and a network of theological schools was created for the training of priests in 1721. Peter's decrees introduced compulsory education for nobles and clergy, but a similar measure for the urban population met with fierce resistance and was canceled. Peter's attempt to create an all-estate primary school failed (the creation of a network of schools ceased after his death, most of the digital schools under his successors were redesigned into class schools for the training of the clergy), but nevertheless, during his reign, the foundations were laid for the spread of education in Russia.

Peter I created new printing houses.

In 1724, Peter approved the charter of the Academy of Sciences being organized, which was opened after his death.

Of particular importance was the construction of stone Petersburg, in which foreign architects took part and which was carried out according to the plan developed by the tsar. He created a new urban environment with previously unfamiliar forms of life and pastime (theatre, masquerades). The interior decoration of houses, the way of life, the composition of food, etc. have changed.

By a special decree of the tsar in 1718, assemblies were introduced, representing a new form of communication between people in Russia. At the assemblies, the nobles danced and mingled freely, unlike earlier feasts and feasts.

S. Khlebovsky "Assemblies under Peter I"

Peter invited foreign artists to Russia and at the same time sent talented young people to study "arts" abroad.

On December 30, 1701, Peter issued a decree ordering to write full names in petitions and other documents instead of pejorative half-names (Ivashka, Senka, etc.), not to fall on your knees in front of the tsar, in winter, in the cold, wear a hat in front of the house in which you are king, do not shoot. He explained the need for these innovations in this way: "Less baseness, more zeal for service and loyalty to me and the state - this honor is characteristic of the king ...".

Peter tried to change the position of women in Russian society. He by special decrees (1700, 1702 and 1724) forbade forced marriage and marriage. It was prescribed that there should be at least six weeks between the betrothal and the wedding, "so that the bride and groom could recognize each other." If during this time, the decree said, “the bridegroom does not want to take the bride, or the bride does not want to marry the groom,” no matter how the parents insisted, “there is freedom.”

The transformations of the era of Peter I led to the strengthening of the Russian state, the creation of a modern European army, the development of industry and the spread of education among the upper classes of the population. Settled absolute monarchy headed by the emperor, to whom the church was also subordinate (through the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod).