To better understand what Russia was like at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, I want to quote the words of Leo Tolstoy from his letter to Nicholas 2 dated January 16, 1906. None of the historians described the situation in Russia of that era better.

Russia is in a position of increased protection, that is, outside the law. The army and police (explicit and covert) are increasing. The prisons are overcrowded. Even workers are now equated with political prisoners. Censorship has reached the absurdity of prohibitions, which it has never reached. Religious persecution has never been so strong. As a result, those 100 million, on which the power of Russia is based, are impoverished. So impoverished that hunger has now become a normal phenomenon. Even 50 years ago, under Nicholas 1, prestige royal power stood very high. Now it has fallen so that even representatives of the lower classes criticize not only the government, but even the king.

Lev Tolstoy

Population

The first official census (without economic overtones) in the Russian Empire took place in 1897 and counted 125 million people in the country. The second census of 1914 recorded 178.1 million people (an increase of 53.1 million over 17 years). The population growth rate was high and it was calculated that if Russia manages to pass without external and internal shocks until the middle of the 20th century, then the population in the country will be about 350 million inhabitants.

Russia at the beginning of the 20th century was a multinational country. The same 1914 census recorded the following composition of the population:

• Russians - 44.6%
• Ukrainians - 18.1%
• Poles - 6.5%
• Jews - 4.2%
• Belarusians - 4.0%
• Kazakhs - 2.7%
• Other nations - each no more than 2%

The official language of the Russian Empire in the early 20th century is Russian. At the same time, harassment linguistic feature there was no other peoples could use their language to communicate.

Estates

Important characteristic Russian population beginning of the 20th century - the preservation of estates. The bulk of the population are peasants, whose estate made up just over 80% of the country's population. The nobility in Russia was about 1.5%, but it was the leading estate that held power together. The nobility was not united, they were divided into hereditary and personal.

The problem of the nobility was acute in Russia, since, under the reform of 1861, the nobles were formally deprived of all exclusive land use rights. This was the starting point, after which the positions of the nobility began to deteriorate, and with them the power of the Emperor became less and less strong. As a result, the events of 1917 happened.

A separate important estate in Russia is the clergy. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was divided into categories:

• Black (monastic). Monks who have taken a vow of celibacy.
• White (parish). Priests who are allowed to have a family.

Despite the important status of the clergy, the church continued to be under the control of the state.

autonomy

Autonomy is feature development Russian state. The empire, adding new lands to its composition, in most cases granted autonomy to these lands, preserving their national traditions, religion, and so on. The most complete autonomy was in Finland, which had its own parliament, legislation and money. I specifically emphasized this system of preserving autonomy, which was relevant at the beginning of the 20th century, so that you can compare how Russia annexed regions and how Western countries did it. Suffice it to recall that as a result of colonization North America Europeans, Indians indigenous people it was almost completely exterminated, and the part that remained alive was placed in special reservations - cattle pens, it is impossible to get out of.

Autonomy was also granted to the peoples of the Baltics and Poland in the west. The autonomy of these regions was curtailed in terms of political freedoms, because, for example, the Polish population always advocated the restoration of the Polish state, and therefore actively fought underground against Russia.

The best indicator of the preservation of the cultural integrity of the autonomies was religion. Despite the dominance Orthodox Church(76% of the population), other religions also remained: Islam (11.9%), Judaism (3.1%), Protestantism (2.0%), Catholicism (1.2%).

Territory

At the beginning of the last century, there was a territorial peak of the scale of Russia, and naturally it was the most big country in the world. The western borders of the state passed with Norway, Germany, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire.

The Russian state included: modern Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, partly Poland. I want to note that the current capital of Poland, Warsaw, at the beginning of the 20th century was part of Russia.

We considered the territory of Russia in Europe, since it was the theater where the main actions of that era took place. If we talk about Asia - there, as part of Russia, all the states that later joined the USSR were also completely included.

Governance and laws

Russia at the beginning of the 20th century continued to be a monarchy, when in the 1st article of the code of laws of the country it was written that "the emperor is an autocrat with unlimited power." Power in the country was inherited, the eldest in the family. In this case, preference was given to males.

Control system

The main figure in the country was the Emperor. He owned the main functions in the government of the country. The Romanov dynasty itself and all the persons who belonged to it had influence on the emperor and influenced the policy of Russia. According to the laws of that time, a member ruling dynasty there could only be Orthodox, so when representatives of other countries joined the dynasty, they were immediately baptized into the Orthodox faith.

Since 1810 in Russia functioned State Council- an advisory body that provided legislative ideas to the Emperor, but the adoption of the law was a function exclusively of the Emperor.

Executive power was concentrated in the hands of the Ministries. Above the ministries there was no government and prime ministers. Each minister reported directly to the ruler (this is a feature of the imperial regime). Key Ministries Russian Empire late 19th - early 20th century: internal affairs, military, foreign affairs, finance and public education. Ministries created great amount officials. By official statistics in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, there was 1 official for every 3 thousand people. It was the largest bureaucracy in the world. A typical problem tsarist officials was corruption and bribery. To a large extent this contributed low salaries. The obvious problem of the large apparatus of officials was the inability to make important decisions quickly.

Judicial functions

The highest judicial power in the country, since the time of Peter the Great, belonged to the Senate. He performed the functions of the judiciary, supervisory authorities and the interpretation of laws. The judiciary itself was based on the judicial reform of the 60s of the 19th century. Equality, jury trials and glasnost were practiced in Russia. In practice, inequality still persisted, since the numerous laws of the Russian Empire left many loopholes for lawyers. Who could hire them - he won in the courts.

Relatively judicial system In Russia at the beginning of the 20th century, it is important to note that a special method of litigation was applied to political criminals (anyone could be classified as such if desired). After the assassination of Alexander 2, the law "On the Preservation of Order and Public Peace" was adopted. According to him - in relation to political prisoners, the verdict was passed not by the court, but by officials.

Local government

system local government functioned on the basis of the laws of the 60s of the 19th century. On the ground, zemstvos were created, which solved exclusively local issues (building roads, schools, and so on. By the beginning of the 20th century, the functions of the zemstvos had changed somewhat. Now a bureaucratic apparatus was built over them, fully controlling all the functions of local authorities.

Self-government bodies were divided into:

• Urban. City Dumas were formed, in which only owners of houses in the city could be elected.
• Rural. Rural gatherings or "worlds" were formed.

Every year the role of local bodies became lower and lower, and more and more control organizations appeared over them.

Army and security

Internal security issues were dealt with by the Police Department (an analogue of the current Ministry of Internal Affairs). The police network was ramified and, on the whole, did not cope well enough with its functions. It is enough to recall only the numerous assassination attempts on members of the imperial house to be convinced of this.

The number of the army at the beginning of the 20th century exceeded 900 thousand people. The army continued to be regular, formed on the basis of conscription. Duty was universal, but benefits were granted. Released from military service only sons in the family, breadwinners, teachers and doctors. Today they say a lot that the army of the Russian Empire was the best in the world. This is definitely debatable. It is enough to recall the Russo-Japanese War to understand that the problems in the army and in its management were significant. The limited command is also emphasized by the First World War, which Russia entered with virtually no artillery (the command was convinced that this was a hopeless type of weapon). In reality, 75% of all losses of that war were from artillery.

Economy

The problems that were characteristic of Russia at the end of the 19th century were reflected in the economic development of the country at the beginning of the 20th century. After all, it is no coincidence that at this stage there are 2 revolutions and significant discontent of the population. There are 3 points of view on the economy of that era:

If you highlight the main features Russian economy of that period, we can distinguish: the formation of monopolies, the preservation of a largely serf system of management, the complete dependence of the economy on the state, uneven economic development regions.

The state made attempts to solve the problem that had accumulated in the economy. For this, Witte's reforms and Stolypin's agrarian reform were undertaken. These reforms did not radically change the situation, and at the beginning of the 20th century in Russia there was a drop in production and the standard of living of the majority of the population. It is here that lies the social dynamite that exploded in 1917.

The situation in the village

The events of 1893 are very important for understanding the situation in the Russian village in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In this year, a law was passed restricting the right of the community to redistribute land. Now the land was divided once every 12 years. What does it mean? Every 12 years the land was divided anew. That is, the community took land plot from one peasant and gave it to another. Some historians speak of the small significance of these events, but this is not so. The land issue has always been very acute in Russia, and most of the riots, uprisings and revolutions happened precisely because of the land issue. The best way represent the significance of the law of 1893 subsequent events. It is enough to add 12 years to convince of this. The following dates are obtained:

• 1905 (1893 + 12) - first revolution
• 1917 (1905 + 12) - February and beyond October Revolution
• 1929 (1917 + 12) - start of collectivization

Due to the peculiarities of the redistribution, it suffered greatly Agriculture. There was no point in investing in land. Anyway, in 12 years this site will be given to another. Therefore, it was necessary to squeeze out the maximum in 12 years, and then let the other owner think about restoring the productivity of the land. And such a point of view was massive!

Once again I want to emphasize the years of redistribution of land: 1905, 1917, 1929. This key years Russian history, and if they are considered without taking into account the specifics of the redistribution of land, it is impossible to understand the real events in the Russian village in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century. After all, the vast majority of the population were peasants, and the land feeds them. Therefore, in the literal sense of the word, the peasants were ready to kill for the land.

International relationships

After the reign of Alexander 3, Russia was very often characterized by a powerful country, but too distant from European political processes. This fully corresponded to the interests of the Empire, and Nicholas 2 promised to continue this policy. This was not possible. as a result, Russia was drawn into the world war.

At the beginning of the 20th century there was a rise German Empire which grew stronger every year and showed signs of subjugating Europe to itself. If we consider this process objectively, Germany did not threaten Russia in any way, but Nicholas 2, who verbally guaranteed the Empire's path to isolation from European intrigues, was actually afraid of Germany and began to look for allies. Thus began a rapprochement with France, and after the signing of the Franco-English treaty, the Entente was formed. I will not now describe in detail the idiocy of the behavior of Nicholas 2 (this topic is well analyzed in the material about the First World War), but it was his fear of Germany that allowed Russia to be drawn into the war, where its allies in the Entente (France and England) did not help at all and more interfered.

Russia's traditional rival - Ottoman Empire- experienced a clear decline and more and more often questions were raised in Russian society that Constantinople should be taken away from Turkey. It is noteworthy that this should have happened (all documents were signed) after the First World War. This is one of the reasons why Western countries have been so quick to recognize Russian revolution legitimate

By the beginning of the XX century. in the Russian Empire, the system of state administration was preserved, one of characteristic features which was heavily bureaucratized. The first place among the highest state institutions of the country belonged to the State Council. Members and the chairman of the Council were appointed by the king, and ex officio it included ministers. Until its reorganization in 1906, the Council was the highest legislative body. The preliminary discussion of bills introduced at the will of the king took place in the departments, which played the role of preparatory commissions. Then the bills considered were submitted to the general meeting of the State Council. If the State Council did not come to a consensus, the monarch presented different points of view. He made decisions on them alone, while he could take the point of view of the minority.

to higher government agencies also included the Senate and the Synod. The Senate has finally lost its significance supreme body state administration and has become a body of supervision over the legality of the actions of government persons and institutions and the highest court of cassation in court cases.

The direct executive power belonged to the ministries (the most important - internal affairs, military and naval, finance, foreign affairs, public education). Until October 17, 1905, there was no unified government in Russia, although the Committee of Ministers and the Council of Ministers formally existed. If the Committee of Ministers, called upon to engage in a joint discussion of cases that required coordination between several departments, sometimes met, then the Council of Ministers from 1882 to 1905 was completely inactive.

There was no prime minister in Russia. Each minister reported on matters directly to the emperor. He was also directly subordinate to the governor-generals and mayors of Moscow and St. Petersburg. This whole structure strictly corresponded to the ideals of an autocratic monarchy, but with the complication of the tasks of state administration at the beginning of the 20th century, it began to falter.

The fulfillment of the will of the monarch was to be carried out by numerous officials. By the beginning of the XX century. there were more than 430 thousand officials in the country, that is, one for every 3,000 people of the population. At that time it was the largest bureaucracy in the world. In the educated strata of society, the official was the object of ridicule and mockery. Small salaries of officials, especially at the lower rungs of the hierarchical ladder, contributed to bribery and corruption. But in general, the state apparatus was well adapted to perform its functions in normal, calm times, although it was inactive, uninitiative and incapable of rapid response in critical situations.

In the first quarter of the XIX century. Russia was at the crossroads between the autocratic-feudal system and the search for new forms of organization of the socio-economic and political life. This controversial and difficult period of Russian history is associated with the reign of Alexander 1.

The modernization of the socio-economic and political life of the country was prepared by the previous development of Russia. However, there were opponents of the reforms - a significant part of the nobility and bureaucracy. On February 19, 1861, the Manifesto of Alexander II in Russia was canceled serfdom. The liberation of the peasants was a response to the historical challenge of the capitalist Western Europe, by this time significantly ahead of Russia.

According to the Regulations of February 19, 1861, privately owned peasants became personally free. They received the right to dispose of their property, engage in trade, entrepreneurship, and move to other classes. The provisions of February 19 obliged the landowners to give land to the peasants, and the peasants to accept this land. The peasants were provided with field land according to regional norms, not for free, but for duties and ransom. The amount of the redemption was determined not by the market value of the land, but by the amount of the capitalized quitrent (6%).

The peasants received the land not for personal ownership, but for the community, which was the legal owner of the land. This meant that the traditional way of life of the village remained intact. The state and the landlords were interested in this, because mutual responsibility was preserved, the community was responsible for collecting taxes.

After the abolition of serfdom, other reforms were required. Zemstvo reform of 1864 introduced new institutions in the central provinces and districts - zemstvos, self-government bodies. Zemstvos did not interfere in state issues, their activities were limited to economic, educational functions.

In 1864 began judicial reform(New courts initially began to operate only in the St. Petersburg and Moscow provinces. In other regions, new courts were founded gradually, over a long period of time). The independence of the judiciary from the administration was proclaimed; a government-appointed judge could only be dismissed by court order. Equal responsibility of all estates before the law was introduced.

In 1870 city self-government was reorganized following the pattern of zemstvo institutions. The reform abolished the old Ekaterininskaya class city duma and introduced a classless duma elected for four years.

The country introduced universal military service for males who have reached the age of 21, and reduced the terms of service for those who had an education.

The education reform was quite radical for the second half of XIX in. In 1863, a new university charter was introduced, according to which the rector, professors and associate professors were elected to vacant positions by the university council. This proclaimed the autonomy of the universities, which became less dependent on the Ministry of Public Education.

The Russian Revolution of 1905 or the First Russian Revolution is the name of the events that took place between January 1905 and June 1907 in the Russian Empire. The impetus for the beginning of mass demonstrations under political slogans was "Bloody Sunday" - the execution by imperial troops and police peaceful demonstration in St. Petersburg on January 9 (22), 1905. During this period, the strike movement assumed a particularly wide scope, unrest and uprisings took place in the army and navy, which resulted in mass demonstrations against the monarchy.

The result of the speeches was the constitution - the Manifesto of October 17, 1905, which granted civil liberties on the basis of personal immunity, freedom of conscience, speech, assembly and unions. The Parliament was established, consisting of the State Council and the State Duma. The revolution was followed by a reaction: the so-called "Third of June Coup" of June 3 (16), 1907.

State Duma - in 1906-1917. higher along with the State Council, legislative (lower house of the first Russian parliament), the establishment of the Russian Empire.

Thus, the social tension that caused the First Russian Revolution was not fully resolved, which determined the prerequisites for the subsequent revolutionary uprising in 1917.

The complication of administration and court necessitated an increase in the number of higher government institutions reporting directly to the emperor.

State Council was created in 1810 year. The members of the State Council were ministers and chief executives of departments, the chairman was the emperor. Some of the members (highest officials of Russia) were appointed by the emperor, some (ministers) were ex officio members of the State Council.

The State Council consisted of a general assembly and departments. Departments were formed from members of the State Council.

The State Council was the highest legislative body of Russia , he took part in the discussion of laws, budget and government reports.

Own His Imperial Majesty office (SEIVK) originated at the end of the 18th century. It was the highest state institution in Russia and gradually pushed the State Council into the background.

It was an organ that connected the emperor with government agencies in all critical issues government controlled. She received nationwide functions in 1812. Under Nikolai Pavlovich, SEIVK actually stood above the entire administrative apparatus.

To
committee of ministers . Legislation received in 1812 year. It included not only ministers, but also chairmen of the departments of the State Council, the secretary of state and other persons in accordance with the appointment of the emperor.

The Committee of Ministers was the highest administrative institution. In the absence of the emperor in the capital, all power over the government apparatus was transferred to the Committee of Ministers. For consideration by the Committee of Ministers were taken out:

draft new decrees, resolutions and rules;

cases of peasant unrest and revolutionary uprisings;

affairs on supervision of the state apparatus;

affairs for the protection and dissemination of Orthodoxy.

6th period.

Bodies of State Power and Administration in the Second Half of the 19th – Early 20th Centuries

Council of Ministers - the highest government body established in 1861 year. Consisted of ministers, chief departments, chairmen of the State Council and the Committee of Ministers, persons appointed by the king. Created to discuss cases of a national nature, materials and annual reports on the activities of ministries and departments.

Meetings of the Council of Ministers were irregular, and from the end of 1882 until January 1905, the Council of Ministers did not meet.

In law October 19, 1905 the Council of Ministers was converted and developed into a permanent higher government agency for:

unification of the actions of ministers and chief departments on issues of legislation and higher state administration;

preliminary consideration of draft legal provisions before submitting them to the State Duma and the State Council;

discussion of proposals for common device ministries;

approval of charters of joint-stock companies.

Since April 1906, the competence of the Council of Ministers has expanded. He received the right, in the event of termination of meetings of the State Council and the State Duma, to discuss bills and submit them for approval to the emperor.

The Committee of Ministers was abolished in April 1906 and its affairs were distributed between the Council of Ministers and the Council of State.

AT 1906 The reform of the State Council was carried out. Its activities were adapted to the activities of the State Duma, and according to legal status The State Council became the second, highest parliamentary chamber. It began to consist not only of members appointed by the emperor, but also of equal number members by choice. Elections were held not by the population, but by a special list of noble societies, provincial zemstvo assemblies, large industrialists and merchants, the Academy of Sciences and universities.

The State Council had equal rights with the State Duma, but could not approve any bill passed by the Duma majority.

After February 1917, the highest body of state administration became provisional government .

State Council

The State Council was established in 1810. The idea of ​​its creation belongs to M.M. Speransky, according to whose projects the Council was to become one of the main links executive power, a legislature It was to be carried out jointly by the emperor and the elective State Duma. The State Council was formed as part of 5 departments: laws, military affairs, civil and spiritual affairs, state economy, sciences, industry and trade. The number and importance of the departments were not constant, in 1832 the department for the affairs of the kingdom of Poland was established, and since 1843, in connection with the formation of the Military Council, the importance of the military department fell. The number of members of the State Council was not strictly defined, in individual years it reached 80 members, and sometimes (in 1832) consisted of only 40 people.

The State Chancellery operated under the State Council, which prepared cases, compiled memoirs (that is, extracts and reports on cases), established the order in their hearing, and kept all current correspondence and reporting. At the State office operated the State Printing House.

Senate

A decree on the rights of the Senate was issued on September 8, 1802. The Senate was declared the supreme seat of the empire and endowed with great rights:

• 1) the power of the Senate was limited only by the emperor;
• 2) The Senate was the supreme seat of the empire in court cases, there was no appeal against its decisions;
• 3) all imperial decrees, general and private, in without fail sent to the Senate and published by them;
• 4) The Senate was given the right to enter with a special presentation to the king whenever, among the laws being issued, one is found, the implementation of which is hampered by the ambiguity of the text, inconsistency with existing norms;
• 5) The Senate was in charge of the highest police in the state, monitored and provided general order in the country;
• 6) The Senate is given the right to audit all institutions in the state;
• 7) Senators for their criminal acts were subject to the jurisdiction of the Senate itself.

According to the law (Article 4 of the Code of State Institutions), the emperor was the chairman of the Senate. To supervise the proceedings and the correctness of the decisions made, each department and each department had chief prosecutors; at general meetings of the Senate in St. Petersburg, Prosecutor General; at the Moscow general meeting Senate - a special chief prosecutor. The Senate was given numerous offices with a huge bureaucracy.

In the Senate offices, more than anywhere else, bribery, bribery, and abuse flourished. the Senate, as government agency, carrying out the will of the ruling strata of the country, fully justified the tasks assigned to him to strengthen and protect the foundations of the feudal serf state.