2.2. Reforms of the 1990s: from cooperation to privatization At the end of the 1980s, an atmosphere of discontent dominated Soviet society economic situation countries. The growth of production, its efficiency, and the improvement of the living standards of the population have come to a halt. Priority

The huge army, built on drill and long-term (25 years) service of part of the population, has not been reformed for 30 years. Outdated weapons were in service, outdated strategic and tactical combat schemes were used. The military bureaucracy squandered the huge budgetary money allocated for defense aimlessly. This prompted the beginning of military reforms in Russia.

The reforms began with the appointment in 1861 to the post of Minister of War D.A. Milyutin (elder brother of N.A. Milyutin), Professor of the Academy General Staff, who possessed outstanding military and personal talents, adhering to liberal views. With the name D.A. Milyutin, who was Minister of War for 20 years, connected with the radical reorganization of the Russian army. On January 15, 1862, he provided Alexander II with a program of military reforms. It provided for the reduction of the armed forces in peacetime and their deployment at the expense of trained reserves during the war, the reorganization of the training of officers and the creation of a new army command structure. First of all, Milyutin achieved a reduction in the term of soldier's service to 15 years, while after 7-8 years of service the soldier was granted temporary leave. Then corporal punishment was abolished in the army - gauntlets, "cats", whips and lashes. Following this, the military command and control system was reorganized. According to the “Regulations” issued on August 6, 1864, the entire territory of Russia was divided into 15 military districts, each with its own department directly subordinate to the Ministry of War. Artillery, guards, engineering troops, military educational institutions (before that they had their own separate departments), and for the duration of hostilities - the active army. In 1867, a new military judicial charter was adopted, built on the basis of the judicial reform of 1864. Three judicial instances were introduced - regimental, military district and chief military courts. During the war, the Main Military Field Court was established. The decisions of the military courts were subject to the approval of the regimental and district commanders, respectively, and, in the last resort, the minister of war.

In the mid-1960s, military educational institutions were reformed. In 1863 cadet corps were transformed into military gymnasiums, close in terms of the program of general education disciplines (in addition to special military ones) to real schools. The system of higher military education was expanded in military academies - the Academy of the General Staff, Artillery, Engineering, Military Medical and in the newly established Military Law. In 1863, the Main Directorate of Military Educational Institutions was established as part of the Military Ministry, headed by N.V. Isakov, who became the direct leader of the reform of military education.

In 1872, the first in Russia women's courses for scientific midwives were opened at the academy, where students received higher medical education. In 1877, on the basis of the Academic Course of Marine Sciences, a Marine Academy. In total, by 1880, the number of military educational institutions included: 6 military academies, 6 military schools, 18 military gymnasiums, 16 cadet schools, 8 pro-gymnasiums, the Page and Finland Corps with special classes, the preparatory boarding school of the Nikolaev Cavalry School and the Marine Corps.

The reform of military educational institutions made it possible to significantly reduce the shortage of officers and raise the level of their training.

Since the 60s, the rearmament of the Russian army began. Since 1866, smooth-bore weapons began to be replaced by rifled ones. A rapid-fire rifle of the Berdan system was adopted for service. The artillery park was replaced with new systems of steel rifled guns, and the construction of a military steam fleet began. The introduction of all-class conscription made it possible to increase the size of the army, create a trained reserve of up to 550 thousand people, necessary for the deployment of the army in wartime, and also contributed to the transformation of the Russian armed forces into a modern mass army. The state militia was supposed to include persons who did not undergo military service at all, as well as those who had served the prescribed number of years (active service and reserve). age limit stay in the militia was set at 40 years. Later it was increased to 40 years. However, the law was not completely consistent. A significant part of the "foreign" population was eliminated from military service (natives of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, some peoples of the Far North).

Military factories have undergone a radical technological reconstruction. It required the creation of new industrial enterprises and industries. Several strategic railroads were laid to the western borders and to the south. In 1870, special railway troops were created. For the rearmament of artillery, the creation of the Obukhov and Perm steel cannon plants, as well as the achievement of Russian scientists and engineers P.M., was extremely important. Obukhova, N.V. Kalakutsky, A.S. Lavrova, N.V. Maievsky, and others. So, thanks to the discovery of P.M. Obukhov in Russia, for the first time in the world, gun barrels made of cast steel began to be created. As a result, in the 60s, Russia, along with Germany, became a monopoly in the production of steel tools. Nevertheless, in the conditions of general economic backwardness, it was not possible to completely overcome the dependence of the Russian army on foreign supplies.

In the field artillery in 1866, steel guns of 9 and 4 pounds were installed as models of guns, and in 1970 quick-firing guns were introduced. In siege artillery, instead of smooth-bore guns, rifled ones were established, and instead of copper, steel ones. A lot of work on the rearmament of artillery was carried out under the direct supervision of General A.A. Barantsova. The restructuring of the fortresses began according to the plan drawn up by General E.I. Totleben. However, it was not completed due to lack of funds. The transition to new weapons encouraged the development military theory. At this time, the works of major military theorists D.A. Milyutin, G.A. Leera, M.I. Dragomirova and others. Their works on questions of strategy, tactics and military history had a great influence both on the course of the military reforms themselves and on the development of military art in the second half of the 19th century.

The rearmament of the army made significant adjustments to combat training. The task was to teach the troops only what was needed in the war. A number of new statutes, instructions and teaching aids. For example, in the Military Regulations on combat and infantry service of 1862, much attention was paid to solitary training. In 1863, the Disciplinary Regulations were introduced and a special order was issued for the training of recruits, which ordered them to be taught how to use a gun, loading and shooting, the rules of loose and rank formation, with the indispensable condition of conscious assimilation.

Since 1876, military horse service was introduced: for the duration of the war, horse stock fit for military purposes was subject to mobilization with monetary compensation to its owners. In this regard, military horse censuses began to be regularly conducted.

In the field of foreign policy, one of the main tasks of the government of Alexander II was the struggle for the abolition of the humiliating articles of the Paris Peace Treaty, and the main one was the prohibition of Russia from having fortresses and a combat-ready navy on the Black Sea. This was done after the defeat of France in the war against Prussia in 1870. Despite British protests, Russia announced that it no longer considered itself bound by the terms of this peace treaty.

The military administration has also undergone transformations. Already at the beginning of the reign, military settlements were destroyed. Degrading corporal punishment was abolished. The system of military command and control has undergone fundamental changes in order to strengthen control over the locations of troops. The result of this revision was approved on August 6, 1864 "Regulations on the military district administrations." Based on this "Regulations", nine military districts were initially organized, and then (August 6, 1865) four more. In each district, a chief commander was appointed, appointed at the direct highest discretion, bearing the title of commander of the troops of the military district. This position may also be assigned to the local governor-general. In some districts, an assistant to the commander of the troops is also appointed.

Caring for the defenders of the Motherland was manifested in everything, even in small things. For example, for more than a hundred years (until the 80s of the XIX century), boots were sewn without distinction between the right and left legs. It was believed that during a combat alarm, a soldier had no time to think about which boot to wear, on which leg.

Special treatment was given to the prisoners. Soldiers who were taken prisoner and were not in the service of the enemy, upon returning home, received a salary from the state for the entire time they were in captivity. The prisoner was considered a victim. And those who distinguished themselves in battles were waiting for military awards. Orders of Russia were especially highly valued. They gave such privileges that they even changed the position of a person in society.

These transformations significantly improved the combat training of the Russian army. Universal conscription has long been introduced in many European countries. In Russia, for a long time, the recruiting system introduced by Peter I was preserved, which was one of the most advanced in Europe at that time, where recruitment and hiring dominated. But for the second half of the 19th century, when the era of mass armies began, it did not provide the army with a trained reserve. Actually, the problem of reserves arose already at the time Patriotic War 1812, but after its end, the governments of Alexander I and Nicholas I took the path of increasing the size of the standing army and creating military settlements. However, it turned out that, having the largest peacetime army in terms of numbers, Russia, in the event of a war, cannot ensure its replenishment with trained people; had to resort to convening the militia. The main provision of the military reform, carried out by the Minister of War Dmitry Milyutin, was the introduction of universal military service.

Milyutin managed to prove to Alexander II the whole injustice of class military service and the need to abolish it. After all, military service was previously carried out only by the subject class, i.e. peasants and townspeople. However, to convince the king to introduce universal military service, it took a lot of time.

On January 1, 1874, Alexander II approved the "Charter of military service" and a special Manifesto about it. Under the law of 1874, clerics of all faiths, representatives of certain religious sects and organizations (because of their religious beliefs), the peoples of Central Asia and Kazakhstan, and some peoples of the Caucasus and the Far North were exempted from military service. In relation to the Russian population, military service actually extended to taxable estates, since the privileged estates, due to their education or training in military educational institutions, were practically exempted from military service. Class distinctions persisted in the army itself. The command staff of the Russian post-reform army was predominantly from the nobility, although formally persons from taxable estates had the right to enter military educational institutions and, in the future, become officers. An ordinary soldier could only rise to the rank of non-commissioned officer.

First, on the initiative of Milyutin, in 1862 a special commission was created to revise the recruiting charter, chaired by the State Council N.I. Bakhtin. This commission included a number of representatives of the War Ministry, headed by General F.L. Heiden.

The commission's work progressed very slowly. The idea of ​​equality of all classes for carrying out this gravest military service has found irreconcilable opponents among those strata of society to which it has not yet extended. The feudal lords with all their might resisted all-class military service, which would force the "noble" nobility to serve it on an equal footing "with the peasants."

The intention to liquidate the obsolete recruiting system for the army was subjected to the strongest attacks.

Reactionary figures and publicists, referring to the manifesto on the freedom of the nobility, defended their class immunity. Shuvalov, for example, suggested keeping educated youth in the army "separately from the army."

Even the merchants were indignant at the fact that it would be impossible to pay off recruitment with money. As a result, the reform conceived in 1862 by Milyutin, who was supported by Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich, was carried out only in 1874. The Franco-Prussian war of 1870 served as a strong impetus to this. Prussia, the name of a large conscription, a better organized army, more developed soldiers, defeated France. On November 7, 1870, the Minister of War submitted a note "On the main grounds for personal military service", approved by the emperor. After 10 days, two commissions were created by "highest command" to develop the proposed measures: one on the charter on military service, the other on the issue of reserve, local, reserve troops and state militia. General Heiden, Chief of the General Staff, was appointed Chairman of both commissions. The general management of their work was headed by D.A. Milyutin. The conscription commission was selected from representatives of various ministries and departments. Representatives of not only the highest bureaucracy, but also representatives of various classes and individual groups of the population were invited to its meetings.

For more qualified preparation of various chapters of the charter, the commission was divided into 4 departments. The first department worked out the issue of terms of service and benefits for serving military service, the second - on the return of those called up for service, the third - on conscription expenses, the fourth - on volunteers and military replacement.

Another, the so-called Organizing Commission, began work in early January 1871. It consisted mainly of the military and was divided into 9 departments: 1) on the organization of infantry units serving as personnel for the formation of reserve and reserve troops in wartime; 2) about artillery and engineering units; 3) about frames guards units; 4) about the personnel of the cavalry; 5) on the procedure for counting and calling up reserve ranks; 6) on commissary and artillery stocks and convoys; 7) about the Cossack troops; 8) about irregular militias; 9) about the state militia. In 1872, the Organizing Commission was significantly strengthened by the introduction of several commanders of military districts into its composition.

Of particular interest are the problems discussed at the meeting of this commission, connected with the possibility of applying the territorial system in Russia. As a rule, M.N. Osipov, these issues are again becoming relevant in connection with the ongoing reforms in the army. Recall that the territorial recruitment system provides for the replenishment of troops with personnel at the expense of draft contingents arriving near the places of deployment of military units. Such a system facilitates the dispatch of conscripts to their units, reduces the costs associated with this, makes it possible to attract conscripts for military training with a minimum interruption from productive work and to carry out the mobilization of troops in the shortest possible time. At the same time, this system, given the shortage of conscripts in the areas where military units are deployed, makes it difficult to equip them with the necessary specialists. There are other flaws as well. The organizing commission, recognizing the impossibility of the full application of the territorial system in Russia, unanimously came to the conclusion: “In the organization of the army, apply from the principles of the territorial system only what, according to the conditions of our fatherland, can be usefully applied, while maintaining the possibility of moving and concentrating troops, but allowing constant , from certain areas, recruiting each part of the army in peacetime and replenishing it to military strength, when brought to martial law.

Based on this, it was decided, according to the project of the General Staff, to divide the whole of European Russia into recruitment areas (on the territory of one or several counties). Each section was supposed to provide at least one infantry regiment, one separate battalion, two artillery batteries, one cavalry squadron. Upon completion of the work of the commission on military service, D.A. Milyutina on January 19, 1873, presented an extensive note to the State Council, similarly covering the course of her activities. As an annex to the note, drafts of the Charter on military service and the Regulations on the state militia were presented. When discussing the project of all-class military service on the State Council, a fierce and irreconcilable struggle unfolded. Some of the council members considered this reform premature, others demanded privileges for the nobility.

The establishment of compulsory military service, firstly, elevated the rank of warrior, and secondly, attracted to the army a significant number of persons belonging to the upper classes and generally educated, whereas, according to the laws in force, such persons were previously exempted from recruitment duty.

“Milyutin turned the cause of defending the motherland,” wrote A.F. Horses - from a severe burden for many to a high debt for all and from a single misfortune to a common duty.

The new law also influenced the composition of the army, making it younger, due to the reduction in active service, and homogeneous, according to the age of the lower ranks.

Significant transformations also extended to irregular troops (troops that did not have a single and permanent organization or differed from regular troops in the system of recruitment, service, etc. In Russia in the 18th - early 20th centuries - Cossack troops and etc.).

By the beginning of 1871, the following Cossack troops were under the jurisdiction of the Military Ministry: Don, Tersk, Astrakhan, Ural, Orenburg, Siberian, Semirechensk, Transbaikal, Amur; Yenisei and Irkutsk cavalry regiments and three Cossack foot teams. New provisions on military service and military service of the Cossacks have been issued. The Cossacks received new weapons. Cossack units that were in active service were placed on an equal footing with regular troops.

All this made it possible to reduce the size of the army in peacetime and at the same time increase its combat effectiveness. Universal conscription gave the necessary effect only under the condition of the rapid mobilization of military reserves in the reserve, and this largely depends on the state of the means of communication.

Thus, the result of the reform was the creation of a small peacetime army with a significant trained reserve in case of war. Military reforms 1861 -1874 played an important role in improving the combat capability of the Russian army. However, the results of these reforms were not immediate. Military educational institutions could not yet make up for the acute shortage of officers, the process of rearmament of the army dragged on for several decades.

Transformations in the Russian Empire in the 60-70s of the century before last are called liberal reforms. The pivotal event of the long-term process was the Great Peasant Reform of 1861. It determined the course of further bourgeois reconstructions and reorganizations taken by the government of Alexander II. It was necessary to reorganize the political superstructure, rebuild the court, the army, and much more.

Thus, Alexander II's understanding of the urgent need for a peasant reform led him, in the course of implementing the plan, to carry out a complex of transformations in all spheres of Russian public life. Unwittingly, the emperor himself took steps towards a bourgeois monarchy, which was based on the transition to an industrial society, a market economy and parliamentarism. The assassination of the king in March 1881 turned the country's movement in a different direction.

Military, educational, peasant and judicial reforms were the main transformations carried out in Russia in the 60s and 70s of the century, and thanks to them the country overcame its significant backwardness from the advanced powers.

However, the reforms of Alexander II were not as ideal and did not go as smoothly as it should have been. aristocratic character Russian society persisted to a certain extent even after the much-desired liberal reforms were carried out.

What is liberalism

Liberalism is a direction of socio-political and philosophical thought that proclaims human rights and freedoms as the highest value. The influence of the state and other structures, including religion, on a person in a liberal society is usually limited by the constitution. In the economy, liberalism is expressed in the inviolability of private property, freedom of trade and entrepreneurship.

Reasons for liberal reforms

The main reason for liberal reforms is Russia's lagging behind the advanced European countries, which became especially noticeable by the middle of the 19th century. Another reason is the peasant uprisings, the number of which increased sharply by the mid-1850s; popular uprisings threatened the existing state system and autocratic power, so the situation had to be saved.

Prerequisites for reforms

Russian society in all periods of the New Age was very colorful. Completed conservatives here side by side with liberals, zealots of antiquity - with innovators, people with free views; supporters of autocracy tried to get along with adherents of a limited monarchy and republicans. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the contradictions between the "old" and "new" Russians escalated, as a whole galaxy of enlightened nobles grew up, longing for large-scale changes in the country. The imperial house had to make concessions in order to maintain supreme power.

Reform Objectives

The main task of liberal reforms is to overcome the social, political, military and intellectual backwardness of the Russian Empire. Particularly acute was the task of abolishing serfdom, which by that time was morally very outdated, and hindered the economic development of the country. Another task is to show activity precisely “from above”, on the part of the tsarist authorities, until the revolutionaries undertake radical transformations.

Reform of administration of zemstvos and cities

The nobility, after the abolition of serfdom, was concerned about the strengthening of its role in political life countries. The government of the reformers sensitively caught the mood of the ruling class and developed the zemstvo, and a little later, the city reforms.

The reforms were carried out in accordance with the “Regulations on provincial and district local institutions” of January 1, 1864 in 34 provinces of the European part of the empire and the “City Regulations” of June 16, 1870.

The main principles of the zemstvo and city reforms were:

1. Separation of local self-government from administrative power.
2. Election of governing bodies and all-class representation.
3. Independence in financial and economic matters.

Democratic judicial reform

The judiciary, of all liberal reforms, is considered the most consistent. Since 1861, work began on the "Basic provisions for the transformation of the judicial part of Russia." In 1864, the sovereign approved modern judicial charters that defined new principles of legal proceedings:

The emperor had the right to correct the decisions of all courts through administrative measures.

The overdue reform of the army

The experience of the Crimean War showed that Russia needed a massive army with the necessary reserves and a trained officer corps. The rearmament of the army and the reorganization of the military command and control system are urgently needed. The reform began to be prepared as early as 1861 and was implemented in 1874 with the following steps:

1. 15 military districts have been created.
2. Establishment of a network of military educational institutions.
3. New military regulations have been introduced.
4. Equipping the army with new models of weapons.
5. Cancellation of the recruiting system.
6. The introduction of universal conscription for the recruitment of the army.

As a result, the combat effectiveness of the Russian army increased significantly.

Education reform

Establishment of the "Regulations on Primary Public Schools" of 1864 and the Charter high school solved problems:

• accessibility of education for all classes;
• monopolies of the state and church in the field of education, permission for zemstvos, public associations and individuals to open educational institutions;
• gender equality, opening higher courses for women;
• expanding the autonomy of universities.

The reform affected all three educational levels and was significant for the development of the country.

Accompanying reforms

In addition to the landmark reforms, the following were carried out along the way:

The financial reform of 1860 - 1864, which consisted in the transformation of the banking system and the strengthening of the role of the Ministry of Finance.

The tax reform was manifested in the abolition of wine farming, the introduction of indirect taxes and the determination of the limits of zemstvo taxation.

The censorship reform abolished the preview of works, but introduced a system of sanctions after publication.

Liberal reforms of Alexander II: pros and cons

Results of reforms

The "great reforms", as they are usually called in historical science, have significantly modernized and modernized Russian empire. The class and property inequality of various segments of the population was significantly smoothed out, although it persisted until the October Revolution. The level of education of the population, including the lower classes, has noticeably increased.

At the same time, clashes escalated between the "enlightened bureaucrats" who developed and implemented reforms, and the aristocratic nobility, who wanted to preserve the old order and their influence in the country. Because of this, Alexander II was forced to maneuver, removing the "enlightened bureaucrats" from business and reappointing them to their posts if necessary.

Significance of reforms

The "great reforms" had a dual meaning, which was originally planned by the tsarist government. On the one hand, the expansion of the rights and freedoms of citizens has improved the social situation in the country; the widespread dissemination of education had a positive impact on the modernization of the Russian economy and contributed to the development of science; military reform made it possible to replace the old, expensive and inefficient army with a more modern one, fully meeting its main tasks and causing minimal harm to the personality of a soldier in peacetime. The "Great Reforms" contributed to the disintegration of the remnants of the feudal system and the development of capitalism in Russia.

On the other hand, the liberal reforms strengthened the strength and authority of autocratic power and made it possible to combat the spread of radical revolutionary ideas. It just so happened that the most faithful supporters of unlimited royal power were precisely the liberal “enlightened bureaucrats”, and not the arrogant aristocratic elite. Education had a special role to play: young people had to be taught to think seriously in order to prevent the formation of superficial radical views in their minds.

RUSSIAN HISTORY

ABSTRACT

Great reforms of the 60-70s of the XIX century. Alexander II .

Content:

I.I.Alexander II before the coronation and in the first years of his reign.

II.II."Great Reforms" of 1863-1874.

A. The need for reform.

B. The abolition of serfdom.

B. Zemstvo reform.

D. Urban reform.

D. Judicial reform.

E. Military reform.

J. Financial reforms.

Z. Reforms in the field of education.

I. Reforms in the field of printing.

III.III.The assassination of the emperor.

IV.IV.The significance of the reforms of Alexander II in the history of the state.

I. I. Alexander II before the coronation and in the first years of his reign.

A Alexander II - Emperor of All Russia, the eldest son of Emperor Nikolai Pavlovich and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, was born in Moscow on April 17, 1818.

Naturally, great importance was given to the upbringing and education of the future monarch. His educators were General Merder (company commander at the school of guards ensigns, who had remarkable pedagogical abilities, “a meek disposition and a rare mind”), M. M. Speransky, E. F. Kankrin. No less significant was the influence of another mentor - the famous poet Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky, the head of his class studies. I would like to dwell in more detail on the education system of Zhukovsky, which provided not only general knowledge of the then accepted extensive set of subjects and four foreign languages, but also purely special knowledge: about the state, its laws, finances, foreign policy and formed a system of worldview. The basic principles of the upbringing of the Tsarevich looked like this:

WHO AM I? The doctrine of man, united by Christian doctrine.

WHAT WAS I? History, sacred history.

WHAT SHOULD I BE? Private and public morality.

WHAT AM I DESIGNATED FOR? Revelation religion, metaphysics, the concept of God and the immortality of the soul.

And at the end (and not at the beginning) law, social history, state economy, statistics arising from everything.

The acquired knowledge was reinforced by numerous travels. He was the first of the royal family to visit (in 1837) Siberia, and the result of this visit was to mitigate the fate of political exiles. Later, while in the Caucasus, the Tsarevich distinguished himself during the attack of the highlanders, for which he was awarded the order St. George 4th degree. In 1837, at the request of Nicholas I, he undertook a trip to Europe for educational purposes. He traveled to Switzerland, Austria, Italy and stayed for a long time in Berlin, Weimar, Munich, Vienna, Turin, Florence, Rome and Naples.

A major role in the life of Alexander II was played by a visit to Darmstadt, where he met Princess Maximilian-Wilhelmina-Augusta-Sophia-Maria (born July 27, 1824), the adopted daughter of Louis II, Duke of Hesse, who soon became the wife of the Tsarevich, Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna.

From the age of 16, Alexander successfully took part in management affairs, first sporadically, and then systematically. At the age of 26 he became a "full general" and had a fairly professional military training. In the last years of the reign of Emperor Nicholas and during his travels, he repeatedly replaced his father.

Alexander II ascended the throne on February 19, 1855 at the age of 36. He was to go down in history under the name of the Liberator. Already on the day of the coronation, August 26, the new manifesto of the sovereign was marked by a number of favors. Recruitment was suspended for three years, all state arrears, miscalculations, etc., were forgiven; various criminals were released, or at least the punishment was mitigated, including an amnesty for political prisoners - the surviving Decembrists, Petrashevites, participants in the Polish uprising of 1831; Recruitment of minor Jews was canceled, and recruitment between the latter was ordered to be carried out on a general basis; free travel abroad was allowed, etc. But all these measures were only the threshold of those global reforms that marked the reign of Alexander II.

During this period, the Crimean War was in full swing and took an unfavorable turn, where Russia had to deal with the combined forces of almost all the major European powers. Despite his peacefulness, which was also known in Europe, Alexander expressed his firm determination to continue the struggle and achieve peace, which was soon achieved. Representatives of seven states (Russia, France, Austria, England, Prussia, Sardinia and Turkey) gathered in Paris, and on March 18, 1856, a peace treaty was concluded. The peace of Paris, although not beneficial for Russia, was nevertheless honorable for her in view of such numerous and powerful opponents. However, its disadvantageous side - the limitation of Russian naval forces on the Black Sea - was eliminated during the life of Alexander II.

II. "Great reforms" of the 60-70s.

A. The need for reform.

P At the end of the Crimean War, many internal shortcomings of the Russian state were revealed. Changes were needed, and the country was looking forward to them. Then the emperor uttered the words that became for a long time the slogan of Russia: "Let her internal improvement be affirmed and improved; let truth and mercy reign in her courts; let the desire for enlightenment and all useful activity develop everywhere and with renewed vigor ..."

In the first place, of course, was the idea of ​​liberating the serfs. In his speech to representatives of the Moscow nobility, Alexander II said: "It is better to cancel it from above than to wait until it is itself canceled from below." There was no other way out, since every year the peasants expressed their dissatisfaction with the existing system more and more. The corvée form of exploitation of the peasant expanded, which caused crisis situations. First of all, the productivity of the labor of the serfs began to decline, as the landowners wanted to produce more products and thereby undermined the strength of the peasant economy. The most far-sighted landlords realized that forced labor was much inferior in productivity to hired labor (For example, a large landowner A.I. Koshelev wrote about this in his article “Hunting more than captivity” in 1847). But hiring workers required considerable expenses from the landowner at a time when serf labor was free. Many landowners tried to introduce new farming systems, apply the latest technology, purchase improved varieties of thoroughbred cattle, and so on. Unfortunately, such measures led them to ruin and, accordingly, to increased exploitation of the peasants. The debts of landowners' estates to credit institutions grew. Further development of the economy on the serf system was impossible. In addition, having existed in Russia much longer than in European countries, it has taken very harsh forms.

However, there is another point of view regarding this reform, according to which, by the middle of the 19th century, serfdom was still far from exhausting its capabilities and opposition to the government was very weak. Neither economic nor social catastrophe threatened Russia, but by retaining serfdom, it could drop out of the ranks of the great powers.

The peasant reform entailed the transformation of all aspects of state and public life. A number of measures were envisaged to restructure local government, the judiciary, education and, later, the army. These were really major changes, comparable only to the reforms of Peter I.

B. The abolition of serfdom.

3 January 1857, the first significant step was taken, which served as the beginning of the reform: the creation of the Secret Committee under the direct supervision and chairmanship of the emperor himself. It included: Prince Orlov, Count Lanskoy, Count Bludov, Minister of Finance Brock, Count V.F. Adlerberg, Prince V.A. Dolgorukov, Minister of State Property M.N. Muravyov, Prince P.P. Gagarin, Baron M.A. Korf and Ya.I. Rostovtsev. The purpose of the committee was designated as "discussion of measures to organize the life of the landlord peasants." Thus, the government tried to get initiative from the nobility in resolving this issue. The word "liberation" has not yet been spoken. But the committee acted very sluggishly. More precise actions began to be carried out later.

February 1858. The secret committee was renamed the “Main Committee on the Landlord Peasants Coming Out of Serfdom”, and a year later (March 4, 1859), Editorial Commissions were established under the committee, which reviewed the materials prepared by the provincial committees and drafted a law on the emancipation of the peasants. . There were two opinions here: the majority of the landlords proposed to free the peasants without land at all or with small allotments, while the liberal minority proposed to release them with land for redemption. At first, Alexander II shared the majority's point of view, but then he came to the conclusion that it was necessary to allocate land to the peasants. Historians usually associate such a decision with the strengthening of the peasant movement: the Tsar was afraid of a repetition of the “Pugachevism”. But no less important role was played by the presence in the government of an influential grouping, called the "liberal bureaucracy".

The draft "Regulations on the Peasants" was practically prepared at the end of August 1859, but for some time it was subject to minor corrections and clarifications. In October 1860, the Editorial Commissions, having completed their work, handed over the draft to the Main Committee, where it was discussed again and underwent further changes, but this time in favor of the landowners. On January 28, 1861, the project was submitted for consideration by the last instance - the State Council, which adopted them with some changes, in the sense of reducing the size of the peasant allotment.

Finally, on February 19, 1861, the "Regulations on the peasants who emerged from serfdom", which included 17 legislative acts, were signed by Alexander II. On the same day, the manifesto “On the most merciful granting to serfs of the rights of the state of free rural inhabitants” followed, in which it was proclaimed the release of 22.6 million peasants from serfdom.

The "Regulations" applied to 45 provinces of European Russia, in which there were 112,000 landowners' estates. First of all, it was declared obligatory for the landowner to allocate his former peasants, in addition to the estate land, arable and haymaking in a certain amount. Secondly, it was declared obligatory for the peasants to accept the allotment and keep in their use, for the duties established in favor of the landowner, the secular land allotted to them during the first nine years (until February 19, 1870). After nine years, individual members of the community were given the right both to leave it and to refuse to use field lands and lands if they bought their estate; the society itself also receives the right not to accept for its use such plots that individual peasants refuse. Thirdly, with regard to the size of the peasant allotment and the payments associated with it, according to general rules, it is customary to base on voluntary agreements between landowners and peasants, for which purpose to conclude a charter charter through mediators established by the situation, their congresses and provincial presences for peasant affairs, and in western provinces - and special verification commissions.

The “Regulation”, however, was not limited to the rules for allocating land to the peasants for permanent use, but made it easier for them to buy the allotted plots into their property with the help of a state redemption operation, and the government gave the peasants a certain amount on credit for the land they acquired with payment by installments for 49 years and, giving this amount to the landowner in state interest-bearing papers, he took all further settlements with the peasants upon himself. Upon approval by the government of the redemption transaction, all obligatory relations between the peasants and the landowner were terminated, and the latter entered the category of peasant proprietors.

"Regulations" were gradually extended to the peasants of the palace, appanage, ascribed and state.

But as a result of this, the peasantry remained bound by the community, and the land allocated to it turned out to be clearly insufficient to meet the needs of an ever-growing population. The peasant remained completely dependent on the rural community (the former “world”), which, in turn, was completely controlled by the authorities; personal allotments were transferred to the ownership of peasant societies, which periodically redistributed them “equalizing”.

In the spring and summer of 1861, the peasants, who did not receive, as expected, "full freedom", organized many uprisings. Outrage was caused by such facts as, for example: for two years the peasants remained subordinate to the landowner, were obliged to pay dues and perform corvée, were deprived of a significant part of the land, and those allotments that were given to them as property had to be redeemed from the landowner. During 1861 there were 1860 peasant uprisings. Peasant performances in the village of Bezdna, Kazan province, are considered one of the largest. Subsequently, disappointment with the inconsistency of the reform was growing not only among former serfs: articles by A. Herzen and N. Ogarev in Kolokol, N. Chernyshevsky in Sovremennik.

B. Zemstvo reform.

P after the peasant "Regulations" in the series administrative reforms one of the most important places is occupied, without any doubt, by the "Regulations on provincial and district zemstvo institutions", which was published on January 1, 1864.

According to the regulation, non-estate elected bodies of local self-government - zemstvos - were introduced. They were elected by all estates for a three-year term and consisted of administrative bodies (county and provincial zemstvo assemblies) and executive bodies (county and provincial zemstvo councils). Elections to zemstvo administrative bodies - meetings of vowels (deputies) - were held on the basis of a property qualification, by curia. The first curia (landowners) consisted of owners of land from 200 to 800 acres or real estate worth from 15,000 rubles. The second curia (city) united the owners of urban industrial and commercial establishments with an annual turnover of at least 6,000 rubles and owners of real estate for at least 2,000 rubles. The elections for the third curia (rural peasant societies) were multistage. Zemstvo assemblies elected executive bodies - zemstvo councils - consisting of a chairman and several members.

Zemstvos were deprived of any political functions, their activities were limited mainly to solving local issues. They were responsible for public education, for public health, for the timely delivery of food, for the quality of roads, for insurance, for veterinary care, and much more.

All this required a lot of money, so the zemstvos were allowed to introduce new taxes, impose duties on the population, and form zemstvo capitals. With its full development, zemstvo activity was supposed to cover all aspects of local life. New forms of local self-government not only made it all-class, but also expanded the range of its powers. Self-government was so widespread that many were understood as a transition to a representative form of government, so the government soon became noticeable desire to keep the activities of zemstvos at the local level, and not allow zemstvo corporations to communicate with each other.

In the late 1970s, zemstvos were introduced into 35 out of 59 Russian provinces.

G. Urban reform (in continuation of the Zemstvo).

1 On June 6, 1870, the "City Regulations" were published, according to which in 509 out of 1130 cities elective self-government was introduced - city dumas elected for four years. The city duma (administrative body) elected its permanent executive body - the city government, which consisted of the mayor (also elected for four years) and several members. The mayor was simultaneously the chairman of both the city duma and the city government. City councils were under the control of government officials.

The right to elect and be elected to the city duma had the right only to residents with a property qualification (mainly owners of houses, commercial and industrial establishments, banks). The first electoral assembly included large taxpayers who contributed a third of city taxes, the second - smaller ones, paying another third of taxes, the third - all the rest. In the largest cities, the number of vowels (elected) averaged 5.6% of the population. Thus, the bulk of the urban population was excluded from participation in urban self-government.

The competence of city self-government was limited to solving purely economic issues (improvement of cities, construction of hospitals, schools, care for the development of trade, fire prevention measures, city taxation).

D. Judicial reform.

IN among the reforms, one of the leading places, undoubtedly, belongs to the judicial reform. This deeply thought-out reform had a strong and direct influence on the entire system of state and public life. She introduced into it completely new, long-awaited principles - the complete separation of the judiciary from the administrative and accusatory, the publicity and openness of the court, the independence of judges, the advocacy and the adversarial procedure for legal proceedings.

The country was divided into 108 judicial districts.

The essence of judicial reform is as follows:

The court is made oral and public;

The power of the judiciary is separated from the prosecution and belongs to the courts without any participation of the administrative power;

The main form of legal proceedings is the adversarial process;

The case on the merits can be dealt with no more than in two instances. Two types of courts were introduced: world and general. The magistrate's courts, represented by a magistrate, tried criminal and civil cases, the damage in which did not exceed 500 rubles. Justices of the peace were elected by district zemstvo assemblies, approved by the Senate, and could be dismissed only at their own request or by court order. The general court consisted of three instances: the district court, the judicial chamber, the Senate. The district courts heard serious civil suits and criminal (juror) cases. The Trial Chambers heard appeals and were the court of first instance for political and state affairs. The Senate was the highest judicial instance and could cancel the decisions of the courts submitted for cassation.

In cases of crimes involving punishments, connected with the deprivation of all or some of the rights and advantages of the state, the determination of guilt is left to jurors, elected from local residents of all classes;

Eliminates clerical secrecy;

Both for intercession in cases and for the defense of defendants, there are sworn attorneys at the courts, who are under the supervision of special councils composed of the same corporation.

Judicial statutes extended to 44 provinces and were introduced into them for more than thirty years.

In 1863, a law was passed that abolished corporal punishment with gauntlets, whips, whips and brands on the verdicts of civil and military courts. Women were completely exempted from corporal punishment. But the rods were kept for the peasants (according to the verdicts of the volost courts), for the exiled, hard labor and penal soldiers.

E. Military reform.

IN military administration has also undergone transformations.

Already at the beginning of the reign, military settlements were destroyed. Degrading corporal punishment was abolished.

Particular attention was paid to raising the level of general education of army officers through the reform of military educational institutions. Military gymnasiums and cadet schools with a two-year term of study were created. They included persons of all classes.

In January 1874, all-class military service was proclaimed. The Supreme Manifesto on this occasion said: "Protection of the throne and the Fatherland is the sacred duty of every Russian subject ...". Under the new law, all young people who have reached the age of 21 are called up, but the government determines the required number of recruits every year, and draws only this number from the recruits (usually no more than 20-25% of recruits were called up for service). The call was not subject to the only son of the parents, the only breadwinner in the family, and also if the older brother of the recruit is serving or has served his service. Those enlisted in the service are listed in it: in the ground forces 15 years: 6 years in the ranks and 9 years in the reserve, in the navy - 7 years of active service and 3 years in the reserve. For those who have received primary education, the term of active service is reduced to 4 years, those who have graduated from a city school - up to 3 years, a gymnasium - up to one and a half years, and those who have higher education - up to six months.

Thus, the result of the reform was the creation of a small peacetime army with a significant trained reserve in case of war.

The system of military command and control has undergone fundamental changes in order to strengthen control over the locations of troops. The result of this revision was approved on August 6, 1864 "Regulations on the military district administrations." Based on this "Regulations", nine military districts were initially organized, and then (August 6, 1865) four more. In each district, a chief commander was appointed, appointed at the direct highest discretion, bearing the title of commander of the troops of the military district. This position may also be assigned to the local governor-general. In some districts, an assistant to the commander of the troops is also appointed.

By the end of the 19th century, the number of the Russian army was (per 130 million people): officers, doctors and officials - 47 thousand, lower ranks - 1 million 100 thousand. Then these figures declined and reached 742,000 people, while the military potential was maintained.

In the 60s, at the insistence of the Ministry of War, railways were built to the western and southern borders of Russia, and in 1870 railway troops appeared. During the 70s, the technical re-equipment of the army was basically completed.

Caring for the defenders of the Motherland was manifested in everything, even in small things. For example, for more than a hundred years (until the 80s of the XIX century), boots were sewn without distinction between the right and left legs. It was believed that during a combat alarm, a soldier had no time to think about which boot to wear, on which leg.

Special treatment was given to the prisoners. Soldiers who were taken prisoner and were not in the service of the enemy, upon returning home, received a salary from the state for the entire time they were in captivity. The prisoner was considered a victim. And those who distinguished themselves in battles were waiting for military awards. Orders of Russia were especially highly valued. They gave such privileges that they even changed the position of a person in society.

J. Financial reforms.

One of the main means of raising the economic power of the country was considered to be the construction of a network of railways linking the central regions of the European part of Russia. In connection with it, foreign leave increased 10 times, and the import of goods almost also increased. The number of commercial and industrial enterprises increased markedly, as well as the number of factories and plants. Credit institutions appeared - banks, headed by the State Bank (1860).

It was at this time that the first coal-mining and metallurgical enterprises were created in Ukraine and oil-producing enterprises in Baku.

Z. Reforms in the field of education.

H public education also attracted the attention of the king. Of particular importance in this regard was the publication of a new and general charter of Russian universities on July 18, 1863, in the development of which, on the initiative of the Minister of Education A.V. Golovkin, participated in a special commission at the main board of schools, composed mainly of professors from St. Petersburg University. The charter granted the universities a fairly broad autonomy: the election of the rector, deans, professors was introduced, the University Council received the right to independently resolve all scientific, educational, administrative and financial issues. And in connection with the development of universities, science began to develop at a rapid pace.

According to the Regulations on Primary Public Schools approved on June 14, 1864, the state, church and society (zemstvos and cities) were to jointly educate the people.

On November 19, 1864, a new regulation on gymnasiums appeared, which proclaimed equality in admission to all estates. But because of the high pay, it was available only to children of wealthy parents.

Attention was also paid to women's education. Already in the 60s, instead of the former closed women's institutions, open ones began to be arranged, with the admission of girls of all classes, and these new institutions were under the authority of the institutions of Empress Maria. Similar gymnasiums began to be approved by the Ministry of Public Education. In 1870, on May 24, a new Regulation on Women's Gymnasiums and Progymnasiums of the Ministry of Public Education was approved. The need for higher female education led to the establishment of pedagogical courses and higher female courses in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kyiv, Kazan and Odessa.

I. Reforms in the field of printing.

In 1857, the government put the question of revising the censorship charter on the agenda. After the permission in 1858 to discuss in the press the problems of social life and the activities of the government, the number of periodicals (1860 - 230) and book titles (1860 -2058) increased sharply.

Already in 1862, the main department of censorship was closed and part of its duties was assigned to the Ministry of the Interior, and the other - directly to the Minister of Education.

On April 6, 1865, the “Temporary Rules on the Press” were approved, which exempted from preliminary censorship original works of at least ten pages, and translated works of at least twenty sheets, and some periodicals at the discretion of the Minister of the Interior. For periodicals, a large cash deposit was additionally required. Official and scientific publications were exempted from censorship.

The "Temporary Rules on the Press" operated practically unchanged for 40 years.

III. III. The assassination of the emperor.

AND Emperor Alexander II, who caused delight and surprise of enlightened people of the whole world, also met ill-wishers. Pursuing incomprehensible goals, the organizers created a number of attempts on the life of the sovereign, who was the pride and glory of Russia. On March 1, 1881, the sovereign, for whom a large population was ready to lay down his life, died a martyr's death from a villainous hand that threw an explosive projectile.

On this fateful day, Emperor Alexander II decided to make a divorce (the procedure for sending out daily guards for a shift). The path lay along a narrow street, made up of the garden of the Grand Duchess, fenced with a stone fence the height of a man and a lattice of the Catherine Canal. The terrain is very impassable, and if it is true that the sovereign chose it in view of the anonymous threats he received, then it is difficult to imagine why an ambush awaited him precisely on this path, except because they noticed a large, against the usual, number of police on it. Be that as it may, but when the sovereign's carriage reached the Theater Bridge, there was an explosion that broke open the back of the carriage, which immediately stopped. The sovereign emerged from it unharmed, but one of the escorts, galloping behind, and a sapper officer, walking along the sidewalk along the stone wall of the Mikhailovsky Garden, were mortally wounded by a thrown bomb. The sovereign's coachman, sensing trouble, turned to him from the goat: "Let's go, sovereign!" The chief of police, galloping behind, jumped out of the sleigh with the same request to go faster. But the emperor did not listen and took a few steps back: "I want to see my wounded." At this time, the crowd managed to stop a healthy kid who threw a bomb. The sovereign turned to him: “So it was you who wanted to kill me?” But he did not succeed in finishing, as the second bomb exploded in front of him, and he lowered himself with the words: “Help.” They rushed to him, lifted him up, put the chief of police in the sledge (who himself received 45 wounds from small fragments of the bomb, but not a single fatal one) and drove him away. A little over an hour later, at 3:35 pm, Tsar Alexander II died in the Winter Palace.

The eminent Russian philosopher V.V. Rozanov called the assassination of the emperor “a mixture of Madness and Meanness”.

The political testament of Alexander II was destroyed. Alexander III, in the consciousness of his past delusions and in an effort to return to the ideal of the kings of Moscow, turned to the people with a manifesto, which affirmed the inviolability of autocratic power and the exclusive responsibility of the autocrat before God.

The Russian Empire thus returned to the old traditional paths on which it had once found glory and prosperity.

IV. Significance of the reign of Alexander II in the history of Russia.

A Alexander II left a deep mark on history, he managed to do what other autocrats were afraid to take on - the liberation of the peasants from serfdom. We enjoy the fruits of his reforms to this day.

The internal reforms of Alexander II are comparable in scale only to the reforms of Peter I. The reformer tsar made truly grandiose transformations without social cataclysms and fratricidal war.

With the abolition of serfdom, commercial and industrial activity "resurrected", a stream of workers poured into the cities, and new areas for entrepreneurship opened up. Old ties were restored between cities and counties and new ones were created.

The fall of serfdom, the equalization of all before the court, the creation of new liberal forms of social life led to the freedom of the individual. And the feeling of this freedom awakened the desire to develop it. Dreams were created about the establishment of new forms of family and social life.

During his reign, Russia firmly strengthened its relations with the European powers, and resolved numerous conflicts with neighboring countries.

The tragic death of the emperor greatly changed the further course of history, and it was this event that 35 years later led Russia to death, and Nicholas II to a martyr's wreath.

LIST OF USED LITERATURE.

1. 1. S.F. Platonov "Lectures on Russian history", Moscow, publishing house " graduate School", 1993.

2. 2. V.V. Kargalov, Yu.S. Savelyev, V.A. Fedorov “History of Russia from ancient times to 1917”, Moscow, publishing house “ Russian word", 1998.

3. 3. "History of Russia from antiquity to the present day", edited by M.N. Zuev, Moscow, "Higher School", 1998.

4. 4. "History of the Fatherland for applicants to universities" edited by A.S. Orlov, A.Yu. Polunov and Yu.A. Shchetinov, Moscow, publishing house "Prostor", 1994.