Nikolai Nikolaevich Novosiltsev (1761-1838) - those to whom the science of constitutional law is indebted - National Research University "Higher School of Economics. Reform projects of Arakcheev and Novosiltsev

The reign of Emperor Alexander I is associated with the names of three statesmen: N.N. Novosiltseva, M.M. Speransky and A.A. Arakcheev. It was to their share that the development of new bills and reforms fell. The activity of each of them correlates with a certain stage in the formation of the personality of the sovereign and his ideas about the need for certain reforms. N.N. Novosiltsev was a member of the "Unspoken Committee", created by the emperor in the first years of his reign and known for liberal aspirations. However, it did not last long. Only in 1819, Alexander again turned to his friend of youth with a proposal to develop a draft constitution, which was done by 1820. The document was called the Charter of the Russian Empire.

Activities of M.M. Speransky refers to the years 1807 - 1811, when the emperor had already moved away from the liberal moods of youth, but still wanted to carry out reforms in the country. It was Speransky who was instructed to develop a basic plan for the state transformation of the Russian Empire. The project involved the introduction of the principle of separation of powers and the convening of an elected governing body, but while maintaining the inviolability of imperial power.

The reactionary period of government is already associated with the activities of Arakcheev, when there is a gradual rejection of reforms. The count concentrated in his hands all the threads of state power. It was impossible to get to the emperor with a report without having the permission of a temporary worker. One of the most reactionary measures of the last period of the emperor's reign is connected with the name of Arakcheev - military reform, the creation of military settlements. This transformation, which on paper gives freedom to the peasants, in fact enserfed them even more, tied them to the land, and forced them to serve not only the state, but also the army for life.

Organizing time.

2. Updating knowledge on the topic: "Foreign policy of Russia in 1812 - 1814"

1. Tell us about the beginning of the war of 1812. The plans of the parties, the balance of power

2. Battle of Borodino, assessments, significance.

3. What role did the Tarutinsky march-maneuver play?

4. The role of the people in the Patriotic War of 1812. Examples of the partisan movement

5. What was the purpose of the foreign campaign of the Russian army?

6. Results of the Vienna Congress for Russia

7. Holy Congress, goals of creation

Learning new material.

Russia after the war with Napoleon

Changes in domestic politics. Victory in the war with Napoleon seemed to open up brilliant opportunities for Alexander I to carry out major reforms in the country. The reformist intentions of the king coincided with the general expectation of change in all sections of the population. The free-thinking nobility dreamed and talked aloud about the future constitution. The peasants, who defended their homeland in the fight against the enemy, hoped for the abolition of serfdom. Many peoples of the Russian Empire (especially the Poles) expected from the tsar the approximation of Russian laws to Western European laws, and relaxation in national policy. Alexander I could not but reckon with these sentiments.

But he had to take into account something else: the conservative layers of the nobility perceived the victory over Napoleon as yet another evidence of the superiority of Russian orders over Western European ones, the uselessness and harmfulness of reforms. The restoration of the old governments in Europe was the signal for them to turn around in domestic politics. It was impossible to allow rapid changes that threatened the country with revolutionary chaos.

With this in mind, Alexander I, without abandoning the idea of ​​reforms, was forced to develop them in the strictest confidence. If the proposals of the "Unspoken Committee" and Speransky were constantly discussed both in high society and on the streets of the capitals, then new reform projects were prepared by a narrow circle of people in an atmosphere of complete secrecy.

Peasant question

How did Alexander I try to resolve the issue of abolishing serfdom at the beginning of his reign? Why didn't he decide to do it?

(decree on free cultivators, the abolition of serfdom in the Baltic states, the dissatisfaction of the nobility with these ideas)

The abolition of serfdom in the Baltics. The "polygon" for this reform was the western provinces of the country. In 1811, the German landlords of the Baltic countries turned to the tsar with a proposal to free their peasants from serfdom, but not to give them land. In 1816, Alexander I approved a law on the complete abolition of serfdom in Estonia, while maintaining land for the landowners. In 1818-1819. the same laws were adopted in relation to the peasants of Courland and Livonia.

Arakcheev's project on the abolition of serfdom. Soon, the landowners of the Belarusian, Pskov, St. Petersburg and Penza lands began to declare their desire to solve the peasant question in a similar way. The emperor gave a secret order to develop an all-Russian peasant reform. He entrusted this matter to a completely unexpected person, the official closest to him at that time - General A. A. Arakcheev.

However, such a decision might seem strange only at first glance. Arakcheev was known for successful housekeeping in his estate Gruzino (Novgorod region). He managed to create a large market-oriented economy there. Arakcheev opened a Loan Bank for the peasants, which issued loans for the construction of houses and the purchase of livestock. He also encouraged the entrepreneurship of his villagers. The rule was to help the poor. However, the methods of creating a model economy were harsh: the peasants were severely punished for the slightest violation and mismanagement. The profit from the estate was so great that a lot of money was directed to the construction of roads, temples and stone houses for the peasants, the creation of parks, stud farms. In 1810, Gruzino was visited by Alexander I, who was simply amazed at the results achieved by Arakcheev.

GENERAL FEATURES OF THE PROJECTS ON THE ABOLITION OF serfdom:

· Serfdom will be abolished in the distant future

· Peasants must be freed without land

· The income and privileges of the landowners must be preserved

· The release of the peasants should be done carefully so as not to cause a riot

ITAEM ARAKCHEEV PROJECTon page 42

Entrusting Arakcheev with the preparation of the project, Alexander I set only one condition: the reforms should be carried out gradually and "not include any measures that are embarrassing for the landlords." In 1818 the project was ready. To resolve the peasant issue, Arakcheev proposed to the tsar to allocate 5 million rubles annually (this was the market value of serfs put up for auction annually) to buy out estates from those landowners who would agree to this. These could be, first of all, the nobles, who mortgaged their estates and barely made ends meet. After that, the redeemed lands were to be distributed among the liberated peasants (2 acres per capita). The allotments were small, which would force the peasants, according to Arakcheev's plan, to "earn extra money" from the landowners.

Arakcheev's project could well suit both the landlords and the peasants, at least for a while, although it did not completely solve the peasant question. But this project was never carried out.

??? Was this project real? Why was it never implemented?

1816 - creation of military settlements. State peasants turned into military settlers, they had to combine military service with peasant work

Life of military settlers:

Life of military settlers:

military settlements. Another plan of Alexander I, the implementation of which was entrusted to Arakcheev, was the introduction of military settlements. In the context of the economic crisis, it was decided to reduce the cost of maintaining the army. Arakcheev developed a project for a special organization of the armed forces. Soldiers had to combine military service with economic activity. The troops settled in the countryside ("owner villagers") consisted of family soldiers who had served at least 6 years and former state peasants aged 18 to 45. The children of the settlers were enrolled in the service.

The deployment of military settlements took place only on state lands. This caused numerous uprisings of the state peasants, who were turned into military settlers. From the point of view of saving military spending, the settlements fulfilled their task. During the period from 1825 to 1850, 45.5 million rubles were saved. However, the creation of military settlements limited the possibility of free development of the economy.

ADDITIONAL MATERIALS

Life in the military settlements was very difficult. Petty regulation and cane discipline flourished. The whole life of the settlers proceeded under the supervision of the commanders, classes that were not provided for by the regulations were not allowed. The military commanders were not familiar with agriculture, therefore! production levels were low. As a result, the settlers' farms were unprofitable and required large government expenditures. Marriages in the settlements were made with the consent of the authorities, and sometimes at his direction, and were not intended to create a happy family, but to replenish the army with new soldiers. The children of the settlers were seen as future soldiers. The hard life of the settlers provoked discontent, resulting in uprisings that were brutally suppressed.

Document military settlements

“Everything that makes up the outside captivates the eye to the point of admiration, everything that makes up the inside speaks of disorder. Cleanliness and neatness is the first virtue in this settlement. But imagine a huge house with a mezzanine in which people and food freeze; imagine a tight space- mixing of sexes without separation; imagine that a cow is kept like a gun, and fodder in the field is obtained for 12 miles; imagine that capital forests have been burned, and buildings are bought from Porkhov with burdensome delivery, that in order to preserve one tree, a sazhen of firewood is used to furnish it with a cage.

In this settlement, midwives, maternity baths, stretchers, latrines - everything is royal. In the hospital, the floors have been reduced to parquet, but the patients do not dare to touch them, so as not to soil them, and instead of going out through the door, they jump straight from the bed through the window. Each settled regiment has rich furniture and a silver service. But the furniture is kept like a jewel, and no one dares to sit on it. Same with officers.- they do not dare to walk or sit, lest they wipe and soil what is given to them for use.

From the "Notes" of Major General SI. Mayevsky

Reform project N.N. Novosiltseva

Alexander decided to try the idea of ​​introducing a constitution in Russia in the Kingdom of Poland

1815 - the introduction of the Constitution in Poland.

The constitution developed in 1815 guaranteed the inviolability of the person, freedom of the press, abolished such forms of punishment as deprivation of property and exile without a court decision, obliged the use of the Polish language in all government institutions and appoint only subjects of the Kingdom of Poland to state, judicial and military posts. The head of the Polish state was declared the Russian emperor, who had to take an oath of allegiance to the adopted constitution. Legislative power belonged to the Sejm and the Tsar, which consisted of two chambers. The lower house of the Sejm was elected from the cities and from the nobility. The right to vote was limited by age and property. qualification. The Sejm was supposed to meet twice a year and work in total for no more than a month. Not having the right to adopt laws, the diet could only submit an appeal for a proposal to adopt them in the name of the emperor. The bills were to be discussed in the State Council.

The Polish constitution was the biggest step of Alexander I on the path of reforms during his entire reign.

AFTER THE POLAND CONSTITUTION IS ADOPTED, ALEXANDER I instructed N. Novosiltsev to prepare a draft all-Russian constitution.

« Charter of the Russian Empire"

· The Senate is appointed by the emperor

· The chamber of embassies is chosen by the viceroyal diets and approved by the emperor

· The country is divided into 12 governorships, which have their own representative assemblies - Sejms.

· Freedom of speech, press, religion, inviolability of the person, equality of all before the law

Its main point was the proclamation of the sovereignty not of the people, as was written in most constitutions, but of the imperial power. At the same time, the draft proclaimed the creation of a bicameral parliament, without the approval of which the tsar could not issue a single law. True, the right to submit draft laws to parliament belonged to the tsar. He also headed the executive branch. It was supposed to provide the citizens of Russia with freedom of speech, religion, the equality of all before the law, the inviolability of the person, the right to private property were proclaimed.

As in the drafts of Speransky, in the Charter, the concept of "citizens" was understood only as representatives of the "free estates", which did not include serfs. Nothing was said about serfdom itself in the draft. The "statutory charter" assumed a federal structure of the country, divided into governorships. In each of them it was also supposed to create bicameral parliaments. The power of the emperor was still enormous, but still limited. Together with the charter, draft manifestos were prepared, putting into effect the main provisions of the Charter. However, they were never signed.

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………3

Government projects of constitutional reforms after the war of 1812……………………………………………………………………..6

The constitutional project of N.N. Novosiltsev…………………………12

The main provisions of the Charter………………………………………………………………………………………14

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………… 16

List of used literature…………………………………………..19

Introduction

The Constitution of the Russian Federation and constitutional law is a branch of Russian law, which is a system of legal norms that regulate the foundations of the relationship between a person and the state, the structure of the state and the organization of state power by fixing in the Constitution of the Russian Federation and constitutional legislation the foundations of the constitutional order, the foundations of the legal status of a person and a citizen, federal structure, the foundations of the organization of the system of state power and local self-government.

The history of the constitution in any country is inseparable from the history of society and the state. Each successive stage of their development is characterized by new moments in socio-economic and political relations, the implementation of the functions of the state, changes in the form of government, etc.

Constitution 1 is a political document. The main questions of its content are about power, forms of ownership, the position of the individual, and the structure of the state. Constitutional norms are fundamental for the activities of state bodies, political parties and other public associations, officials, citizens of a given country and foreigners staying on its territory.

The theme of the course work is "Constitutional projects for the transformation of Russia in the 19th century."

The history of constitutionalism in Russia, which is the doctrine of the constitution or the doctrine of political freedoms, is an important part of the history of Russian social and political thought.

The history of the development of the constitution in Russia begins in the nineteenth century. Well-known statesmen tried to formalize the mature ideas about the creation of a legal society into some semblance of a modern constitution.

The ideas of the constitution were reflected in the statements or constitutional drafts of many famous figures and scientists, as well as in official documents. For example, the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire opened with the Code of Basic State Laws - a set of basic rules for the structure of the state. Its first section was "Basic State Laws", the second - "Institution on the Imperial Family". A number of acts of the tsarist government, adopted at different stages, were in the nature of state reforms (in particular, the liberation of peasants from serfdom, judicial reforms, the introduction of zemstvo institutions, etc.).

The abolition of serfdom in 1861, the beginning of the development of industrial capitalism, the formation of new, bourgeois relations gave a strong impetus to the constitutional movement in Russia. Russia's close ties with the West could not but suggest the advanced layers of Russian society to the idea of ​​assimilation of the political experience of Western Europe - representative government, self-government, constitution.

This course work will consider the gradual development of the Russian constitution of the nineteenth century.

As can be seen from the above, the topic of the course work is relevant.

Thus, proceeding from this, we will determine the purpose of the work - the study of constitutional projects for the transformation of Russia in the 19th century.

According to the purpose of the work, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

1. Consider the constitutional development of Russia at the beginning of the 19th century;

2. To study the development of constitutional and legal projects in Russia after the defeat of Napoleonic France;

3. Follow the development of Russian constitutionalism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The structure of the course work consists of an introduction, three chapters, seven paragraphs, a conclusion, a list of references.

When writing a term paper, the works of such authors as Avakyan, S.A. 2 , Isaev I.A., 3 Smolensky, M.B. 4, they deal well with the problems of this control. Also, the textbook “Great statesmen of Russia.” was used to write it. 5 and Internet resource. 6

Government drafts of constitutional reforms after the war of 1812.

To what extent were the ideas of the constitution known and popular in the world and in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century? In most European countries, the ruling authorities for a long time abandoned the very idea of ​​a written constitution. In England, where the constitution was first drafted (in the 17th century), a negative attitude towards one or another systematic legislative presentation of the foundations of state administration was almost initially approved. Palmerston is well known for saying that he is ready to give a good reward to anyone who brings him a copy of the English constitution. In Great Britain today no essential distinction is made between constitutional and any other law. Until the 1930s, written constitutions existed only in America, France, Spain, Portugal, Finland (authored by Speransky), and Poland (formed the basis of Muravyov's constitution 7). On the eve of the 19th century, Karamzin wrote about the constitution in the following way: “We considered the end of our century as a youth of the main disasters of mankind and thought that it would be followed by a combination of theory with politics, speculation with activity; that people, morally convinced of the elegance of the laws of pure reason, will begin to fulfill them with all accuracy and under the shadow of the world, in the roof of silence and tranquility, they will enjoy the true blessings of life ... Where is this comforting system now? .. It has collapsed in its foundation .. .". The word "constitution" was familiar only to the nobility. The “Constitution” appears in Korf M.A. in an anecdote that the soldiers called the wife of Tsarevich Konstantin by this name during the December events of 1825. eight

After the Congress of Vienna, the withdrawal of Alexander I 9 in the sphere of internal transformations ends.

The first step towards transformation in purely Russian provinces was the establishment of the post of governor-general of the five central provinces (Voronezh, Ryazan, Oryol, Tambov and Tula). General A.D. was appointed to this post. Balashov, who previously held the post of Minister of Police and is used by the emperor to carry out especially confidential assignments. His task was to prepare for the gradual transformation of the government system of the provinces. The first changes began to be introduced in the Ryazan province.

The new reform tide was not particularly hidden. The Kingdom of Poland is granted a constitution. Alexander I considered the constitutional experience in Poland as a prelude to the all-Russian constitution. His speech delivered in Warsaw in March 1818 at the opening of the first Polish Sejm was published in Russian newspapers. In the office of Novosiltsev, a confidant of Alexander I in Poland, a commission is being created to draw up a draft Russian constitution called the Charter of the Russian Empire. The commission includes French performers. One of the Parisian newspapers publishes information about the content of the project. With such steps, the emperor, as it were, gives the nobility the opportunity to follow his example and give up part of the power. However, he does not do this at the most opportune moment: the European hegemony of Russia and the economic recovery that has begun only added self-confidence to the Russian nobility.

For the first time, the text of the Russian constitution was published only in 1830 by the Polish rebels, when the archive turned out to be in their hands. Under the pressure of the noble reaction, fearful of information about the activities of secret societies, Alexander I retreats from the course of reforms and relies on total surveillance. ten

After the war of 1812, Alexander repeatedly turned to one or another statesman, offering to compose a draft peasant reform (after all, even Napoleon promised freedom to the peasants in his proclamations). Some old figures turned out to be more liberal on this issue than the young reformers. A.R. Vorontsov proposed, for example, a project on the ownership of immovable property by peasants as the first step towards liberation. Admiral Mordvinov - the chairman of the State Council, a man with the views of an English Tory - supported the idea of ​​the right of ownership of merchants, burghers and state peasants to real estate, but firmly believed that the liberation of peasants from serfdom could only happen at the request of the nobles. Mordvinov assumed the redemption of the personal freedom of the peasants from the landlords at the expense of the peasants themselves. There was no talk of buying land. Being a liberal, he hoped that farms with a sufficient number of farmers or farmers with hired workers would displace the landowners and painless liberation would take place economically.

Count D.A. Guryev 11 was also involved in the development of a project for the liberation of the peasants, for which a special secret commission was created. It was planned to destroy the community and create capitalist agriculture in Russia. The project of E.F. Kankrin, the future Minister of Finance under Nicholas I, assuming a slow redemption of landowner lands by peasants in 60 years. All expenses were covered by the state. The project did not see the light, as it was very bold for that time. 12

Alexander officially instructs Arakcheev to draw up a project for the liberation of the peasants, which was an extraordinary phenomenon. In his recommendations, Alexander asked not to allow any violence on the part of the state towards the landowners. And Arakcheev came up with a plan for the gradual redemption of the peasants from the landowners with an allotment of two acres. Personal freedom and two tithes cost the state 5 million rubles in annual payments to landowners. The ransom was delayed for 200 years. But even within the framework of the rough Arakcheev reform, Alexander was unable to complete the matter. All this design work preceded the start of work on the Russian constitution and was a key condition for its adoption. The government, having offered the landowners of Estonia favorable conditions, initiated them to free the peasants without land by granting personal freedom. Peasants received the right to own movable property and clearly defined duties. The Poltava and Chernihiv landowners were pushed to a similar step, however, they refused to do so. The level of development of commodity-money relations in these areas was lower than in the Baltic states. The cause of the liberation of the peasants finally died out.

In 1822, when from denunciations to the emperor it became known about circles of freedom-loving youth from the nobility, a reaction followed: a decree on the right of landlords to exile peasants to Siberia, doubling the police, expelling freethinkers from universities, censorship in the press. Information about the forces of secret societies was exaggerated. Alexander decided that Russia was on the eve of a military revolution and the Civil War, that the country had a very real prospect of experiencing in the near future all the "horrors" of the French Revolution.

In 1825, Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna, the wife of Alexander I, was mortally ill. Going with her to Taganrog instead of European resorts, the king knew that this was their last trip together. Thoughts of impending death visit him at this time. The king is fond of mysticism, becomes religiously closed.

Before the trip of Alexander I to Taganrog, N.M. Karamzin told him: “Sir, your days are numbered, you can no longer put off anything and you still have to do so much so that the end of your reign is worthy of its wonderful beginning.” The well-known events followed on December 14 as a result of the dynastic crisis, which occurred after the death of the emperor or his departure from the world under the name of the elder Fyodor Kuzmich (there is such a historical version). thirteen

The reign of Nicholas I became a new era in the political development of Russia. One of its characteristic features is the loss of interest of the authorities and society in constitutional ideas. For the authorities, the events of 1830 and 1848 became the decisive argument in the rejection of constitutionalism, when the revolutions in Europe showed that the introduction of a constitution in itself is not a guarantee against internal upheavals. After the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1830-1831, the constitution in the Kingdom of Poland was liquidated and it became impossible to raise the question of creating a constitution in the Russian Empire. It was in the era of Nicholas I that the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bdirect opposition between the state orders of the Russian Empire and the constitutional structure took shape. Interest in constitutional ideas has also waned among Russian society. The constitutionalism of the first quarter of the 19th century was based mainly on the ideas of the "age of enlightenment", which are characterized by ideas about social development and the interpretation of the state system as a result of the rational activity of rulers. In the second quarter of the 19th century, in Russia, as well as throughout Europe, new ideas began to dominate, called "romanticism". They are characterized by special attention to the uniqueness of the national development of each people and the recognition of the organic development of the state system, which was determined not so much by the efforts of individual figures, but by the "national spirit" of each nation. And although the “national spirit” of the Russian people was understood in different ways, nevertheless, both the supporters of the “official nationality”, and the first representatives of liberalism in the person of Westerners and Slavophiles, and the initiators of the revolutionary democratic movement were not looking for it in constitutional ideas. A new rise in the interest of Russian society in constitutionalism falls on the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. fourteen

The constitutional project of N.N. Novosiltseva

In March 1818, Alexander I arrived in Poland for the opening of the Sejm, where he delivered a speech that gave the impression of a bombshell.

The Tsar announced that the "lawfully free institutions" which he "granted" to Poland were the subject of his constant "thoughts" and that he hoped to extend them to the whole country. fifteen

The tsar made it clear that the fate of the constitution in Russia depended on the success of the Polish experiment. Work on it began at the end of the same year under the leadership of N.N. Novosiltsev - a statesman, a close friend of Alexander I. By October of the next - 1819, and the document was ready and approved by Alexander I. Then it took another year to finalize.

The constitutional project was called the "State Charter of the Russian Empire". To understand the reasons for the appearance of this document, as well as the essence of its main provisions, the fact that it was closely connected with the Polish constitution of 1815 is of great importance. Comparison and analysis of these 2 documents testifies to the coincidence of their most important provisions. This coincidence is explained, firstly, by the fact that the documents apparently had the same author N.N. Novosiltsev, who in 1818-1819. not only supervised the creation "State charter of the Russian Empire", but also headed the Russian administration in Poland just at the time of the establishment of constitutional bodies there (1818-1819). Secondly, much was clarified in Alexander's speech at the grand opening of the Polish Sejm on March 15, 1818, in which he announced his intention to further extend the constitutional experience of Poland to the entire empire. All this suggests that Alexander 1 and in 1818-1819. there were serious intentions for the constitutional reorganization of the Russian Empire, and the "State Charter of the Russian Empire" was considered as the legislative basis for this reorganization. True, in the future, these, as well as other liberal projects of the era of the reign of Alexander 1, were not implemented. sixteen

Basic provisions of the charter

The Russian state with all the possessions attached to it is divided into governorships. Each governorship is divided into a certain number of provinces. The provinces are divided into counties. Counties are divided into districts: districts consist of cities of the 3rd degree and volosts, villages and hamlets. Cities of the 1st degree - provincial, 2nd degree - county, and 3rd - all others. The crown of the Russian imperial throne passes by inheritance. Sovereign power is indivisible: it is concentrated in the person of the monarch. The Council of State, chaired by the Sovereign, consists of ministers who are elected by the Sovereign. The implementation of laws is entrusted to the ministries: Private Dumas or Seimas of vicegerent regions consist of the sovereign and two chambers: the highest (formed from one department of the Senate), the zemstvo embassy chamber (consisted of two-thirds of the number of ambassadors and deputies elected in the region of vicegerency, approved by the sovereign). The courts act according to the laws, regardless of any authority. 17

According to the new project, the Russian Empire was to acquire a federal structure and consist of 10-12 large units - governorships headed by governors-general. Each vicegerency was to be governed by its own Sejm of two chambers, and the legislative power in the country as a whole was transferred to the all-Russian, also bicameral, Sejm, which carried out legislative functions together with the sovereign. The project provided for the transfer of executive power

the State Council together with the ministries; the judiciary was finally separated from the other two.

Work on the project was completed by the end of 1820, and it was again approved by the emperor. However, the tsar now decided that one constitution was not enough either, and that it should, in turn, become part of a larger body of laws. As a result, the adoption of the constitution was delayed indefinitely. True, one governorship was created as an experiment, and in 1821, returned to St. Petersburg from exile, M.M. The king instructed Speransky to write the "Project for the establishment of governorships." But by this time, the emperor, apparently, himself began to think that his plans were unrealistic and even harmful. He was convinced of this by information about the existence of secret revolutionary societies of the future Decembrists, the unrest of military settlers and soldiers of the Semyonovsky regiment, revolutionary events in Southern Europe, and the opposition of the Polish Sejm itself. It began to seem to him that the introduction of the constitution could serve as a catalyst for further upheavals, even more terrible and unpredictable. As a result, the plans of Alexander I to introduce constitutional government in the Russian Empire remained unrealized. As for the Polish Sejm and the constitutional structure of Poland, they did not long outlive their founder and were liquidated after the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1830-1831. eighteen

Conclusion

Thus, for the first time they started talking about the Constitution in Russia at the beginning of the 19th century.

One of the first constitutional projects that appeared in Russia is the "Plan of State Transformation", developed in 1809 by Count Speransky. This project consolidated the idea of ​​a constitutional monarchy, limited by parliament, and the abolition of serfdom. Speransky defined the "constitution" as "a state law that regulates the original rights and relations of all classes of state among themselves." He advocated the gradual abolition of serfdom, promoting the ideas of a constitutional monarchy limited by parliament.

Since 1826, Speransky supervised the codification of the Fundamental State Laws of the Russian Empire (1832), the preparation of the Complete Collection of Laws and the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire.

The progressive ideas of the state reorganization of Russia proper were picked up and developed by the Decembrists. Pestel's constitutional ideas were the most radical for those times. His Russkaya Pravda was truly a revolutionary project. It not only abolished serfdom, but also abolished the autocracy, establishing a republic.

Speaking about the origin of the constitutional process in Russia, one cannot fail to note the "Constitution" of Nikita Mikhailovich Muravyov, compiled in 1821-1825. The basis of all the constitutional projects of the Decembrists were the ideas of the Enlightenment, the principles of "natural law". According to Muravyov's project, a constitutional monarchy was recognized as the form of the state, the legislative power was transferred to the People's Council, the executive power to the hereditary monarch, and the judicial power to the Supreme Court. Serfdom was abolished, while the landlords' possessions were retained by the old owners, and the liberated peasants received up to two acres of arable land per yard. The equality of all citizens before the law, as well as freedom of speech, press and religion were proclaimed.

Muravyov adhered to very moderate positions, bringing together many unrealized constitutional projects of the era of Alexander I into one document.

The only condition that made it possible to implement the revolutionary projects of the Decembrists was an anti-government uprising. However, the Decembrist uprising was defeated.

Alexander I became the first ruler of Russia who decided to reform the political system of the country by creating a Constitution that would guarantee rights and freedom to the inhabitants. In 1820, a draft was prepared, called the "State Charter of the Russian Empire", the adoption of which was postponed.

Alexander I granted the Kingdom of Poland a Constitution that guaranteed freedom of the press, inviolability of the individual, and the creation of a bicameral Sejm. This Constitution was supposed to be a trial step for the preparation of the introduction of the Constitution in Russia. After a riot in 1830, the Constitution in Poland was abolished.

In the second half of the 18th - 19th centuries, representatives of the state and society put forward a number of constitutional projects that implied the introduction of parliamentary principles into the state structure of the Russian Empire.

Most of them did not even assume the formation of legislative institutions of popular representation.

However, they were not implemented, since the Russian monarchy saw in the representation of the people with any powers a claim to its absolute nature.

List of used literature

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

Great statesmen of Russia. / Ed. A.F. Kiseleva. - M., 1996.

Isaev I.A., Zolotukhina N.M. History of political and legal doctrines of Russia in the 11th-20th centuries. - M., 1995.

Smolensky, M.B., Markhheim, M.V. Constitutional Law of the Russian Federation: Textbook. – M.: IKTs March, 2003.

http://ru.wikipedia.org/

1 http://ru.wikipedia.org/

2 Avakyan S.A. Constitution of Russia: nature, evolution, modernity: 2nd ed. - M., 2000.

3 Isaev I.A., Zolotukhina N.M. History of political and legal doctrines of Russia in the 11th-20th centuries. - M., 1995.

4 Isaev I.A., Zolotukhina N.M. History of political and legal doctrines of Russia in the 11th-20th centuries. - M., 1995.

5 Great statesmen of Russia. / Ed. A.F. Kiseleva. - M., 1996.

6 http://ru.wikipedia.org/

7 Great statesmen of Russia. / Ed. A.F. Kiseleva. - M., 1996., P.147

8 Isaev I.A., Zolotukhina N.M. History of political and legal doctrines of Russia in the 11th-20th centuries. - M., 1995., P. 457

9 Great statesmen of Russia. / Ed. A.F. Kiseleva. - M., 1996., P. 124

10 Ibid., p.457

11 Great statesmen of Russia. / Ed. A.F. Kiseleva. - M., 1996., P.165

12 Ibid., p. 458

13 Ibid., p. 460

14 Ibid., p.459.

15 Avakyan S.A. Constitution of Russia: nature, evolution, modernity: 2nd ed. - M., 2000., S. 145

16 Ibid., p. 145

17 Smolensky, M.B., Constitutional Law of the Russian Federation: Textbook. - M., 2003., S.254

Polish Constitution of 1815 - the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland, promulgated on June 20, 1815. The constitution was in force until the uprising of 1830. In 1832, Emperor Nicholas I abolished the constitution of the Kingdom of Poland. Given to Alexander I by the Congress of Vienna, the Kingdom of Poland received a Constitution from its new King. This constitution turned the newly created state into a hereditary monarchy "forever united with the Russian Empire." The king appointed a viceroy, which could only be a Pole; an exception was made for the viceroy from the members of the Imperial House. The king was given full executive power. All his successors were to be crowned in Warsaw and take an oath to uphold the constitution. All royal decrees and decrees were to be countersigned by the minister, who would be responsible for everything that could be contrary to the constitution and laws in these decrees and decrees.

The constitution established, in addition, a state council, without which the governor could not undertake anything important. Five ministries (“commissions”) were established: the Ministry of Cults and Public Education, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Interior and the Police, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of State Revenue and Property. Legislative power was to be in the person of the king and in two chambers. The Sejm was convened every two years for thirty days, and the king had the right to dissolve the Sejm, adjourn the Sejm sessions and convene an emergency Sejm. Members of the Seimas enjoyed immunity during the session. Legislative initiative was recognized only by the king, but ambassadors and deputies were allowed to present to the king through the State Council various kinds of desires regarding the welfare of their fellow citizens. The budget was approved by the Sejm for no more than four years. members of the House could turn into secret committees. The final sanction of the laws belonged to the king. Senators (members of the imperial house, bishops, governors and castellans) were appointed by the king for life and, moreover (except for the senators of the first two categories) from two candidates presented by the senate itself. The administration of justice was declared independent by the constitution: the judge had to express his opinion completely free from any whatever influences from "the highest or ministerial authority." Judges, both appointed by the king and elected, were declared irremovable, except in cases of dismissal by a court sentence for official or other crimes. State crimes and crimes of the highest state dignitaries were subject to a Sejm court from all members of the senate. The punishment of confiscation of property was abolished and could not be reinstated in any case.

constitutional project
N.N. Novosiltseva

In March 1818, Alexander I arrived in Poland for the opening of the Sejm, where he delivered a speech that gave the impression of an exploding bomb. that he hopes to spread them throughout the country. The tsar made it clear that the fate of the constitution in Russia depended on the success of the Polish experiment. Work on it began at the end of the same year under the leadership of N.N. Novosiltsev. By October of the next - 1819, and the document was ready and approved by Alexander I. Then, for another year, it was finalized. According to the new project, the Russian Empire was to acquire a federal structure and consist of 10-12 large units - governorships headed by governors-general. Each vicegerency was to be governed by its own Sejm of two chambers, and the legislative power in the country as a whole was transferred to the all-Russian, also bicameral, Sejm, which carried out legislative functions together with the sovereign. The project provided for the transfer of executive power to the State Council together with the ministries; the judiciary was finally separated from the other two. Work on the project was completed by the end of 1820, and it was again approved by the emperor. However, the tsar now decided that one constitution was not enough either, and that it should, in turn, become part of a larger body of laws. As a result, the adoption of the constitution was delayed indefinitely. True, one governorship was created as an experiment, and in 1821, returned to St. Petersburg from exile, M.M. The king instructed Speransky to write the "Project for the establishment of governorships." But by this time, the emperor, apparently, himself began to think that his plans were unrealistic and even harmful. He was convinced of this by information about the existence of secret revolutionary societies of the future Decembrists, the unrest of military settlers and soldiers of the Semyonovsky regiment, revolutionary events in Southern Europe, and the opposition of the Polish Sejm itself. It began to seem to him that the introduction of the constitution could serve as a catalyst for further upheavals, even more terrible and unpredictable. As a result, the plans of Alexander I to introduce constitutional government in the Russian Empire remained unrealized. As for the Polish Sejm and the constitutional structure of Poland, they did not long outlive their founder and were liquidated after the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1830-1831.

Alexander 1 and his reforms: conceived and implemented. Speransky, Arakcheev, Novosiltsev.

Reforms carried out by Alexander I:

1. The decree on “free cultivators” (February 20, 1803) allowed landowners to release peasants with land and for ransom (no more than 0.5% of serfs could use this decree);

2. in 1802, instead of collegiums, eight (later twelve) ministries were established. Ministers were appointed by the tsar, the principle of unity of command was introduced, designed to increase the efficiency of central government;

3. A decree of 1803 introduced a unified system of educational institutions: one-class rural schools, three-class county schools, six-class provincial gymnasiums, and universities. The education system was based on the principles of classlessness of educational institutions, with the exception of the military, as well as free education at the lower levels, it was paid from the state budget. Continuity of curricula was introduced between schools of various levels - parish, district schools, gymnasiums, universities.

4. In 1804, the most liberal censorship charter in the history of Russia was adopted. Supervision of printed publications was entrusted to censorship committees under the jurisdiction of the Main Directorate of Schools of the Ministry of Public Education. The censors were obliged to interpret in the place that they would consider "double in meaning" in favor of the writer. It was forbidden to write only against God, the power and personal honor of citizens.

5. in 1816 military settlements were introduced. The aim of the project was to liberate the country from the maintenance of the army and cover the western borders

Back in 1803, Alexander instructed Speransky in absentia to prepare a plan for the arrangement of judicial and government seats in the empire, in which the author spoke in favor of delimiting the branches of power and creating representative bodies of government. In 1809, Alexander personally invited Speransky to develop a project for state reforms. Speransky was able to quite adequately imagine both the needs of the country and the possibilities of reforming it. Not wanting to get ahead of himself, he, being an opponent of serfdom, did not include the peasant reform in the project. At the same time, significant changes concerned the estate system as a whole. The main criterion for obtaining political rights was not to be origin or length of service, but a property qualification, upon reaching which any citizen was endowed with political rights. Moreover, the poor nobles, who did not own real estate, were deprived of political rights. Thus, prospects for bourgeois development opened up in Russia. The autocratic monarchy actually turned into a limited monarchy. The creation of the State Duma, the highest legislative authority, was envisaged. Moreover, political culture was instilled thanks to the four-stage system from the lowest volost level, where the volost thought was created (then district and provincial). Although the final laws were to be approved by the emperor, as well as the emperor himself could propose laws, none of them received force without discussion in the State Duma. In addition, Speransky intended to separate the executive from the judiciary through the establishment of the Senate of the government and the Senate of the judiciary. However, this most useful project was not destined to take place.

Attempts were made to limit free thought in the country, which manifested itself in 1817 in the restriction of the freedom of universities, the establishment of strict censorship. However, in 1817, by order of the emperor A.A. Arakcheev began to develop a project for the abolition of serfdom in Russia, in 1815 the Kingdom of Poland was granted a constitution, in 1818 Alexander proposed N.N.Novosiltsev to prepare a constitution for Russia. His draft "State statutory charter of the Russian Empire" was completed by 1820. The uprising of the Semyonovsky regiment that took place this year, the chief of which was the tsar himself, forced the emperor to postpone further reforms. In 1822, a ban on secret societies in Russia followed. But, despite all these restrictions, there was no open reaction in the country. Even the Decembrist secret organizations, whose activities Alexander knew, continued to function.

Reasons for the failure of liberal reforms

The main reason for the failures is the lack of broad public support. The vast majority of the nobility did not want liberal reforms.

Decembrists: main program documents and reasons for the failure of the uprising. The end of the era of palace coups or the birth of revolutionary liberalism?

The main program documents and the reasons for the failure of the uprising

In March 1816, guards officers (Alexander Muravyov and Nikita Muravyov, Captain Ivan Yakushkin, Matvey Muravyov-Apostol and Sergei Muravyov-Apostol, Prince Sergei Trubetskoy) formed the first secret political society, the Union of Salvation (since 1817, the Society of True and Faithful Sons of the Fatherland "). It also included Prince I. A. Dolgorukov, MajorM. S. Lunin, Colonel F. N. Glinka, adjutant of Count Wittgenstein (commander-in-chief of the 2nd Army), Pavel Pestel and others.

The charter of the society (“Statute”) was drawn up by Pestel in 1817. It expressed its goal: to strive with all his might for the common good, to support all good government measures and useful private enterprises, to prevent all evil and eradicate social vices, exposing the inertia and ignorance of the people, unfair court, abuses of officials and dishonorable acts of individuals, extortion and embezzlement, cruel treatment of soldiers, disrespect for human dignity and non-observance of individual rights, the dominance of foreigners. The members of society themselves pledged to conduct themselves and act in all respects in such a way as not to deserve the slightest reproach. The hidden goal of the society was the introduction of representative government in Russia.

At the head of the "Union of Salvation" was the Supreme Council of the "boyars" (founders). The rest of the participants were divided into "husbands" and "brothers", who were supposed to be grouped into "districts" and "uprava". However, this was prevented by the small size of the society, which numbered no more than thirty members.

I. D. Yakushkin's proposal to carry out regicide during the stay of the imperial court in Moscow caused controversy among the members of the organization in the autumn of 1817. Most rejected this idea. It was decided, having dissolved the society, to create on its basis a more numerous organization that could influence public opinion.

Further, the Welfare Union (1818-1821) was created, the existence of which was known even to the emperor. The goal of the Union of Welfare was proclaimed moral (Christian) education and enlightenment of the people, assistance to the government in good undertakings and mitigation of the fate of serfs. The hidden goal was known only to members of the Root Council; it consisted in the establishment of constitutional government and the abolition of serfdom.

The charter of the society, the so-called "Green Book" (more precisely, its first, legal part, provided by A. I. Chernyshev) was known to Emperor Alexander himself, who gave it to Tsarevich Konstantin Pavlovich to read. At first, the sovereign did not recognize political significance in this society. But his view changed after the news of the revolutions of 1820 in Spain, Naples, Portugal and the rebellion of the Semyonovsky regiment (1820).

August 1, 1822 followed by the highest command to close Masonic lodges and secret societies in general, under whatever names they may exist. At the same time, a signature was taken from all employees, military and civilian, that they did not belong to secret societies.

In January 1821, a congress of deputies from various departments of the Union of Welfare was convened in Moscow (from St. Petersburg, from the 2nd Army, and also several people who lived in Moscow). On it, due to the aggravated disagreements and the measures taken by the authorities, it was decided to dissolve the society. In fact, the society was supposed to be closed temporarily in order to weed out both its unreliable and too radical members, and then recreate it in a narrower composition.

In 1821, the future Decembrists evolved into two secret societies, in which the goals, objectives and methods of activity were relatively clearly formulated - Northern and Southern. Despite their intentions to carry out a political coup, they were categorically opposed to the revolution. Relying on their own strength, the Decembrists in this regard continued the traditions of the era of palace coups. Nevertheless, the adopted policy documents (“Russkaya Pravda” by P. Pestel - Southern Society and “Constitution” by N. Muravyov - Northern Society) markedly distinguished them against the backdrop of adventurous enterprises of noble groups of the previous century. The project of the Northern Society assumed the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in Russia, while in Russkaya Pravda it was about a republic, Muravyov advocated a federal structure, Pestel - for a unitary state. The differences were quite significant, but the rejection of the autocratic monarchy, serfdom and the estate system united the Decembrists.

"Russian Truth" proclaimed a republic. All estates in the state were to be decisively destroyed, "all people in the state should constitute only one estate, which can be called civil." Guilds, workshops and military settlements were destroyed.

Pestel was an enemy of any federal structure and a supporter of a single and indivisible republic with a strong centralized government.

The Pestel Republic was divided into provinces or regions, which in turn were divided into counties, and counties into volosts. Every year, in each volost, a general volost meeting of all residents, the so-called. zemstvo people's assembly, which elected its deputies to various "local assemblies"

The people's council was the body of the supreme legislative power in the state; it was unicameral. The executive power in the state was handed over to the State Duma.

The State Duma consisted of five members elected by the people's council for five years. Every year, one of the members of the State Duma retired from its composition due to the expiration of his term and was replaced by another of his choice. The Chairman of the State Duma was the member who sits for the last (fifth) year.

In addition to legislative and executive power, Pestel singled out vigilant power, which was supposed to control the exact implementation of the constitution in the country and ensure that the legislative and executive powers did not go beyond the limits set by the laws.

Pestel's constitution proclaimed the bourgeois principle - the sacred and inviolable right to property. It declared complete freedom of occupation for the population, freedom of printing and religion. The perpetrators were responsible for the content of printed works only before the court. Each faith could be freely practiced in the state, but some religious practices were forbidden. The class court was abolished and a public jury trial was introduced, equal for all citizens .

"Constitution" by N. Muraviev
According to Muravyov's constitution, women were deprived of the right to vote. In addition, the author intended to introduce an educational qualification for citizens of the Russian state.

Voting rights were given to persons over the age of 21. Twenty years after the adoption of the constitution, it was supposed to introduce a mandatory requirement for literacy of the voter: the illiterate was deprived of voting rights. On top of this, Muravyov's constitution introduced a residency requirement: nomads did not have the right to vote.

A community peasant was not considered an "owner" - an owner, his suffrage was extremely limited.

Nikita Muraviev designed the abolition of serfdom, made the peasant personally free. The constitution of Nikita Muravyov asserted the sacred and inviolable right of bourgeois property, but it emphasized that the right of property contained the following: a person cannot be the property of another, serfdom must be abolished.

Specific lands, i.e. the lands, on the income from which the members of the royal house were kept, were confiscated and transferred to the possession of the peasants. All guilds and workshops were declared liquidated.

The constitution of Nikita Muravyov was a constitutional monarchy. But, as a last resort, the author assumed the introduction of a republic.
Legislative, executive and judicial powers in the constitution of Nikita Muravyov were separated. According to the constitution, the emperor is only "the supreme official of the Russian government", he was a representative only of the executive branch, the emperor did not have legislative power. The emperor received a large salary (8 million rubles a year) and, if he liked, he could support the court staff at his own expense (he was not given any additional funds for this). But the constitution interpreted all court servants, all chamberlains, etc. as personal servants of the king.

The emperor commanded the troops, but had no right to either start wars or conclude peace. He could not leave the territory of the empire, otherwise he would lose his imperial dignity.

The future Russia should be a federal state, Muravyov was a supporter of the state structure of the North American United States. The empire was divided into separate federal units, which Muravyov called powers. There were fifteen powers (and regions).

According to the constitution of Nikita Muravyov, the People's Council was to become the supreme body of legislative power. It consisted of two chambers: the upper chamber - the Supreme Duma, the lower - the House of People's Representatives. The powers also had a bicameral system. Legislative power in each state belonged to the legislative assembly, which consisted of two chambers - the elective chamber and the State Duma.

Reasons for the failure of the uprising

Disorganization, disunity, unpreparedness, and most importantly, they did not enlist the support of the population:
The main reason for the failure of the Decembrist uprising was that the leaders of the uprising acted indecisively, lost time, and also lost the initiative. Insufficient secrecy, as a result of which the government knew about the plans of the conspirators.

The notorious "people", from which the Decembrists were "terribly far away", due to their illiteracy and backwardness, could not become the subject of Russian history throughout the 19th century, since they existed in the conditions of a traditional community. The community lived according to feudal customs and did not need any constitution.

The uprising was strikingly different from the conspiracies of the era of palace coups in its revolutionary orientation. It was in the Decembrists that V.I. saw the origins of Russian revolutionism. Lenin, they were assigned the role of people who woke up Herzen, who, in turn, launched a revolutionary agitation.