Catherine II - features for the portrait
Catherine II the Great (Ekaterina Alekseevna; at birth Sophia Frederika Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst, born April 21 (May 2), 1729, Stettin, Prussia - died November 6 (17), 1796, Winter Palace, St. Petersburg) - Empress of All Russia (1762- 1796). The period of her reign is often considered the golden age Russian Empire.
Sophia Frederika Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst was born on April 21 (May 2), 1729 in the German Pomeranian city of Stettin (now Szczecin in Poland). Father, Christian August of Anhalt-Zerbst, came from the Zerbst-Dornburg line of the Anhalt house and was in the service of the Prussian king, was a regimental commander, commandant, then governor of the city of Stettin, where the future empress was born, ran for duke of Courland, but unsuccessfully , ended his service as a Prussian field marshal. Mother - Johanna Elisabeth, from the Holstein-Gottorp family, was a cousin of the future Peter III. Uncle Po maternal line Adolf Friedrich (Adolf Fredrik) was King of Sweden from 1751 (elected heir in 1743). The ancestry of Catherine II's mother goes back to Christian I, King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, first Duke of Schleswig-Holstein and founder of the Oldenburg dynasty.
The Duke of Zerbst's family was not rich; Catherine was educated at home. She studied German and French, dance, music, the basics of history, geography, and theology. She was brought up in strictness. She grew up a playful, inquisitive, playful and even troublesome girl, she loved to play pranks and flaunt her courage in front of the boys, with whom she easily played on the streets of Stetin. Her parents did not burden her with raising her and did not stand on ceremony when expressing their displeasure. Her mother called her in childhood Ficken (German Figchen - comes from the name Frederica, that is, “little Frederica”).
In 1744, the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and her mother were invited to Russia for subsequent marriage with the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Emperor Peter III and her second cousin. Immediately after arriving in Russia, she began to study the Russian language, history, Orthodoxy, and Russian traditions, as she sought to become more fully acquainted with Russia, which she perceived as a new homeland. Among her teachers are the famous preacher Simon Todorsky (teacher of Orthodoxy), the author of the first Russian grammar Vasily Adadurov (teacher of the Russian language) and choreographer Lange (dance teacher). Soon she fell ill with pneumonia, and her condition was so serious that her mother suggested bringing a Lutheran pastor. Sofia, however, refused and sent for Simon of Todor. This circumstance added to her popularity at the Russian court. On June 28 (July 9), 1744, Sofia Frederica Augusta converted from Lutheranism to Orthodoxy and received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna (the same name and patronymic as Elizabeth’s mother, Catherine I), and the next day she was engaged to the future emperor.
On August 21 (September 1), 1745, at the age of sixteen, Catherine was married to Pyotr Fedorovich, who was 17 years old and was her second cousin. During the first years of his life, Peter was not at all interested in his wife, and there was no marital relationship between them. Catherine would later write about this in her memoirs.
Ekaterina continues to educate herself. She reads books on history, philosophy, jurisprudence, works by Voltaire, Montesquieu, Tacitus, Bayle, and a large amount of other literature. The main entertainment for her was hunting, horse riding, dancing and masquerades. The absence of marital relations with the Grand Duke contributed to the appearance of lovers for Catherine. Meanwhile, Empress Elizabeth expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of children of the spouses.
Finally, after two unsuccessful pregnancies, on September 20 (October 1), 1754, Catherine gave birth to a son, who was immediately taken from her by the will of the reigning Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, they call him Pavel (the future Emperor Paul I) and are deprived of the opportunity to raise him, allowing him to see him only occasionally. A number of sources, including the memoirs of Catherine herself, claim that Pavel’s true father was Catherine’s lover S.V. Saltykov. Others say that such rumors are unfounded, and that Peter underwent an operation that eliminated a defect that made conception impossible. The question of paternity also aroused interest among society.
After the birth of Pavel, relations with Peter and Elizaveta Petrovna completely deteriorated. Peter called his wife “spare madam” and openly took mistresses, however, without preventing Catherine from doing the same, who during this period developed a relationship with Stanislav Poniatowski, the future king of Poland, which arose thanks to the efforts of the English ambassador Sir Charles Hanbury Williams. On December 9 (20), 1758, Catherine gave birth to her daughter Anna, which caused Peter's strong dissatisfaction.
At this time, Elizaveta Petrovna’s condition worsened. All this made the prospect of Catherine’s expulsion from Russia or her imprisonment in a monastery real. The situation was aggravated by the fact that Catherine’s secret correspondence with the disgraced Field Marshal Apraksin and British Ambassador Williams, dedicated to political issues. Her previous favorites were removed, but a circle of new ones began to form: Grigory Orlov and Dashkova.
The death of Elizabeth Petrovna (December 25, 1761 (January 5, 1762)) and the accession to the throne of Peter Fedorovich under the name of Peter III further alienated the spouses. Peter III began to live openly with his mistress Elizaveta Vorontsova, settling his wife at the other end of the Winter Palace. When Catherine became pregnant from Orlov, this could no longer be explained by an accidental conception from her husband, since communication between the spouses had stopped completely by that time. Catherine hid her pregnancy, and when the time came to give birth, her devoted valet Vasily Grigorievich Shkurin set his house on fire. A lover of such spectacles, Peter and his court left the palace to look at the fire; At this time, Catherine gave birth safely. This is how the first Count Bobrinsky in Rus' was born - the founder of a famous family.
Having ascended the throne, Peter III carried out a number of actions that caused negative attitude to him the officer corps. So, he concluded an agreement with Prussia that was unfavorable for Russia (at a time when Russian troops took Berlin) and returned the lands captured by the Russians to it. At the same time, he intended, in alliance with Prussia, to oppose Denmark (Russia’s ally), in order to return Schleswig, which it had taken from Holstein, and he himself intended to go on a campaign at the head of the guard. Supporters of the coup also accused Peter III of ignorance, dementia, dislike for Russia, and complete inability to rule. Against his background, Catherine looked favorably - an intelligent, well-read, pious and benevolent wife who was persecuted by her husband.
After the relationship with her husband completely deteriorated, and dissatisfaction with the emperor on the part of the guard intensified, Catherine decided to participate in the coup. Her comrades-in-arms, the main of whom were the Orlov brothers, Potemkin and Khitrovo, began campaigning in the guards units and won them over to their side. The immediate cause of the start of the coup was rumors about the arrest of Catherine and the discovery and arrest of one of the participants in the conspiracy, Lieutenant Passek.
Early in the morning of June 28 (July 9), 1762, while Peter III was in Oranienbaum, Catherine, accompanied by Alexei and Grigory Orlov, arrived from Peterhof to St. Petersburg, where the guards units swore allegiance to her. Peter III, seeing the hopelessness of resistance, abdicated the throne the next day, was taken into custody and died in early July under unclear circumstances.
On September 22 (October 3), 1762, Ekaterina Alekseevna was crowned in Moscow and became the Empress of All Russia with the name Ekaterina.
Catherine belonged to a small number of monarchs who communicated so intensively and directly with their subjects through the drafting of manifestos, instructions, laws, polemical articles and indirectly in the form of satirical works, historical dramas and pedagogical opuses. In her memoirs, she admitted: “I cannot see a clean pen without feeling the desire to immediately dip it in ink.”
She had an extraordinary talent as a writer, leaving behind a large collection of works - notes, translations, librettos, fables, fairy tales, comedies “Oh, time!”, “Mrs. Vorchalkina’s Name Day,” “The Hall of a Noble Boyar,” “Mrs. Vestnikova with her Family,” “The Invisible Bride” (1771-1772), essays, etc., participated in the weekly satirical magazine “All sorts of things,” published since 1769. The Empress turned to journalism in order to influence public opinion, so the main idea of the magazine was to criticize human vices and weaknesses. Other subjects of irony were the superstitions of the population. Catherine herself called the magazine: “Satire in a smiling spirit.”
Catherine considered herself a “philosopher on the throne” and had a favorable attitude towards the Age of Enlightenment, and corresponded with Voltaire, Diderot, and Alembert.
During her reign, the Hermitage and the Public Library appeared in St. Petersburg. She patronized various fields of art - architecture, music, painting.
It is impossible not to mention the mass settlement of German families in various regions of modern Russia, Ukraine, as well as the Baltic countries, initiated by Catherine. The goal was the modernization of Russian science and culture.
Ekaterina was a brunette of average height. She combined high intelligence, education, statesmanship and a commitment to “free love.”
Catherine is known for her connections with numerous lovers, the number of which (according to the list of the authoritative Catherine scholar P. I. Bartenev) reaches 23. The most famous of them were Sergei Saltykov, G. G. Orlov (later count), horse guard lieutenant Vasilchikov, G. A . Potemkin (later prince), hussar Zorich, Lanskoy, the last favorite was the cornet Platon Zubov, who became a count of the Russian Empire and a general. According to some sources, Catherine was secretly married to Potemkin (1775). After 1762, she planned a marriage with Orlov, but on the advice of those close to her, she abandoned this idea.
It is worth noting that Catherine’s “debauchery” was not such a scandalous phenomenon against the background of the general debauchery of morals of the 18th century. Most kings (with the possible exception of Frederick the Great, Louis XVI and Charles XII) had numerous mistresses. Catherine's favorites (with the exception of Potemkin, who had state abilities) did not influence politics. Nevertheless, the institution of favoritism had a negative effect on the higher nobility, who sought benefits through flattery to the new favorite, tried to make “their own man” become lovers of the empress, etc.
Catherine's commitment to the ideas of the Enlightenment determined the character of her domestic policy and directions for reforming various institutions of the Russian state. The term “enlightened absolutism” is often used to characterize the domestic policy of Catherine’s time. According to Catherine, based on the works of the French philosopher Montesquieu, the vast Russian spaces and the severity of the climate determine the pattern and necessity of autocracy in Russia. Based on this, under Catherine, the autocracy was strengthened, the bureaucratic apparatus was strengthened, the country was centralized and the management system was unified.
The policy of "enlightened absolutism" and new stage rationalization public administration in the second half of the 18th century
By the time of her accession to the throne, Catherine II was well acquainted with the liberal ideas of European philosophical, political and economic thought. Even in her youth, she read the works of French enlighteners - Voltaire, Rousseau, Diderot, D'Alembert - and considered herself their student. In 1763, Catherine began correspondence with Voltaire, which continued until 1777, i.e. almost until the death of the famous French enlightener. Based on the ideas of European enlighteners, Catherine developed a certain idea of what needed to be done for the prosperity of the state. This is how the empress saw the outlined plans: “Since you are quite keenly interested, it seems to me, in what I am doing, I am enclosing. for this letter, perhaps a less bad translation into French my Manifesto, signed by me last year on December 14th and which appeared in the Dutch newspapers in such a cruelly distorted form that it was hardly possible to get to the meaning of it. In the Russian text, this thing is very valuable and successful... In the month of June, meetings of this great assembly will begin, which will find out for us what we need, and then it will begin to develop laws for which, I hope, future humanity will not reward us with censure. In the meantime, before that time comes, I am going to travel around various provinces...”
Combined with knowledge of Russian reality, these ideas influenced the formation of the empress’s political program, which she tried to implement in various fields, including in the field of public administration.
How Catherine imagined the tasks of an enlightened monarch, which she sincerely considered herself to be, can be seen from her draft note: “1. It is necessary to educate the nation that is to be governed. 2. It is necessary to introduce good order in the state, support society and force it to comply with the laws. 3. It is necessary to establish a good and accurate police force in the state. 4. It is necessary to promote the flourishing of the state and make it abundant. 5. It is necessary to make the state formidable in itself and inspiring respect among its neighbors.”
The beginning of Catherine II's reign was difficult, primarily politically. No matter how unpopular Peter III was in Russia, he was a legitimate (by God's grace) sovereign, and, moreover, the grandson of Peter the Great, albeit insufficient. The role of Catherine II in the murder of her husband was also unclear. First of all, Catherine II hastened with the coronation, which was supposed to legitimize her accession to the throne. The main participants in the coup (40 people) received ranks, land holdings with serfs and large sums of money. The Empress ordered the return from exile of those who “innocently” suffered, including the former Grand Chancellor Count Bestuzhev-Ryumin, the former Prosecutor General Prince Shakhovsky.
Acting carefully, avoiding dangerous conflicts, Catherine II made it clear from the very beginning that she did not intend to compromise autocratic power. She rejected the idea of Count N.I. Panin to establish a Permanent Imperial Council consisting of four secretaries of state, who were supposed to decide all the most important state affairs. In this case, Catherine would only have the right to approve decisions made. Panin’s project reflected the oligarchic hopes of the aristocracy to limit autocratic power, which did not suit Catherine II at all. At the same time, Panin proposed dividing the governing Senate into six departments, which led to a weakening of the role of this highest institution in favor of the Permanent Imperial Council. Catherine II skillfully took advantage of this proposal from Panin in December 1763 (Senate reform).
When assessing the reign of Catherine II, one must keep in mind that the empress had to act not according to a pre-thought-out and planned transformation program, but to consistently take on the tasks that life put forward. Hence the impression of some chaos in her reign. Even if this is so, it is not due to the whims of frequently changing favorites. Undoubtedly, such people influenced the policy of the state, but only to the extent that this was allowed by the empress herself, who never gave up even a particle of her autocratic power.
What the state of the country was is clear from the fact that already in the first days after the coup, Catherine had to think about how to stop the rapid rise in bread prices and find money for the most urgent state needs - the Russian army in Prussia had not received a salary for eight months. She allowed the Senate to use her “room money” - those that were considered the property of the sovereign and were used exclusively for his personal needs. Members of the Senate were touched by the fact that the Empress considers everything that belongs to her to be the property of the state and in the future does not intend to make a distinction between the interests of the state and her own. For Catherine, such a step was completely natural. She saw herself as a servant of the fatherland, called upon to lead her subjects to this common good.
This was something unprecedented in Rus'. The previous authorities considered it sufficient to keep their subjects in fear, but Catherine wanted to win their love.
Reducing duties on salt, abolition of trade monopolies, a decree against bribery, orphanages, the fight against robberies - these first measures taken by Catherine were dictated not by the desire for transformation, but by the necessity and desire to win over her subjects. However, they became for her an excellent practical school of public administration. Very soon Catherine realized how little she knew of the country in which she had to reign, and tried to study it better. In the first five years of her reign, Catherine made several trips around Russia. This allowed her to find out how her subjects lived.
The first years of the reign passed almost cloudlessly. They loved Catherine sincerely, just as they love their hopes for a better future. In this elevated atmosphere, she managed to restore the country's defenses and carry out some measures planned under Elizabeth and Peter III. First of all, this concerned church property.
Since 1765, Catherine began to write her “Order” - the recommendations of the commission for the development of the New Code. (A major attempt in the field of public administration is to bring Russian legislation into order). It is unlikely that those historians are right who see in the convening of the Statutory Commission a demagogic farce played out by Catherine II. It is impossible to call the Legislative Commission the beginning of Russian parliamentarism. In the specific conditions of Russia in the second half of the 18th century. Catherine II made an attempt to modernize the country and create a legitimate autocratic monarchy.
It must be said that in practical activities Catherine deviated far from her high ideals. She knew that she owed her power to the Russian nobility, and she understood: the best way to win his love was to distribute estates, money and privileges. In total, about a million souls were distributed from state and palace estates during Catherine's reign. In 1765 (while working on the “Order”), she allowed landowners to exile peasants to Siberia without trial “due to insolence” (confirming Elizabeth’s decree of 1760), and in 1767, having received about 600 petitions from peasants with complaints during a trip along the Volga against the landowners, ordered their return without consideration; later a special decree was issued prohibiting peasants from filing complaints against the landowners with the empress. At the time of Catherine’s accession to the throne, the right of free movement of peasants still existed in Ukraine, but already in 1763 she sharply limited it, and 20 years later abolished it altogether.
The collapse of the policy of enlightened absolutism was influenced by two events of the 18th century: peasant war under the leadership of E. Pugachev in Russia and the Great French Revolution in Europe.
In general, under Catherine, absolutism was strengthened by reforming government institutions and the new administrative structure of the state, protecting the monarchy from any attacks. She carried out socio-economic measures for the further “Europeanization” of the country and the final formation and strengthening of the nobility, liberal educational initiatives, care for education, literature and the arts.
But Russian society demonstrated its unpreparedness not only for the abolition of serfdom, but even for more moderate reforms.
Catherine’s “Order” and the activities of the Legislative Commission
Since 1765, Catherine began to write her “Order” - the recommendations of the commission for the development of the New Code. The need for new legislation is long overdue. In 1754, Elizabeth (at the suggestion of Pyotr Shuvalov) already ordered the creation of “clear laws,” but the matter never moved forward. The same attempts were made by Anna Ioannovna, and before her by Peter I. Catherine was determined to see the matter through to the end.
In 1767, deputies from all classes (with the exception of serfs and the clergy) gathered in Moscow in order to begin developing a New Code. Catherine’s “Order” became a guide. Catherine borrowed most of his articles from Montesquieu’s book “The Spirit of Laws” and the treatise of the Italian lawyer Beccaria “On Crimes and Punishments.” The “Order” consisted of 22 chapters and was divided into 655 articles. The cornerstone of the state, according to Catherine, remained autocracy:
"8. Russian state the domain extends over 32 degrees of latitude and 165 degrees of longitude around the globe.
9. The sovereign is autocratic; for no other power, as soon as the power united in his person, can act similarly to the space of such a great state...
11. Any other rule would not only be harmful to Russia, but also completely ruinous.
12. Another reason is that it is better to obey the laws under one master than to please many.”
But everything else was so new and unusual that this document simply scared many. But Catherine published “The Mandate” only after a discussion with her entourage, who redid or shortened more than half of what the empress wrote.
What shocked the Russian people so much in the second half of the 18th century?
These are the provisions of the “Order”:
"34. The equality of all citizens consists in everyone being subject to the same laws.
35. This equality requires a good institution that would prohibit the rich from oppressing those who have less wealth and turning to their own advantage the ranks and titles entrusted to them only as government officials of the state.
36. Social or state freedom does not consist in doing whatever anyone wants.
37. In a state, that is, in an assembly of people living in society, where there are laws, freedom cannot consist in anything other than the ability to do what everyone should want, and not be forced to do what they should not want "
Thus, it turned out that all citizens are equal before the law. Catherine, however, had to abandon any mention of the need to free the peasants from serfdom, although she considered slavery contrary to the Christian religion and justice. In the “Nakaz” she was forced to admit that “we should not suddenly and through legalization make a large number of people freed.”
The deputies who gathered in Moscow to work on the New Code showed Catherine that Russia was much further away from the latest European ideas than she thought. 564 people, among whom were officials, merchants, Cossacks, “arable soldiers” and foreigners, were not representatives of Russian society, because there was no society in Russia at that time. Each class cared only about its own interests. They understood the welfare of the people only as their own, and the interests of the state as the interests of the empress. Each class demanded exclusive privileges for itself at the expense of others and did not want to bear any responsibility. The nobles advocated the abolition of torture, but exclusively for their class, the merchants demanded that nobles and peasants be prohibited from participating in trade, everyone (with the exception of the nobles who had already received such a privilege) wanted not to serve and not pay taxes, and everyone demanded slaves - they spoke out against serfdom only some deputies. It is clear that it was never possible to create any Code, and in 1768 the commission for its development was dissolved under the pretext of the outbreak of war with Turkey.
However, the work of the Commission was not in vain. The content of local orders and the judgments of deputies gave the government rich material to familiarize itself with the needs and wishes of different groups of the population, and it could use these materials in the future in its reform activities.
Estate and administrative reforms of Catherine II
In December 1763. The empress carried out a reform of the Senate, dividing it into six departments, two of which were to be in Moscow and four in St. Petersburg. Thus, the governing Senate lost its former political role, turning into a bureaucratic clerical superstructure over the central institutions of the empire. In the second half of the 18th century. The territory of Russia expanded significantly, especially in the southern and western directions. The country included the Northern Black Sea region, the Azov region, Crimea, Right Bank Ukraine, Belarus, Courland, Lithuania, etc. Russia occupied an area of 17.4 million m2. According to the 1795 audit, the population of Russia was 37.4 million people. The bulk of the population lived in rural areas. By the end of the century, 10% of the country's population lived in cities. By the beginning of the 19th century. There were 634 cities in Russia, although many of them remained rather administrative and power centers of rural areas. Under Catherine II, a broad administrative reform was carried out. In 1775, the country was divided into 50 provinces instead of the previous 20. The population of the province ranged from 300 to 400 thousand people.
With the “Manifesto on Freedom for the Nobility” (1762) and the “Charter Granted to the Nobility” (1785), Catherine II finally strengthened the privileges of the nobility. The nobles were exempt from taxes and duties. Noble land ownership increased noticeably. State and palace peasants, as well as uninhabited lands, were distributed to the landowners. The leading sector of the Russian economy remained agriculture. There is an increase in serf relations. They cover new territories and new categories of population. In the lands that became part of Russia during this period of time, serfdom either persisted or became widespread (Ukraine, Crimea, Ciscaucasia). Part of the land was distributed to Russian landowners.
The situation of the serfs worsened - in 1765 the landowners received permission to exile their peasants to Siberia for hard labor, without trial. If the peasants were recognized as the instigators of the unrest, then by the decree of 1763 they themselves had to pay the costs associated with the suppression of their protests. In 1767, a decree was issued prohibiting peasants from complaining to the empress about their landowners. The years 1765-1775 were marked by peasant uprisings (Pugachevshchina). Cruelly suppressed, it was still not the last reason that pushed the government to certain decrees regarding the situation of the peasants.
Of great importance for the development of domestic industrial production was the publication in 1775 of Catherine II’s manifesto on the free discovery of industrial enterprises representatives of all walks of life. Freedom of enterprise was introduced in Russia.
In 1785, a special Craft Regulation was issued, which was part of the Charter of the cities. Along with urban crafts, crafts were widely developed in fishing villages.
The most important feature of the late 18th century. is an increase in civilian labor and capitalist manufactures.
Since 1762, it was forbidden to buy serfs to join factories, and their assignment to enterprises ceased. Manufactories, founded after this by persons of non-noble origin, used exclusively civilian labor.
In 1775, a decree was issued allowing peasant industry, which stimulated the development of production and influenced the growth in the number of factory owners from merchants and peasants.
An important incentive for industrial entrepreneurship were benefits to the merchants: in 1766 - the exemption of merchants from conscription duty and its replacement with the payment of a fixed cash contribution; the proclamation of freedom of enterprise in 1775, which consisted of allowing merchants to establish enterprises without approval from official authorities and abolishing the tax on each dignity.
Social policy demonstrates the following facts. In 1768, a network of city schools based on a class-lesson system was created. Schools began to open actively. Under Catherine, the systematic development of women's education began; in 1764, the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens and the Educational Society for Noble Maidens were opened. The Academy of Sciences has become one of the leading scientific bases in Europe. An observatory, a physics laboratory, an anatomical theater, a botanical garden, instrumental workshops, a printing house, a library, and an archive were founded. Founded in 1783 Russian Academy. In the provinces there were orders for public charity. In Moscow and St. Petersburg there are educational homes for street children (currently the building of the Moscow Orphanage is occupied by the Peter the Great Military Academy), where they received education and upbringing. To help widows, the Widow's Treasury was created.
Compulsory smallpox vaccination was introduced, and Catherine was the first to receive such a vaccination. Under Catherine II, the fight against epidemics in Russia began to acquire the character of state measures that were directly included in the responsibilities of the Imperial Council and the Senate. By decree of Catherine, outposts were created, located not only on the borders, but also on the roads leading to the center of Russia. The “Border and Port Quarantine Charter” was created.
New areas of medicine for Russia developed: hospitals for the treatment of syphilis, psychiatric hospitals and shelters were opened. A number of fundamental works on medical issues have been published.
By the end of the 18th century. the class system was strengthened. Each category of the population (nobility, clergy, various categories townspeople, peasants, Cossacks, etc.) acquired class isolation, which was determined by the corresponding rights and privileges recorded in laws and decrees. Strengthening the class system was one of the ways to keep power in the hands of the nobility.
State and church in the second half of the 18th century
Wanting to win over the influential Orthodox clergy in Russia, Catherine II, upon her accession to the throne, canceled the decree of Peter III on the confiscation of land property and peasants from monasteries. True, having strengthened her position, the empress, already in 1764, nevertheless took away 990 thousand peasants from the monasteries in favor of the state. The former monastic peasants (there were about 1 million male souls) began to be called economic, since the College of Economy was created to manage them. The number of monasteries in Russia decreased from 881 to 385.
The monastery lands have long been a source of concern for the authorities. Even under Elizabeth, there were constant unrest among the monastery peasants. In order to somehow cope with the situation, under Peter III these lands were transferred to secular management. But then the church authorities were outraged. Catherine reassured them by returning their estates, but this caused even greater indignation among the peasants (the transfer of monastic peasants to state positions made it possible to freely grant them to anyone). In 1762, about 150 thousand monastery and landowner peasants were “in obvious indignation,” and at the same time about 50 thousand mining peasants rebelled. Again, the intervention of military detachments and even artillery was needed. Therefore, a year later, Catherine again established a commission on church estates. Metropolitan of Rostov Arseny Matseevich, who at one time enjoyed the patronage of Elizabeth, sharply spoke out against her - a quarrelsome and cruel person. He demanded that the Synod immediately return the confiscated church properties. His message was so harsh that the Synod, perceiving it as an insult to Her Majesty, referred the matter to Catherine for consideration. She did not show the usual leniency, and Arseny was defrocked and exiled to a remote monastery. Church properties were transferred to the jurisdiction of the College of Economy. The same department maintained homes for disabled people. A completely secular man, Prince Boris Kurakin, was appointed president of the board.
After the annexation of lands that had previously been part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to the Russian Empire, about a million Jews ended up in Russia - a people with a different religion, culture, way of life and way of life. To prevent their resettlement in the central regions of Russia and attachment to their communities for the convenience of collecting state taxes, Catherine II in 1791 established the Pale of Settlement, beyond which Jews had no right to live. The Pale of Settlement was established in the same place where Jews had lived before - on the lands annexed as a result of the three partitions of Poland, as well as in the steppe regions near the Black Sea and sparsely populated areas east of the Dnieper. The conversion of Jews to Orthodoxy lifted all restrictions on residence.
In 1762-1764, Catherine published two manifestos. The first - “On the permission of all foreigners entering Russia to settle in whichever provinces they wish and the rights granted to them” - called on foreign citizens to move to Russia, the second defined a list of benefits and privileges for immigrants. Soon the first German settlements arose in the Volga region, reserved for settlers. The influx of German colonists was so great that already in 1766 it was necessary to temporarily suspend the reception of new settlers until those who had already arrived were settled. In the future, the German community will play a significant role in the life of Russia.
By 1786, the country included the Northern Black Sea region, the Azov region, Crimea, Right Bank Ukraine, the lands between the Dniester and the Bug, Belarus, Courland and Lithuania.
The population of Russia in 1747 was 18 million people, by the end of the century - 36 million people.
In general, a policy of religious tolerance was pursued in Russia under Catherine II. Representatives of all traditional religions did not experience pressure or oppression. Thus, in 1773, a law on tolerance of all religions was issued, prohibiting the Orthodox clergy from interfering in the affairs of other faiths; secular power reserves the right to decide on the establishment of churches of any faith.
Catherine obtained from the government of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth equalization of the rights of religious minorities - Orthodox and Protestants.
Under Catherine II, the persecution of Old Believers ceased. The Empress initiated the return of Old Believers, an economically active population, from abroad. They were specially allocated a place in Irgiz (modern Saratov and Samara regions). They were allowed to have priests.
The free migration of Germans to Russia led to a significant increase in the number of Protestants (mostly Lutherans) in Russia. They were also allowed to build churches, schools, and freely perform religious services. At the end of the 18th century, in St. Petersburg alone there were more than 20 thousand Lutherans.
The Jewish religion retained the right to publicly practice its faith. Religious matters and disputes were left to the Jewish courts. Jews, depending on the capital they had, were assigned to the appropriate class and could be elected to government bodies local government, become judges and other civil servants.
By decree of Catherine II, in 1787, in the printing house of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, for the first time in Russia, the complete Arabic text of the Islamic holy book of the Koran was printed for free distribution to the “Kyrgyz”. The publication differed significantly from European ones, primarily in that it was Muslim in nature: the text for publication was prepared by Mullah Usman Ibrahim. In St. Petersburg, from 1789 to 1798, 5 editions of the Koran were published. In 1788, a manifesto was issued in which the Empress ordered the establishment of a spiritual assembly of Mohammedan law in Ufa. Thus, Catherine began to integrate the Muslim community into the system of government of the empire. Muslims received the right to build and restore mosques.
Buddhism also received government support in regions where it was traditionally practiced. In 1764, Catherine established the post of Habo Lama - the head of Buddhists Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia. In 1766, the Buryat lamas recognized Catherine as the embodiment of White Tara for her benevolence towards Buddhism and her humane rule.
The long reign of Catherine II 1762-1796 was filled with significant and highly controversial events and processes. The “Golden Age of the Russian Nobility” was at the same time the age of Pugachevism, the “Nakaz” and the Statutory Commission coexisted with persecution. And yet it was an integral era, which had its own core, its own logic, its own ultimate task. This was a time when the imperial government was trying to implement one of the most thoughtful, consistent and successful reform programs in Russian history. The ideological basis of the reforms was the philosophy of the European Enlightenment, with which the empress was well acquainted.
Introduction. 3
Local government under Catherine II. 4
Conclusion. 12
References: 14
Introduction
Regional administration was a convenient ground for Catherine on which she could sow political ideas she borrowed from the liberal teachings of European publicists. Moreover, special considerations prompted her to pay primary attention to the reorganization of regional administration.
Pugachev's rebellion, which plunged into horror noble Russia, had important consequences for determining the further domestic policy of Catherine II. First of all, the empress became convinced of the deep conservatism of the lower strata of the empire's population. Secondly, it became clear that, despite all the costs, only the nobility could be the true support of the throne. Finally, thirdly, the uprising clearly demonstrated the deep crisis of society and, therefore, the impossibility of further postponing reforms, which should have been carried out gradually, step by step, through slow everyday work. The first fruit of the reform was one of the most significant legislative acts of Catherine’s reign - “The Establishment for the Administration of the Provinces of the All-Russian Empire.”
The publication and implementation of the Institutions marked the beginning of the provincial reform, the main content of which was related to the reorganization of the local government system. The need for such a reform was dictated by the very logic of the development of an autocratic state, which required the creation of a strictly centralized and unified system, in which every cell of a vast territory and every inhabitant would be under the vigilant control of the government. These demands had to be linked with the class interests manifested in the activities of the Statutory Commission, and above all with the interests of the nobility. At the same time, Catherine did not forget about her plans for the formation of a third estate in the state.
Local government under Catherine II.
In November 1775, the “Institution for the Administration of the Provinces of the Russian Empire” was published. In the introductory part of this document, it was noted that the need for a new reform is due to the fact that the existing provinces are very large in size and the structure of provincial government is imperfect.
Under Catherine II, the number of provinces was increased to 51. The capital provinces and large regions (they included two provinces each) were now headed by major dignitaries and governors responsible to the queen. They were, as a rule, endowed with extraordinary powers. The provinces were governed by governors appointed by the Senate and provincial boards (the latter, like the Landrats, were actually subordinate to the governors). All officials and institutions of the regions (provinces) were divided into three groups:
1. The first - administrative and police - included the governor, the provincial government and the Order of Public Charity (this body consisted of assessors from the provincial class courts and managed schools, medical and charitable institutions, “work” and “straithouses”).
2. The second group of provincial institutions were financial and economic. The main one was the treasury chamber, whose functions included tax affairs, financial control, management of state property, contracts, supervision of private trade and industry, and conducting accounting and statistical work on audits - population censuses. As a rule, the vice-governor was in charge of the treasury chamber.
3. The third group of provincial institutions included the courts - the chambers of the criminal court and the chamber of the civil court. In the provinces of that time there functioned the upper zemstvo court for the nobles, the provincial magistrate for the townspeople, the upper reprisal for the state, palace peasants, and coachmen. In the provinces there was also a prosecutor's service headed by the provincial prosecutor.
Another document of particular interest is the “Charter of Grant for Rights and Benefits to the Cities of the Russian Empire,” adopted by Catherine II in 1785.
The “Charter of Grant for Rights and Benefits to the Cities of the Russian Empire” of 1785 established the rights and privileges of cities. It secured the city’s ownership of its “lands, gardens, fields, pastures, meadows, rivers, fisheries, forests, groves, bushes, empty places, water or windmills...”. Cities were given the opportunity to have schools, mills, taverns, taverns, herbergs, taverns, organize fairs, and establish places and times for trade. The townspeople were obliged to bear the established “burdens”, i.e. duties and fees that local authorities could not increase without government permission. Nobles, military and civil officials were completely exempt from taxes and services. Each city had to have its own coat of arms.
The rights of the population were protected by the city magistrate, who ensured that they were not subject to new duties and fees without approval. The magistrate petitioned the higher authorities about the needs of the city.
The urban population was divided into 6 categories or electoral curiae, entered in the city philistine book:
1. The category of “real city dwellers” included persons who owned real estate within the city.
2. Owners of a certain amount of capital belonged to the category of guild merchants.
3. Belonging to the category of guild artisans was determined by registration in a guild.
4. The definition of non-resident and foreign guests follows from its very name.
5. The grounds for belonging to one of the 7 divisions of the category of “eminent citizens” were: two-time appointment to an elected position in the city, a university or academic diploma for the title of scientist or artist, issued by Russian main schools (not foreign), capital of a certain size, occupation of wholesale ( not shop) trade, possession of sea ships.
6. The 6th category of “posadsky” included persons engaged in any kind of trade.
Elections to the General City Duma were held once every three years. The mayor presided over the General City Duma. When voting, vowels from each category had only one vote, so it did not matter that the number of vowels from different categories was different.
The General Duma elected a Six-Party Duma from among its members, which carried out direct work on managing current city affairs. This institution included the mayor and six vowels - one from each category of the “city society”. The Six-Voice Duma was not only an executive body under the General Duma. Its jurisdiction was subject to the same range of issues as for the General Duma. The only difference was that the latter met to consider more complex issues, and the former for the day-to-day management of current affairs.
The competence of the six-vocal Duma included the following areas of activity of the “city society”:
providing the urban population with food;
preventing quarrels and litigation between the city and surrounding cities and villages;
law enforcement;
providing the city with necessary supplies;
protection of city buildings, construction of squares, piers, barns, shops needed by the city;
increase in city revenues; resolution of controversial issues that arose in workshops and guilds.
In addition to the General and Six-Party Dumas, the Regulations of 1785 also established a third body - a meeting of the “city society”. All members of the “city society” could participate in it, but only those who had reached the age of 25 and had capital, the interest on which generated an income of at least 50 rubles, had the right to vote and passive suffrage. The competence of this meeting included:
elections of the city mayor, burgomasters and ratmans, assessors of the provincial magistrate and conscience court, elders and deputies for compiling the city philistine book;
presenting your thoughts on the needs of the city to the governor;
issuance of resolutions;
preparing responses to the governor’s proposals;
exclusion from “civil society” of citizens discredited in court.
A meeting of the “city society” could meet only with the permission of the governor-general or governor once every three years in the winter.
However, in the province the implementation of the City Regulations encountered many difficulties, and simplified self-government had to be introduced. Instead of three bodies - the meeting of the "city society", the general and six-vocal duma - there were only two: a direct meeting of all citizens and a small elected council of representatives different groups urban population to carry out common affairs.
The most significant reform transformations were carried out in the early 60s of the 19th century, when, shortly after the abolition of serfdom, Alexander II signed a decree to the government Senate on the implementation of the Regulations on Zemstvo Institutions from January 1, 1864.
The main factor that contributed to the birth of the zemstvo was the decree of February 19, 1861, according to which more than 20 million serfs received “freedom”.
The zemstvo (1864) and city (1870) reforms pursued the goal of decentralizing management and developing the principles of local self-government in Russia. The reforms were based on two ideas. The first is the election of power: all local government bodies were elected and controlled by voters. In addition, these bodies were under the control of representative power, and both branches of government were controlled by the Law. Zemstvos were supporters of state power and supported the rule of law and stability in society. The second idea: local government had a real financial basis for its activities. In the 19th century up to 60% of all payments collected from the territories remained at the disposal of the zemstvo, i.e., cities and counties, 20% each went to the state treasury and the province.
On January 1, 1864, the “Regulations on provincial and district zemstvo institutions” were established. According to this “Regulation”, zemstvos were all-class bodies. Wanting to make the zemstvos more manageable, with the predominant influence of the ruling classes in them, the law provided, for example, for dividing district voters into three curiae to elect a district zemstvo assembly.
The first curia included landowners who had at least 200 acres of land or other real estate worth up to 15 thousand rubles; This also included residents who had an annual income of up to 6 thousand rubles.
The second curia included mainly urban residents - homeowners, merchants, and factory owners. held their meetings without interconnection with the congresses of the first and third curiae. However, residents with an annual income of up to 6 thousand rubles could participate in the elections of “vowels”. or owning real estate up to 4 thousand rubles (in small towns - up to 500 rubles).
The third curia included peasants, unlike the first two curias, they were multi-degree. From the peasant curia to the zemstvo assembly, not only representatives of the clergy, burghers, but even landowners often became members of the council.
According to data from 1865-1867, in 29 provinces (in those where zemstvos were introduced), landowners-nobles and officials among the district “vocals” accounted for about 42%, peasants - more than 38, merchants - over 10, representatives of other classes - about 10 %.
Among the first provinces where zemstvos began their activities immediately after the adoption of the “Regulations” were Samara, Penza, Kostroma, Novgorod, Kherson, Pskov, Kursk, Yaroslavl, Poltava, Moscow, Kazan, St. Petersburg, Ryazan, Voronezh, Kaluga, Nizhny Novgorod and Tambov.
The zemstvo institutions of the district included the zemstvo assembly and the zemstvo council with the institutions attached to them.
The Zemstvo Assembly consisted of:
Zemsky vowels;
Members ex officio (chairman of the state property management, deputy from the ecclesiastical department, mayor of the county town, representatives of the county department).
The Zemstvo Assembly met annually for one session, no later than October. The session lasted ten days. The governor could extend it. The district marshal of the nobility presided over the district zemstvo meeting.
The duties of the zemstvo were divided into two groups - mandatory and optional:
Among the mandatory functions were the maintenance of peace mediators and judges, detention facilities and apartments for police officers, stage duty, construction and repair of large roads, allocation of carts for travel of police officers, gendarmes and other government officials.
Optional functions included: insurance of agricultural buildings against fires, maintenance of city hospitals and almshouses, repair of roads and bridges, food assistance to the population.
On the eve of the February Revolution of 1917, zemstvos existed in 43 provinces of Russia with total number inhabitants about 110 million inhabitants.
The viability of the zemstvo was ensured by its two basic principles: self-government and self-financing.
Self-government of zemstvos was manifested in many aspects: in the election of governing bodies, in the formation of management structures, determination of the main directions of their activities, selection and training of specialists, formation and distribution of the local budget.
After October Revolution The widespread liquidation of zemstvos began (the Bolsheviks considered zemstvo self-government a legacy of the bourgeois system), which was completed by the summer of 1918.
The liquidation of the zemstvo was a completely natural process, because local self-government provides for decentralization of power, economic-social, financial and, to a certain extent, political independence, independence, and the ideas of socialism were based on the state of the proletarian dictatorship, i.e. the state is centralized in nature.
During the development of local self-government in pre-revolutionary Russia, it is possible to highlight the basic principles that are a feature of the Russian municipal school:
the principle of diversity of forms of organization of local self-government, which is associated with the peculiarities of the socio-economic development of the territory of the Russian Empire, with significant differences in cultural, national and religious traditions;
the principle of non-participation (prohibition) of local governments in active political life, because it was believed that main task organs local authorities was to satisfy the priority needs of the population and the state strictly ensured that local governments did not go beyond these boundaries;
the principle of delimiting subjects of authority and resources between levels of government (the delimitation was based not on the principle of sufficiency, but on the principle highest efficiency their use by this level);
the principle of transferring relatively broad rights in the economic and business sphere to local governments (naturally, while maintaining the authority of the center). There were several reasons for this: the vast territories of the empire; and rapid development in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. city and zemstvo education, health care, culture.
Unfortunately, the experience of local government, primarily zemstvo, accumulated before the revolution, was actually discarded and forgotten.
Conclusion
During all periods of the formation of Russia as a single and great power, especially during periods of crisis, two trends were clearly evident: unification on the basis of a strong central government and disunion, sovereignization of the territories that comprise it. The reason for this was both objective historical and socio-economic conditions, and the subjective desire of the appanage owners, or regional elites, in modern political terms, to be all-powerful masters within their limited, but self-sufficient, from their point of view, limits.
Along with the two noted main trends, at all stages of the development of statehood, sometimes clearly, sometimes to a less noticeable extent, a third was also manifested - the formation and development of local self-government. During periods of disunity, self-government was one of the management tools for regional authorities. With the strengthening of central power, self-government was largely a compromise between the supreme power and the territories that were part of a single state. Recognition of the territories' rights to self-government smoothed out the severity of the confrontation between the center and the regions.
Now, when Russia is once again going through a period of formation and development of forms of local self-government, it is interesting to turn to its historical experience, which is what was done in this work. In conclusion, the following conclusions can be drawn.
Zemstvo reform of 1864 together with other reforms of the 60-70s in Russia, influenced the change in the power structures of the state and caused new social conflicts in the sphere of management.
The reform of local government was caused by political and administrative-economic necessity. By introducing zemstvos, the government pursued threefold goals. Firstly, about 23 million former serfs demanded new principles of local government. Secondly, it was a concession to the liberal provincial noble society. And thirdly, the central government tried to improve the organization of extremely neglected local government.
It is indisputable that zemstvo self-government in Russia since the last quarter of the 19th century. has acquired the character of a viable state institute and expressed the interests of broad groups of the population. This is also evidenced by statistical material. By February 1917, zemstvo self-government existed in 43 provinces of Russia, and its competence extended to 110 million inhabitants. At the same time, one should not go to the other extreme, as is often the case in recent publications, and idealize zemstvo self-government in pre-revolutionary Russia as a kind of conflict-free model of relations between the power elite and local governments.
References:
1. E. V. Anisimov, A. B. Kamensky. “Russia in the 18th - first half of the 19th centuries.” M.: Miros, 1994
2. A. N. Sakharov “History of Russia from the beginning of the 18th century to late XIX century." M.: AST, 1996
3. Reader on the history of Russia M. 1999
4. Isaev I.A. History of state and law of Russia. M.: Lawyer, 1999.
5. Vladimirsky-Budanov M. F. Review of the history of Russian law. Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 1995.
6. Russian legislation of the 10th-20th centuries. T. 7. - M., 1994.
Catherine II sought to carry out reforms. Moreover, Russia fell into a difficult situation: the army and navy were weakened, there was a large external debt, corruption, the collapse of the judicial system, etc.
Provincial reform (1775):
“Institution for the management of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire” adopted on November 7 1775 year. Instead of the previous administrative division into provinces, provinces and districts, territories began to be divided into provinces and districts. The number of provinces increased from twenty-three to fifty. They, in turn, were divided into 10-12 counties. The troops of two or three provinces were commanded by the governor-general, otherwise called viceroy. Each province was headed by a governor, appointed by the Senate and reporting directly to the empress. The vice-governor was in charge of finances, and the Treasury Chamber was subordinate to him. Supreme official The district police captain was the police captain. The centers of the counties were cities, but since there were not enough of them, 216 large rural settlements received city status.
Judicial reform:
Each class had its own court. The nobles were tried by the zemstvo court, the townspeople by magistrates, and the peasants by reprisals. Conscientious courts were also established, consisting of representatives of all three classes, which performed the function of a conciliatory authority. All these courts were elective. A higher authority were the judicial chambers, whose members were appointed. And the highest judicial body of the Russian Empire was the Senate.
Secularization reform (1764):
All monastic lands, as well as the peasants living on them, were transferred to the jurisdiction of a specially established College of Economy. The state took upon itself the maintenance of monasticism, but from that moment it acquired the right to determine the number of monasteries and monks required by the empire.
Senate Reform:
December 15, 1763 The manifesto of Catherine II “On the establishment of departments in the Senate, Justice, Patrimonial and Revision Boards, on the division of affairs in them” was published. The role of the Senate was narrowed, and the powers of its head, the Prosecutor General, on the contrary, were expanded. The Senate became the highest court. It was divided into six departments: the first (headed by the Prosecutor General himself) was in charge of state and political affairs in St. Petersburg, the second - judicial in St. Petersburg, the third - transport, medicine, sciences, education, art, the fourth - military-land and naval affairs, the fifth - state and political in Moscow and the sixth - the Moscow judicial department. The heads of all departments, except the first, were chief prosecutors subordinate to the prosecutor general.
Urban reform (1785):
The reform of Russian cities was regulated by the “Charter on the rights and benefits of cities of the Russian Empire,” which was issued by Catherine II in 1785. New elected institutions were introduced. The number of voters has increased. City residents were divided into six categories according to various property, class characteristics, as well as merits to society and the state, namely: real city inhabitants - those who owned real estate within the city; merchants of the three guilds; guild artisans; foreign and out-of-town guests; eminent citizens - architects, painters, composers, scientists, as well as wealthy merchants and bankers; townspeople - those who were engaged in handicrafts and crafts in the city. Each rank had its own rights, responsibilities and privileges.
Police reform (1782):
The “Charter of Deanery or Police” was introduced. According to it, the deanery board became the body of the city police department. It consisted of bailiffs, mayor and chief of police, as well as townspeople determined by elections. Court for public violations: drunkenness, insults, gambling etc., as well as unauthorized construction and bribes were carried out by the police authorities themselves, and in other cases a preliminary investigation was carried out, after which the case was transferred to court. The punishments applied by the police were arrest, censure, imprisonment in a workhouse, a fine, and in addition, the prohibition of certain types of activities.
Education reform:
The creation of public schools in cities marked the beginning state system secondary schools in Russia. They were of two types: main schools in provincial cities and small ones in district ones. Contained these educational institutions at the expense of the treasury, and people of all classes could study there. School reform was held in 1782 year, and earlier in 1764 year, a school was opened at the Academy of Arts, as well as the Society of Two Hundred Noble Maidens, then (in 1772 year) – commercial school.
Currency reform (1768):
The State Bank and Loan Bank were formed. And also, for the first time in Russia, paper money (banknotes) was introduced into circulation.
Similarly, students consider the reform of local government of the country carried out by Catherine II and compare it with the reform carried out by Peter I.
4.
Next, the teacher organizes work with fragments of the Charters of Catherine II. Answering questions about documents, students note changes in the position of classes in the second half of the 18th century.
Formulating the conclusion of the lesson, students can note that thanks to the activities of Catherine II, the country relatively safely passed the turn of the 18th-19th centuries. However, the potential of the traditional system was exhausted, and its continued existence led to an ever greater lag behind Western Europe.
Homework:§ 47, answer the questions after the paragraph; draw up comparative characteristics personalities of Catherine II and Peter I.
| Lessons 57-58. | FOREIGN POLICY OF RUSSIA IN THE SECOND HALF of the 18th century. GREAT COMMANDERS AND NAVAL LEADERS |
Lesson objectives: characteristics of goals, directions and results foreign policy Russia during the reign of Catherine II; acquaintance with the life and activities of the great commanders and naval commanders of Russia during the period under study.
Key dates and events
1768
-1774
- Russian-Turkish war.
1770
- defeat of the Turkish fleet in Chesme Bay.
1772
- the first section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1774
- Kuchuk-Kainardzhi peace treaty between Russia and Turkey.
1787
-1791
- Russian-Turkish war.
1791
- Iasi Peace Treaty between Russia and Turkey.
1788
-1790
- Russian-Swedish war.
1790
- Werel Peace Treaty between Russia and Sweden.
1793
- the second section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1795
- the third section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
1795
- Russia, England and Austria formed an alliance against France.
Lesson terms and concepts
Bar Confederation
- in 1768-1772 armed alliance of the Polish gentry against King Stanislaw Poniatowski and Russia.
Kuchuk-Kainardzhi world
- concluded on July 21, 1774 in the village of Kyuchuk-Kainardzha on the Danube River, completed Russian-Turkish war 1768-1774 Ottoman Empire recognized: the independence of the Crimean Khanate, the right of Russian merchant ships to sail freely in the Black Sea and pass through the Black Sea straits, the annexation of Azov, Kerch and other territories to Russia, the Russian protectorate over Moldova and Wallachia.
Sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- divisions of the Polish state between Russia, Prussia and Austria in 1772, 1793 and 1795.
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- the traditional name of the Polish state from the end of the 16th century, which was a class monarchy headed by a king elected by the Sejm. From the moment of the conclusion of the Union of Lublin in 1569 and until 1795, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the official name of the united Polish-Lithuanian state.
Iasi world
- a peace treaty between Russia and Turkey, ended the Russian-Turkish war of 1787-1791. Concluded on January 9, 1792 in Iasi. Confirmed the annexation of Crimea and Kuban to Russia and established the Russian-Turkish border along the Dniester.
Personalities: M. I. Kutuzov, A. G. Orlov, P. A. Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, G. A. Spiridov, A. V. Suvorov, F. F. Ushakov.
Lesson equipment: map “Russia in the second half of the 18th century”; CD “Encyclopedia of Russian History. 862-1917"; CD “History of Russia and its closest neighbors: Encyclopedia for children”; CD “Science of Victory”, “History of Military Art” (“New Disc”); fragments of the films “Admiral Ushakov”, “Ships Storm the Bastions” (directed by M. I. Romm), “Suvorov” (directed by V. I. Pudovkin).
Plan for learning new material: 1. The nature of Russian foreign policy under Catherine II. 2. Main directions and results of foreign policy. 3. Great military leaders.
1.
In introductory words The teacher asks students to remember what foreign policy goals and objectives faced Russia in the first half of the 18th century, which were achieved by the time of Catherine II’s accession. During the conversation, students highlight two important foreign policy goals that Catherine II faced:
1) access to the Black Sea (solution to the Crimean problem);
2) completion of the process of reunification of Russia with Ukraine and Belarus.
An indicator of Russia's increasing influence on European affairs was Seven Years' War. In foreign policy of the second half of the 18th century. the line was pursued to establish Russia as a great European power. There was a move beyond Europeanism (intervention in crisis situations not directly related to the interests of Russia), and a tendency towards globalization of foreign policy was formed (diplomatic support for the North American colonies during the War of Independence, sending Cossacks to search for routes to India).
2.
Schoolchildren study the main directions and results of Russian foreign policy under Catherine II on their own and record the results in a table.
The term “enlightened absolutism” is often used to characterize the domestic policy of Catherine’s time. Under Catherine, the autocracy was strengthened, the bureaucratic apparatus was strengthened, the country was centralized and the management system was unified. The main idea was a critique of the outgoing feudal society.
Imperial Council and Xie's transformation nata. On December 15, 1763, according to Panin’s project, the Senate was transformed. It was divided into 6 departments, headed by chief prosecutors, and headed by the prosecutor general. Each department had certain powers. The general powers of the Senate were reduced, in particular, it lost legislative initiative and became a body for monitoring the activities of the state apparatus and the highest court. The center of legislative activity moved directly to Catherine and her office with secretaries of state.
Stacked commission. An attempt was made to convene the Statutory Commission, which would systematize the laws. The main goal is to clarify the people's needs to carry out comprehensive reforms. On December 14, 1766, Catherine II published a Manifesto on the convocation of a commission and decrees on the procedure for elections to deputies. More than 600 deputies took part in the commission, 33% of them were elected from the nobility, 36% from the townspeople, which also included nobles, 20% from the rural population (state peasants). The interests of the Orthodox clergy were represented by a deputy from the Synod. As a guiding document for the 1767 Commission, the Empress prepared the “Nakaz” - a theoretical justification for enlightened absolutism. The first meeting took place in the Faceted Chamber in Moscow. Due to the conservatism of the deputies, the Commission had to be dissolved.
Provincial reform. On November 7, 1775, the “Institution for the management of the provinces of the All-Russian Empire” was adopted - a reform of the administrative-territorial division of the Russian Empire. The country was divided into 50 provinces, each of which consisted of 10-12 districts. A uniform system of provincial government was established: a governor appointed by the emperor, a provincial government that exercised executive power, the Treasury Chamber (collection of taxes, their expenditure), the Order of Public Charity (schools, hospitals, shelters, etc.). Courts were created, built on a strictly class principle - for nobles, townspeople, and state peasants. The provincial division introduced by Catherine II remained until 1917;
Legislation on estates. On April 21, 1785, two charters were issued: “Charter Granted to the Nobility” (secured all class rights and privileges of the nobles) and “Charter Granted to Cities” (registered the rights and privileges of the “third estate” - townspeople). The urban estate was divided into six categories, received limited rights of self-government, and elected the mayor and members of the City Duma. The clergy lost their autonomous existence due to the secularization of church lands (1764), which made it possible to exist without the help of the state and independently of it. After the reform, the clergy became dependent on the state that financed them.
