Reforms of the first years of the reign of Alexander 1. Political projects and reforms of Alexander I. Accession to the throne

Alexander I was brought up by his grandmother Catherine II in the spirit of the ideas of enlightenment, because of which the emperor became almost a staunch republican. But over time, realizing the Russian reality, his reform activities gradually faded away, blurred.

Before 1812, his reform activity was more clear-cut. From 1801 to 1803, he relied on the recommendations of his "young friends", members of the Private Committee (A.A. Chartoryisky, V.P. Kochubey, P.A. Stroganov, N.N. Novosiltsev), from 1806 to 1812 the closest M.M. becomes an adviser to the emperor. Speransky. After the war, Alexander I began to move away from political activity, became interested in mysticism, fell into depression. A. A. Arakcheev played a significant role at the court at that time. Although reform activities continue during this period, they are significantly reduced.

Projects of liberal reforms M.M. Speransky:

A To form the country's parliament - the State Duma
A Apply the principle of separation of powers
A Apply the principle of election in the formation of government bodies (property qualification)
A The right to acquire real estate in the country and, as property is accumulated, to receive broader political rights
A Keep the right of legislative initiative and the dissolution of parliament for the king

According to Speransky, the implementation of his plan was to expand the social base of the monarchy, significantly strengthen the rule of law in the country, while retaining all the main powers in the hands of the king. These transformations, according to the reformer, should have been introduced gradually. But out of all the variety of ideas, only one was implemented - in 1810 the State Council was created, although in the future this body did not develop at all as Speransky had planned. The State Council became a legislative body, which was supposed to become a link between the king and other branches of government.

But due to the pressure of the conservative nobility, Speransky had to be exiled.

In 1811, the ministries were transformed, namely, their functions and structure were clarified. These measures made it possible to complete the formation of the administrative machine Russian Empire.

In addition to Speransky, the development of reforms was entrusted to A.A. Arakcheev in 1818. He proposed buying up the landlords' lands, and allocating 2 acres per capita to the peasants from the resulting fund. D.A. project Guriev assumed the destruction of the peasant community and the creation of a farm. Despite the fact that all these projects remained only on paper, at the request of the Baltic provinces, the emperor canceled serfdom, turning the peasants into tenants, this showed a certain process towards the emancipation of the Russian peasants.

But apart from peasant question, Alexander I took up the organization of military settlements according to the Prussian example, work began under the leadership of A.A. Arakcheev. But this undertaking turned out to be unsuccessful, uprisings broke out twice, the army only reduced its effectiveness.

Alexander I supported the domestic economy. In 1807, he issued a decree "On the granting of new benefits to the merchants" - allowing the creation of joint-stock companies, merchant meetings, and courts. In 1818, he issued a decree on the right of peasants to establish factories and plants.

Thus, the ongoing reforms of Alexander I, although they were "Napoleonic", did not play serious weather.

In politics, you have to betray your country or your voters. I prefer the second.
Charles de Gaulle

On March 11, 1801, as a result of a coup d'état, Pavel 1 was killed, and his son, 24-year-old Alexander, took the Russian throne. The young emperor was distinguished by the fact that he did not share the views of his father, and sought to do everything in defiance of him. In particular, in his introduction at the coronation, Alexander declared that he would rule with his heart, as Catherine the Great did. The political views of the young emperor, as well as his disagreement with internal politics father, led to extensive reform activities. This activity, especially initial stage, characterizes the liberal reforms of Alexander 1. These reforms refer to the initial years of his reign (1801-1804), and the very implementation of all bills is associated with the activities of the Unspoken Committee.

The secret committee

Having ascended the throne, Alexander 1 was looking for comrades-in-arms who could be relied upon to lead the country. As a result, an Unofficial Committee was created, which included people entrusted to the emperor: Stroganov, Czartorysky, Kochubey, Novosiltsev. These were the closest associates of the emperor, who were at the head of all the reforms that began to be carried out in the Russian Empire. In total, the Private Committee consisted of 12 people. Its official work began in June 1801 and continued until May 1802. According to the initial plan, the main direction of the Committee's activity was to limit autocracy, but it was decided to start with local, smaller-scale reforms.

Reforms of 1801

The first steps of the liberal reforms of Emperor Alexander 1 began with an amnesty for all those who suffered under Paul 1. As a result, 12 thousand people were subjected to the amnesty. It was a very deliberate move that clearly demonstrated that Alexander did not share the views of his father, and that the people who posed a threat to Paul were Alexander's friends. It was a fundamental change in the course of the country's domestic policy. In addition, in 1801, liberal reforms included the following areas:

Restoration of Letters of Complaint to the nobility and cities.
Permission to freely travel abroad.
Permission of free import from abroad of any literature.
Liquidation of the Secret Expedition. The secret expedition is a special supervisory body that was engaged in political and civil investigation. His place has now been taken by the Senate.

These reforms were carried out on April 2, 1801. They did not carry cardinal changes for the country, but once again emphasize the course of Alexander 1, who sought to change everything that his father did. In addition, another reform was carried out this year, according to which the burghers and peasants were allowed to buy land (decree of December 12, 1801). In addition, the nobles were forbidden to advertise in the newspaper for the sale of their serfs.

Reform of 1802

The year 1802 was marked by the reform of local and state authorities. In particular, the Senate received special powers and became the highest judicial body in the country. In addition, the Senate also dealt with those who controlled the activities of all local government bodies. Simultaneously with these reforms, Alexander 1 changed his colleagues, putting ministries in their place (decree of September 8). The reforms in Russia in 1802 gave rise to the following ministries (a total of 8 were created): military, justice, maritime, internal affairs, foreign affairs, public education, finance and commerce. To coordinate the activities of the ministry, a Committee of Ministers was created, which actually dealt with management issues within the country. All members of the Private Committee entered the new government (the need for the Private Committee ropal):

Kochubey took over as Minister of the Interior.
Stroganov became Deputy Minister of the Interior.
Novosiltsev received the post of Minister of Justice of Russia.
Czartoryski was officially listed as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, although in practice he was not a deputy, but a full-fledged head of this ministry.

Reforms of 1803

One of the most significant are the liberal reforms of Alexander 1 in 1803. At the beginning of this year, the system of public education was reformed. The young emperor insisted that education and science be available to all segments of the population, including peasants and the poor. The number of universities was also increased, which additionally received more independence.

However, the most an important event of this year, as well as one of the most important reforms of the reign of Alexander 1, took place on February 20, 1803. On this day, a decree was issued on the Free Plowmen. According to this decree, the peasants could, in agreement with the landowner, redeem their freedom. In this article, we will not dwell on this decree, since it is already described in detail on our website, and you can find this material.

All liberal reforms from 1801 to 1804

Above, we considered only the main liberal reforms that were carried out in Russia at the initial stage of the reign of Alexander 1. There were many more of these reforms, and they had an impact on all spheres of the life of the state. In particular, the emperor's reform activities affected the following areas:

Education. Alexander announced free primary education for all. As for themselves educational institutions, they were divided into four main categories: church schools, county schools, gymnasiums and universities.
Norms of behavior and life. The first liberal censorship charter was approved.
Opening of new universities. Large universities were opened in Dorpat, Vilna, Kazan and Kharkov. The work of the universities was controlled by the newly created Ministry of Public Education.
Steps towards the liberation of the peasants. For the first time, peasant duties were announced and clearly defined, as well as opportunities for the peasants to redeem their freedom from the landowners.

These were the liberal reforms of Alexander 1 at the initial stage of his reign. The young emperor, on the one hand, tried to show that he did not share the views of his father, but, on the other hand, tried to create conditions for a better life inside the country. You can talk as much as you like about Alexander's involvement in the death of Paul 1, his love or not love for Russia, but his reforming activity at the initial stage was of an exceptional nature, which was aimed at trying to improve life in the country.

IN early XIX V. The Russian Empire was a huge continental country, which included a vast territory from the Baltic Sea to Pacific Ocean, where 43.7 million people lived. One of the first European powers to join new Age as an autocratic state with a feudal-serf system of economy.

However, during the first decades of the XIX century. gradually emerged new features in the economic development of the country. The economy has become multifaceted, and social relations became more complex than in the 18th century and more controversial. A new class is rising: the bourgeoisie. These are tenants of land, owners of inns, mills, building contracts, manufactories, and merchants. There were signs of a weakening of the monopoly of the nobility on land. In 1801, free purchase and sale of uninhabited land was allowed. In 1803, the landlords were given the right to release the peasants for a ransom. In 1818, the peasants were allowed to set up factories and factories.

The development of the economy was hampered by the poor condition of the roads. Volga bread, for example, was delivered to St. Petersburg only in the second year after harvesting. The first steamboat “Elizaveta” appeared in Russia only in 1815, and the railway linking St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo appeared in 1837.

By the reform of 1861, there were only 1,500 versts of railways in Russia, which is 15 times less than in England, and the number of steamboats barely reached 400, which was extremely small given the size of the country.

But even in these conditions at the beginning of the XIX century. in Russia there was an increase in industry. The number of workers, also a new class for Russia, was already approaching 1 million.

Increasing trade was dominated by domestic turnover, but the domestic market was narrow and slowed down industrial production. Internal trade was expanding, especially with the national outskirts of the empire, as well as foreign trade. Russian merchants explored new territories: Kamchatka, Chukotka, Kurile Islands, Sakhalin and Central Asia.

However, despite the elements of the capitalist structure, Russia remained an agrarian country, 90% of the population of which were peasants. The eighth revision (1836) showed that there were 127 thousand landowners in Russia, and most of them were small estates (i.e., they had up to 21 souls of male peasants), large estates belonged to 3% of the landlords, but it was these 3% who owned half of the serfs in Russia (the Sheremetevs, Yusupovs, Gagarins, Golitsyns had tens of thousands of peasants).

By the middle of the XIX century. The nobility owned 32% of the land in the European part of Russia.

Only 5% of landlord farms used rational forms of management: monopoly crop rotation, machines etc. Even the desire to increase monetary incomes due to the growth in the first quarter of the century of domestic and foreign trade in grain under the conditions of serfdom pushed the landowners not to modernize their economy on the basis of advanced models, but to strengthen serf forms of economy: increase corvee and dues. This was largely due to the position of the tsarist government. Denying funds to the industrialists, it credited the expenses of the landlords on the security of estates and serfs, using for this part of the budget, the main income item of which was taxes from the peasants.

The personal dependence of the peasants on the landowners and their disinterest in the results of labor made agriculture less and less efficient.

The crisis of the serf economy- the main feature of the economic situation in Russia in the first half of the XIX century.

The most numerous category of the Russian peasantry is 23 million people. These are landlord peasants. State peasants (united into communities and paid taxes to the state) amounted to 19 million people. Insignificant in comparison with the first two was category of appanage peasants(belonging to the imperial family) - 1.7 million people

Under the conditions of emerging capitalist relations, state peasants were subjected to greater differentiation (stratification).

The first enterprises of small handicraft industry were created by people from the peasantry. The dynasties of the famous Russian manufacturers Morozov, Guchkov, Ryabushinsky came out of serfs-handicraftsmen.

The development of large-scale industry occurred due to the spread of manufactory and its subsequent development into a factory. Greatest growth industrial enterprises seen in the middle of the 19th century. In 1799 there were 2094 enterprises in Russia, in 1825 - 5261, and in the 1860s. - 15338. In the second third of the XIX century. there is a decline in property-based enterprises (these are enterprises built by private individuals who received gold, mines and serfs from the treasury for work), and industrial production is gaining growth.

The contradictions between the new capitalist mode of production and the feudal-serf system lead to the deepest crisis of the entire economy of autocratic Russia. An indicator of the internal crisis and socio-economic backwardness of the country from the advanced European countries was Russian defeat in Crimean War(1853 - 1856).

Reforms are becoming inevitable.

Alexander I. First attempts at reform

19th century begins with palace coup, as a result of which he ascended the Russian throne eldest son of Emperor Paul Alexander, opened the era of liberalism, which, however, did not last long. The mentor of Alexander I was the Swiss politician F. Laharpe, a republican and opponent of slavery, an adherent of the ideas of the French Enlightenment, which he sought to instill in his student. He urged his pupil to carry out a "series of reforms from above" in order to avoid the "horrors of the French Revolution." According to the poet, “the days of the Alexandrovs, a wonderful beginning” is connected precisely with these ideas.

To prepare projects for transformations under the emperor, a "Secret Committee" (1801 - 1803), it included friends of Alexander's youth, representatives of the younger generation of noble nobility - Pavel Stroganov, Viktor Kochubey, Adam Czartorysky and Nikolai Novosiltsev.

In 1802, there were some changes in the system of organization of power: instead of the Petrine collegiums, new governing bodies were introduced - ministries: foreign affairs (until 1832 a foreign collegium was preserved), military land affairs, military maritime affairs, finance, commerce, justice, internal affairs and public education, etc. The ministries became the central organs of executive power.

The ministers were appointed by the emperor and in fact were responsible only to him. The ministerial system created under Alexander I, with some changes, lasted until 1917.

In preparation for reforms political system countries a special place was occupied by the project of M.M. Speransky, who, on behalf of Alexander I, practically developed a plan for bourgeois transformations in the country.

According to V.O. Klyuchevsky, “Alexander I was bribed by this mind, brilliant, hard as ice. It was Voltaire in a theological guise.” The son of a village priest, M.M. Speransky paved his way to the top of the political pyramid with his enormous capacity for work. Having embarked on reforms, he, according to V.O. Klyuchevsky, “looked at the Fatherland as a large slate on which you can draw any correct mathematical constructions. That's what he drew." MM. Speransky proposed to introduce the principle of separation of powers, to create a responsible ministry. Projects M.M. Speransky had an enormous influence on the development of social thought. He proposed some limitation of the autocracy by a representative body, the State Duma, district and provincial dumas were to be created locally. The State Council was to become the upper chamber of the future Russian parliament. Speransky's proposals came into sharp conflict with the interests of the noble aristocracy. The only proposal of Speransky, which was accepted by Alexander I, was the creation of the State Council, which was established in 1810 and lasted until February Revolution 1917 He was appointed by the emperor from representatives of the highest noble aristocracy and had legislative functions

Future economic development Speransky associated Russia with the development of commerce, the transformation of the financial system and monetary circulation. To stabilize the monetary system in the country, at his suggestion, the issue of paper money was suspended and the silver ruble was introduced. He gave great importance the regulatory role of the state in the development of domestic industry, but considered the question of the elimination of serfdom premature.

According to contemporaries, the ideas of this politician caused horror among the conservative part of the nobility- “everyone looked at this office like a Pandora’s box, full of disasters, ready to take off and cover our entire society”

Another ardent patriot of his country was also concerned about the search for a possible way to eliminate the socio-economic gap between Russia and the West. N.S. Mordvinov. In 1812, he served as chairman of the department of economy of the State Council. He saw a way out in accelerating the development of capitalism and therefore attached great importance to the development of private property, competition, the creation of a diversified economy, and the accumulation of capital as the main factor in economic growth. He also proposed to intensively develop the banking system, modify the customs tariff on the basis of protectionism, and increase the regulatory role of the state in the economy.

All liberal projects evoked fierce resistance from the conservative-minded nobility, who saw in them a danger to the autocratic-feudal system. The ideologist of conservatism became famous writer and historian N.M. Karamzin. In the note “On the ancient and new Russia”, addressed to the king, he defended the inviolability of autocracy and serfdom.

In the last decade of the reign of Alexander I in domestic politics more and more conservative trend. After the name of his guide Arakcheev, it was called "Arakcheevshchina" and was aimed at strengthening absolutism and serfdom. It was expressed in centralization and regulation government controlled, in police-repressive measures aimed at the destruction of free thought. The most striking manifestation of "Arakcheevism" was the military settlements created in 1815-1816. to ensure the self-sufficiency of the army. State-owned peasants, soldiers and their families lived in military settlements. All residents carried out military service and performed agricultural work.

Emperor Nicholas I. Reaction time (1825 - 1855)

After the death of Alexander I and the abdication of Constantine, the second son of Paul, in December 1825, the third son, Nicholas I, became the new emperor.

According to V.O. Klyuchevsky “two circumstances had a strong impact on the nature of the reign: the emperor did not prepare and did not want to reign, and he went to the unexpected and unwanted throne through the ranks of the rebellious troops” . Another Russian historian S.M. Solovyov wrote about Nicholas I: “Who was this Caesar? It was an embodied reaction to everything that was moving in Europe ... on his face anyone could easily read “stop, mold, collapse” ...”. And here is an epigram by an unknown author, which circulated among the nobility during the time of Nicholas: “The original looks like a bust, it is also cold and empty.”

The new emperor considered his activity on the throne as a duty, as an official assignment. His time is the era of extreme self-assertion of autocratic power and the prevention of revolutionary "contagion". European bourgeois revolutions, breaking the absolutist regimes had an impact on the worldview of the Russian monarch, but the conclusions he made were to strengthen the internal order in the country. He was in solidarity with the Minister of Education Uvarov that "serfdom is a tree, it overshadows both the church and the throne, it is impossible to uproot it." “Autocracy, Orthodoxy, nationality”, the so-called theory of official nationality overshadowed all the activities of Nicholas I. At the same time, he paid much attention to the technical side of the development of the Russian economy, developed higher and secondary technical education, built railways attracted foreign capital to the industry.

The bureaucratic system reached its peak, the army of officials grew to 70 thousand people, half of them were military. Under his direct authority, Nicholas I took the famous III department of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery, which was in charge of political investigation, and "dissent", and literary censorship, and theatrical repertoire. Bureaucratization had a twofold effect. Firstly, for some time it allowed to ensure order in the country. Secondly, it led to corruption, embezzlement and bribery.

In the reign of Nicholas I, a codification (ordering) of the archaic and confusing Russian legislation. In 1830 it was published “ complete collection laws of the Russian Empire” (45 volumes). In a separate "Code of Laws" (15 volumes) in 1832, the laws in force were placed.

Student Tishchenko V.V.

Ural State Law University

The development trends of the 19th century directly predetermined the features of the 20th century in Russian history. Lawlessness, the fall of the authority of state power always lead to the collapse and fall of the state itself. These objective patterns Russian history should be remembered by each of us if we want to preserve ourselves as an original Russian people, to ensure the development and strengthening of our state.

The very raising of the question of the need for reforms was a huge step forward in the development of constitutional ideas. One of the most radical projects of the second half of the reign of Alexander I was N.N. Novosiltsev.

IN domestic literature there was an idea of Alexander I as a two-faced and indecisive statesman. Usually, the activities of M.M. are cited as evidence. Speransky in 1908. However, history shows otherwise.

In March 1818, Alexander I arrived in Poland for the opening of the Sejm, where he delivered a speech that gave the impression of a bombshell. The Tsar announced that the "lawfully free institutions" which he "granted" to Poland were the subject of his constant "thoughts" and that he hoped to extend them to the whole country. The tsar made it clear that the fate of the constitution in Russia depended on the success of the Polish experiment. Work on it began at the end of the same year under the leadership of N.N. Novosiltsev. The first version of the constitution that has come down to the present can be considered " Summary foundations of the constitutional charter of the Russian Empire", which was preserved thanks to a copy sent to Berlin in Schmidt's report. This document is notable for being approved by Alexander I as the basic principles of the constitutional structure. By October of the next - 1819, and the document was ready and approved by Alexander I. Then for another year there was a refinement.

In 1820, a draft of the Russian constitution "State statutory charter of the Russian Empire" was drawn up. It was drawn up in two copies: one on French, the other is in Russian. This document was found during the Polish uprising of 1830 - 1831. among the papers of N.N. Novosiltsev. In the summer of 1831, the draft constitution was published in a separate pamphlet by the Polish revolutionary government. The "statutory charter" provided for the introduction in Russia of a bicameral parliament, a fundamentally new body of power for Russia. The people's representation was supposed to "consist in the State Seimas (State Duma), composed of the sovereign and two chambers." In addition to the all-Russian parliament, "viceroyal" diets were established, designed to operate in each vicegerency into which the country was supposed to be divided. The "statutory charter" gave the Sejm the right to veto restrictions on the emperor's legislative power. She announced the division of the country into 12 districts or governorships. Each governorship included 3-5 provinces. The provinces included in the governorships retained the previous division into counties, the counties were divided into districts, which was an innovation. The authorities in the viceroyalty generally coincided with the general imperial ones. "Charter", assumed the introduction of a federal territorial principle in Russia state structure, decentralized the apparatus of state administration, while maintaining differentiated autonomy (from constitutional for Poland and Finland to legislative for other territories, with a special emphasis on the status of Moscow and St. Petersburg). The government offices of the governorships, which were supposed to discuss local issues, streamlined the structure of government of the country, and made it possible to quickly solve emerging problems. It proclaimed the introduction of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equality of all before the law, freedom of the press, and inviolability of the person. Particular attention was paid to the right of private property in the document. The independence of the judiciary was also proclaimed. It should be noted that the project of N.N. Novosiltsev was more moderate, and maybe that's why the latter did not suffer the fate of M.M. Speransky. But he was still ahead of his time.

Thus, the prepared documents clearly show that in 1820 Emperor Alexander I was really close to a radical reorganization of the state system, to the introduction of a constitution. However, now the king decided that his plans were unrealistic and even harmful. He was convinced of this by information about the existence of secret revolutionary societies of the future Decembrists, the unrest of military settlers and soldiers of the Semyonovsky regiment, revolutionary events in Southern Europe, and the opposition of the Polish Sejm itself. He began to think that the introduction of the constitution could serve as a catalyst for further upheavals in the country, even more terrible and unpredictable.

We should not forget about the formation of the Southern and Northern societies of the Decembrists, however, this work examines the constitutional transformations sanctioned by Alexander I, so these organizations are mentioned in order to remind you that part of the noble society was also ready for transformations.

Was it possible to carry out the projects of Speransky and Novosiltsev throughout our country in the first quarter of the 19th century? In my opinion, no. Of course, history already knew examples of constitutional monarchies. A striking example is England, but it should not be broadcast to the Russian Empire. Each state has its own way of development, its own historical preconditions for this or that phenomenon. As shown by our National history, in 1925 the Decembrist uprising did not find support, the moderate reforms of Alexander II ended in the assassination of the latter.

Fundamental political changes rarely ended peacefully, but their completely inappropriate introduction could lead to much more deplorable consequences.

Literature:

1. Avakyan S.A. Constitution of Russia: nature, evolution, modernity. 2nd ed. M.: RUID; Sashko, 2000.

2. Speransky M.M. Plan of state transformation: (Introduction to the code state laws 1809). From app. “Notes on the organization of judicial and government institutions in Russia (1803), Art. “On state institutions”, “On serfs” and the Perm letter to Emperor Alexander I / M.M. Speransky. - Moscow: State. publ. ist. Library of Russia, 2004.

3. Speransky M.M. Projects and notes. Taken from http://stepanov01.narod.ru/library/speransky/chapt00.htm

4. Mironenko S.V. Autocracy and reforms. Political struggle in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. M., 1989.

5. Minaeva N.V. Government constitutionalism and advanced public opinion Russia at the beginning of the 19th century. Saratov, 1982; Predtechensky A.V. Essays on the socio-political history of Russia in the first quarter of the 19th century. M.-L., 1957.

6. State Charter of the Russian Empire // Schilder N.K. Emperor Alexander the First. His life and reign. SPb., 1905. T. IV.

1) First quarter XIX V. marked by reforms, primarily in the field of public administration. These reforms are associated with the names of Emperor Alexander I and his closest associates - M. Speransky and N. Novosiltsev. However, these reforms were half-hearted and were not completed.

The main reforms carried out under Alexander I:

Decree "On free cultivators";
ministerial reform;
preparation of the reform plan by M. Speransky;
granting constitutions to Poland and Bessarabia;
preparation of a draft Russian Constitution and a program for the abolition of serfdom;
establishment of military settlements.

The purpose of these reforms was to improve the mechanism of public administration, the search for optimal management options for Russia. The main features of these reforms were their half-hearted nature and incompleteness. These reforms led to minor changes in the system of public administration, but did not solve the main problems - the peasant question and the democratization of the country.

2 ) Alexander I came to power as a result of a palace coup in 1801, which was carried out by opponents of Paul I, dissatisfied with the sharp departure of Paul I from Catherine's orders. During the coup, Paul I was killed by conspirators and Alexander I, the eldest son of Paul and grandson of Catherine, was elevated to the throne. The short and tough 5-year reign of Paul I ended. At the same time, a return to Catherine's order - the idleness and permissiveness of the nobility - would be a step backwards. The way out was limited reforms, which were an attempt to adapt Russia to the requirements of the new century.

3 ) To prepare reforms in 1801, an Unofficial Committee was created, which included the closest associates - the "young friends" of Alexander I:

N. Novosiltsev;
A. Czartoryski;
P. Stroganov;
V. Kochubey.

This committee for 4 years (1801 - 1805) was the think tank of the reforms. Most of Alexander's supporters were supporters of constitutionalism and European orders, but most of their radical proposals were not implemented due to the indecision of Alexander I, on the one hand, and the possible negative reaction of the nobles who brought him to the throne, on the other.

The main issue that the Unspoken Committee dealt with in the first years of its existence was the development of a program for the abolition of serfdom in Russia, the supporters of which were the majority of the members of the committee. However, after long hesitation, Alexander I did not dare to take such a radical step. Instead, in 1803 the Emperor issued the Decree “On Free Ploughmen” of 1803, which, for the first time in the history of serfdom Russia, allowed landowners to release peasants into freedom for a ransom. However, this Decree did not solve the peasant problem. The chance to abolish serfdom in a timely manner was missed. Other reforms of the Private Committee were:

ministerial reform - instead of the Petrine collegiums, European-style ministries were created in Russia;
reform of the Senate - the Senate became a judicial body;
education reform - several types of schools were created: from the simplest (parish) to gymnasiums, universities were given broad rights.

In 1805, the Secret Committee was disbanded due to its radicalism and disagreements with the emperor.

4 ) In 1809, Alexander I instructed Mikhail Speransky, Deputy Minister of Justice and a talented lawyer and statesman, to prepare a new reform plan. The purpose of the reforms planned by M. Speransky was to give the Russian monarchy a "constitutional" appearance without changing its autocratic essence. During the preparation of the reform plan, M. Speransky put forward the following proposals:

while maintaining the power of the emperor, introduce in Russia the European principle of separation of powers;

to do this, create an elected parliament - the State Duma (legislative power), the Cabinet of Ministers (executive power), the Senate (judicial power);

to elect the State Duma through popular elections, to endow it with legislative advisory functions; give the emperor the right, if necessary, to dissolve the Duma;

to divide the entire population of Russia into three estates - the nobles, the "middle state" (merchants, philistines, townspeople, state peasants), "working people" (serfs, servants);

to give the right to vote only to the nobles and representatives of the “average state”;

enter the system local government- in each province to elect the provincial duma, which would form the provincial council - the executive body;

The Senate - the highest judicial body - to form from representatives elected by the provincial dumas, and, thus, to concentrate "folk wisdom" in the Senate;

The cabinet of ministers of 8 - 10 ministers is to be formed by the emperor, who would personally appoint the ministers, and who would be personally responsible to the autocrat;

link between the three branches of government - State Duma, the judicial Senate and the Cabinet of Ministers to make a special body - the State Council, appointed by the emperor, which would coordinate the work of all branches of government and would be a "bridge" between them and the emperor;

at the top of the entire system of power was to be the emperor - the head of state endowed with broad powers and the arbiter between all branches of power.

Of all the main proposals of Speransky, only a small part of them was actually implemented:

in 1810, the Council of State was created, which became the legislative body appointed by the emperor;

at the same time, the ministerial reform was improved - all ministries were organized according to a single model, ministers began to be appointed by the emperor and bear personal responsibility to him.

The rest of the proposals were rejected and remained the plan.

5 ) The turning point in the course of the reforms was the "Note on ancient and new Russia in its political and civil relations", sent in 1811 to the emperor famous historian And public figure N. Karamzin. N. Karamzin's "Note" became a manifesto of conservative forces opposed to Speransky's reforms. In this “Note on Ancient and New Russia”, N. Karamzin, analyzing the history of Russia, opposed reforms that would lead to confusion, and for the preservation and strengthening of autocracy - the only salvation Russia.

In the same year, 1811, Speransky's reforms were terminated. In March 1812, M. Speransky was appointed Governor-General of Siberia - in fact, he was sent into an honorable exile.

6 ) After Patriotic War In 1812, reform activity resumed again. Reforms took place in two directions:

improvement of the national-state structure;
preparation of the draft Constitution of Russia.

Within the first direction:

Alexander I granted the Constitution to the Kingdom of Poland in 1815;
autonomy was granted to Bessarabia, which in 1818 was also granted a constitutional document - the "Charter for the formation of the Bessarabia region."

In the framework of the second direction, in 1818, the preparation of an all-Russian draft of the Constitution began. The work on the preparation of the project was headed by N.N. Novosiltsev. The prepared draft - the State statutory charter of the Russian Empire "- contained the following main provisions:

a constitutional monarchy was established in Russia;
a parliament was established - the State Seimas, consisting of two chambers - the Senate and the Chamber of Ambassadors;
The embassy chamber was elected by the noble assemblies, after which the deputies were approved by the emperor;
The Senate was wholly appointed by the emperor;
the initiative to propose laws was assigned only to the emperor, but the laws had to be approved by the diet;
the emperor alone exercised executive power through the ministers appointed by him;
Russia was divided into 10 - 12 governorships, united on the basis of a federation;
the governorships had their own self-government, which in many respects copied the all-Russian one;
fundamental civil liberties were consolidated - freedom of speech, press, the right to private property;
serfdom was not mentioned at all (it was planned to begin its phased abolition simultaneously with the adoption of the Constitution).

The main problem that hindered the adoption of the Constitution was the question of the abolition of serfdom and the procedure for its abolition. To this end, 11 projects were submitted to the emperor, each of which contained a variety of proposals on this issue. The first step in implementing these proposals was the partial abolition of serfdom in Russia, initially carried out in the Baltics.

in 1816, the emperor issued the “Regulations on the Estonian Peasants”, according to which the peasants on the territory of Estonia (Estonia) were freed from serfdom;
in 1817 and 1819 similar regulations were issued concerning the peasants of Courland and Livonia;
the Baltic peasants became personally free, but were freed without land, which remained the property of the landowners;
the liberated peasants had the right to lease the land or buy it out.

However, the decision to abolish serfdom throughout Russia was never made. Its consideration dragged on for several years, until Emperor Alexander I died in 1825, after which it was generally removed from the agenda. The main reasons for the delay in solving the peasant question (and with it the adoption of the Constitution) were the personal indecision of Alexander I and the opposition of the elite of the nobility.

7) In the 1820s surrounded by Alexander I, the conservative-punitive trend prevailed. His personification was P. Arakcheev, who began his career as a military adviser to Alexander and in the 1820s. became in fact the second person in the state. This period of decline of reforms was called "Arakcheevshchina". It was during this period that plans to adopt the Constitution and abolish serfdom were finally thwarted. The most odious decision of P. Arakcheev was the creation in Russia of new cells of society - military settlements. Military settlements were an attempt to combine in one person and in one way of life a peasant and a soldier:

since the upkeep of the army was expensive for the state, Arakcheev proposed that the army be "self-financed";
for these purposes, the soldiers (yesterday's peasants) were forced, simultaneously with military service to engage in peasant labor;
the usual military units and barracks and other attributes of the life of soldiers in peacetime were replaced by special communities - military settlements;
military settlements were scattered throughout Russia;
in these settlements, the peasants part of the time were engaged in drill and military training, and part of the time - agriculture and ordinary peasant labor;
strict barracks discipline and semi-prison orders reigned in the military settlements.

Military settlements under Arakcheev became widespread. In total, about 375 thousand people were transferred to the regime of military settlements. The military settlements did not enjoy authority among the people and caused hatred among the majority of the settlers. Peasants often preferred serfdom to life in such military-peasant camps. Despite partial changes in the state administration system, the reforms of Alexander I did not solve the main issues: