Regionalism and constitutional reform 1819-1826

AbstractRegionalism and constitutional reform, 1819-1826.The topic of this article is four projects of a territorial restructuring of the Russian empire along regional lines : those of Novosiltsev, Speranskii, and two Decembrists : Muravev and Pestel. These projects are used to demonstrate that political regionalism went much further than the 1816 project discussed in a previous article and the timid attempt made in the 1820s to create a regional administration in the whole empire. It also shows how unrealistic they were, except for one, that of Speranskii, which took effect in Siberia. This third article 1 ends with an analysis of the difficulties encountered by imperial administrators in their effort to reconcile concentrated with deconcentrated administration, and hints at the problem which Vladimir Putin will face in his attempts to create a new regional administration in the Russian Federation

Andrej Minakov, Gubernatorskij korpus i central´naja vlast´

There are at least two ways of writing a book on Russian administration: a descriptive narrative or a conceptual analysis. Minakov has chosen to write a description of the provincial governors’ careers and of their reports to the emperor. The book has all the hallmarks of a doctoral dissertation with a wealth of details based on archival research, and the references will be of great interest to other scholars wishing to conceptualize the office of governor. It will be read with profit togethe..

Michael Khodarkovsky, Russia’s steppe frontier

Anyone familiar with the author’s first book Where two worlds met (1992) must look forward to reading this new volume, which is a comprehensive study of Moscow’s relations with the steppe nomads from the emergence of a Russian empire until the closing of the frontier 300 years later. He will not be disappointed. In the author’s own words, this book is about the transformation of a dangerous frontier into a part of the empire and of its peoples into subjects. Certainly more controversial is hi..

Russian governors general, 1775-1825

RéSUMéAu cours des cent dernières années, l’administration de l’Empire russe a oscillé entre la centralisation et la décentralisation régionale, cette dernière sans grand succès. Néanmoins, une étude de la régionalisation russe fournit des aperçus intéressants des points de vue de l’élite sur les meilleures méthodes pour administrer un espace énorme à partir d’un centre. Comme on le voit dans le présent article, l’approche la plus concluante consiste à comparer l’administration territoriale à l’administration « fonctionnelle ». On entend par administration territoriale, celle où l’autorité régionale ou provinciale dirige tous les secteurs, alors que l’administration « fonctionnelle » confine cette autorité à un rôle de surveillance et subordonne tous les secteurs locaux de l’administration à leurs bureaux centraux. Tout d’abord, l’article passe en revue l’historique de la notion de région entre 1708 et 1825, il examine ensuite les pouvoirs d’un gouverneur général sous le règne de Catherine et ses relations avec le gouvernement central, en mettant l’accent sur les pouvoirs dont il dispose : nominations, entérinement des décisions de justice, et sur l’étendue de son autorité financière. Enfin, l’article examine la réforme ministérielle sous Alexandre, la création de divers types d’autorités régionales et la tentative de créer des régions uniformes dans l’empire tout entier après 1815. L’article conclut que la centralisation a fini par prévaloir, comme cela avait toujours été le cas chaque fois que l’idée de région était soulevée parmi l’élite dirigeante de l’empire.ABSTRACTThe administration of the Russian empire has oscillated during the past hundred years between centralization and regional decentralization, the latter without much success. Nevertheless, a study of Russian regionalism provides interesting insights into attitudes among the elite about the best methods to administer an enormous space from one center. This article claims that a rewarding approach to this problem is to contrast territorial with functional administration. By territorial administration is meant one in which the regional or provincial authority manages all the sectors while functional administration relegates that authority to a role of surveillance and subordinates all local sectors of administration to their central headquarters. This article begins with a survey of the regional idea between 1708 and 1825, and continues with an examination of the powers of a governor general during Catherine’s reign and his relations with the central government, with an emphasis on his powers of appointment, the confirmation of judicial decisions, and the extent of his financial authority. It concludes with an examination of the ministerial reform during Alexander’s reign, the creation of various types of regional authorities, and the attempt to create uniform regions across the whole empire after 1815. It concludes that centralization prevailed in the end, as it always had whenever the idea of a region was raised among the ruling elite of the empire

Administrative regionalization in the Russian empire 1802-1826.

RésuméLa régionalisation administrative de l’Empire russe, 1802-1826.Cet article, qui développe les thèmes présentés dans une étude précédente, examine la création des régions administratives par les différents ministères sous le règne d’Alexandre Ier et démontre qu’ils visaient ainsi à faciliter la mise en place de procédures uniformisées et l’intégration des régions dans un empire en expansion. La réorganisation de l’armée en 1815 fait l’objet d’un examen particulier.AbstractThis second article develops the themes presented in the first. It examines the creation of administrative regions by individual ministries during Alexander I’s reign and shows their purpose was to facilitate the creation of uniform procedures and the integration of the region into an expanding empire. Special attention is paid to the reorganization of the army in l8l5

Michael Khodarkovsky, Bitter Choices, Loyalty and Betrayal in the Russian Conquest of the North Caucasus

Readers familiar with Michael Khodarkovsky’s two previous books on the Kalmyks and the Steppe Frontier will look forward to reading Bitter Choices. It is the story of Semën Atarshchikov, born a Chechen, who followed in his father’s footsteps to become a Cossack, an interpreter in at least two languages of North Caucasus highlanders, was sent to Petersburg to join Nicholas I’s Circassian Guard (which took part in the crushing of the Polish uprising), became an officer, returned to the North Ca..

Proconsular ambitions on the Chinese border

Résuméle gouverneur général Jakobi et sa proposition de guerre contre la Chine.Les relations russo-chinoises ont souvent été dominées au xviiie siècle par le conflit qui opposait la Chine aux Mongols occidentaux ; ces derniers cherchaient à restaurer l’unité de leur peuple et représentaient aux yeux de la Chine une menace pour la sécurité de sa frontière septentrionale. L’article retrace l’évolution de ces relations à la suite de l’arrivée de Bartholomée Jakobi à Selenginsk, en 1740. Le conflit atteignit son paroxisme au milieu du xviiie siècle, alors que la Chine manchoue était déterminée à exterminer les Mongols occidentaux. Le fils de Jakobi, Ivan, fut gouverneur général de la Sibérie orientale de 1783 à 1788. Il fut rappelé après avoir été accusé d’ourdir une guerre contre la Chine et c’est vraisemblablement afin de se justifier qu’il rédigea le document analysé ici. Jakobi prévoyait une vaste expansion des positions de la Russie vers l’Extrême-Orient, redessinant la frontière existante pour inclure une grande partie de la steppe kazakh, l’essentiel de la Mongolie et même une portion de la Manchourie. Ses desseins préfiguraient les projets ultérieurs de l’expansion russe jusqu’aux opérations menées par Kuropatkin en 1916.AbstractRussia’s relations with China in the eighteenth century were often dominated by China’s conflict with the Western Mongols, who had been seeking to restore the unity of their people and, as a result, were a potential threat to China’s security in its northern frontier. The article traces the evolution of these relations following the arrival in Selenginsk of Bartholomew Iakobi in l740. The conflict reached its climax with Manchu China’s determination to exterminate the Western Mongols in the l750s. Iakobi’s son Ivan served as governor general of Eastern Siberia from l783 to l788. He was recalled after being accused of plotting to make war on China, and the document which I analyze here was probably an attempt to justify his position. Iakobi planned a vast expansion of Russia’s position in the Far East, redrawing the existing border to include much of the Kazakh steppe, most of Mongolia, and even part of Manchuria, anticipating later projects of Russian expansion all the way to Kuropatkin’s in l9l6

International evidence-based recommendations on ultrasound-guided vascular access

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