The Supreme Privy Council was established - the highest advisory body under the Empress, which was in charge of the main state internal and external affairs of Russia.

After the death of Emperor Peter I in 1725, his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna ascended the throne, creating from among the late emperor’s associates the Supreme Privy Council, which was supposed to advise the empress on how to proceed when making state decisions. Collegiums were subordinated to the Council, and the role of the Senate was reduced, which was expressed, in particular, in renaming it from the “Governing Senate” to the “High Senate”.

The first composition of the Privy Council included seven people: A. D. Menshikov, F. M. Apraksin, G. I. Golovkin, P. A. Tolstoy, A. I. Osterman, D. M. Golitsyn and the son-in-law of the Empress Duke Karl Holstein .

Members of the Supreme Privy Council developed for Catherine I "an opinion not in a decree on the newly established Privy Council", which established the rights and functions of this body. It was assumed that all the most important decisions were to be made only by the Supreme Privy Council, and any imperial decree was to end with the phrase "given in the Privy Council." Foreign policy issues, the army and navy, the appointment of senior officials (including senators), control over the activities of the collegiums, financial management, control, search and supervisory functions were transferred to the Council.

Financial issues, which turned out to be at the center of the council's activities, were tried to be resolved in two directions: by streamlining the system of accounting and control over state revenues and expenditures and by saving money. The collection of the poll tax and recruits was transferred from the army to the civil authorities, military units were withdrawn from the countryside to the cities, and some of the officers from the nobility were sent on long vacations without payment of monetary salaries. In order to save money, members of the Council decided to liquidate a number of local institutions (court courts, offices of zemstvo commissars, waldmeister offices) and reduce the number of local employees. Some of the petty officials who did not have a class rank were deprived of their salaries.

The Supreme Privy Council lifted restrictions on trade in certain goods, canceled many restrictive duties and created favorable conditions for foreign merchants, in particular, the previously prohibited trade through the port of Arkhangelsk was allowed. In 1726, an alliance treaty was concluded with Austria, which for several decades determined the nature of Russia's policy in the international arena.

If under Catherine I the Council was an advisory body with broad powers, then under Peter II it concentrated all power in its hands. At first, Menshikov was in charge of the Soviet, but in September 1727 he was arrested and exiled to Siberia. After the death of Peter II in January 1730, the Supreme Privy Council invited Anna Ioannovna, Dowager Duchess of Courland, to the throne. At the same time, on the initiative of Golitsyn, it was decided to reform the political system of Russia by actually eliminating the autocracy and introducing a limited monarchy. To this end, the members of the Council suggested that the future empress sign special conditions - "Conditions", according to which she was deprived of the opportunity to independently make political decisions: make peace and declare war, appoint to government posts, change the taxation system.

The lack of unity among the supporters of the Supreme Privy Council, who were trying to limit the power of the empress, allowed Anna Ioannovna, who arrived in Moscow, to publicly break the "Conditions", relying on the support of the middle and small nobility and the guard.

By the Manifesto of March 4 (15), 1730, the Supreme Privy Council was abolished, and most of its members were sent into exile.

Lit .: Anisimov E. V. Russia without Peter: 1725-1740. SPb., 1994; Vyazemsky B. L. Supreme Privy Council. St. Petersburg, 1909; Ostrovsky V. Power in secret. How Russia was left without the House of Lords // Petersburg Diary. 2006. July 31 (No. 29 (88));Minutes of the Supreme Privy Council, 1726-1730 M., 1858;Filippov A.N. The history of the Senate during the reign of the Supreme Privy Council and the Cabinet. Yuriev, 1895; Filippov A.N. Cabinet of Ministers and its comparison with the Supreme Privy Council: Speech delivered at the solemn meeting of the Imperial Yuryev University, December 12, 1897. Yuryev, 1898.

BEGINNING OF THE BOARD OF CATHERINE I

The new nobility, which advanced under Peter I, enlisted the support of the guards regiments summoned to the palace, enthroned Catherine. This was a narrow-minded, illiterate woman, unable to manage a huge empire, but popular, thanks to her kindness, she often interceded with a harsh spouse for persons who had been disgraced, and knew how to tame his anger. In practice, however, power was in the hands of the intelligent and ambitious Prince AD ​​Menshikov. Under the Empress, in 1726, the Supreme Privy Council was created, which, in addition to representatives of the new nobility headed by Menshikov, also included Prince D. M. Golitsyn, who personified the noble aristocracy.

Proclaimed by the Senate not entirely legally, under pressure from the guards, Catherine sought support in people close to the throne at the moment of Peter’s death, and here they were most afraid of the strengthening of Menshikov’s impudence, and from the very first days of the new reign there was talk of frequent gatherings of high-ranking nobility […] . But Catherine's supporters were also thinking about self-defense measures: already in May 1725, there was a rumor about the intention to establish a close council at the tsarina's office from her intimate unborn friends with Menshikov at the head, which, standing above the Senate, would decide the most important matters. […] A rumor spread around the capital that dissatisfied nobles were thinking of enthroning Grand Duke Peter, limiting his power. Tolstoy settled the quarrel with a deal with the dissatisfied, which resulted in the Supreme Privy Council, established by decree on February 8, 1726. This institution wanted to calm the offended feeling of the old nobility, removed from the supreme administration by unborn upstarts. The Supreme Privy Council was composed of six members; five of them with the foreigner Osterman belonged to the new nobility (Menshikov, Tolstoy, Golovkin, Apraksin), but the sixth was adopted by the most prominent representative of the noble boyars - Prince D. M. Golitsyn. According to the decree of February 8, the Supreme Privy Council is not a completely new institution: it was made up of real privy councilors who, as "first ministers", in their position already had frequent secret councils on the most important state affairs, consisting of senators, and three, Menshikov , Apraksin and Golovkin, and also the presidents of the main boards: Military, Naval and Foreign. Eliminating the inconvenience of such "busy work", the decree turned their frequent meetings into a permanent office with exemption from senatorial duties. The members of the Council submitted to the Empress an "opinion" in several points, which was approved as the regulations of the new institution. The Senate and collegiums were placed under the supervision of the Council, but remained with their old statutes; only matters of particular importance, not provided for in them or subject to the highest decision, that is, requiring new laws, they had to transfer their opinion to the Council. This means that the Senate retained administrative power within the limits of the current law, losing legislative power. The council operates under the chairmanship of the empress herself and is inseparable from the supreme power; it is not a "special collegium", but, as it were, an extension of the sole supreme power into a collegiate form. Further, the regulation decreed that no decrees should be issued before they were “completely implemented” in the Privy Council, were recorded and read to the Empress “for approbation”. These two points are the main idea of ​​the new institution; everything else is just technical details that develop it. In these paragraphs: 1) the supreme power renounced sole action in the manner of legislation, and this eliminated intrigues, approaches to it in secret ways, temporary work, favoritism in management; 2) a clear distinction was made between the law and a simple order on current affairs, between acts, the change of which deprived the administration of the nature of regularity. Now no important matter could be reported to the Empress apart from the Supreme Privy Council, no law could be promulgated without prior discussion and decision in the Supreme Privy Council.

Klyuchevsky V.O. Russian history. Full course of lectures. M., 2004. http://magister.msk.ru/library/history/kluchev/kllec70.htm

CHANGES IN MANAGEMENT

Immediately after the death of Peter, some changes began in the government and in the economic policy of the government, some of which are already familiar to us. [...] But these new institutions were not durable and did not last long. In them (in the Supreme Privy Council and the Cabinet) that bureaucratic nobility, the "supreme gentlemen ministers", who, even under Peter, often disposed of the Senate, gathered. But under Peter, the highest administrative officials close to him were not organized into an institution and did not have the influence that they received under weak representatives of power after Peter (women and children). Platonov S.F. A complete course of lectures on Russian history. St. Petersburg, 2000 http://magister.msk.ru/library/history/platonov/plats005.htm#gl6

INTRIGUES AROUND THE CREATION OF THE SUPREME PRIVATE COUNCIL

In April 1725, the empress ordered the ruling Senate to come to her every week on Fridays for a report; but in the same month a rumor was already circulating that a new higher institution would be placed over the Senate, the members of which would be a few of the most trusted and noble persons. […] At the beginning of the new year, 1726, a rumor spread that dissatisfied freemen wanted to enthrone Grand Duke Peter with a restriction of his power, that the Austrian court favored this, that a movement would begin in the Ukrainian army, commanded by Prince Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn. Tolstoy, seeing the danger to Catherine and her daughters, began to fuss about how to stop the displeasure, went to Menshikov, Golitsyn, Apraksin, and the result of these trips and meetings was the establishment of the Supreme Privy Council, where the main dignitaries should be members with equal importance under. presided over by the empress herself, where, consequently, no one could hold anything without general knowledge and discussion.

http://magister.msk.ru/library/history/solov/solv18p4.htm

DECREE ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE SUPREME PRIVATE COUNCIL OF 1726

“Later, we saw that the secret real advisers, and in addition to the senate government, have a lot of work in the following matters: 1) that they often have secret councils on political and other important state affairs from their position, as the first ministers; 2) from them some sit as presidents in the first collegiums, which is why in the first and very necessary business, in the Privy Council, they suffer considerable insanity, and in the Senate, business is stopped and continued because, due to busy work, they cannot soon fix resolutions on state internal affairs. For this, for the good, we have judged and ordered from now on at our court, both for external and internal state important affairs, to establish a Supreme Privy Council, at which we ourselves will be present. instead of them, others will be elected to the Senate, who will always be under one Senate government. m: Field Marshal General and secret real adviser to His Serene Highness Prince Menshikov; General-Admiral and secret real adviser Count Apraksin; State Chancellor, Privy Councilor Count Golovkin; Privy Active Councilor Count Tolstoy; Privy Active Councilor Prince Golitsyn; Vice-Chancellor and Privy Councilor Baron Osterman.

Soloviev S.M. History of Russia since ancient times. M., 1962. Prince. 18. Chap. 4. http://magister.msk.ru/library/history/solov/solv18p4.htm

ORGANIZATION OF MANAGEMENT AND OFFICE WORK

"TO THE REDUCTION OF HER MAJESTY IN THE HEAVY BURDEN OF GOVERNMENT ..."

The elected members submitted to the Empress "an opinion not in a decree on the newly established Privy Council":

1) "The Privy Council may meet for domestic and internal affairs on Wednesday, and for foreign affairs on the heels, but when many things happen, an extraordinary congress is appointed.

2) Since Her Majesty herself has the presidency in the Privy Council and there is reason to hope that she will often be personally present, this Privy Council should not be considered a special board, because it serves only to alleviate Her Majesty in the heavy burden of government, all things will sooner go, and more than one person will think about the increment of the security of her majesty and the state; so that decrees come out more safely in her high name, it is necessary to write in them like this: at the beginning - "we, by the grace of God, etc.", in the middle - "we command, etc." and at the end, "given in our Privy Council."

3) No decrees should be issued before, until they have completely taken place in the Privy Council, the protocols are not fixed and will not be read to Her Majesty for the most merciful approbation, and then they can be fixed and sent out by the actual State Councilor Stepanov.

4) Reports, reports or presentations that may come to a decision in the Supreme Privy Council are signed directly in the name of Her Imperial Majesty with an addition: to be submitted to the Privy Council.

5) When Her Majesty herself deigns to be present, then in her most gracious permission to offer whatever she pleases; when she does not deign to be present, it is better to give each member some department or council, about what matters he has to propose, in order to first judge satisfactorily: a) whether this matter is necessary; b) how best to solve it, so that it would be easier for the imperial majesty to make his decision.

6) In the Privy Council, two protocols must be kept: one - in the form of a journal, which does not need to be signed; the other shall contain resolutions and definitions, and its members shall anchor.

7) The Privy Council must have its own office and divide its affairs so that everything is decent and can be sent in time without embarrassment. Since this office should serve as a model for others, it is necessary that there should not be so much unnecessary correspondence in it and that the staff should not be burdened with unnecessary servants; therefore, in the establishment of the chancellery, it is necessary to act very carefully and decide everything with great reasoning, so that it would be safer in the content of secret affairs.

8) Foreign ministers remain with the Collegium of Foreign Affairs; but the collegium must always report their proposals to her imperial majesty in the Privy Council.

9) Cases subject to the conduct of the Privy Council are: a) foreign; b) all those that, up to Her Imperial Majesty, concern her own highest decision.

10) The Senate and other boards remain with their charters; but matters of special importance, about which there are no definitions in the charter, or which are subject to the own decision of her imperial majesty, they must, with their opinion, refer to the Supreme Privy Council.

11) The first three boards (Foreign, Military and Naval) cannot be under the Senate, as the Foreign Board has never depended on it.

12) Appeals against the Senate and the three Colleges to Her Imperial Majesty must be allowed and considered in the Supreme Privy Council; but if the appeal turns out to be unfounded, then the appellant is punished with deprivation of life, honor and property, so that Her Majesty and the Privy Council would not be bothered by bold appeals.

13) Since the Privy Council has control over all collegiums and other institutions, about which various other useful definitions can be decided, there is no need to hurry too much, because all this is done in the name of Her Imperial Majesty, so that the benefit of the whole empire could be all the better. received and among the people found the greatest glorification and was obvious. Since relations with the Senate and other colleges stopped because they do not know how to title the Senate, because it is already impossible to write to the government, in order to give the Senate the title of "highly trusted" or simply "high" Senate. The Synod writes decrees to the Senate on old ordinary affairs, but on new ones it informs Her Imperial Majesty in the Privy Council.

Soloviev S.M. History of Russia since ancient times. M., 1962. Prince. 18. Chap. 4. http://magister.msk.ru/library/history/solov/solv18p4.htm

SUPREME TAYR COUNCIL AND SENATE

First of all, it was necessary to determine the relationship of the new institution to the old Senate. On February 12, the Senate listened to a decree sent from the Supreme Privy Council: the decree said that the Senate should write reports to the Council, and the Council would send decrees to the Senate; that with the collegiums - Foreign, Military and Admiralty - the Senate should communicate with promemoria. The offended senators determined that since the decree of the empress, announced by him on February 9, ordered to correct cases according to decrees, regulations and the Senate office, and did not say that the Senate was subordinate to the Supreme Privy Council, then the decree sent from the Supreme Council should be returned there with announcing that the Senate, without a decree behind the empress's own hand, in spite of her position, is afraid to subordinate herself. By virtue of this decision, the Senate executor Elagin went to the head of the office of the Supreme Privy Council, Stepanov, in order to return the decree to him. Stepanov answered him that he did not dare to accept a decree from him and that he should go to the members of the Supreme Privy Council. Yelagin objected that he was not ordered to go to anyone, ordered to give the decree to him, Stepanov; and if he does not accept the decree, then he will put it. Stepanov answered that if he, Yelagin, would leave a decree, then he would put it in his bosom. Then the executor took the decree back, and the next day Makarov arrived at the Senate with the announcement that Her Majesty had ordered the execution of the decree, and on the same day the Empress verbally repeated this command to the senators to execute the decree temporarily, until detailed instructions were given. The former name of the Senate "governing" was replaced by the word "high". It is determined that

Supreme Privy Council

The Supreme Privy Council - the highest advisory state institution in Russia in 1726-30. (7-8 people). Decree establishing the Council issued in February 1726 (see Appendix)

Reasons for creation

Created by Catherine I as an advisory body, in fact, it resolved the most important state issues.

The accession to the throne of Catherine I after the death of Peter I caused the need for such an institution that could explain the state of affairs to the empress and direct the direction of the government, for which Catherine did not feel capable. Such an institution was the Supreme Privy Council.

Members of the Supreme Privy Council

Its members were General Field Marshal His Serene Highness Prince Menshikov, General Admiral Count Apraksin, State Chancellor Count Golovkin, Count Tolstoy, Prince Dimitri Golitsyn and Baron Osterman. A month later, the son-in-law of the Empress, the Duke of Holstein, was included in the number of members of the Supreme Privy Council, on whose zeal, as the Empress officially stated, "we can fully rely on." Thus, the Supreme Privy Council was originally composed almost exclusively of the chicks of Petrov's nest; but already under Catherine I, one of them, Count Tolstoy, was ousted by Menshikov; under Peter II, Menshikov himself found himself in exile; Count Apraksin died; the duke of Holstein had long ceased to be in the council; of the original members of the Council, three remained - Golitsyn, Golovkin and Osterman.

Under the influence of the Dolgoruky, the composition of the Council changed: the predominance in it passed into the hands of the princely families of Dolgoruky and Golitsyn.

Under Menshikov, the Soviet tried to consolidate government power; ministers, as the members of the Council were called, and senators swore allegiance to the empress or to the regulations of the Supreme Privy Council. It was forbidden to execute decrees that were not signed by the Empress and the Council.

According to the will of Catherine I, during the childhood of Peter II, the Council was given power equal to that of the sovereign; only in the question of the order of succession the Council could not make changes. But the last clause of the testament of Catherine I was left without attention by the leaders when Anna Ioannovna was elected to the throne.

In 1730, after the death of Peter II, half of the 8 members of the Council were Dolgoruky (princes Vasily Lukich, Ivan Alekseevich, Vasily Vladimirovich and Alexei Grigorievich), who were supported by the Golitsyn brothers (Dmitry and Mikhail Mikhailovich). Dmitry Golitsyn drafted a constitution.

Dolgoruky's plans, however, were opposed by most of the Russian nobility, as well as members of the military-technical cooperation Osterman and Golovkin. Upon arrival in Moscow on February 15 (26), 1730, Anna Ioannovna received a letter from the nobility, headed by Prince Cherkassky, in which they asked her "to accept autocracy such as your laudable ancestors had." Relying on the support of the middle and small nobility and the guards, Anna publicly tore up the text of the conditions and refused to comply with them; By the Manifesto of March 4, 1730, the Supreme Privy Council was abolished.

Laid commission

Maintaining ties with French philosophers, personally preparing the main acts of her reign, Catherine II followed in the wake of domestic policy, which was simultaneously carried out in Prussia, Austria, Sweden and other European countries by representatives of enlightened absolutism. Within two years, she drew up a program of new legislation in the form of a mandate for the convened commission to draw up a new Code, since the Code of 1649 was outdated. The "mandate" of Catherine II was the result of her previous reflections on enlightenment literature and a peculiar perception of the ideas of the French and German enlighteners. Before the opening of the Legislative Commission, the "Order" was discussed and criticized by representatives of the large landowning nobility. Much has been corrected and omitted by the author. The "mandate" concerned all the main parts of the state structure, administration, supreme power, the rights and obligations of citizens, estates, and to a greater extent legislation and the court.

The Nakaz substantiated the principle of autocratic rule. 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 transformation of the judiciary, which was inextricably linked with it, eliminating obsolete feudal institutions. In the spirit of the Enlighteners, the Nakaz outlined a specific program of economic policy. Catherine II strongly opposed the preservation of monopolies, for freedom of trade and industry. The program of economic policy inevitably brought to the fore the peasant question, which was of great importance under the conditions of serfdom. In the original version, Catherine spoke out more boldly than in her final version, since it was here that she gave up a lot under the pressure of criticism from the members of the commission. Thus, she abandoned the demand to establish the protection of serfs from violence and to grant the serfs the right to own property.

Much more resolutely spoke in the "Nakaz" about the reform of the judiciary and legal proceedings. Following Montesquieu and Beccaria, Catherine II spoke out against the use of torture and the death penalty (recognizing the possibility of death sentences only in exceptional cases), proclaimed the principle of a "trial of equals", recommended guarantees of a fair investigation, opposed cruel punishments.

"Order", thus, contained a contradictory combination of progressive bourgeois ideas and conservative feudal views. On the one hand, Catherine II proclaimed the progressive truths of enlightenment philosophy (especially in the chapters on legal proceedings and economics), on the other hand, she confirmed the inviolability of the autocratic-serf system. 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.

Meetings of the Legislative Commission, in which 570 deputies from different classes (nobility, clergy, merchants and state peasants) were elected, began in July 1767 and lasted almost a year and a half. They revealed with the utmost clarity the aspirations of various social groups and the contradictions between them on almost all the issues discussed. The laid commission did not solve the problem of legal reform, and the confusing legislation was not put in order. Catherine II failed to create legal foundations for the formation of the urban "third estate", which she rightly considered one of the important social tasks of her reign. The empress's rather modest wishes to alleviate the hardships of forced peasant labor did not meet with the sympathy of the majority of the commission members. The nobility showed itself as a reactionary force (with the exception of 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 1768 the Legislative Commission was dissolved. However, its convocation had a certain political significance for Catherine II. Firstly, he not only strengthened her autocratic power and raised her authority in Western Europe, but also helped her, as she herself admitted, to navigate the position of the empire. Secondly, although the "Nakaz" did not receive the force of a positive law and in many respects did not coincide with the opinions of the deputies of the Commission, it formed the basis of subsequent legislation.

secret office

The Secret Chancellery (1718-1801) - an organ of political investigation and court in Russia in the 18th century. In the early years, it existed in parallel with the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, which performed similar functions. Abolished in 1726, restored in 1731 as the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs; the latter was liquidated in 1762 by Peter III, but instead of it in the same year, Catherine II established the Secret Expedition, which performed the same role. Completely abolished by Alexander I.

Preobrazhensky Prikaz and the Secret Office

The basis of the Preobrazhensky order refers to the beginning of the reign of Peter I (established in 1686 in the village of Preobrazhensky near Moscow); at first he represented the clan of the special office of the sovereign, created to manage the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments. It was used by Peter as a political body in the struggle for power with Princess Sophia. Subsequently, the order received the exclusive right to conduct cases of political crimes or, as they were then called, "against the first two points." Since 1725, the secret office also dealt with criminal cases, which were in charge of A. I. Ushakov. But with a small number of people (under his command there were no more than ten people, nicknamed forwarders of the secret office), such a department could not cover all criminal cases. Under the then procedure for investigating these crimes, convicts convicted of any criminal offense could optionally extend their process by saying “word and deed” and making a denunciation; they immediately got into the Preobrazhensky order along with those who were slandered, and very often people who had not committed any crime, but on whom the scammers had anger, were very often slandered. The main activity of the order is the persecution of participants in anti-serfdom demonstrations (about 70% of all cases) and opponents of the political transformations of Peter I.

Established in February 1718 in St. Petersburg and existing until 1726, the Secret Chancellery had the same departmental items as the Preobrazhensky Prikaz in Moscow, and was also managed by I.F. Romodanovsky. The department was created to investigate the case of Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich, then other political cases of extreme importance were transferred to it; the two institutions subsequently merged into one. The leadership of the Secret Chancellery, as well as the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, was carried out by Peter I, who was often present during the interrogations and torture of political criminals. The Secret Chancellery was located in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

At the beginning of the reign of Catherine I, the Preobrazhensky Prikaz, keeping the same range of actions, received the name of the Preobrazhensky Chancellery; the latter existed until 1729, when it was abolished by Peter II upon the dismissal of Prince Romodanovsky; Of the cases subordinated to the chancellery, the more important ones were transferred to the Supreme Privy Council, the less important ones to the Senate.

Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs

Central government agency. After the dissolution of the Secret Office in 1727, it resumed its work as the Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs in 1731. under the leadership of A. I. Ushakov. The competence of the office included the investigation of the crime of the "first two points" of State crimes (they meant "The word and deed of the sovereign." The first point determined, "if someone teaches some fabrications to think of an evil deed or person and honor on the imperial health with evil and harmful words vilify", and the second spoke "of rebellion and treason"). Torture and interrogation with "addiction" were the main weapons of the investigation. It was abolished by the manifesto of Emperor Peter III (1762), at the same time the "Word and deed of the sovereign" was prohibited.

Secret expedition

Secret expedition under the Senate, the central state institution in Russia, the body of political investigation (1762-1801). Established by decree of Empress Catherine II, replaced the Secret Chancellery. She was in St. Petersburg; had a branch in Moscow. The Prosecutor General of the Senate was in charge, his assistant and direct manager of affairs was the chief secretary (for over 30 years this position was held by S. I. Sheshkovsky). The secret expedition carried out investigations and trials on the most important political cases. Catherine II approved some sentences (in the cases of V. Ya. Mirovich, E. I. Pugachev, A. N. Radishchev, and others). During the investigation in the Secret Expedition, torture was often used. In 1774, secret commissions of the Secret Expedition carried out reprisals against the Pugachevites in Kazan, Orenburg, and other cities. After the liquidation of the Secret Expedition, its functions were assigned to the 1st and 5th departments of the Senate.

Synod

The Holy Synod (Greek Σύνοδος - "assembly", "cathedral") is the highest "governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church in the period between Bishops' Councils".

Commissions and departments

The following Synodal departments are accountable to the Holy Synod:

1. Department of External Church Relations;

2. Publishing Council;

3. Study committee;

4. Department of catechesis and religious education;

5. Department of charity and social service;

6. Missionary department;

7. Department for interaction with the Armed Forces and law enforcement agencies;

8. Department of Youth Affairs;

9. Department for Relations between the Church and Society;

10. Information department.

Also under the Synod there are the following institutions:

1. Patriarchal Synodal Biblical Commission;

2. Synodal Theological Commission;

3. Synodal commission for the canonization of saints;

4. Synodal Liturgical Commission;

5. Synodal commission for monasteries;

6. Synodal commission on economic and humanitarian issues;

7. Synodal Library named after His Holiness Patriarch Alexy II.

During the synodal period (1721-1917)

After the abolition of the patriarchal administration of the Church by Peter I, from 1721 until August 1917, the Most Holy Governing Synod established by him was the highest state body of the church-administrative authority of the Russian Empire, replacing the patriarch in terms of general church functions and external relations.

According to the Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire, the Synod was defined as “a conciliar government, which has all kinds of supreme power in the Russian Orthodox Church and is in relations with Orthodox churches abroad, through which the supreme autocratic power, which established it, operates in church administration.”

As such, he was recognized by the Eastern Patriarchs and other autocephalous Churches. The members of the Holy Synod were appointed by the emperor; The Emperor's representative in the Holy Synod was the Chief Procurator of the Holy Synod.

Establishment and functions

On October 16, 1700, Patriarch Adrian died. Tsar Peter I appointed the educated Little Russian Metropolitan of Ryazan Stefan (Yavorsky) Exarch, that is, Guardian of the Patriarchal Throne. Peter withdrew personnel and administrative matters from his competence. In 1701, the Monastic Order, which had been abolished in 1667, was restored, and the administration of all church estates was transferred to its jurisdiction.

In 1718, Peter I expressed the opinion that "for better governance in the future, it seems to be convenient for the spiritual college"; Peter instructed Bishop Feofan Prokopovich of Pskov to draw up a charter for the future College, which was called Spiritual Regulation.

During 1720, the signing of the Regulations took place by the bishops and archimandrites of the sedate monasteries; the last, reluctantly, signed the Exarch Metropolitan Stefan (Yavorsky).

On January 25, 1721, a Manifesto was issued on the establishment of the Spiritual College. Stefan Yavorsky became the President of the Synod. In the same year, Peter I appealed to Patriarch Jeremiah III of Constantinople with a petition for the recognition of the Holy Synod by the Eastern Patriarchs. In September 1723, the Patriarchs of Constantinople and Antioch by a special Diploma recognized the Holy Synod as their "brother in Christ", possessing equal patriarchal dignity.

On February 14, 1721, the Theological College, which received the name of the Most Holy Governing Synod, was officially opened.

Until 1901, members of the Synod and those present in the Synod had to take an oath upon taking office.

Until September 1, 1742, the Synod was also the diocesan authority for the former Patriarchal Region, renamed Synodal.

The Patriarchal orders were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Synod: Spiritual, Treasury and Palace, renamed into synodal, the Monastic order, the order of church affairs, the office of schismatic affairs and the printing office. In St. Petersburg, a Tiun office (Tiunskaya Izba) was established; in Moscow - the spiritual dicastery, the office of the synodal government, the synodal office, the order of inquisitorial affairs, the office of schismatic affairs.

All institutions of the Synod were closed during the first two decades of its existence, except for the Synodal Chancellery, the Moscow Synodal Office and the Printing Office, which lasted until 1917.

Chief Prosecutor of the Synod

The Chief Prosecutor of the Holy Governing Synod is a secular official appointed by the Russian Emperor (in 1917 they were appointed by the Provisional Government) and who was his representative in the Holy Synod.

Compound

Initially, according to the "Spiritual Regulations", the Holy Synod consisted of 11 members: the president, 2 vice-presidents, 4 advisers and 4 assessors; it included bishops, abbots of monasteries and white clergy.

Since 1726, the president of the Synod was called the first member, and the rest - members of the Holy Synod and simply present.

In later times, the nomenclature of the Holy Synod changed many times. At the beginning of the 20th century, a member of the Synod was a paid title, held for life even if the person was never called to sit in the Synod.


29
St. Petersburg Institute of Foreign Economic Relations, Economics and Law
Test
on the topic: State institutions of the Russian Empire since 1725to 1755odes

Discipline: History of public administration and public service in Russia
Student Romanovskaya M.Yu.
Group
Teacher Timoshevskaya A.D.
Kaliningrad
2009
Content

Introduction
1 . Supreme Privy Council
1.1 Reasons for creation
1.2 Members of the Supreme Privy Council

2 . Senate
2.1 The Senate in the era of the Supreme Privy Council and Cabinet (1726--1741)



3 . Boards


3.3 General Regulations
3.4 Work of the boards
3.5 Significance of colleges
3.6 Cons in the work of boards

4 . Laid commission
5 . secret office
5.1 Preobrazhensky Prikaz and the Secret Office
5.2 Office of Secret and Investigative Affairs
5.3 Secret expedition

6 . Synod
6.1 Commissions and departments
6.2 During the synodal period (1721-1917)
6.3 Establishment and functions
6.4 Chief Procurator of the Synod
6.5 Composition

Conclusion
List of used literature
Appendix

Introduction

Peter the Great created a complex system of administrative bodies with the idea of ​​separation of powers: administrative and judicial. This system of institutions was united under the control of the Senate and the prosecutor's office and in the regional administration allowed for the active participation of estate representatives - noble (zemstvo commissars) and city (in the magistrates). One of Peter's most important concerns was the national economy and state finances.
After Peter's death, they departed from his system in the structure of central government: according to Peter's thoughts, the Senate was supposed to be the highest institution, through the Prosecutor General connected with the supreme power. But ... the era of palace coups began, and everyone created their own state institutions to manage the Russian Empire.
1 . Supreme Privy Council

The Supreme Privy Council is the highest advisory state institution in Russia in 1726-30. (7-8 people). Decree establishing the Council issued in February 1726 (see Appendix)

1.1 Reasons for creation

Created by Catherine I as an advisory body, in fact, it resolved the most important state issues.
The accession to the throne of Catherine I after the death of Peter I caused the need for such an institution that could explain the state of affairs to the empress and direct the direction of the government, for which Catherine did not feel capable. Such an institution was the Supreme Privy Council. Its members were General Field Marshal His Serene Highness Prince Menshikov, General Admiral Count Apraksin, State Chancellor Count Golovkin, Count Tolstoy, Prince Dimitri Golitsyn and Baron Osterman. A month later, the son-in-law of the Empress, the Duke of Holstein, was included in the number of members of the Supreme Privy Council, on whose zeal, as the Empress officially stated, "we can fully rely on." Thus, the Supreme Privy Council was originally composed almost exclusively of the chicks of Petrov's nest; but already under Catherine I, one of them, Count Tolstoy, was ousted by Menshikov; under Peter II, Menshikov himself found himself in exile; Count Apraksin died; the duke of Holstein had long ceased to be in the council; of the original members of the Council, three remained - Golitsyn, Golovkin and Osterman.
Under the influence of the Dolgoruky, the composition of the Council changed: the predominance in it passed into the hands of the princely families of Dolgoruky and Golitsyn.
Under Menshikov, the Soviet tried to consolidate government power; ministers, as the members of the Council were called, and senators swore allegiance to the empress or to the regulations of the Supreme Privy Council. It was forbidden to execute decrees that were not signed by the Empress and the Council.
According to the will of Catherine I, during the childhood of Peter II, the Council was given power equal to that of the sovereign; only in the question of the order of succession the Council could not make changes. But the last clause of the testament of Catherine I was left without attention by the leaders when Anna Ioannovna was elected to the throne.
In 1730, after the death of Peter II, half of the 8 members of the Council were Dolgoruky (princes Vasily Lukich, Ivan Alekseevich, Vasily Vladimirovich and Alexei Grigorievich), who were supported by the Golitsyn brothers (Dmitry and Mikhail Mikhailovich). Dmitry Golitsyn drafted a constitution.
Dolgoruky's plans, however, were opposed by most of the Russian nobility, as well as members of the military-technical cooperation Osterman and Golovkin. Upon arrival in Moscow on February 15 (26), 1730, Anna Ioannovna received a letter from the nobility, headed by Prince Cherkassky, in which they asked her "to accept autocracy such as your laudable ancestors had." Relying on the support of the middle and small nobility and the guards, Anna publicly tore up the text of the conditions and refused to comply with them; By the Manifesto of March 4, 1730, the Supreme Privy Council was abolished.
2 . Senate

Established on February 8, 1726, the Supreme Privy Council under Catherine I, and especially under Peter II, actually exercised all the rights of supreme power, as a result of which the position of the Senate, especially in comparison with the first decade of its existence, completely changed. Although the degree of power granted to the Senate, especially during the first period of the council's reign (decree of March 7, 1726), formally did not undergo any decisive changes, and the range of subjects of its department sometimes even expanded, but the general significance of the Senate in the system of state institutions changed very quickly already in force the mere fact that the Supreme Privy Council took over the Senate. The value of the Senate was also dealt a considerable blow by the fact that the most influential senators moved to the supreme council. Among these senators were the presidents of the first three colleges (military - Menshikov, marine - Count Apraksin and foreign - Count Golovkin), which become to some extent equal to the Senate. Even more important was the disorganization that was introduced by the Supreme Privy Council into all the institutions of the empire. Prosecutor General Yaguzhinsky, an enemy of the party that formed the Supreme Privy Council, was appointed a resident in Poland, and the position of Prosecutor General was actually abolished; its execution was entrusted to Chief Prosecutor Voeikov, who had no influence in the Senate; in March 1727 the post of racketmaster was abolished. At the same time, the posts of fiscals are gradually disappearing.
After the radical breakdown that the local institutions of Peter the Great (1727-1728) underwent, the provincial administration fell into complete disarray. With this state of affairs, the central institutions, including the Senate that headed them, lost all real force. Almost deprived of the means of supervision and local executive bodies, the Senate, weakened in its personnel, continued, however, to bear on its shoulders the hard work of petty current government work. Even under Catherine, the title of Governing was recognized as "indecent" by the Senate and replaced by the title "High". The Supreme Council demanded reports from the Senate, forbade it to make expenses without permission, reprimanded the Senate, and threatened with fines.
When the plans of the leaders failed and Empress Anna again "assumed" autocracy, by decree on March 4, 1730, the Supreme Privy Council was abolished and the Governing Senate was restored in its former strength and dignity. The number of senators was increased to 21, and the Senate included the most prominent dignitaries and statesmen. A few days later, the post of racketmaster was restored; The Senate again concentrated all control in its hands. To facilitate the Senate and free it from the influence of the office, it was divided (June 1, 1730) into 5 departments; Their task was the preliminary preparation of all cases that were to be decided, as before, by the general meeting of the Senate. In fact, the division of the Senate into departments did not materialize. To supervise the Senate, Anna Ioannovna at first thought of limiting herself to the weekly presentation of two statements to her, one about resolved cases, the other about cases that the Senate could not decide without a report to the empress. On October 20, 1730, it was recognized, however, that it was necessary to restore the post of prosecutor general.
In 1731 (November 6) a new institution officially appeared - the Cabinet, which had already existed for about a year in the form of a private secretariat of the Empress. Reports from all institutions, including the Senate, went back to the empress through the cabinet; from it the highest resolutions were announced. Gradually, the participation of the empress in the resolution of resolutions decreases; On June 9, 1735, the decrees signed by the three Cabinet Ministers receive the force of personal names.
Although the competence of the Senate was not formally changed, in fact, subordination to the cabinet ministers had a very hard effect on the Senate even in the first period of the existence of the cabinet (until 1735), when it was mainly engaged in foreign policy affairs. Later, when the cabinet began to extend its influence to the affairs of internal administration, constant direct communication of the cabinet with the collegiums and even with the Senate office in addition to the Senate, goading for slowness, demanding reports and registers of resolved and unresolved cases, and finally, an extreme reduction in the composition of senators (at one time there were only two in the Senate, Novosiltsov and Sukin, individuals with the most unflattering reputation) brought the Senate to an unprecedented decline.
After the decree of June 9, 1735, the actual dominance of the cabinet ministers over the Senate acquires a legal basis, and resolutions are placed on the reports of the Senate in the name of the cabinet. After the death of Anna Ioannovna (October 17, 1740), Biron, Munnich and Osterman were alternately absolute masters in the office. Absorbed by the struggle of the parties, the cabinet was not up to the Senate, the importance of which therefore at that time somewhat increased, which is expressed, among other things, in the appearance of "general discussions" or "general meetings" of the cabinet with the senate.
On November 12, 1740, the position of the court recetmeister was established, first to consider the most subjective complaints against colleges and lower places, and from November 27 of the same year, also against the Senate. In March 1741, this position was abolished, but the permission to bring all-subject complaints against the Senate remained in force.

2.2 Senate under Elizabeth Petrovna and Peter III

On December 12, 1741, shortly after her accession to the throne, Empress Elizabeth issued a decree abolishing the cabinet and restoring the Governing Senate (before it was again called the High Senate) in its former position. The Senate not only became the supreme body of the empire, not subordinate to any other institution, not only was the center of the court and all internal administration, again subjugating the military and naval boards, but often completely uncontrolled exercised the functions of supreme power, taking legislative measures, resolving administrative affairs that used to go back to the approval of monarchs, and arrogating to themselves even the right of self-replenishment. The foreign collegium remained, however, not subordinate to the Senate. The position of Prosecutor General acquired great importance in the general system of internal administration, since most of the reports to the Empress (even according to the Holy Synod) went through the Prosecutor General. The establishment of a conference at the royal court (October 5, 1756) at first did little to shake the significance of the Senate, since the conference dealt primarily with matters of foreign policy; but in 1757-1758. the conference began to intervene constantly in the affairs of internal administration. The Senate, despite its protests, finds itself forced to respond to the requests of the conference, to fulfill its demands. Eliminating the Senate, the conference begins to communicate directly with the places subordinate to it.
Peter III, having ascended the throne on December 25, 1761, abolished the conference, but on May 18, 1762 he established a council, in relation to which the Senate was placed in a subordinate position. A further belittling of the importance of the Senate was expressed in the fact that the military and naval collegiums were again removed from its jurisdiction. The freedom of action of the Senate in the field of internal administration was severely constrained by the prohibition "to issue decrees, which serve to some law or confirmation of the former" (1762).

2.3 Senate under Catherine II and Paul I

Upon the accession to the throne of Empress Catherine II, the Senate again becomes the highest institution in the empire, for the council ceases to function. However, the role of the Senate in the general system of state administration is changing significantly: Catherine greatly dropped it because of the distrust with which she treated the then Senate, imbued with the traditions of the Elizabethan time. In 1763, the Senate was divided into 6 departments: 4 in St. Petersburg and 2 in Moscow. Department I was in charge of state internal and political affairs, II - judicial, III - affairs in provinces that were in a special position (Little Russia, Livonia, Estonia, Vyborg province, Narva), IV - military and naval affairs. Of the Moscow departments, V was in charge of administrative affairs, VI was in charge of judicial affairs. All departments were recognized in equal strength and dignity. As a general rule, all matters were decided in the departments (unanimously) and only after disagreement were transferred to the general meeting. This measure had a very serious impact on the political significance of the Senate: its decrees began to come not from the assembly of all the most dignitary people in the state, but only from 3-4 persons. The Prosecutor General and Chief Prosecutors received much greater influence on the resolution of cases in the Senate (every department, except for Department I, had its own chief prosecutor since 1763; in Department I, this position was established in 1771, and until then Her duties were performed by the Attorney General). In business terms, the division of the Senate into departments was of great benefit, largely eliminating the incredible slowness that characterized the senate's clerical work. Even more sensitive and tangible damage to the value of the Senate was caused by the fact that cases of real state importance were gradually taken away from it, and only the court and ordinary administrative activities were left to its lot. The removal of the Senate from legislation was most sharply manifested. Previously, the Senate was a normal legislative body; in most cases, he also owned the initiative of the legislative measures taken. Under Catherine, all the largest of them (the establishment of provinces, charters to the nobility and cities, etc.) are worked out in addition to the Senate; their initiative belongs to the Empress herself, and not to the Senate. Even from participating in the work of the commission in 1767, the Senate was completely removed; he was only allowed, like collegiums and offices, to elect one deputy to the commission. Under Catherine, the Senate was left to fill in small gaps in laws that had no political significance, and for the most part the Senate presented its assumptions for approval by the supreme power. Upon accession to the throne, Catherine found that the Senate had brought many parts of the government to an impossible disorder; it was necessary to take the most energetic measures to eliminate him, and the Senate turned out to be completely unsuitable for this. Therefore, those cases to which the Empress attached the greatest importance, she entrusted to individuals who enjoyed her confidence - mainly the Prosecutor General Prince Vyazemsky, thanks to which the importance of the Prosecutor General increased to unprecedented proportions. In fact, he was, as it were, the Minister of Finance, Justice, the Interior and the State Comptroller. In the second half of Catherine's reign, she began to transfer cases to other persons, many of whom competed with Prince Vyazemsky in terms of business influence. Whole departments appeared, the heads of which directly, bypassing the Senate, reported to the Empress, as a result of which these departments became completely independent of the Senate. Sometimes they were in the nature of personal assignments, determined by Catherine's attitude to this or that person and the degree of trust placed in him. The post office was entrusted either to Vyazemsky, or to Shuvalov, or to Bezborodko. A huge blow for the Senate was also the new removal of the military and naval collegium from its jurisdiction, and the military collegium is completely isolated in the area of ​​​​judiciary and financial management. Having undermined the general significance of the Senate, this measure had a particularly hard effect on its III and IV departments. The significance of the Senate and the degree of its power were dealt a heavy blow by the establishment of provinces (1775 and 1780). Quite a lot of cases were transferred from the collegiums to the provincial places, and the collegiums were closed. The Senate had to enter into direct relations with the new provincial regulations, which were neither formally nor in spirit consistent with the establishment of the Senate. Catherine was well aware of this and repeatedly drew up projects for the reform of the Senate (the projects of 1775, 1788 and 1794 were preserved), but they were not implemented. The inconsistency between the institutions of the Senate and the provinces led to:
1. that matters of greatest importance could always be reported to the empress by the governor or governor-general directly, in addition to the Senate;
2. that the Senate was overwhelmed by petty administrative cases that came to it from 42 provincial boards and 42 state chambers. The heraldry from the institution that was in charge of all the nobility and the appointment to all positions, turned to the place of maintaining the lists of officials appointed by the governors.
Formally, the Senate was considered the highest judicial instance; and here, however, its significance was diminished, firstly, by the hitherto unprecedented influence that the chief prosecutors and the prosecutor general exerted on the decision of cases, and secondly, by the wide admission of all-subject complaints not only against departments, but also at general meetings Senate (these complaints were submitted to the racket master and they were reported to the empress).
3 . Boards

Collegiums are the central bodies of sectoral administration in the Russian Empire, formed in the era of Peter the Great to replace the system of orders that had lost its significance. The boards existed until 1802, when they were replaced by ministries.

3.1 Reasons for the formation of colleges

In 1718 - 1719, the liquidation of the former state bodies took place, replacing them with new ones, more suitable for the young Peter's Russia.
The formation of the Senate in 1711 served as a signal for the formation of branch management bodies - collegiums. According to the plan of Peter I, they were supposed to replace the clumsy system of orders and introduce two new principles into management:
1. Systematic separation of departments (orders often replaced each other, performing the same function, which brought chaos to management. Other functions were not at all covered by any kind of order proceedings).
2. Advisory procedure for resolving cases.
The form of the new central government was adopted in Sweden and in Germany. Swedish law served as the basis for the regulations of the collegiums.

3.2 Evolution of the college system

Already in 1712, an attempt was made to establish a College of Commerce with the participation of foreigners. In Germany and other European countries, experienced lawyers and officials were recruited to work in Russian state institutions. The Swedish boards were considered the best in Europe, and they were taken as a model.
The college system, however, began to take shape only at the end of 1717. It turned out to be difficult to “break” the order system overnight, so the one-time abolition had to be abandoned. The orders were either absorbed by the collegiums or subordinated to them (for example, the Justice Collegium included seven orders).
Board structure:
1. First
Military
· Admiralty Board
· Foreign Affairs
2. Commercial and industrial
Berg College (industry)
Manufactory-collegium (mining)
Commerce College (trade)
3. Financial
Chamber College (management of state revenues: appointment of persons in charge of the collection of state revenues, the establishment and abolition of taxes, the observance of equality between taxes depending on the level of income)
State-office-collegium (management of public expenditures and staffing for all departments)
Revision board (budgetary)
4. Others
· Justice College
· Estate Board
Chief magistrate (coordinated the work of all magistrates and was their court of appeal)
Collegial government continued until 1802, when the Manifesto for the Establishment of Ministries laid the foundation for a more progressive, ministerial system.