III department and corps of gendarmes briefly. Third department and corps of gendarmes

The third department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery was the highest body of political police in Russia. It operated from 1826 to 1880. During this period of time, Nicholas I reigned, and then his son Alexander II. This authority was in charge of supervision over persons who were considered unreliable and investigation.

The Separate Corps of Gendarmes acted as the executive body of the Third Department. And it was headed by the so-called chief of gendarmes, called the chief manager. The third department of the imperial chancellery, like all the others, was equivalent to a ministry.

Reasons for education

The reasons for the creation of the Third Department of the Imperial Chancellery were as follows:

Tense of that time, primarily associated with such an important event as the Decembrist uprising.
The conviction of Tsar Nicholas I that skillful administrative influence can become a powerful lever of influence not only on the work of the state apparatus, but also on the life of society.

From the history of creation

After the events on Senate Square in St. Petersburg and the accession to the throne of Nicholas I, a number of changes occurred in the state apparatus. The emperor's internal policy was aimed at strengthening it. Among these changes was the establishment of the Third Department of the Imperial Chancellery. It, among others, occurred as a result of the division of the office into separate departments.

On June 25, 1826, the emperor signed a decree creating a new position for the head of the gendarmerie. The head of the Second Cuirassier Division, Adjutant General Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf, was appointed to it. He subsequently received the title of count. All the Gendarmerie Regiment (gendarmes attached to the troops) and the Gendarmerie Commands (gendarmes assigned to the Internal Guard Corps) came under his command.

07/03/1826 By the highest decree, the Tsar transformed the Special Office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs into the Third Department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Office. It was placed under the main command of Benckendorff. Thus, the gendarme unit and the higher police merged under the command of one person.

The building located on the embankment of the Moika River, number 58, was transferred as the location of the new organization. It has not survived to this day. A. H. Benckendorff was the permanent chief leader of the Third Department of the Imperial Chancellery until his death in 1844. Prince A.F. Orlov became his successor, serving in this position until 1856.

What did the department do?

The activities of the Third Department of the Imperial Chancellery were very diverse. Here are its main directions:

Detective activities.
Investigative actions in political cases.
Implementation of caesura until 1865.
The fight against sectarianism and Old Believers.
Management of political prisons.
Investigation of cases concerning cruel treatment of landowners against serfs.
Supervision of revolutionaries and public figures who had an anti-government attitude is at a late stage of work.
Compiling annual reviews of socio-political life for presentation to the emperor.

Department structure

Since 1838, the third department of the imperial chancellery was located on the embankment of the Fontanka River, in house 16, the former mansion of V.P. Kochubey. There were several departments - expeditions. At first there were four of them. In 1828, a new position was established - censor, and in 1842 a new, fifth expedition - censorship.

In 1826, only 16 employees served in the Third Department. In 1829, the staff was expanded to 20 people, and in 1841 - to 28. In the last years of the reign of Emperor Alexander II, 72 people already worked in the department, excluding secret agents.

The organizational structure became more complex in 1839. This happened due to the fact that the Corps of Gendarmes was attached to the III Department. Both named departments, under the authority of A.H. Benckendorf, were subordinate to Major General Dubelt, who was in the emperor’s retinue.

At the department there was a special part called the legal advisory department. In 1847, an archive was organized in the III department, which contained the files of each of the expeditions, reports for the emperor, and appendices to the files (for example, material evidence).

I expedition

She dealt with all matters that related to politics, “subjects of the high police.” Collected information about persons under police surveillance. This expedition considered cases of greatest political significance. Even regardless of the fact that they could belong to the sphere of activity of some other expedition.

The employees of this department studied public opinion - the “state of mind”, compiled reviews (general and specific) of the most important events taking place in the country - “the most comprehensive reports”. They observed the revolutionary as well as the social movement, the actions of some revolutionaries, figures of science, culture, literature, and society.

Their responsibilities included organizing political investigation and investigative actions, and implementing various types of repressive measures. Among them could be: detention in a fortress, exile to distant parts of the country for settlement, deportation to come under police supervision.

The expedition also carried out: supervision of the maintenance of places of detention, collection of information about abuses in the bureaucracy, about the progress of noble elections, and the course of the recruitment process. Until mid-1866, information was collected about the attitude of other states towards the Russian Empire. At the later stage of activity in the First Expedition, only those cases were carried out that concerned insults to members of the imperial family.

II expedition

She was involved in the consideration of cases of sectarians, schismatics, criminal murders, counterfeiters, places of detention and the “peasant question”. She supervised the life of various religious denominations in Russia, the emergence of sects and religious cults, as well as the administrative and economic management of state prisons. These places of detention included:

Alekseevsky ravelin.
Peter-Pavel's Fortress.
Shlisselburg Fortress.
Monastery of Saint Euthymius.
Schwarzholm house.

Also, the responsibilities of the staff of this expedition included:

Organization of the fight against criminal offenses - especially dangerous and official ones.
Collection of information about the functioning of public organizations, various types of societies, including cultural, educational, economic, and insurance. Obtaining information about discoveries, inventions, improvements, the circulation of counterfeit coins and banknotes, counterfeit documents.
Consideration of petitions, complaints, denunciations and preparation of reports on them.
Supervision of how civil cases concerning the division of property and land, adultery are resolved.
Staffing of the Third Department of the Imperial Chancellery, distribution of functions among structural units.

III expedition

Its employees were in charge of monitoring foreign citizens living on the territory of the Russian Empire, as well as the expulsion of suspicious and unreliable persons.

Starting from 1826 and ending in mid-1866, the expedition supervised the stay of foreigners in Russia, their entry and exit, in fact performing counterintelligence functions.

In the period that followed, this expedition was transferred to the functions of the First Expedition relating to monitoring the revolutionary and social movements and conducting inquiries into political affairs.

In connection with the abolition of the IV Expedition in 1873, it was given responsibility for collecting information about incidents (in particular, on railway transport), which it shared with the III Expedition.

IV expedition

Its employees carried out correspondence about “all incidents in general”; they were in charge of personnel, awards, and supervision of the press. They also collected information about important events in the state, such as peasant uprisings, urban unrest, government events related to the peasant issue.

This expedition received information about harvest forecasts, the food supply of the Russian population, the state of trade, and fairs. During the period of hostilities, reports were also received here from the army, about skirmishes and other incidents on the border and in border areas.

The duties of the employees also included leading the fight against smugglers, collecting data regarding the abuses of local officials, criminal offenses, and various incidents (floods, fires). It was liquidated in 1873.

V expedition

This department was created in 1842 to specifically deal with censorship matters. His employees:

They were engaged in theatrical censorship.
Supervised book sellers.
Monitored the work of the printing houses.
Banned books were confiscated.
Controlled the publication and circulation of public notices (posters).
They compiled catalogs of books arriving from abroad.
They allowed the publication of new works and translations.
Observed the periodical press.

Abolition

In 1878, the chief of gendarmes Mezentsov was killed by terrorists, and revolutionary activity gained momentum. Since the Third Department could not cope with curbing it, on February 12, 1880, a Supreme Commission was created to maintain order and maintain public peace. It was headed by Count Loris-Melikov, under whose control the Third Department and the Corps of Gendarmes were temporarily given.

Then, in accordance with the decree of August 6, 1880, the commission, like the Third Department, was closed, and all cases were transferred to the one created under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

The third department of the imperial chancellery did not achieve the goals initially set for it. It could not cope with bribes, embezzlement, or lawlessness. Although he really hoped for this, since he believed that the criminal elements would stop their activities when they saw that the “innocent victims of their greed” were being protected by the sovereign himself.

With its harsh actions, often associated with arbitrariness, distrust of manifestations of independent judgments expressed orally or in writing, this body aroused fear and condemnation in society.

Third Section and Corps of Gendarmes

After the suppression of the uprising of 1825, protecting the regime was recognized as the primary task of the authorities. The whole story with the Decembrists was perceived as a significant blunder in the organization of the state security system. It was decided to correct this deficiency. In 1826, the Corps of Gendarmes and the Third Department of the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty were formed under the leadership of a military general and a person close to Nicholas I, Alexander Khristoforovich Benkendorf. It was he who submitted the project for organizing the new department and was soon appointed its head. At the same time, he became the chief of a special military unit - the Corps of Gendarmes.

The meaning of the reform was to divide the country into several large gendarmerie districts; They were headed by gendarmerie generals and officers, who were actively assisted by secret agents of the Third Section. This institution itself had four expeditions - departments that monitored suspicious people, Old Believers, counterfeiters, foreigners and were in charge of... the peasant question, since it was classified as a secret subject to special supervision by the secret police. Over the years, the work of the Third Department became more complicated - from 1828 it began to deal with theatrical censorship.

Drawing up “all-subject reports” for the king based on the information collected was the most important function of the new institution. Nicholas I made it a rule to monitor the state of society, to know what each class group and, if possible, each person was breathing. The third department became such an information center for the autocratic ruler. Many reports from the Department “on the state of mind” in Russia have survived to this day.

Let's look at the source

From the Third Department's report for 1832:

“Higher observation, paying vigilant attention to the general disposition of minds in all parts of the empire, can, according to all the information received in 1832, certify that throughout the entire space of the Russian state, the disposition of all classes in relation to the highest government is generally satisfactory. It cannot, of course, be denied that there are no ill-intentioned people at all, but their number is so insignificant that they disappear in the general mass; they are barely worthy of attention and cannot pose any concern. Everyone unanimously loves the sovereign, is committed to him and gives full justice to his tireless labors for the benefit of the state, his constant attention to all branches of government and his family virtues. And the most unkind people do not reject these highest qualities in him... The dissatisfied are divided into two groups. The first consists of the so-called Russian patriots, whose pillar is N. S. Mordvinov. The second includes persons who consider themselves insulted in their ambitious plans and condemn not so much the government’s measures themselves, but those who were chosen by the sovereign. The soul of this party, which speaks out against abuses solely because it itself is deprived of the opportunity to take part in them, is Prince A. B. Kurakin.”

It seems that no special comments are required here: the political police want to show that thanks to their efforts, everything is calm in the country, that the subjects, all as one, have rallied around the throne, and pitiful groups of “unkind” do not pose any danger to the state and government. It is quite possible that this was the case.

But if the activities of the Third Department were limited only to the collection and analysis of information about the state of public opinion! Soon, despite its small number, the Department became the most influential institution in the country, deciding the fate of almost every subject. Benckendorff, and especially his successor L.V. Dubelt, managed to organize a dense network of agents, both paid and voluntary, which included everyone who began to express at least some dissatisfaction with the existing order. Dubelt did not stop at the obviously vile method of identifying dissatisfied people through provocation. The most famous is the provocation carried out by the Third Department against the circle of M. V. Butashevich-Petrashevsky in 1849, in which F. M. Dostoevsky was a member.

The activities of the police and the Third Department created a suffocating atmosphere of denunciations, espionage, suspicion and fear in the country. It was difficult to live there. Thinking, conscientious people suffered especially, literature suffered, which was the object of the most careful supervision of the authorities with the help of ferocious censorship. Guilty writers and publishers were subjected to persecution and repression. The case became especially loud with the publication of his “Philosophical Letters” by retired guard captain P. Ya. Chaadaev in the magazine “Telescope” for 1836. In his work, Chaadaev reflected rather critically on the historical destinies of Russia and expressed very bold and controversial ideas about its history and purpose. This is what caused the special anger of Nicholas I, who shared Benckendorff’s views that “Russia’s past is amazing, the present is more than excellent, and the future cannot be described.” The Telescope was immediately closed, the editor was exiled, and Chaadaev was declared crazy. The basis for such a “diagnosis” was the resolution of Nicholas I on an article by a retired captain: “Having read the article, I find that its content is a mixture of impudent nonsense, worthy of an insane person...” The authorities believed that only an abnormal person gripped by mania could criticize the best system in the world criticism and projecting.

Let's look at the source

Benckendorff himself wrote:

“Emperor Nicholas strove to eradicate the abuses that had crept into many parts of government, and was convinced from the suddenly discovered conspiracy, which stained the first minutes of the new reign with blood, of the need for widespread, more vigilant supervision, which would finally flock to one center; The sovereign chose me to form a higher police force that would protect the oppressed and monitor abuses and people prone to them. The number of the latter has increased to a terrifying degree since many French adventurers, having mastered the education of our youth, brought the revolutionary principles of their fatherland to Russia, and even more since the last war through the rapprochement of our officers with the liberals of those European countries where ours took us victory."

From Benckendorf's notes it is clear that the main task of the Third Department was the fight against troublemakers within the country and the fight against the penetration of Western revolutionary and liberal ideas into Russia.

It was impossible for anyone to hide from the all-seeing eye of the secret police. This was the reason for the tragedy of A.S. Pushkin, who desperately fought in the Nikolaev years to preserve his inner world. The secret agents of the Third Section and the gendarmes were interested not only in planned political crimes, created secret societies, but also simply in words, opinions of people, somewhat different from the official point of view. Agents and gendarmes opened private letters, looked through the books people were reading, and eavesdropped on conversations in friendly conversations. In the spring of 1834, Pushkin learned that his letter to his wife had been printed at the post office, copied and delivered to the Tsar from the Third Department. With irritation and sadness, he wrote in his diary:

What profound immorality is in the habits of our government! The police print out the husband's letters to his wife and bring them to the Tsar (a well-bred and honest man) to read, and the Tsar is not ashamed to admit it - and set in motion an intrigue worthy of Vidocq and Bulgarin! Whatever you say, it is difficult to be autocratic.

And then, hoping that the next letter to his wife would be opened, he wrote:

The thought of someone eavesdropping on you and me drives me crazy. It is very possible to live without political freedom, but it is impossible to live without family integrity: hard labor is infinitely better... Be careful... They will probably print your letters too: this is required by State Security.

The building in St. Petersburg near the Chain Bridge (Fontanka embankment, 16), where the Third Department was located (or, as people said, “Stukalov order,” that is, where they “knock”), was known and feared by all of St. Petersburg. One could end up here for any criticism of the authorities. Placed to protect the system and the law, this institution, like other state offices similar to it, itself handled the law freely. As A.I. Koshelev recalled, Baron Delvig, a friend of Pushkin, published a newspaper. And one day the head of the 3rd department... Count Benckendorff calls him and strongly, even rudely, reprimands him for publishing a liberal article in the newspaper. Baron Delvig, with his characteristic equanimity, calmly notices to him that, on the basis of the law, the publisher does not answer when an article is passed by the censor, and his Excellency’s reproaches should be addressed not to him, the publisher, but to the censor. Then the head of the 3rd department becomes furious and says to Delvig: “The laws are written for subordinates, not for superiors, and you have no right to refer to them in your explanations with me and justify yourself by them.”

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(3) July 15, 1826 for the protection of the state system, supervision and control over the activities of the state apparatus and elected institutions by decreeEmperor Nicholas I the highest body of political investigation in Russia was established - III branch of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery.

Since the 18th century, various institutions have existed in Russia for the special prosecution and execution of political crimes. During the reignPeter the Great And Catherine Ithese were the Preobrazhensky order andSecret Chancery , which subsequently merged into one institution. Under Anna Ioannovna andElizaveta Petrovna there was an Office of Secret Investigative Affairs, and at the end of the reignCatherine the Great and under Paul I - Secret Expedition. During the reign of Alexander I, a Special Chancellery was created, working initially under the Ministry of Police, and then under the Ministry of Internal Affairs. By decree of Nicholas I in 1826, the Special Chancellery was transformed into an independent institution, called the Third Department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery. The department was led by the chief III department, which was appointed by the emperor and was directly subordinate to him. He was also the chief of the gendarmes. First chapter III department was appointedCount A.H. Benckendorff endowed with emergency powers.

At the base III departments, an important role was played, on the one hand, by the political events of that time, and on the other, by the conviction of the power of administrative influences not only on state, but also on public life. III The department began to exercise control over all aspects of the political and social life of Russia. It oversaw the preparation and executionpeasant reform of 1861 ; conducted inquiries into “crimes of the state,” which included not only political affairs, but also abuses by government officials.

In 1839 to III The gendarmerie corps was attached to the department. Management of the new structure of the department was entrusted to General L. V. Dubeltu.

Initially, Section III consisted of four expeditions. Subsequently, the functions of the expeditions were redistributed, and a new, 5th expedition was formed, and the 3rd was divided into two departments and special office work. In March 1869, all high police cases were concentrated in the 3rd expedition, and cases not related to the latter were transferred to the 4th expedition. In structure III The department also housed a general archive, two secret archives and a printing house.

The 1st expedition (secret) monitored revolutionary and public organizations and figures, conducted inquiries into political affairs, based on the results of which it compiled general and specific reviews of the most important events in the country. Since 1866, the expedition's jurisdiction focused on cases of insult to the emperor and members of the imperial family, expulsion, supervision, including of foreigners, and participants in the Polish uprising of 1863.

The 2nd expedition supervised the activities of sects and the spread of religious cults, and also collected information about inventions, counterfeiters, and was in charge of the Peter and Paul and Shlisselburg fortresses; staffed the III Department and distributed responsibilities between its structural divisions.

The 3rd expedition monitored foreigners living in Russia, collected information about the political situation, revolutionary parties and organizations of foreign countries.

The 4th expedition collected information about the peasant movement and government activities on the peasant issue, crop prospects, food supplies, trade progress, and fairs. The expedition received reports from the active army, information about clashes and incidents on the borders of the Russian Empire. The 4th Expedition also led the fight against smuggling and collected data on abuses by the local administration.

The 5th expedition was in charge of censorship, supervised booksellers, printing houses, and monitored periodicals. Since 1865, these functions of the expedition came under the jurisdiction of the Main Directorate for Press Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In the conditions of the revolutionary situation of the late 1870s - early 1880s. The Russian government decided to create special interdepartmental bodies with emergency powers. After the attempt on the life of Emperor Alexander II, to combat the revolutionary movement in February 1880, the Supreme Administrative Commission for the Protection of State Order and Public Peace was created, headed by M. T. Loris-Melikov, endowed with unlimited powers. The III Department and the Corps of Gendarmes were temporarily subordinated to the Commission.

By the highest decree of August 6 (18), 1880, the III Department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery was abolished, and its affairs were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Lit.: III department of the Own e.i. V. office 03.07.1826-06. 08. 1880 // Higher and central government institutions of Russia. 1801-1917 T. 1. St. Petersburg, 1998. pp. 158-161; Derevnina T. G. From the history of education of the III department // Bulletin of Moscow State University. Series History. 1973. No. 4; Eroshkin N.P. History of state institutions of pre-revolutionary Russia. M., 1968; Lemke M.K. Nikolaev gendarmes and literature 1826-1855gg.: On genuine cases of the Third Branch of the Own E.i. Majesty's Office. St. Petersburg, 1909; Mustonen P. His Imperial Majesty’s Own Office in the mechanism of power of the institution of the autocrat. 1812-1858. Toward a typology of the foundations of imperial governance. Helsinki, 1998; Orzhekhovsky I. V. Third department // Questions of history. 1972. No. 2; Gunpowder V.I. III department under Nicholas I. Saratov, 2010; Roslyakova O. B. III department during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I: dis. ... k.i. n. Saratov, 2003; His own imp. Majesty's office. Department 3. Cases of the III Department of the Own E. and. V. office about Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin. St. Petersburg, 1906; Same. Case (1862. 1st expedition No. 230) III Department of the Own E.I. V. chancellery about Count Leo Tolstoy. St. Petersburg, 1906; Same. [On the need to strengthen police surveillance in the empire]. Regulations on the establishment of district gendarmerie departments in two capital provinces and in the provinces of the eastern part of Russia. [SPb., 1866]; Rybnikov V.V., Aleksushin G.V. History of law enforcement agencies of the Fatherland. M., 2007; Simbirtsev I. Third department: the first experience of creating a professional intelligence service in the Russian Empire, 1826-1880. M., 2006; Stroev V.N. Centenary of His Imperial Majesty’s own chancellery... St. Petersburg, 1912; The same [Electronic resource]. URL:http://www.bibliofika.ru/book.php?book=999 ; Trotsky I. M. Third department under Nicholas I. M., 1930; Chukarev A. G. The third department and Russian society in the second quarter of the 19th century, 1826–1855. : dis... d.h.i. Yaroslavl, 1998.

See also in the Presidential Library:

Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire. Collection 2nd. St. Petersburg, 1830. T. 1. No. 449. P. 665-666 ;

His Imperial Majesty's Own Office // Encyclopedic Dictionary / Ed. prof. I. E. Andreevsky. T. 30a. St. Petersburg, 1900. pp. 653-657 .

THE THIRD DEPARTMENT OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY'S OWN CHANCELLERY - in the Russian Empire - an organ of political investigation and investigation. Created by Emperor Nicholas I in 1826. The third department was led by the chief commander (who was also the chief of gendarmes) and (who was also the chief of staff of the gendarme corps in 1839-1871). The executive bodies of the Third Department were institutions and military units of the Separate Corps of Gendarmes (see). The third department consisted of 5 expeditions, a general archive, 2 secret archives and a printing house. The 1st - secret, was in charge of monitoring revolutionary and public organizations and figures, conducted inquiries on political affairs, compiled annual “Reports on Actions” for the Emperor - reviews of public opinion and the political life of the country, the 2nd expedition carried out religious sects, and etc. collected information about inventions, counterfeiters, was in charge of the Peter and Paul and Shlisselburg fortresses, the 3rd expedition monitored foreigners living in Russia, collected information about the political situation, revolutionary parties and organizations of foreign countries, the 4th expedition collected information about the peasant movement and events government on the peasant issue, about all incidents in the country, about crop prospects, etc. (in 1872 it was abolished, and its affairs were transferred to the 1st and 2nd expeditions), the 5th expedition was in charge of censorship and observed periodic publications (since 1865, these functions came under the jurisdiction of the Main Directorate for Press Affairs of the Ministry of Internal Affairs). In the conditions of the revolutionary situation of the late 70s - early 80s. The third department turned out to be ineffective in the fight against the revolutionary movement, and went to the creation of special interdepartmental bodies with emergency powers (Supreme Administrative, etc.). The third department was liquidated in 1880, and its functions were transferred to the Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Economics and law: dictionary-reference book. - M.: University and school. L. P. Kurakov, V. L. Kurakov, A. L. Kurakov. 2004 .

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Third department- His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery, the highest body of political police, was created by Emperor Nicholas I in July 1826 (after the defeat of the Decembrist uprising). Consisted of 5 (until 1841 of 4) expeditions, general and 2 secret archives and... ... Encyclopedic reference book "St. Petersburg"

His Imperial Majesty's own Chancellery was an organ of political supervision and investigation in Russia in 1826 80. The executive body was the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, whose chief headed the Third Department. After abolition, the functions were transferred to... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

His Imperial Majesty's own Chancellery, an organ of political supervision and investigation. Created in 1826 on the initiative of A. X. Benckendorff after the defeat of the Decembrist movement. The executive body was the Separate Corps of Gendarmes, whose chief... ...Russian history

The Cabinet was subordinated to its own patrimonial office, established by Catherine I for the management of imperial property and which existed until 1765, as a result of which the activities of the Cabinet began to predominate in the management of imperial patrimonies and especially mining factories.

During the reign of Catherine II, these matters became the only subject under the jurisdiction of the Cabinet; the latter circumstance caused the formation of a separate Own office. Under Paul I, the office of the sovereign enjoyed great influence: it received cases that deserved the highest special attention, memorials of the Governing Senate and complaints against the highest government places and persons. According to Troshchinsky, “the state official who managed this office was the actual minister of His Imperial Majesty for all matters of public administration.” This office was closed in 1802 with the establishment of ministries.

The own chancellery received a new development during the reign of Nicholas I, when it was entrusted with special tasks, for which six departments of the chancellery were gradually formed, which had an independent position and were equal in importance to ministries. In 1826, the former Own Chancellery received the name first department Own E.I.V. office; in the same year, the second and third departments of the Own Chancellery were established, in 1828 - the fourth, in 1836 - the fifth and in 1842 - the sixth (the last two departments were temporary).

The four branches of the Proprietary Chancellery existed until the early 1880s, when a gradual reduction of the branches of the Proprietary Chancellery began.

First department

Second department

The second department of the E.I.V.’s Own Chancellery was formed on April 4, 1826 to replace the “law drafting commission” that was attached to the State Council. This department, in contrast to the previous commission, had as its goal not the creation of new laws, but the putting in order of existing ones. The task of codification arose not for the first time since the Council Code of 1649, but for the first time the Emperor himself took the matter under personal control. The Emperor seriously sought to solve the most difficult task - the codification of all the accumulated legislative material since 1649. Only 1 million gold pieces were spent on the creation of a special printing house, the employees were from 30 to 50 people - also money was targeted. The manager of the II department was appointed professor of St. Petersburg University, the first dean of the Faculty of Law, at one time the rector of the university M. A. Balugyansky, but the soul of the matter was his assistant M. M. Speransky, thanks to whose energy all the laws that had accumulated were collected within three years over the previous 180 years and scattered across various places and institutions (see "Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire"). It is believed that Balugyansky himself was old and already bad as a lawyer, but Nikolai was afraid of the shock of people from Speransky’s return to the high place, although he had already been returned from disgrace. Then the II Department began to create a second collection, in which it selected all the current legislation and presented it in subject-historical, and not chronological order (see “Code of Laws of the Russian Empire”).

Later, the responsibility of the II Department was entrusted with the compilation of continuations to the Code of Laws, as well as the further publication of the Complete Collection of Laws. In addition, the II Department took part in the consideration of all bills, both in substance and in form, that is, in their relation to the Code of Laws. The obligatory sending of legislative projects for preliminary consideration by the II Department was abolished in 1866. Regardless of this, the II Department was often tasked with drafting bills; he was responsible for the compilation of the “Code on Criminal and Correctional Punishments” (1845), the Code on Punishments for the Kingdom of Poland, a set of local laws of the Baltic provinces, etc. Codification work in the second section was entrusted to the editors; They (or other specialists appointed by the manager) compiled reviews of incoming bills. At the II department there was a printing house and a special legal library, which was based on the collection of books of the former commission for drafting laws.

An important merit of the II Department is its promotion of the development of legal sciences in Russia. In 1828, at the suggestion of Speransky, three students each from the St. Petersburg and Moscow Theological Academies were assigned to the II department to prepare for the professorship. The following year, 6 more academy students were called for the same purpose, joined by three more students from St. Petersburg University: these individuals studied Roman law and Latin literature at the university and, in addition, studied practically in the II department.

After spending about a year and a half in the II department, the students underwent an examination in the II department; then they were sent (in 1829 and 1831) to Berlin, where, under the leadership of Savigny, they listened to lectures on legal sciences for three years; upon returning to St. Petersburg, they were again examined and received the degree of Doctor of Laws. All of them (except for three who died early) occupied the departments of legal sciences at various universities and revolutionized the teaching of jurisprudence in Russia, bringing with them familiarity with European science and a thorough knowledge of domestic law. Of these, the most prominent for their scientific merits were K. A. Nevolin, N. Krylov, Ya. I. and S. I. Barshevs, P. D. Kalmykov and P. Redkin.

In 1882, in order to bring the publication of the Code of Laws closer to the activities of the State Council, the II Department of the Own E.I.V. Chancellery was transformed into the Codification Department under the State Council.

At the head of the II department of E.I.V.’s own chancellery were: M.A. Balugyansky, Count D.N. Bludov, Count M.A. Korf, Count V.N. Panin, Prince S.N. Urusov.

Third department

The most famous is the III Department of the Own E.I.V. Office. It was created on June 3 (15), 1826, headed by A.H. Benckendorff.

Structure of the III Division:

I expedition was in charge of all political affairs - “subjects of the higher police and information about persons under police supervision.”

The First Expedition dealt with matters that were of “particularly important importance,” regardless of their belonging to the sphere of activity of other expeditions. The expedition was in charge of monitoring public opinion (“the state of mind”) and compiling general and private reviews of the most important events in the country (“all-subject” reports), monitoring the social and revolutionary movement, the activities of individual revolutionaries, public figures, cultural figures, literature, and science; organizing political investigation and investigation, implementing repressive measures (imprisonment in a fortress, exile in a settlement, deportation under police supervision), and monitoring the condition of places of detention. The expedition was engaged in collecting information about the abuses of senior and local government officials, the progress of noble elections, recruitment, and information about the attitude of foreign states towards Russia (until mid-1866). Later, in the First Expedition only cases of “insulting members of the royal family” remained.

II expedition dealt with schismatics, sectarians, counterfeiters, criminal murders, places of detention and the “peasant question” (the search and further prosecution of criminal cases remained with the Ministry of Internal Affairs; those related to counterfeiters - with the Ministry of Finance).

She supervised the activities of various religious denominations in Russia, the spread of religious cults and sects, as well as the administrative and economic management of national political prisons: Alekseevsky Ravelin, Peter and Paul Fortress, Shlisselburg Fortress, Suzdal Spaso-Evthymius Monastery and Schwarzholm House. Organized the fight against official and especially dangerous criminal offenses. She collected information about the activities of public organizations, cultural, educational, economic, insurance societies, about various inventions, improvements, discoveries, as well as the appearance of counterfeit money, documents, etc. She was involved in the consideration of complaints, petitions, denunciations and the preparation of reports on them. She supervised the resolution of civil cases on the division of land and property, cases of adultery, etc. She was responsible for staffing the III Division and distributing responsibilities between structural divisions.

III expedition dealt specifically with foreigners living in Russia and the expulsion of unreliable and suspicious people.

V expedition(created on October 23, 1842) was specifically engaged in censorship.

The V expedition was in charge of dramatic (theatrical) censorship, supervision of booksellers, printing houses, seizure of prohibited books, supervision of the publication and circulation of public news (posters), compilation of catalogs of books missed from abroad, permission to publish new works, translations, supervision of periodicals .

Archives of the III Division(organized in 1847).

The Archives stored the files of all expeditions, reports and reports to the emperor, material evidence and appendices to the cases.

In Benckendorf's instructions to the official of the III Department, the purpose of the department is declared to be “the establishment of the well-being and tranquility of all classes in Russia, the restoration of justice.” The Division III official was to keep an eye out for potential disturbances and abuses in all parts of the administration and in all states and places; to see that the tranquility and rights of citizens cannot be violated by anyone's personal power or the predominance of the strong or the harmful direction of malicious people; the official had the right to intervene in litigation before its completion; had supervision over the morals of young people; had to find out “about the poor and orphan officials who serve faithfully and truthfully and are in need of benefits,” etc. Count Benckendorff did not even find “the opportunity to name all the cases and objects” that an official of the III Department should pay attention to during execution his duties, and left them to his “insight and diligence.” All departments were ordered to immediately satisfy all demands of officials sent by the III Division. At the same time, officials were instructed to act softly and carefully; noticing illegal actions, they had to “first anticipate the leaders and those same people and use efforts to convert the lost to the path of truth and then reveal their bad deeds before the government.”

By decree of February 12, 1880, the Supreme Administrative Commission for the protection of state order and public tranquility was established under the chief command of Count M. T. Loris-Melikov, and the III Division, together with the corps of gendarmes, was temporarily subordinated to it, and by decree of August 6 of the same year, the Supreme Administrative Commission was closed and the III Department of the Own E.I.V. Office was abolished with the transfer of cases to