L-10 Part III Pre-reform Russia (1) 1. Introduction 2. State and Politics
1. Introduction
A.Sources B.Historiography: “Reaction” to “Prereform” C.Themes 1.State: centralization, expansion at base 2.Emergence of serf question 3.Formation of “Intelligentsia” 4.Nationalities and Nationalism 5.Great Power complex and complications
2. State A.Paul’s legacy: the last palace coup 1.Violation of noble security 2.Abuse of high officials 3.Foreign policy: dysfunctional, unpopular 4.Intervention in master-serf relations
2. State B. Alexander I (r ) 1. The good/bad binary myth 2. Early reformism 3. Challenge of the “Senatorial party” 4. M.M. Speranskii era 5. Post-Napoleonic: “reaction” and constitutions
Alexander I
Unofficial Committee Czartoryski, Kochubei, Stroganov Novosil’tsev,
Admiral N.S. Mordvinov
2. State C. Nicholas I (r ) 1. Clandestine Reformer-Tsar 2. Conundrum of reform 3. Nikolaevan elite 4. Official Nationality 5. After 1848
Nicholas I
1831: Nicholas Bans Pogodin Play on Peter I “The person of Peter the Great must be for every Russian an object of love and veneration. To bring this onto the stage would be almost a sacrilege, and thus entirely inappropriate. Prohibit publication.”
Nicholas I: Paradamania Description of Military Parade Here is order. Strict, unconditional legitimacy; no presumed omniscience; no contradictions.... Everything has its place. That is why it makes one feel so good to stand among these people, and that is why I always hold the profession of soldiers in esteem.
Nicholas I and Soldiers: Lithograph
Conundrum of Serf Reform: Nicholas speech of 30 March 1842 There is no doubt that serfdom in its present situation in our country is an evil, palpable and obvious to all, but to attack it now would be something still more harmful. The late Emperor Alexander, at the beginning of his reign, intended to give the serfs freedom, but later he himself abandoned his thought, as being altogether premature and incapable of execution. I too shall never make up my mind to do this, considering that the time when it will be possible to undertake such a measure is in general very far away; any thought of it at present would be no less than a criminal sacrilege against public security and the welfare of the state.
S.S. Uvarov
Nicholas I: Caricature
2. State D. Governance 1. Alexandrine: Ministerial reform, Nikolaevan (a) Committee of 6 Dec 1826 (b) HIM’s Chancellery (c) Ad hoc rule 3. Provincial administration 4. Finance 5. Conclusion
Manifesto on Establishment of Ministries (1802)
Mikhail M. Speranskii
Speranskii: Journal on Trip through Siberia (1820)
P. D. Kiselev
HIM’s Chancellery: Components 1.. Personnel 2. Law codification 3.Secret police 4. Imperial charitable institutions 5. State Peasants 6. Caucasus
Benkendorf: III Section Head
Benkendorf Caricature
Ad Hoc Governance Secret State Raskol Committee (1817) Siberian Committee (1821) Baltic Committee (1828) Caucasus Committee (1840) Committee on Western Provinces (1841) Peasant Committees (1828, 1829, 1835, 1839, 1842, 1844, 1846, 1847)
State Budget, 1810 and 1846 (millions of rubles) Category Revenues Expenditures Balance
Growth of Military Forces YearNumber in Military Service , , , ,118,000
2. State E. Bureaucracy 1. Prosopography 2. Gosudarstvenniki: men devoted to the state and its interests
Civil Service: Size YearCivil Servants , , ,138
Civil Service: Comparative Per Capita Density CountryCivil Servants Per 1000 Inhabitants Russia1.3 Great Britain4.1 France4.8
Civil Service Structure (1847) CategoryPercent of Civil Servants Ranks Ranks
Central Officials Profile, 1850s First Position Held Central Officials (%) Vladimir Province (%) Central674 Provincial1687 Military1218 Other51
Civil Servants: Education (1850) EducationCentralVladimir Gymnasium Seminary441 Secondary1723 Higher specialized University112
Civil Servants: Social Origins (1850) GroupCentralProvincial Nobility 5223 Clergy852 Service groups2721 Merchant, professional41 Poll-tax population73 Foreign20
Hereditary Nobles in Civil Service (1850) RanksPercent from Hereditary Nobility I-IV72 V-VIII38 IX-XIV22
2. State E. Bureaucracy 1. Prosopography 2. Gosudarstvenniki: men devoted to the state and its interests
2. State F. Conclusions 1. Autocracy: apogee of symbolism 2. State: reification 3. Rise of gosudarstvenniki 4. Public reaction, secret reformism 5. Preparations for great reforms