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Introduction

1. The state and development of Russian industry under Peter 1

2. Reform of the management system under Peter 1

3. Domestic and foreign trade under Peter 1

4. Changes in the financial system under Peter 1

5. Military reform of Peter 1

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

This essay will consider the topic: "Russia under Peter 1".

During the reign of Peter 1, Russia turned into a great power with an efficient economy, powerful army and navy, highly developed science and culture. All these achievements would be very desirable to see in modern Russia.

Russia's advance was swift and decisive. Peter maintained vigor in his like-minded people, faith in success, he was in a hurry to have time to do a lot, and it is not without reason that the Petrine era is called “Young Russia”. But all these transformations often took place through violence, through the suffering of the people, through a sharp break in the customs, habits, psychology of people, through extremism, intolerance, unwillingness to reckon with the internal conditions for reforms. The planting of the new went through a fierce struggle with the old. Despite the fact that Peter was a supporter of the Western path of development and Western rationalism, he carried out his reforms in an Asian way.

It should also be emphasized that in his attempts to get closer to Western European civilization, introducing everything advanced and useful, Peter forgot about the originality of Russia, about its dual Eurasian essence. He believed that all the origins of her backwardness lie in Asian roots. Striving for Europe, Peter often adopted only the external forms of progressive ideas, ignoring the inner essence of centuries-old traditions.

And yet, the significance of the great changes in the life of Russia, carried out in the era of Peter the Great, can hardly be overestimated.

1. State and r industrial development Russia under Peter 1

Undoubtedly, the young tsar's determination to start cardinal reforms was influenced by failures in the war with Sweden and Turkey for access to the Baltic and Black Seas. Military failures showed, first of all, the backwardness of domestic metallurgy. Indeed, until the very beginning of the 18th century, Russia imported, mainly from Sweden, iron, copper, tin, and weapons. The war in the Baltics stopped these supplies, so the development of our own metallurgical production became a strategic problem.

The government made great efforts to build iron-making manufactories at the expense of the treasury in the Urals and in the Olonets region. The first decade of the 18th century can be characterized as a period of active state intervention in the economy and encouragement of private enterprise. The transfer of state-owned enterprises, especially unprofitable ones, to private "particular" owners, foreigners or commercial and industrial companies - the merchants - has become a common phenomenon. The state assumed the costs of training workers, supplied equipment, and sent specialists to these enterprises. For especially important industries, various privileges were given, soft loans, free land plots for the construction of new factories.

It should be emphasized that these emergency measures played a decisive role in creating a powerful material base for the army, which made it possible to defeat Sweden in the Northern War. As a result, Russia gained access to the Baltic Sea and returned its lands, which had long been part of the Novgorod principality. In 1703, the city of St. Petersburg was founded, which in 1713 became the new capital of Russia. Isaev I.A. History of the state and law of Russia: Proc. for universities on special and the direction of Jurisprudence” / Mosk. state legal acad. - M.: Jurist, 1998. - S.235.

The first manufactories appeared in Russia as early as the 17th century, but they did not play a significant role in the economy at that time. It was from the 18th century that the manufacturing period began in the national economy, since the manufacturing system became predominant in comparison with handicraft production. Since the 17th century, manufactories in Russia began to be called Western - "factories", although, as you know, factories were based on a system of various machines and freelance labor, which were almost non-existent in Russia at that time.

Since there were almost no free workers in the country, the main problem in organizing manufactories was to provide them with hired labor. If in the first years of the 18th century it was still possible to find free (“walking”, runaway) people who did not fall into serfdom, then later, when the process of enslavement intensified and the search for runaway peasants became more strict, the number of “staggering” people sharply decreased in the country . The government increased the scale of forced labor, when entire villages and villages were assigned to enterprises, at first only for the autumn-winter period, and then for good. Zuev M.N. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the twentieth century. Tutorial. - M.: Bustard, 2002. - S.218.

In addition to state-owned and patrimonial, possession-based, or conditional, manufactories began to appear (lat. Possessio - conditional possession). Since 1721, by decree of Peter I, it was allowed to buy serfs to non-nobles (merchants, rich townspeople from among artisans). In this case, the peasants were assigned to the enterprise and constituted a single whole. These peasants could no longer be sold separately; such manufactories were bought and sold only under certain conditions. The activities of the owners of possession manufactories were monitored by the state. These owners were subsequently exempted from compulsory civil service, had tax and customs privileges. Dispersed manufactories also continued to develop, which arose on the basis of merchant capital and tied domestic peasant production to commercial and industrial capital.

In the first quarter of the 18th century, there was a noticeable increase in manufactory production. And if at the end of the 17th century there were about 20 manufactories in the country, then in the mid-1720s there were already 205 manufactories and large enterprises of a handicraft type, among which 90 belonged to the treasury and 115 to private capital. There were especially many metallurgical enterprises: 52 - in ferrous metallurgy, 17 - in non-ferrous metallurgy, which were mainly located in the Urals and Tula. On the shores of Lake Onega in 1703, an iron foundry and ironworks were built, which laid the foundation for the city of Petrozavodsk. In addition, in the 1720s there were 18 sawmills, 17 gunpowder factories, 15 cloth factories, 11 leather factories, as well as enterprises for the production of glass, porcelain, paper, etc. Livshits A.Ya. Economic reform in Russia and its price. - M.: Prospekt, 2001. - P. 111.

The transformation of the Urals into the largest world center of metallurgy was a notable economic event in Russia at that time. In 1699, on the initiative of Peter, ironworks were built on the Neva River, which, since 1702, were transferred to the former Tula blacksmith Nikita Demidov. The Ural factories of the Demidovs and other entrepreneurs were at the advanced technical level, even by European criteria. The products of metallurgical plants were of high quality, they began to export them to Europe, and soon Russia came out on top in Europe in the production of pig iron. If in 1700 150 thousand poods were produced, then in 1725 - about 800 thousand poods of cast iron (1 pood = 16 kg).

In order to provide metallurgical production with raw materials, the search for various natural resources was strongly encouraged in the country. All lucky "miners" for the discovery of new deposits were supposed to be generously paid. In 1700, the Ore Order was created, later renamed the Berg Collegium, which was in charge of not only metallurgical production, but also geological exploration. To stimulate the search for natural resources, the government announced the principle of "mining freedom", according to which anyone could develop subsoil for a small fee in favor of the state or a private owner of the land.

In addition to large manufactories, the Russian economy still had a large handicraft sector in the cities, as well as home crafts in the countryside as an integral part of the natural feudal estate, although these manufacturers were increasingly dependent on market relations in the person of buyers of products. Urban and rural artisans produced fabrics, leather and felted shoes, pottery, saddles, harness and other items. In the 18th century, craft specialties appeared associated with the new way of life brought from Europe by Peter I: braiders, snuff makers, watchmakers, carriage makers, hat makers, hairdressers, bookbinders, etc. Zuev M.N. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the twentieth century. Tutorial. - M.: Bustard, 2002. -

Under Peter I, an attempt was made to put small handicraft production under state control. So, in 1722, by decree of the king, artisans were to join the workshops. Foremen were elected in the shops, who monitored the quality of products, the procedure for admission to the shop organization. Apprentices had to master the craft for seven years to become an apprentice, and those, in turn, could become masters no earlier than two years later. True, these guild organizations did not have that strict regulation of the production and marketing of products that existed in medieval Europe, and in general this system did not have such a distribution as in the West.

2. Management reform under Peter 1

Peter I sought to carry out internal transformations in Russia in order to bring it to the European level. In addition to military and diplomatic problems, he deeply delved into all issues of Russian state administration. For 25 years - from 1700 to 1725 - he adopted almost three thousand different laws and decrees relating to the economic, civil, domestic aspects of the life of the population, including the administrative structures of the state. As well as reforms in industrial production, the reform of the system of state and local government was associated primarily with the military needs of the country. In the first years of his reign, the young king dealt with these issues occasionally, in a hurry. And only in the last seven or eight years of his reign, thanks to his efforts, the activities of all administrative institutions received a regulatory framework and were regulated according to a certain system.

Radical comprehensive reforms in the field of government were due to the need to strengthen the absolute monarchy. First of all, it was necessary to create a harmonious administrative vertical, completely subordinate to the supreme authority. This was aimed at a radical reorganization of the entire structure of public administration from top to bottom. Kargalov V.V., Saveliev Yu.S., Fedorov V.A. History of Russia from ancient times to 1917. - M.:

The main object of the reorganization was the Boyar Duma, which constantly interfered in the affairs of Peter's predecessors and which no longer corresponded to the regime of absolute monarchy. In 1699, instead of the Boyar Duma, Peter established the Closest Office of eight trusted persons to assist in solving state affairs, which he called the Council of Ministers.

In 1711, he also abolished this structure, creating a governing Senate of nine people appointed by himself. It was the highest state body with legislative, administrative and judicial power. In January 1722, new positions of Prosecutor General and Chief Prosecutor of the Senate were established to oversee the activities of the Senate.

The emperor became the head of state power. This title was granted to Peter by the Senate in 1721 after the victorious end of the Northern War with Sweden, and Russia was proclaimed an empire. From now on, Peter and his heirs began to have unlimited power, the right to introduce strict regulation in management, ideology, social life, and culture.

Peter I spent a lot of time reforming the obsolete order system. In 1717-1718, almost the entire numerous, complex, confusing unsystematic "crowd" of orders was replaced by collegiums - new governing bodies. Unlike orders, which, as a rule, had regional competence, collegiums had nationwide powers, which in itself created a higher level of centralization. In total, eleven collegia were created: the Military Collegium was in charge of the army, the Admiralty Collegium was in charge of the fleet, the Justice Collegium was in charge of legislation, the Manufactory Collegium was in charge of industry, etc. Later, the rights of the college were endowed with the Holy Synod, which led church affairs, as well as the Chief Magistrate, who was in charge of city affairs. Kargalov V.V., Saveliev Yu.S., Fedorov V.A. History of Russia from ancient times to 1917. - M.:

The boards were created according to the Swedish model, but taking into account Russian conditions. Each of them included a president, vice president, advisers, assistants, secretary. The president of the board, as a rule, was Russian, and the vice president was a foreigner. The work in the colleges was clearly organized, in contrast to the ordered confusion and confusion. Peter sincerely hoped that the collegiate system would not carry the old vices: arbitrariness, abuse, red tape, bribery. But the king's hopes were not destined to come true, because in the conditions of the incredible strengthening of the role of the bureaucracy, the scale of these vices only grew.

In 1708-1710, a provincial reform was carried out, according to which the whole country was divided into eight provinces: Moscow, Ingermanland (St. Petersburg), Kyiv, Smolensk, Kazan, Azov, Arkhangelsk, Siberia. Provinces, in turn, were divided into counties. In the hands of the governor were concentrated administrative, judicial, police, financial functions, in accordance with which taxes were collected, recruited, search for fugitive peasants, court cases were considered, and food was provided to the troops.

Subsequently, Peter repeatedly returned to the problem of reorganizing local government. In 1719, the second provincial reform was carried out, the number of provinces increased to eleven, the provinces were divided into 50 provinces, which were directly subordinate to the colleges and the Senate. In accordance with the reform, the power of the governor extended only to the province of the provincial city, and in the rest of the provinces, voivodes were in power, who were subordinate to the governors in military and judicial matters.

Simultaneously with the provincial reform, it was also planned to carry out the urban reform. Peter wanted to give the cities full self-government so that they could choose burgomasters there. However, in contrast to Western Europe, Russian cities of the early 18th century had not yet formed a rich and influential bourgeoisie that could take over city government. In 1720, the Chief Magistrate was established in St. Petersburg, who was supposed to lead the urban estates in Russia. Reader on the history of the state and law of Russia. / Ed. Chibiryaeva S.A. - M.: Bylina, 2000.

It should be noted that the administrative system created in the course of Peter the Great's reforms turned out to be very strong. In general terms, it was preserved (with some changes) until 1917. The management structure, the mechanism of power and its functions remained unshakable for almost two centuries.

Peter's reforms were undoubtedly directed against the old boyar aristocracy, which did not want change and the strengthening of a strong centralized power. At the same time, Peter relied on the local nobility, which, being a more progressive young estate, supported the course towards strengthening the absolute monarchy. In order to provide economic support to the nobility, in 1714 Peter issued a Decree on Uniform Succession, according to which the two forms of feudal landed property (patrimonies and estates) were finally merged into a single legal concept - “immovable property”. Both types of farms were equalized in all respects, the estate also became a hereditary, and not a conditional farm, they could not be divided between heirs. Estates were inherited only by one of the sons, usually the eldest. The remaining children received an inheritance in money and other property, they were required to enter the military or civil (civilian) service.

This Decree closely adjoined the introduction in 1722 of the Table of Ranks. According to this Table, all positions of the state and military service were divided into 14 classes-ranks from the lowest - the fourteenth, to the highest - the first. In accordance with the Table, employees from among the nobility or burghers were required to pass these steps in order to be promoted. This document introduced the principle of length of service and finally eliminated the previously canceled principle of parochialism, which still tacitly existed in the country. The most interested in the introduction of this order were the nobles, who could now rise to the highest state ranks, really join the power. Pavlenko N.I. Peter the Great. - M.: Knowledge, 1990. - P.72.

It is appropriate to recall that under Peter the nobility were not the privileged class that it became in the second half of the 18th century. They were still service people who were in the public service. If in pre-Petrine times the nobles returned home after military campaigns, then under Peter they had to join regular regiments from the age of 15, go through a long soldier’s service “from the foundation” and only after that receive an officer’s rank and serve in the army until old age or disability. On the other hand, every soldier who rose to the rank of officer received hereditary nobility.

In addition to service duty, academic duty was also assigned to the nobles. Hundreds of young nobles had to study military or naval affairs in Russia or abroad. All male noble children were required to learn literacy, tsifiri (arithmetic) and geometry, otherwise they were not allowed to marry. Reader on the history of the state and law of Russia. / Ed. Chibiryaeva S.A. - M.: Bylina, 2000. - S.289.

A distinctive feature of the Russian autocracy in pre-Petrine times was the complete fusion of church and state. While in Western Europe the church was moving further and further away from state administration, in Russia in the 17th century there was a so-called churched state. The king himself acted both as the supreme ruler of the church and as the head of state; religious ideas were the main ones in secular life.

Peter I destroyed this tradition and carried out a church reform, completely subordinating the church to the state. After the death of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Andrian, in 1700, the patriarchate was abolished (which was restored only after the February Revolution of 1917). In 1721, the Holy Synod was established - a special "spiritual board" to manage the affairs of the church. At the head of the Holy Synod was the chief procurator, a secular person, usually from guards officers. All members of the Synod were appointed by the Tsar himself. The economic rights of the church were noticeably limited, its huge land plots were cut, part of its income began to be withdrawn to the state budget. Pushkarev S. G. Review of Russian history. - M.: Jurist, 2002. - P.158.

Beginning with Peter I, the state began to interfere in religious life, followed the obligatory communion of all Orthodox. Through the Synod, the secrecy of confession was abolished, the priests were obliged to report to the Privy Office about the confessions of parishioners made during confession, if they concerned the interests of the state. From now on, the Church was obliged in all worldly affairs to obey the orders of secular authorities.

3. Domestic and foreign trade under Peter 1

To maintain and streamline the domestic market in 1719, the College of Commerce was created. Later, the Main and city magistrates were established, whose functions included all kinds of assistance to the merchants, their self-government, and the creation of guilds.

In order to improve trade routes, the government for the first time in the history of the country began the construction of canals. So, in 1703-1709, the Vyshnevolotsky canal was built, the construction of the Mariinsky water system, the Ladoga (1718) canal, completed shortly after the death of Peter, the Volga-Don (1698) canal, the construction of which was completed only in 1952, began. Land roads were very bad, during the period of rains and mudslides they became impassable, which, of course, hindered the development of regular trade relations. In addition, there were still many internal customs duties in the country, which also held back the growth of the all-Russian market.

It should be noted that the development of domestic trade was held back by "money hunger", the country still experienced an acute shortage of monetary metals. The money turnover consisted mainly of small copper coins. The silver kopeck was a very large monetary unit, often it was chopped into several parts, each of which made an independent turnover.

In 1704, Peter I began a monetary reform. Silver ruble coins began to be issued, or simply rubles, which until Peter the Great remained only a conditional counting unit (the ruble did not exist as a coin). The silver thaler was taken as a weight unit of the ruble, although the silver content in the ruble was less than in the thaler. A portrait of Peter I, a double-headed eagle, the year of issue and the inscription "Tsar Peter Alekseevich" were stamped on the ruble. Kolomiets A. G. History of the fatherland. - M.: BEK, 2002. - S.326.

The new monetary system was based on a very simple and rational decimal principle: 1 ruble \u003d 10 hryvnias \u003d 100 kopecks. By the way, many Western countries came to such a system much later. Fifty kopecks were issued - 50 kopecks, half-fifty kopecks - 25 kopecks, nickels - 5 kopecks. Later, altyn - 3 kopecks and five-altyn - 15 kopecks were added to them. The minting of coins became a strict and unconditional monopoly of the state, a ban was announced on the export of precious metals abroad. Pushkarev S.G. Review of Russian history. - M.: Jurist, 2002. - P.161. In the same period, the search for domestic silver deposits in Transbaikalia, in the Nerchinsk region, was crowned with success. The strengthening of the monetary system was also facilitated by an increase in exports and a positive foreign trade balance.

Under Peter I, gold coins were also issued: Caesar's rubles and chervonets. The first of them were often used as a military award to the lower ranks - soldiers, while the ruble was hung like a medal around the neck. Chervonets, on the other hand, mainly served foreign trade turnover and had almost no circulation inside the country.

Initially, the Peter's ruble was quite valuable and was equal to 8 1/3 spools of pure silver (1 spool = 4.3 g). Later, as a result of negative economic changes in the country, the ruble gradually "lost weight", first to 5 5/6, and then to 4 spools. Kolomiets A.G. The history of homeland. - M.: BEK, 2002. - S.327.

Peter's reforms also affected foreign trade, which began to actively develop due, first of all, to access to the Baltic Sea. The purposeful policy of mercantilism pursued by the government contributed to the strengthening of the foreign trade orientation of the Russian economy. One of the ideologists of mercantilism was the Russian thinker-economist I.T. Pososhkov, who in 1724 published The Book of Poverty and Wealth. In it, he emphasized that the country needed to create technically advanced enterprises based on domestic raw materials in order to be able to confidently enter the foreign market.

Supporters of mercantilism believed that the country should achieve an active foreign trade balance, i.e. excess of income from the export of goods over the costs of importing goods into the country. For example, in 1726, export from Russia through the main seaports - St. Petersburg, Arkhangelsk, Riga - amounted to 4.2 million rubles, and import - 2.1 million.

An obligatory element of mercantilism is the establishment of strict customs barriers to protect domestic producers from foreign competitors. So, in 1724, a customs tariff was established, according to which a duty of up to 75% of their value was established on the import of such foreign goods as iron, canvas, silk fabrics in order to stimulate their production in their own country. Up to 50% duty was set on Dutch linen, velvet, silver and other goods, up to 25% - on those goods that were produced in Russia in insufficient quantities: woolen fabrics, writing paper, up to 10% - on copper utensils, window glass, etc. .d.

High export duties were imposed on raw materials necessary for domestic entrepreneurs so that they would not leave the country. The state kept basically all foreign trade in its hands through monopoly trading companies and farming out. The main currency used in foreign circulation was still the silver thaler (yefimok). Pushkarev S. G. Review of Russian history. - M.: Jurist, 2002. - P.160.

Significant changes also took place in the structure of foreign trade. If at the beginning of the 18th century mainly agricultural products and raw materials were exported, then by the mid-1720s, manufacturing products began to occupy a larger share: Ural iron from the Demidov factories, linen, ropes, canvas. In imports, as before, the largest volume was occupied by luxury goods for members of the royal family and nobles, as well as colonial goods: tea, coffee, spices, sugar, wines. Thanks to the energetic actions of Peter, Russia from 1712 for the first time in history stopped buying weapons in Europe.

During the first decades of the 18th century, the geography of Russian foreign trade centers also changed. If in the 17th century Arkhangelsk played the main role in trade with the West, then St. Petersburg soon took its place, and later - Riga, Revel (Tallinn), Vyborg, Narva. Trade relations with Persia and India were conducted along the Volga through Astrakhan and the Caspian Sea, with China - through Kyakhta. Kolomiets A.G. The history of homeland. - M.: BEK, 2002. - S.328.

4. Changes in the financial system under Peter 1

The northern war with Sweden, the southern campaigns to the Sea of Azov, the construction of the fleet, manufactories, canals, cities constantly demanded huge government spending. The Russian budget was in critical condition. The task was set to find all new tax revenues. Specially authorized people - profitmakers - were sent in search of new objects of taxation. Starting from 1704, one after another, an endless series of new taxes were established: mill, bee, cellar, bath, pipe - from stoves, homute, cap, shoe, icebreaking, watering, from schismatics, cabbies, inns, from beards, sales of edibles, sharpening knives and other "petty all sorts of fees."

State monopolies were added to the new taxes. In addition to resin, potash, rhubarb, glue, new monopoly goods were added: salt, tobacco, chalk, tar, fish oil, lard, oak coffins. Fishing became an object of ransom, wine was sold only in state-owned taverns.

The main income came from direct taxes, which were imposed only on the "vile" estates. At the end of Peter's reign, many petty fees were abolished. And in order to increase state revenues, instead of the household tax that existed since 1679, in 1718-1724, a poll tax was introduced from the revision soul, which was paid not only from a working man, but also from boys, old people and even those who died, but were still listed in revision lists. The landlord peasants paid 74 kopecks a year for the benefit of the treasury, plus an additional 40-50 kopecks to their landowner, and the state peasants paid 1 ruble 14 kopecks a year only to the treasury. Karamzin N. M. Traditions of the centuries. - M.: Knowledge, 1988. - P.133.

For a more accurate record of the country began to conduct a census of the male population every 20 years. Based on the results of the censuses, revision tales (lists) were compiled. During the census, the number of serfs increased, since former bonded serfs, who had previously received freedom after the death of their master, were equated to this category.

In addition, the black-mowed peasants of the northern regions, the plowed peasants of Siberia, the peoples of the middle Volga region, who had not previously paid taxes, because they were not serfs, were taxed. Single palaces were added to them, i.e. former service people (gunners, archers), previously exempt from taxes. The poll tax was now also required to be paid by the townspeople - townspeople, philistines.

Various estates sought all sorts of privileges in order to be exempt from paying taxes. The collection of taxes was always carried out with great difficulty, with huge arrears, since the solvency of the population was very low. So, in 1732, arrears amounted to 15 million rubles, which was twice the amount of income.

The main source of state budget revenue, as already mentioned, was direct taxes from the population - up to 55.5% in 1724. In addition, as in the 17th century, indirect taxes and a system of ransoms for the sale of monopoly goods, as well as ransoms for the construction of mills, bridges, etc., played an important role. Various in-kind duties became widespread, such as recruiting, stationing (apartment) and underwater, in accordance with which the peasants had to provide the military units that stood up with food and fodder grain. State peasants were also obliged to perform various kinds of work in favor of the state: to transport mail and allocate carts for carts, to take part in the construction of canals, harbors, roads. Karamzin N. M. Traditions of the centuries. - M.: Knowledge, 1988. - P.134.

A special role in replenishing the revenues of the treasury was played by manipulations with small copper coins. So, for example, the market price of one pood of copper was 7 rubles, but at the beginning of the 18th century copper money was minted from this mass for 12 rubles, and by 1718 - for 40 rubles. The huge difference between the market price of copper and the face value of a copper coin led to their endless illegal fakes - "thieves' money", rising prices and depreciation of money, impoverishment of the population.

The main budget item was military spending. So, for example, the military campaigns of Peter I absorbed approximately 80-85% of all income in Russia, and in 1705 they cost 96%. During the period of Peter's reforms systematically

expenditures on the state apparatus, on the construction of St. Petersburg and the palaces around it, on various ceremonial events on the occasion of military victories - “victory”, magnificent festivities, etc. also state loans, especially after the death of Peter I.

In order to streamline and strictly centralize the financial system in 1719-1721, the highest state bodies were created: the College of Chambers - to manage the country's revenues, the Staff College - to manage expenses, the Revision College - to control the financial system as a whole. All this was done in opposition to the previous system, when each order had its own sources of income. Karamzin N. M. Traditions of the centuries. - M.: Knowledge, 1988. - P.135.

5. Military reform Petra 1

One of the most significant transformations of Peter I should be called the military reform, which made it possible to bring the Russian army closer to the European standards of that time.

At the end of the 17th century, Peter I disbanded the streltsy troops not so much because of their military incompetence, but for political reasons, since the streltsy in their mass supported the forces opposed to Peter. As a result, the king was left without an army. The regiments hastily formed in 1699-1700 under the leadership of foreign officers in the battles near Narva showed a complete inability to resist the Swedes. With the help of his comrades-in-arms in the "amusing troops", Peter energetically set about recruiting and training a new army. And already in 1708-1709, she showed herself at the level of the armies of any European country.

First of all, the former principle of the formation of an army by random soldiers from walkers, hunters, dependent people, etc. was canceled. For the first time in Russia, a regular army was created on the basis of recruitment duty, which was established from 1705. In total, until 1725, 53 recruits were carried out, according to which more than 280 thousand people were mobilized into the army and navy. Initially, one recruit from 20 households was taken into the army, and from 1724 they began to be recruited in accordance with the principles underlying the poll tax. Recruits underwent military training, received uniforms, weapons, while until the 18th century, soldiers - both nobles and peasants - had to come to the service in full gear. Gumilyov L. N. From Russia to Russia. Essays on Russian history. - M.: Logos, 1999. - S.244.

Peter I almost did not use the principle of a mercenary army from among foreigners, which was widespread in Europe. He preferred the national armed forces. Interestingly, the following rule was established with regard to recruits: if a recruit was from serfs, he automatically became free, and then his children, born after liberation, also became free.

The Russian field army consisted of infantry, grenadier, cavalry regiments. The emperor paid special attention to two regiments - Preobrazhensky and Semenovsky, created by Peter in Moscow in his youth, during the struggle for the throne, and later transformed into a palace guard. All nobles had to carry out military service from the soldier's rank. So, according to the decree of 1714, it was forbidden to promote to officers those nobles who had not completed military service in the guards regiments, which not all noble children liked. The most capable young nobles were sent to study (especially maritime affairs) abroad.

The training of officers was carried out in military schools founded in 1698-1699 - Bombardier (artillery) and Preobrazhenskaya (infantry). By decree of Peter in the early 1720s, 50 garrison schools were founded to train non-commissioned officers. Timoshina T.M. Economic History of Russia: Textbook / Ed. prof. M.N. Chepurin. -8th ed. Ster. - M.: Legal House "Justitsinform", 2002. - P.80.

Peter I paid special attention to the fleet. At the end of the 17th century, ships were being built in Voronezh and Arkhangelsk. In 1704, the Admiralty and shipyards were founded in St. Petersburg, where the construction of ships of the navy moved. At the Admiralty shipyard, where at the same time

up to 10 thousand people worked, from 1706 to 1725 about 60 large and more than 200 small ships were built for the Baltic Fleet. Sailors for the fleet were also recruited by recruitment. By the mid-1720s, the navy consisted of 48 battleships and about 800 galleys and other vessels, on which about 28 thousand crew members served. In 1701, the School of Mathematical and Navigational Sciences was founded in Moscow, located in the famous Sukharev Tower, where naval officers were trained. Timoshina T.M. Decree. op. - P.81.

Conclusion

It is very difficult to evaluate all the transformations of Peter I. These reforms are of a very contradictory nature, they cannot be given an unambiguous assessment. The most important thing is that for the first time after the baptism of Russia, Peter I made an energetic attempt to bring the country closer to European civilization.

Peter I constantly emphasized that Russia should no longer remain closed to world economic processes if it did not want to continue to lag behind in socio-economic development and gradually fall into heavy colonial dependence on advanced Western countries, as happened with many Asian states that failed to end traditionalism. As a result of Peter's reforms, Russia managed to take its rightful place in the system of European states. It has become a great power with an efficient economy, powerful army and navy, highly developed science and culture.

Carrying out reforms in Russia, Peter strove for an ideal state based on fair and rational laws, but this turned out to be a utopia. In practice, a police state was created in the country without any institutions of social control.

Adopting advanced technologies, scientific, military and other achievements in the West, Peter did not seem to notice the development of the ideas of humanism there, all the more not wanting to introduce them to Russian soil. It was under Peter that the serfdom of the peasants intensified, due to which the tsar's reform activities were mainly carried out, since there were almost no other sources of economic growth in the country. The hardships of the reforms that fell on the shoulders of the peasants and the urban population were more than once the causes of major popular uprisings in Central Russia, the Volga region, Ukraine and the Don, for example, the uprising of the Cossacks led by Kondraty Bulavin in 1707-1708, brutally suppressed by the tsarist authorities .

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Merchants under Peter I: privileges, subsidies and regulation with corruption

The transformation of Russia into an absolutist state changed the class composition of the population. The number of representatives of trade professions increased especially noticeably. Merchants became for the king the most important source of development of the country, but this only led to the restriction of their rights and opportunities.

Alexander Minzhurenko, Candidate of Historical Sciences, deputy of the State Duma of the first convocation, tells about the consequences of numerous reforms of Peter I for the merchant class in the sixth episode of his investigation.

Russia's transition to the stage of absolutism introduced significant changes in the legal status of all social strata of Russian society without exception. The radical reforms of Peter I affected various spheres of life. The rights of the merchants were also seriously revised.

On the one hand, Peter I supported the merchants as the creators of the country's new economy, provided them with great help and assistance, protecting and expanding their rights and privileges. But on the other hand, this reformer thought first of all about the expansion and strengthening of the state. And to create an absolutist state, a colossal bureaucratic machine with a large number of officials and a constant large regular army and navy were required.

The formation and maintenance of two new pillars of the absolute monarchy required gigantic funds in volumes that the treasury of previous periods could not even dream of. And everyone paid for the creation of this new state: the peasants, who received a burdensome soul tax with a mass of new taxes, and the clergy, who, according to the priests, were simply “robbed” by the Antichrist Tsar, and the aristocracy, and the wealthy merchants.

However, the “robbery” of the merchants was carried out by Peter I prudently and with the understanding that merchants are a chicken that regularly lays golden eggs. And therefore, she had to help in every possible way in this process of continuous reproduction of money. And Peter I, with all his indefatigable energy and scope, begins not only to support the merchants in their pursuits, but also very persistently pushes them to new types of activity. Forced from merchants with the assistance of the state, a class of industrialists-entrepreneurs is formed.

Actually, even before Peter the Great, merchants were engaged not only in purely trade. Quite often they founded crafts and manufactories. It is known how merchants rose in the extraction of salt, ores and other minerals. They were also engaged in the processing of raw materials. Trade for many future industrialists was a stage of initial accumulation of capital. And it was natural.

So, in many cases, Peter did not wait for that very, in his opinion, slow accumulation of start-up capital, but began to allocate it to merchants almost by force, literally forcing them to engage in a new business. Subsidies and privileges fell on the merchant-industrialists as if from a cornucopia. Peter urgently needed to create a merchant and navy, for which copper, a sailing cloth and much more were needed.

The acute need for money forced Peter I to use internal trade as the most important source of state revenue. Trade was subject to various new taxes, which could not but restrain its turnover.

In addition, wanting to extract the maximum profit for the treasury from trade, Peter I declared the sale of part of the goods on the domestic market a state monopoly. This category included salt, tobacco and other goods, the trade in which was often farmed out to individual merchants, monasteries, or carried out directly by state institutions.

The Petrine era is known primarily for the desire of the state to regulate economic, social and even private life. The royal decree of January 16, 1721 also determined the legal status of the merchant class. By this document, the entire urban population, with the exception of foreigners, nobles, clergy and "mean people" was divided into two guilds. The corporations of the guests, the trading people of the living room and the cloth hundreds were liquidated.

The first guild included large merchants, bankers, skippers of merchant ships. The second guild included the middle merchants, merchants of petty goods and "food supplies", as well as artisans.

But this decree not only drew new social and legal boundaries between persons of different levels of wealth: it seriously affected the interests of the merchants, in fact, infringing on their exclusive rights to engage in trade. The decree eliminated the monopoly of the merchants on trade, which they had enjoyed since the time of the Council Code of 1649. Trade was now allowed to be carried out by persons of "every rank", with the exception of the military.

Competitors merchants spawned and Peter's Decree on the same heritage of 1714. The tsar was worried about the fragmentation of landlord estates during the change of generations and forbade them to be divided among his sons. From now on, all land ownership upon the death of the owner could only go entirely to the eldest of the brothers. The younger sons of noble families were directly recommended to engage in trading activities.

Of course, various subsidies and direct state financing of trade and entrepreneurship contributed to the revival and growth of the economy as a whole. But such an active direct intervention of the state into the economic life of the country with the infusion of huge amounts of state money into it inevitably led to an unprecedented increase in corruption, nepotism and embezzlement.

The rules of free fair competition were often violated, and many respectable merchants who were not included in government programs could not compete with trading establishments that were patronized by the government. And many of the highest government officials themselves rushed into trade and production, hastily creating enterprises with state money.

So, Prince Alexander Menshikov built a sailing factory on Klyazma, and other closest associates of Peter I (Apraksin, Tolstoy, Shafirov) established a silk company. She received huge subsidies from the state and the right to sell her goods duty-free for 50 years, as well as freedom from taxes, standing and other privileges.

The protectionist tariff of 1724 also hit the interests and rights of many Russian merchants. This was done in order to create favorable conditions for the emergence and development of new domestic industries - manufacturing enterprises.

Protecting such industries, the government set extremely high and even prohibitive duties on the import of such foreign goods. If the usual import duties amounted to 10-20%, reaching up to 30-40%, then protective duties increased to 50-75% of the value of the imported goods. This affected the interests of those Russian merchants who mainly traded in these groups of goods. And they complained about the infringement of their interests and rights, that they were placed in unequal conditions with other merchants.

At the same time, Peter I created the most favorable conditions for merchants involved in the export of Russian products and products. In most cases, goods exported from the country were subject to a low (up to 3%) duty. And if Russian merchants exported goods on their own ships, the duty was reduced by a factor of three.

Frankly copying the Western European experience, Peter began to cobble together various companies from scattered entrepreneurs (“in the manner of the East Indian.”) These companies were financed by the treasury and were under strict control of the state. Trading companies did not take root in Russia during the reign of Peter I. Merchants preferred to trade separately from each other, through their clerks.

Thus, the period of Peter the Great's reforms was accompanied by a kind of "nationalization" of trading activity and its strict regulation. The king sought to subordinate everything in the country to the interests of the state. From here, many merchants experienced both the patronage of the government and many of the restrictions imposed by it.

However, not all spheres of trade fell into the field of view of Peter I, so medium and small merchants freely traded in traditional goods. For them, the regulation of trading activities by the state was expressed in most cases in the bribery of civil servants. Large merchants also suffered from corruption, and on a large scale.

Peter himself, knowing about the widespread vice and the massive violation of the rights of merchants, resolutely fought against this evil, but he failed to create an effective system for protecting the rights of the merchants.

The legacy of Peter the Great from the Muscovite state inherited the underdeveloped rudiments of industry, planted and supported by the government, poorly developed trade associated with the poor organization of the state economy. Were inherited from the Muscovite state and its tasks - to win access to the sea and return the state to its natural borders. Peter quickly set about solving these problems, starting a war with Sweden and deciding to wage it in a new way and with new means. There is a new regular army, a fleet is being built. All this, of course, required huge financial outlays. The Muscovite state, with the growth of state needs, covered them with new taxes. Peter also did not shy away from this old method, but next to it he put one innovation that Muscovite Russia did not know: Peter cared not only about taking from the people everything that could be taken, but also thought about the payer himself - the people, about where he can get the money to pay heavy taxes.

Peter saw the path to raising the people's well-being in the development of trade and industry. It is difficult to say how and when the tsar had this idea, but it probably happened during the Great Embassy, when Peter clearly saw the technical backlog of Russia from the leading European states.

At the same time, the desire to reduce the cost of maintaining the army and navy naturally led to the idea that it would be cheaper to produce everything that was needed to equip and arm the army and navy. And since there were no factories and factories that could fulfill this task, the idea arose that they should be built, inviting knowledgeable foreigners for this and giving them to science. "their subjects" as it was then expressed. These thoughts were not new and have been known since the time of Tsar Michael, but only a person with an iron will and indestructible energy, such as Tsar Peter, could carry it out.

Having set himself the goal of arming people's labor with the best folk methods of production and directing it to new, more profitable industries in the area of the country's wealth not yet touched by the development of the country's wealth, Peter "went over" all branches of national labor. During the Great Embassy, the tsar studied all aspects of European life, including technical ones. Abroad, Peter learned the basics of the economic thought of that time - mercantilism. Mercantilism based its economic doctrine on two propositions: first, each people, in order not to become impoverished, must produce everything it needs, without resorting to the help of other people's labor, the labor of other peoples; second, every nation, in order to grow rich, must export as much of its own products as possible from its own country and import as little foreign products as possible.

Realizing that Russia was not only not inferior, but even superior to other countries in the abundance of natural resources, Peter decided that the state should take over the development of the country's industry and trade. "Our Russian state, Peter said, before other lands it abounds and the necessary metals and minerals are most blessedly, which until now have been searched for without any diligence ".

Thus, realizing the importance of trade and industry and having assimilated the ideas of mercantilism in the West, Peter set about reforming these areas, forcing his subjects to do so, even if by force.

Industrial Development Measures

Geological exploration of ore resources and those manufacturing industries that could, with support, could develop into large enterprises, was undertaken throughout Russia. By his order, connoisseurs of various crafts dispersed throughout the country. Deposits of rock crystal, carnelian, saltpeter, peat, coal were discovered, about which Peter said that “This mineral, if not for us, then for our descendants, will be very useful”. The Ryumin brothers opened a plant in the Ryazan region for the extraction of coal. The foreigner von Azmus developed peat.

Peter also strenuously attracted foreigners to the cause. In 1698, when he returned from his first trip abroad, he was followed by many artisans and craftsmen hired by him. In Amsterdam alone, he employed about 1,000 people. In 1702, Peter's decree was published throughout Europe, inviting foreigners to industrial service in Russia on very favorable terms for them. Peter ordered Russian residents at European courts to seek out and hire experts in various industries and craftsmen for the Russian service. So, for example, the French engineer Leblon - "straight curiosity", as Peter called him, he was invited to a salary of 45 thousand rubles a year with a gift apartment, with the right to go home in five years with all the acquired property, without paying any taxes.

At the same time, Peter took measures to strengthen the training of Russian young people, sending them to study abroad.

Under Peter, the number of manufactories, which became technical schools and practical schools, increased significantly. We agreed with visiting foreign masters, “so that they, from Russian students, would have with them and teach their skills, setting for that the price of the award and the time, what time to learn”. People of all free classes were accepted as apprentices at factories and factories, and serfs - with a vacation pay from the landowner, but from the 1720s they began to accept fugitive peasants, but not soldiers. Since there were few volunteers, Peter from time to time, by decree, recruited students for training at manufactories. In 1711 “The sovereign ordered to send 100 people from the clergy and from the servants of the monastery and from their children, who would be 15 or 20 years old, and would be able to write, so that they could go into teaching to the masters of various deeds”. Such sets were repeated in subsequent years.

For military needs and for the extraction of metals, Peter especially needed mining and ironworks. In 1719, to the Olonets factories, where iron was smelted, cannons and cannonballs were poured, Peter ordered to recruit 300 students. Mining schools also arose at the Ural factories, where they recruited literate soldiers', clerks' and priests' children as students. In these schools they wanted to teach not only the practical knowledge of mining, but also theory, arithmetic and geometry. The students were paid a salary - one and a half pounds of flour per month and a ruble per year for a dress, and those who had wealthy fathers or received a salary of more than 10 rubles a year were not given anything from the treasury, "until they begin to teach the triple rule", then they were given a salary.

At the factory founded in St. Petersburg, where braids, braid, cords were made, Peter appointed young people from Novgorod townsmen and poor nobles as training for French masters. He often visited this factory and was interested in the success of the students. The older ones had to come to the palace every Saturday afternoon with samples of their work.

In 1714, a silk factory was founded under the leadership of a certain Milyutin, a self-taught man who studied silk weaving. In need of good wool for cloth factories, Peter thought about introducing the right methods of sheep breeding and for this he ordered rules to be drawn up - "Regulations on how to keep sheep according to the Slesian (Silesian) custom". Then in 1724 Major Kologrivov, two nobles and several Russian sheepdogs were sent to Silesia to study sheep breeding.

Leather production has long been developed in Russia, but the methods of processing were rather imperfect. In 1715, Peter issued a decree on this subject: “Because the yuft that is used for shoes is very unprofitable to wear, because it is made with tar and when there is enough sputum, it spreads, and the water passes; for the sake of it, it is necessary to do it with torn bacon and a different order, for the sake of which masters were sent from Revel to Moscow to teach that business, for which it is commanded to all industrialists (tanners) throughout the state, so that from each city several people would go to Moscow and study; this training is given a period of two years". Several young men were sent to England to work in tanneries.

The government not only entered into the industrial needs of the population and took care of educating the people in crafts, it generally took production and consumption under its supervision. The decrees of His Majesty prescribed not only what goods to produce, but also in what quantity, what size, what material, what tools and techniques, and for non-fulfillment, severe fines were always threatened, up to the death penalty.

Peter greatly appreciated the forests he needed for the needs of the fleet, and issued the strictest forest protection laws: it was forbidden to cut forests suitable for shipbuilding under pain of death.

Not content with spreading one practical teaching of technology, Peter also took care of theoretical education by translating and distributing relevant books. The "Lexicon of Commerce" by Jacques Savary ("Savarian Lexicon") was translated and printed. True, in 24 years only 112 copies of this book were sold, but this circumstance did not frighten the king-publisher. In the list of books published under Peter, you can find many guides to teaching various technical knowledge. Many of these books have been strictly edited by the Emperor himself.

On August 30, 1723, Peter was at Mass at the Trinity Cathedral and gave an order here to the vice-president of the Synod, His Grace Theodosius, that “translate three economic books in the German dialect into Slovenian and, having first translated the table of contents, offer them for consideration by His Imperial Majesty”.

Usually those plants that were especially needed, i.e. mining and weapons, as well as cloth, linen and sailing factories were arranged by the treasury and then transferred to private entrepreneurs. For the establishment of manufactories of secondary importance to the treasury, Peter willingly loaned quite significant capital without interest and ordered that private individuals who set up factories at their own peril and risk be provided with tools and workers. Masters were discharged from abroad, the manufacturers themselves received great privileges: they were exempted from service with their children and craftsmen, they were only subject to the court of the Manufactory Collegium, they got rid of taxes and internal duties, they could bring duty-free from abroad the tools and materials they needed, houses they were exempted from military posting.

Creation of company enterprises

Concerned about the most stable setting of industrial enterprises in the sense of providing them with sufficient fixed and circulating capital, Peter greatly encouraged the company organization of factories along the lines of the structure of Western European companies. In Holland, company enterprises then brought a huge income to the participants, the success of the East India Company in England and the French for trade with America was then on everyone's lips. In Holland, Peter became well acquainted with the companies of those times and vividly arranged all the benefits of such a device for industry and trade. Back in the year, he was submitted projects on the organization of companies in Russia. At the core, the company organization was not alien to Russian life. Even the Moscow government, giving at the mercy of its various income items, always gave them to several persons so that each would vouch for the other. The artels of the Russian industrialists of the north have long been companies of people who, for a common purpose, have combined the means and forces of individual people and divided the profits according to the calculation of the shares, or shares, contributed by each participant to the artel. In 1699, Peter issued a decree to trade people in the same way as they trade in other states.

No matter how the war distracted Peter, from time to time he continued to insist on the establishment of companies, reminding him of this at every opportunity, forcing him to do so by force.

In a decree of 1724, Peter prescribes the pattern that companies should follow in their organization, commanding "make certain shares of shareholders with the example of the East India Company". Following the example of Western European governments, Peter proposes to involve wealthy, “capital” people in company enterprises, regardless of their origin and position. The government was always ready to help with money and materials, and many companies received rather large sums of help. By lending large sums of money to the companies, often by transferring ready-made manufacturing facilities to their use, the treasury became the banker of large-scale industry and thus acquired the right to strictly monitor the activities of the companies. This intervention in private enterprise, the government not only "forced" its subjects to "build companies," but strictly supervised their "decent maintenance." Not a single reorganization, even the smallest one, in the company's economy could be done without a corresponding "report" to the Manufactory and the Berg Collegium. Manufacturers were required to annually deliver samples of their products to the Manufacture College. The government established the type, form, prices for those goods that were supplied to the treasury, and forbade selling them at retail. The government rewarded good factory owners and severely punished negligent ones. This is how it was written in the decrees when a plant was transferred to private hands: “If they (companion workers) multiply this plant with their zeal and make profit in it, and for that they will receive mercy from him, the great sovereign, but if they do not multiply and diminish by negligence, and for that they will be fined 1000 rubles per human". Unsuccessful factory owners were even simply "deprived" of factories by the government.

Only fragmentary information has been preserved about how the companies arranged their activities. The companies included not only people who could participate in the business by personal labor, but also "interested parties", i.e. those who gave only money in order to receive a certain income from them. In the projects of those times (back in 1698), there was already talk of such a structure of companies, in which every “particular” person who contributed a certain capital to it, by purchasing a certain amount "portion, or shares", could be a member of the company. But before 1757-1758, not a single joint-stock company was formed in Russia. Business in the companies was conducted “according to the merchant’s habit, according to his own invention, with general advice, the elder of the jury and several elected ones - whom it would be prudent to choose for what business”.

Creation of new manufactories

Some manufactories that arose under Peter were quite large. The Petrovsky factories in the Olonetsky region, founded by Menshikov and led by Genning, were distinguished by their broad organization of work, excellent equipment, a large composition of workers and the organization of the technical part.

State-owned mining plants were also distinguished by especially large size and crowding. 25,000 peasants were assigned to nine Perm factories. To manage the Perm and Ural factories, a whole city arose, named after the queen Yekaterinburg. Here, in the Urals, back in the 17th century, they tried to dig something, to mine something, but copper, iron, silver did not go further than finding various "curiosities" - they bought everything, mainly from the Swedes. It is only from the time of Peter that the real work begins here. In 1719, the “Berg Privilege” was issued, according to which everyone was given the right to search, melt, boil and clean metals and minerals everywhere, subject to the payment of a “mountain tax” of 1/10 of the cost of production and 32 shares in favor of the owner of that land where ore deposits are found. For hiding the ore and trying to prevent the finder from arranging the development of the perpetrators, land confiscation, corporal punishment and even the death penalty “through the fault of looking” threatened. In 1702, the Verkhoturye factories, built by the sovereign's money treasury and city county people, were given for ransom to Nikita Demidov. But the Urals at first could not yet compete with the Olonets factories, which were closer to St. Petersburg and the place of hostilities. Only after peace was established, Peter paid more attention to the Urals and sent Colonel Genning there, who put the entire production of the Olonets factories on their feet. By the end of Peter's reign, about 7 million poods of cast iron and over 200,000 poods of copper were smelted annually at all his factories. The development of gold and silver deposits also began.

After the mining factories, the weapons factories - Tula and Sestroretsky - were distinguished by their vastness. These weapons factories supplied guns, cannons and edged weapons to the entire army and freed the treasury from having to buy weapons abroad. In total, under Peter, more than 20 thousand cannons were cast. The first rapid-fire guns appeared. At Petrovsky factories, they even used “fiery” machines as a driving force - that was the name of the progenitors of steam engines at that time. 1162 workers worked at the state-owned sailing factory in Moscow. Of the private factories, Shchegolin's cloth factory with his comrades in Moscow, which had 130 mills and employed 730 workers, was distinguished by its vastness. Miklyaev's Kazan cloth factory employed 740 people.

Workers in the Age of Peter

The factory workers of the time of Peter the Great came from a wide variety of strata of the population: runaway serfs, vagabonds, beggars, even criminals - all of them, according to strict orders, were taken and sent to “work” in factories. Peter could not stand "walking" people who were not attached to any business, he was ordered to seize them, not sparing even the monastic rank, and sent them to factories. There were very few freelance workers, because in general there were few free people in Russia at that time. The rural population was not free; . When a factory was established, the manufacturer was usually given the privilege of freely hiring Russian and foreign craftsmen and apprentices, "paying them a decent wage for their work". If a manufacturer received a factory arranged by the treasury, then workers were transferred to him along with the factory buildings.

There were frequent cases when, in order to supply factories, and especially factories, with working hands, villages and villages of peasants were attributed to factories and factories, as was still practiced in the 17th century. Such assigned to the factory worked for it and in it by order of the owner. But in most cases, the manufacturers themselves had to find workers for themselves by hiring. It was very difficult, and the dregs of the population usually ended up in the factories - all those who had nowhere else to go. There were not enough workers. The factory owners constantly complained about the lack of workers and, above all, that there were no workers. Workers were so rare also because the dressing was then predominantly manual, and it was not always easy to learn how to do it. A skillful worker who knew his job was highly valued for this reason; the factory owners lured such workers away from each other, and under no circumstances did they release well-trained workers. He who learned the skill in a factory undertook not to leave the factory that taught him for ten or fifteen years, depending on the agreement. Experienced workers lived in one place for a long time and rarely became unemployed. For "calling" working people from one factory to another before the expiration of the fixed period of work, a very large fine was imposed by law on the guilty manufacturer, while the enticed worker returned to the former owner and was subjected to corporal punishment.

But all this did not save the factories from desertion. Then the government of Peter decided that work in factories could be carried out in the same way as rural work on the estates of private landowners, i.e. through hard labor. In 1721, a decree followed, which stated that although previously "merchant people" were forbidden to buy villages, now many of them wished to start various manufactories both in companies and one by one. “For this reason, it is allowed for the reproduction of such factories, both for the nobility and merchant people, to those village factories to buy without restriction with the permission of the Berg and Manufactory Collegium, only under such a condition, so that those villages were always already at those factories inseparably. And in order not to sell or mortgage to anyone, to the gentry, and to the merchants of those villages especially without factories, and not to secure anyone for anyone by any fiction, and not to give such villages to anyone at the ransom, unless someone wants for their necessary needs those villages and with those sell the factories, then sell them with the permission of the Berg Collegium. And if anyone acts against this, then it will be irrevocably deprived of all that ... " After this decree, all factories quickly acquired serf workers, and the factory owners liked it so much that they began to seek assignment to the factories and free workers who worked for them in free employment. In 1736, i.e. already after the death of Peter, they received this, and according to the decree, all those artisans who were at the factories at the time the decree was issued had to “forever” with their families remain strong in the factory. Even under Peter, the factory owners were already judges of their workers. From 1736, this was granted to them by law.

Serf workers did not always receive a monetary salary, but only food and clothing. Civilian workers, of course, received a salary in money, usually on a monthly basis in state-owned factories, and piecework in private ones. In addition to money, grubs also went to civilian employees. The amounts of cash salaries and grain dachas were small. The labor of workers was best paid in silk factories, worse in paper factories, even worse in cloth factories, and the least paid in linen factories. In general, in state-owned manufactories, wages were higher than in private ones.

Work in some factories was precisely and thoroughly established by company regulations. In 1741, a fourteen-hour working day was established by law.

The workers depended on the manufacturers for everything. True, the law ordered them “decently maintain artisans and students and repair them with rewards at their true worth”, but these rules were poorly enforced. The factory owners, having bought a village for the factory, often registered as workers and drove all the “full workers” to the factory, so that only the old men, women and minors remained on the ground. The wages of the workers were often delayed, so that they “came into poverty and even suffered from diseases”.

Product quality

Goods produced by Russian factories did not differ in high quality and processing. Only rough soldier's cloths were relatively good, and everything that was needed for military supplies, up to and including cannons, but purely industrial goods that were looking for sales among the people were bad.

Thus, the majority of Russian factories produced, according to merchants, goods of poor quality, which could not count on a quick sale, especially in the presence of foreign competition. Then Peter, in order to encourage his manufacturers and give their goods at least some kind of sale, began to impose heavy duties on foreign manufacturers. In accordance with the teachings of mercantilism he had learned, Peter was convinced that his manufacturers were tolerating “from goods brought from abroad; for example, one peasant discovered the paint of bakan, I ordered the painters to try it, and they said that it would yield to one Venetian, and equal to German, and another better: they made it from abroad; other manufacturers also complain…” Until 1724, Peter issued orders from time to time prohibiting the import of either individual foreign goods that began to be produced in Russia, or entire groups of both “manufacturing” and “metal products”. From time to time, it was forbidden even inside Russia to produce any linen or silk fabric for anyone, except for one factory that had just opened, of course, with the direct goal of giving it the opportunity to get on its feet and accustom the consumer to its production.

In 1724, a general tariff was issued, strictly protective of its industry, in part even directly prohibitive in relation to foreign goods.

With industry and trade, the same thing happened as with all the reforms of Peter, begun by him from 1715-1719: conceived broadly and boldly, they were brought to life by the performers sluggishly and tediously. Peter himself, not having worked out a general definite plan for himself, but for his life full of wartime anxieties and not accustomed to working systematically and consistently, hurried a lot and sometimes started from the end and middle of a business that should have been carried out carefully from the very foundation, and therefore certain aspects of his reforms withered like early ripening flowers, and when he died, the reforms stopped.

Development of trade

Peter also paid attention to trade, to the better organization and facilitation of trade on the part of the state, for a very long time. Back in the 1690s, he was busy talking about commerce with knowledgeable foreigners and, of course, became interested in trading European companies no less than industrial ones.

By decree of the College of Commerce in 1723, Peter ordered “Send the children of merchants to foreign lands, so that there will never be less than 15 people in foreign lands, and when they are trained, take back and in their place new ones, and order those trained to teach here, it’s impossible to send everyone; why take from all the noble cities, so that this could be done everywhere; and send 20 people to Riga and Revel and distribute them to the capitalists; these are both numbers from the townspeople; besides, the collegium of labor has to teach commerce certain of the noble children ".

The conquest of the sea coast, the founding of St. Petersburg with the direct appointment of it as a port, the teaching of mercantilism, adopted by Peter - all this made him think about commerce, about its development in Russia. In the first 10 years of the 18th century, the development of trade with the West was hampered by the fact that many goods were declared a state monopoly and were sold only through government agents. But Peter did not consider this measure, caused by the extreme need for money, to be useful, and therefore, when the military alarm calmed down somewhat, he again turned to the thought of companies of trading people. In July 1712, he ordered the Senate - “Immediately rush in the merchant’s business, the best order to do”. The Senate began to try to arrange a company of merchants for trade with China, but Moscow merchants “they refused to take on the bargain with the company”. On February 12, 1712, Peter ordered “to set up a collegium for the commercial business of correction, so that it can be brought to a better state; Why is it necessary for one or two people of foreigners who need to be pleased, so that they show the truth and jealousy in that with an oath, so that it is better to show the truth and jealousy in that with an oath, in order to better arrange order, for there is no doubt that their bargaining is incomparably better ours". The collegium was formed, worked out the rules of its existence and actions. The collegium worked first in Moscow, then in St. Petersburg. With the establishment of the College of Commerce, all the affairs of this prototype of it were transferred to the new department of trade.

In 1723, Peter ordered a company of merchants to trade with Spain. It was also planned to arrange a company for trade with France. To begin with, Russian state-owned ships with goods were sent to the ports of these states, but this was the end of the matter. Trading companies did not take root and began to appear in Russia no earlier than the middle of the 18th century, and even then under the condition of great privileges and patronage from the treasury. Russian merchants preferred to trade personally or through clerks alone, without entering into companies with others.

Since 1715, the first Russian consulates appeared abroad. On April 8, 1719, Peter issued a decree on the freedom of trade. For a better arrangement of river merchant ships, Peter forbade the construction of old-fashioned ships, various boards and plows.

Peter saw the basis of the commercial significance of Russia in the fact that nature judged her to be a trading intermediary between Europe and Asia.

After the capture of Azov, when the Azov fleet was created, it was supposed to direct the entire trade movement of Russia to the Black Sea. Then the connection of the waterways of Central Russia with the Black Sea by two channels was undertaken. One was supposed to connect the tributaries of the Don and the Volga, the Kamyshinka and the Ilovley, and the other would approach the small Ivan Lake in the Epifansky district, Tula province, from which the Don flows on one side, and on the other, the Shash River, a tributary of the Upa, which flows into the Oka. But the Prut failure forced them to leave Azov and give up all hopes of mastering the Black Sea coast.

Having established himself on the Baltic coast, having founded the new capital of St. Petersburg, Peter decided to connect the Baltic Sea with the Caspian Sea, using the rivers and canals that he intended to build. Already in 1706, he ordered the Tvertsa River to be connected by a canal to the Tsna, which, forming Lake Mstino with its expansion, leaves it with the name of the Msta River and flows into Lake Ilmen. This was the beginning of the famous Vyshnevolotsk system. The main obstacle to connecting the Neva and the Volga was the stormy Lake Ladoga, and Peter decided to build a bypass canal to bypass its inhospitable waters. Peter planned to connect the Volga with the Neva, breaking through the watershed between the rivers Vytegra, which flows into Lake Onega, and Kovzha, which flows into Beloozero, and thus outlined the network of the Mariinsky system already implemented in the 19th century.

Simultaneously with the efforts to connect the Baltic and Caspian rivers with a network of canals, Peter took decisive measures to ensure that the movement of foreign trade left its former habitual path to the White Sea and Arkhangelsk and took a new direction to St. Petersburg. Government measures in this direction began in 1712, but the protests of foreign merchants, who complained about the inconvenience of living in a new city like Petersburg, the considerable danger of sailing in wartime on the Baltic Sea, the high cost of the route itself, because the Danes took a fee for the passage of ships , - all this made Peter postpone the abrupt transfer of trade with Europe from Arkhangelsk to St. Petersburg: but already in 1718 he issued a decree allowing only hemp trade in Arkhangelsk, all the grain trade was ordered to move to St. Petersburg. Thanks to these and other measures of the same nature, St. Petersburg became a significant place for holiday and import trade. Concerned about raising the commercial importance of his new capital, Peter is negotiating with his future son-in-law, the Duke of Holstein, regarding the possibility of digging a canal from Kiel to the North Sea in order to be independent from the Danes, and, taking advantage of the confusion in Mecklenburg and wartime in general, he thinks to establish himself more firmly near the possible entrance to the projected channel. But this project was carried out much later, after the death of Peter.

The subject of export from Russian ports were mainly raw products: fur goods, honey, wax. Since the 17th century, Russian timber, tar, tar, sailcloth, hemp, and ropes have been especially valued in the West. At the same time, livestock products - leather, lard, bristles - were intensively exported; from the time of Peter the Great, mining products, mainly iron and copper, went abroad. Flax and hemp were in particular demand; trade in bread was weak due to lack of roads and government bans on selling bread abroad.

Instead of Russian raw materials, Europe could supply us with the products of its manufacturing industry. But, patronizing his factories and plants, Peter, with almost prohibitive duties, greatly reduced the import of foreign manufactured goods into Russia, allowing only those that were not produced in Russia at all, or only those that Russian factories and plants needed (this was a policy of protectionism)

Peter also paid tribute to the enthusiasm characteristic of his time to trade with the countries of the far south, with India. He dreamed of an expedition to Madagascar, and he thought of directing Indian trade through Khiva and Bukhara to Russia. A.P. Volynsky was sent to Persia as an ambassador, and Peter instructed him to find out if there was any river in Persia that would flow from India through Persia and flow into the Caspian Sea. Volynsky had to work so that the Shah would direct the entire trade of Persia in raw silk not through the cities of the Turkish Sultan - Smyrna and Aleppo, but through Astrakhan. In 1715, a trade agreement was concluded with Persia, and Astrakhan trade became very active. Realizing the importance of the Caspian Sea for his broad plans, Peter took advantage of the intervention in Persia, when the rebels killed the Russian merchants there, and occupied the coast of the Caspian Sea from Baku and Derbent inclusive. In Central Asia, on the Amu Darya, Peter sent a military expedition under the command of Prince Bekovich-Cherkassky. In order to establish themselves there, it was supposed to find the old channel of the Amu Darya River and direct its course to the Caspian Sea, but this attempt failed: exhausted by the difficulty of the path through the desert scorched by the sun, the Russian detachment fell into an ambush set by the Khiva, and was all exterminated.

Transformation results

Thus, under Peter the foundation of Russian industry was laid. Many new industries entered the circulation of people's labor, i.e. the sources of people's well-being increased quantitatively and qualitatively improved. This improvement was achieved by a terrible strain on the people's forces, but only thanks to this strain was the country able to endure the burden of the twenty-year uninterrupted war. In the future, the intensive development of national wealth, which began under Peter, led to the enrichment and economic development of Russia.

Domestic trade under Peter also revived significantly, but, in general, continued to have the same caravan and fair character. But even this side of the economic life of Russia was stirred up by Peter and brought out of that calmness of inertia and lack of enterprise, which was different in the 17th century and earlier. The spread of commercial knowledge, the emergence of factories and factories, communication with foreigners - all this gave a new meaning and direction to Russian trade, forcing it to revive inside and, thereby, becoming an increasingly active participant in world trade, to assimilate its principles and rules.

Domestic activities of Peter since 1700

(continuation)

Measures of Peter I for the development of the national economy

Concerns about the national economy in the activities of Peter the Great always occupied a very prominent place. We notice signs of such concerns in the 17th century. And the predecessors of Peter I were preoccupied with raising the economic well-being of Russia, shattered by turmoil. But before Peter no results had been achieved in this regard. State finances, which for the Muscovite government were a sure indicator of the people's well-being, were in an unsatisfactory position both before Peter and during the first period of his reign. Peter needed money and had to find new sources of government revenue. Concern about replenishing the state treasury was a constant burden on him and led Peter to the idea that it was possible to raise the country's finances only through fundamental improvements in the national economy. Peter I saw the way to such improvements in the development of national industry and trade. It was to the development of trade and industry that he directed his entire economic policy. In this respect, he paid tribute to the ideas of his age, which created the well-known mercantile-protective system in the West. The novelty of the economic measures of Peter I was in Peter's desire to create trade and industry in Russia and thereby show the people a new source of wealth. only a few individuals (Krizhanich, Ordin-Nashchokin) dreamed of economic reforms in Russia under the influence of Western European life. The government itself, issuing the New Trade Charter of 1667, expressed the idea of the importance of trade in public life. But the conscious need did not lead to almost no practical measures to satisfy it until the time of transformation.

It is difficult to say exactly when Peter had the idea of the need to develop industrial and commercial activities in Russia. It is most likely that he learned it already on his first trip abroad. Already in 1699, he took care of the commercial and industrial class (Burmister chambers), and in the remarkable manifesto of 1702, by which Peter summoned foreigners to Russia, the idea of \u200b\u200bthe enormous importance of trade and industry in state life was already clearly expressed. With the passage of time, Peter I went more and more energetically towards his goal, making it one of the main tasks of his internal activity. We see a number of diverse measures of the reformer aimed at the development of economic life. Their presentation would take too much time, and we will limit ourselves to listing the most important of them:

a) Peter I constantly undertook reconnaissance in order to get to know better those natural resources that Russia possessed. Under him, many such riches were found: silver and other ores, which caused the development of the mining industry; saltpeter, peat, coal, etc. So Peter created new types of industrial and commercial labor.

b) Peter I strongly encouraged the development of industry. He called in foreign technicians, put them in an excellent position in Russia, gave them a lot of benefits with one indispensable condition: to teach the Russians their production. He sent Russians abroad to study various branches of Western industry. And at home, in the workshops, the masters had to properly train their students. The benefits of technical education and industry itself, Peter I, strenuously proved in his decrees. He gave entrepreneurs all sorts of benefits; among other things, the right to own land and peasants. Sometimes the government itself was the initiator in this or that kind of production and, having founded an industrial business, handed it over to a private person. But, creating a privileged position for industrialists, Peter I established strict supervision over the entire industry and monitored both the conscientiousness of production and the fact that it was consistent with the types of government. Such supervision often turned into petty regulation of production (for example, the obligatory width of linen and cloth was precisely determined), but tended in general to the benefit of industry. The results of Peter's measures in relation to industry were expressed in the fact that in Russia under Peter more than 200 factories and plants were founded and many branches of production that exist today (mining, etc.) were laid.

c) Peter I encouraged Russian trade by all means. Both in relation to industry and in relation to trade, Peter kept a patronizing system, striving to develop trade to such an extent that the export of goods from Russia exceeded their import from other countries. Just as Peter tried to explain to his subjects the benefits of the development of crafts by means of decrees, so he tried to arouse in them commercial enterprise. According to one researcher; under Peter, "the throne often turned into a pulpit," with which the monarch explained to the people the beginnings of social progress. The same regulation that was applied to the industrial business, Peter applied to the business of trade. He persistently recommended that the trading people form trading companies in the manner of Western European ones. Having built St. Petersburg, he artificially diverted goods from the port of Arkhangelsk to St. Petersburg. Taking care that Russian merchants themselves traded abroad, Peter sought to start a Russian merchant fleet. Not hoping for quick trading successes of the small urban class, which seemed to Peter to be a "scattered temple", he attracted other classes of the population to trade. He argued that even a nobleman can engage in commercial and industrial affairs without shame. Understanding the importance of communication routes for trade, Peter was in a hurry to connect his new harbor of St. Petersburg with the center of the state by waterways, arranged (in 1711) the Vyshnevolotsky canal, and after Ladoga.

Breaking the Ladoga Canal

However, Peter did not wait for the results of his trade policy. Internal trade revived, some internal trading companies were established, even a Russian merchant (Soloviev), who traded in Amsterdam, appeared; but in general the matter of Russian foreign trade did not noticeably change, and Russian exports remained predominantly in the hands of foreigners. There were no noticeable successes in trade with the East, which greatly interested Peter. However, in the absence of drastic changes in the trading life of Russia, the revival of trade took place before Peter's eyes, and he did not give up his hopes to the end.

Addition

Industrial and commercial activities of Peter I (according to lectures by V. O. Klyuchevsky)

Industry and trade under Peter I

The poll census found many new tax payers for the treasury and increased the amount of hard work. The measures aimed at industry and trade were aimed at raising the quality of this labor and strengthening the productive work of the people. This was the area of transformative activity, after the army, the most concerned about the reformer, the most akin to his mind and character, and no less military rich in results. Here he discovered both amazing clarity, and breadth of vision, and resourceful diligence, and tireless energy, and was not only the true successor of the Moscow tsars, patrimonial owners who knew how to acquire and save, but also a statesman, a master-economist, capable of creating new means and put them into public circulation. Peter's predecessors left him only thoughts and timid undertakings in this area; Peter found a plan and means for the broad development of the cause.

Plan and techniques

One of the most fruitful ideas that began to stir in the minds of Moscow in the 17th century was the awareness of the fundamental shortcoming that the financial system of the Moscow state suffered from. This system, raising taxes as the needs of the treasury increased, burdened the labor of the people, without helping it to become more productive. The idea of a preliminary rise in the country's productive forces, as a necessary condition for the enrichment of the treasury, formed the basis of Peter's economic policy. He set himself the task of equipping people's labor with the best technical methods and tools of production and introducing new industries into the national economic circulation, turning people's labor to develop the country's still untouched wealth. Having asked himself this matter, he affected all branches of the national economy; there does not seem to be a single industry left, even the smallest one, to which Peter would not pay keen attention: agriculture in all its branches, cattle breeding, horse breeding, sheep breeding, sericulture, horticulture, hop growing, winemaking, fishing, etc. - everything touched his hand. But most of all he spent his efforts on the development of the manufacturing industry, manufactories, especially mining, as the most necessary for the army. He could not pass by useful work, no matter how modest it was, so as not to stop, not to go into details. In a French village he saw a priest working in a garden; now with questions and with a practical conclusion for myself: I will force my lazy village priests to till the gardens and fields so that they get the most reliable bread and a better life.

Trade in Russia at the end of the 17th - the first quarter of the 18th century. The history of trade in Russia

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

FROM content

Introduction

1. The state and development of Russian industry under Peter 1

2. Reform of the management system under Peter 1

3. Domestic and foreign trade under Peter 1

4. Changes in the financial system under Peter 1

5. Military reform of Peter 1

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

1. State and r industrial development Russia under Peter 1

2. Management reform under Peter 1

3. Domestic and foreign trade under Peter 1

4. Changes in the financial system under Peter 1

State monopolies were added to the new taxes. In addition to resin, potash, rhubarb, glue, new monopoly goods were added: salt, tobacco, chalk, tar, fish oil, lard, oak coffins. Fishing became an object of ransom, wine was sold only in state-owned taverns.

5. Military reform Petra 1

One of the most significant transformations of Peter I should be called the military reform, which made it possible to bring the Russian army closer to the European standards of that time.

Peter I paid special attention to the fleet. At the end of the 17th century, ships were being built in Voronezh and Arkhangelsk. In 1704, the Admiralty and shipyards were founded in St. Petersburg, where the construction of ships of the navy moved. At the Admiralty shipyard, where at the same time

Conclusion

Carrying out reforms in Russia, Peter strove for an ideal state based on fair and rational laws, but this turned out to be a utopia. In practice, a police state was created in the country without any institutions of social control.

Listliterature

Gumilyov L.N. From Russia to Russia. Essays on Russian history. - M.: Logos, 1999. - 674 p.

Zuev M.N. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the twentieth century. Tutorial. - M.: Bustard, 2002. - 896s.

Similar Documents

Merchants under Peter I: privileges, subsidies and regulation with corruption

Industrial Development Measures

Creation of company enterprises

Creation of new manufactories

Workers in the Age of Peter

Product quality

Development of trade

Transformation results

Measures of Peter I for the development of the national economy

Industry and trade under Peter I

Plan and techniques

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

FROM content

Introduction

1. The state and development of Russian industry under Peter 1

2. Reform of the management system under Peter 1

3. Domestic and foreign trade under Peter 1

4. Changes in the financial system under Peter 1

5. Military reform of Peter 1

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

1. State and r industrial development Russia under Peter 1

2. Management reform under Peter 1

3. Domestic and foreign trade under Peter 1

4. Changes in the financial system under Peter 1

State monopolies were added to the new taxes. In addition to resin, potash, rhubarb, glue, new monopoly goods were added: salt, tobacco, chalk, tar, fish oil, lard, oak coffins. Fishing became an object of ransom, wine was sold only in state-owned taverns.

5. Military reform Petra 1

One of the most significant transformations of Peter I should be called the military reform, which made it possible to bring the Russian army closer to the European standards of that time.

Peter I paid special attention to the fleet. At the end of the 17th century, ships were being built in Voronezh and Arkhangelsk. In 1704, the Admiralty and shipyards were founded in St. Petersburg, where the construction of ships of the navy moved. At the Admiralty shipyard, where at the same time

Conclusion

Carrying out reforms in Russia, Peter strove for an ideal state based on fair and rational laws, but this turned out to be a utopia. In practice, a police state was created in the country without any institutions of social control.

Listliterature

Gumilyov L.N. From Russia to Russia. Essays on Russian history. - M.: Logos, 1999. - 674 p.

Zuev M.N. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the twentieth century. Tutorial. - M.: Bustard, 2002. - 896s.

Similar Documents

Merchants under Peter I: privileges, subsidies and regulation with corruption

Industrial Development Measures

Creation of company enterprises

Creation of new manufactories

Workers in the Age of Peter

Product quality

Development of trade

Transformation results

Measures of Peter I for the development of the national economy

Industry and trade under Peter I

Plan and techniques

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