Plan
Introduction
1 Royal power
2 Boyar Duma
3 Zemsky Sobors
4 Central management. Orders.
5 Local government and self-government
6 Military organization
7 Bibliography

Introduction

1. Royal power

The entirety of the supreme power was concentrated in the hands of the king. state power, legislative, executive and judicial. All government actions of the authorities were carried out in the name of the king and by royal decree. The clergy developed a powerful ideological justification for tsarist power. There was a widespread idea in society that there was no alternative to the power of the Tsar as an element of the Russian state structure. For example, in 1612, the second zemstvo militia sent letters to the cities, in which they spoke of the need to “elect a sovereign by the general council so as not to go completely bankrupt. You yourself, gentlemen, know everything: how can we now, without a sovereign, stand against our common enemies...?” In 1677, the Russian resident in Poland Tyapkin wrote to Moscow that “the order here is not the same as in the Moscow state, where the sovereign, like the bright sun in the sky, is a single monarch and sovereign who is enlightened, and with his sovereign command, like the rays of the sun, he shines everywhere.” “We listen to one, we fear one, we all serve one.”

The power of the Moscow sovereign was formally unlimited, but only in the hands of Ivan the Terrible and only during the period of the oprichnina did this power turn into unbridled arbitrariness. In general, the Moscow sovereign was - not formally, but morally - limited by old customs and traditions, especially church ones. The Moscow sovereign could not and did not want to do what was “not done.” A contemporary of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Grigory Kotoshikhin, wrote: “And again the Moscow Tsar cannot make anyone a prince, because there is no custom for this, and it is not customary.” An attempt to violate old traditions and customs made by False Dmitry I ended in his death; it was only successful for Peter I, after these customs and traditions themselves were “shattered.”

Not wanting to violate the established moral and religious rules and legal norms himself, the tsar especially did not want to allow their violation by the authorities subordinate to him. Many complaints from the population (“great petitions and incessant boredom”) about the abuses of officials flocked to the sovereign, and the government tried to eliminate the reasons for these complaints by constant control over the judicial and administrative bodies and legislative regulation of their activities. The first Moscow Tsar published his Code of Laws in 1550, and a hundred years later, under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, a new code, the “Conciliar Code” (1649), was published, “so that the Moscow State of all ranks would have equal judgment and punishment for all people.” In addition to the general set of laws, the Moscow government issued, on behalf of the sovereign, many private “statutory charters”, “mandates” and various kinds of instructions and regulations, which were aimed at regulating the actions of various government bodies and protecting the population from their abuses. Of course, in practice, the threat of royal wrath (“disgrace”) was not always a sufficient protection against the arbitrariness and abuses of subordinate authorities.

2. Boyar Duma

The Boyar Duma constituted the circle of the tsar's closest advisers and employees and for a long time stood at the head of the ancient Russian administration. The boyars in the 16th-17th centuries were the highest “rank”, or rank, with which the sovereign “bestowed” his closest assistants. However, he never promoted “thin people” to the boyar rank. There were several dozen noble families, mostly princely, whose members (usually senior members) “used to be boyars.” The second rank in the Duma was the “okolnichy” - also on the “salary” of the tsar. These first two Duma “ranks” were replenished exclusively by representatives of the highest Moscow aristocracy, and only in the 17th century. There were isolated cases of boyars being granted to people from the middle service stratum (like Matveev or Ordin-Nashchokin under Tsar Alexei).

The fugitive Moscow clerk Kotoshikhin paints the following picture of Duma meetings:

« But the Tsar gets an idea of ​​something to announce, and by declaring it, he orders them that the boyars and Duma people, having thought about this matter, give a way; and which of those boyars is larger and more reasonable, or which of the smaller ones, and they announce their thoughts in a way; and some boyars, having set their rules, do not answer anything, because the tsar favors many of the boyars not according to their intelligence, but according to their great breed, and many of them are not scholars or students; However, besides them, someone will be found to answer wisely from the larger and from the smaller boyars. And on what matter will be sentenced, the tsar and the boyars order the Duma clerk to mark it, and that sentence will be written down ».

The number of boyars and okolnichy was small, it rarely exceeded 50 people. In addition to the main, aristocratic, element, the Duma included several Duma nobles and three or four Duma clerks, secretaries and speakers of the Duma.

The rights and powers of the Duma were not determined by special laws; the wide sphere of its competence was determined by old custom or the will of the sovereign. " The Duma was in charge of a very wide range of judicial and administrative matters; but actually it was a legislative institution"(Klyuchevsky). The legislative significance of the Duma was even directly approved by the Tsar's Code of Law; Art. The 98th Code of Laws read:

« And if there are new cases, but are not written in this Code of Laws, and as those cases from the sovereign’s report and from all the boyars are sentenced, those cases should be attributed to this Code of Laws ».

The usual introductory formula for the new laws read: “the sovereign indicated and the boyars sentenced.” It must, however, be borne in mind that such a procedure of legislation was not formally obligatory for the sovereign. Sometimes he decided cases and issued orders that had the nature of legislative decrees, single-handedly; sometimes he discussed and resolved them with a small circle of advisers - the so-called near or chamber Duma of the sovereign. The general meeting of the Duma received cases either by decree of the sovereign or by reports from orders. According to the Code of 1649, the Duma is the highest court for those cases that cannot be resolved in orders.

The tsar himself was sometimes present at the meetings of the Duma (such meetings were called “the Tsar’s seat with the boyars about business”), sometimes the Duma decided matters by decree and authority of the sovereign, in his absence. To resolve particularly important matters, a joint meeting of the Duma and the “consecrated council”, consisting of representatives of the highest clergy, was convened.

As needed, special commissions were allocated from the general composition of the Duma - “response” (for negotiations with foreign ambassadors), “laid” (for drawing up a draft of a new Code), judgment and execution. At the end of the 17th century. The “Execution Chamber” turned into a permanent institution.

The service of the boyars of the Okolnichi and Duma people (as the Duma nobles and clerks were called) was not limited to their “seat” in the Duma. They were appointed ambassadors to foreign sovereigns, commanders (“judges”) of the most important orders, regimental commanders and city commanders in large and important cities.

3. Zemsky Sobors

Zemsky Sobors, or “councils of the whole earth,” as their contemporaries called them, arose simultaneously with the Muscovite kingdom. The “laid down” cathedral of 1648-49. adopted the basics of state legislation. Councils of 1598 and 1613 had a constituent character and personified the supreme power in the state. During the Time of Troubles and immediately after it, the activities of zemstvo councils played a very important role in the restoration of the “great Russian kingdom” destroyed by the Time of Troubles.

The first Moscow Tsar, three years after accepting the royal title, convened (in 1549) the first Zemsky Sobor, at which he wanted to reconcile representatives of the population with the former regional rulers, the “feeders,” before abolishing the “feedings.” However, our information about the first Zemsky Sobor is too brief and vague, and we know little about its composition and activities. But it is known, according to documents, the composition of the second Zemsky Sobor, which Ivan IV convened in 1566 (during the Livonian War) to decide the question of whether to reconcile with the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania on the terms he proposed. The Council spoke in favor of continuing the war, leaving the solution to the issue to the tsar: “but God knows everything and our sovereign...; and we expressed our thought to our sovereign...”

After the death of Tsar Fyodor Ivanovich, with whom the Rurik dynasty on the Russian throne ended, the Zemsky Sobor was to acquire a constituent character: there was no longer a “natural” tsar in Moscow, and the cathedral had to elect a new tsar and found a new dynasty (in 1598). The council, led by Patriarch Job, elected Boris Godunov as tsar; True, in order to substantiate and justify the act of electing the tsar by his subjects, the electoral document contains a fantastic statement that both last tsars of the old dynasty “ordered” or “handed over” their kingdom to Boris, and emphasizes Boris’s family connection with the “royal root”, but at the same time the letter states: “... and the whole land was given up and set up worthy of the present Tsar and Grand Duke Boris Fedorovich, the autocrat of all Rus', the sovereign of the Russian land”; Moreover: “the patriarch said: the voice of the people, the voice of God”...

In the subsequent storms of the Time of Troubles, the “voice of the people” turned from a rhetorical fiction into a real political force. When in 1606 the boyar Prince Vasily Shuisky ascended the throne “without the will of the whole earth,” many refused to recognize him as their king and uprisings broke out against him everywhere; “The whole land of Russia shook with hatred against him, for which he reigned without the will of all cities.”

In 1610, when the Moscow boyars and “servicemen and tenants”, being “between two fires” (between the Poles and the Russian “thieves’ people”) agreed to accept the Polish prince Vladislav as king, they concluded an agreement with him that formally limited him power and which provided for the council of the whole earth as a normally functioning legislative body: ... "the court will be and be carried out according to the previous custom and according to the code of law Russian State; and if they want to replenish something to strengthen the courts, the Sovereign will allow it, with the Duma of the boyars and the whole earth, so that everything will be righteous.”

History of St. Petersburg

Pre-Petrine era

The mouth of the Neva, flooded with water in any strong westerly wind, was not of strategic interest to the Russians until the 14th century (the territory of present-day St. Petersburg was then part of Novgorod land), nor for their rivals the Swedes. And although armed clashes between the Novgorodians and the Swedes occurred regularly (remember, for example, the Battle of the Neva in 1240), the first fortress on the Neva was built only in 1300, and a year later the Swedish Landskrona was destroyed by the Novgorodians. Since 1323, the Neva delta has been officially considered Russian territory; together with Novgorod, it became part of Muscovite Rus' at the end of the 15th century. In 1613, the Swedes managed to capture most of the current Leningrad region: the Swedish province of Ingria was formed here with the capital Nyenschanz on the site of the fallen Landskrona.

XVIII century

In 1700, the Northern War began between the Russia of Peter I and the Sweden of Charles XII. In 1703, the Russian flotilla passed the Neva to the bay; on May 16 (27) of the same year, St. Petersburg was founded, and in 1704, Kronstadt. Peter fell in love with the fortress on the Neva, and he began to visit it often. The idea of ​​building a new European city from scratch seemed fruitful to the king. In 1712, Peter moved the courtyard from Moscow to St. Petersburg, which was under construction, in 1721 he proclaimed it the capital of the empire, developed a plan for the city and principles for its development. It was in St. Petersburg that new supreme and central authorities began to work: the Senate, the Synod, and the collegiums. Peter opened the first public museum in the city - the Kunstkamera, as well as the Academy of Sciences and the Academic University. Mostly foreign architects worked in the young capital, and everything should have been not like in Moscow, but rather like in Amsterdam. In 1725 Peter dies. At this point, there are about 40 thousand residents in St. Petersburg.

As a result of the palace coup, Peter's second wife Catherine I (Marta Skavronskaya) came to power, but she ruled for only two years: 1725-1727. Instead of this frivolous woman, the country was led by the “semi-sovereign ruler” Alexander Menshikov.

View of the Winter Palace of Peter I

Catherine was replaced on the throne by Peter II (1727-1730), the grandson of Peter the Great, the son of Tsarevich Alexei, who was tortured by him. He was a spoiled teenager who was entirely in the hands of the courtiers from the Supreme Privy Council. Under him, the court moved to Moscow - however, not for long: in 1730, Peter II dies of smallpox, and under pressure from the guards, Peter I's niece Anna is elevated to the throne.

Anna Ioannovna, a woman of a fierce disposition, came from Courland and ruled Russia for ten years: 1730-1740. Having ascended the throne, she returned the capital to the banks of the Neva. Under her, Peter Eropkin created the urban planning structure of the center of St. Petersburg (which, however, did not save the architect from fierce execution for participating in the so-called Volynsky conspiracy - Anna’s reign was generally bloody). Numerous buildings of her time have been preserved in the city: the Kunstkamera, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Church of Simeon and Anna.

Anna leaves the throne to the grandnephew of Peter I, Ivan Antonovich of Brunswick. For a year (1740-1741), the country was formally ruled by Anna Leopoldovna, the mother of two-month-old Ivan VI. State affairs under her were handled by Anna Ioannovna's long-time favorite Ernst Biron, then Burchardt Minich, then Johann Osterman.

The next coup on November 25, 1741 brings to power the beloved daughter of Peter the Great, Elizabeth. She sends the entire Brunswick family into exile (later young Ivan will be imprisoned in the Shlisselburg fortress, where he will be killed) and safely rules the country for two decades: 1741-1761. Elizaveta is a cheerful, full-blooded blonde who loves dancing and hiking. Her brilliant reign was marked by victories over Prussia during the Seven Years' War, as well as the flowering of the creativity of Lomonosov and Rastrelli. The Academy of Arts, the Corps of Pages and the first Russian professional drama troupe were founded in St. Petersburg. The city's population is growing: by 1750 - 74 thousand inhabitants. Under Elizabeth, the Winter Palace (completed shortly after her death), Sheremetev Palace, and Smolny Cathedral appeared. The Empress's favorite summer residence was Peterhof.

Elizabeth leaves the throne to Peter III (1761-1762), grandson of Peter I, son of his daughter Anna. Information about the personality of this sovereign is contradictory: his wife (the future Catherine II) described him as a clinical idiot, but many contemporaries considered him a wise legislator. Peter exempted the nobles from military service and allowed non-Orthodox Christians to openly perform rituals. In 1762, he was dethroned by his own wife and soon killed.

Catherine II(1762-1796) did not have the slightest legal rights to the Russian throne, but she reigned for a long time and successfully. “Catherine’s eagles” Rumyantsev and Suvorov smash the Turks, Crimea, Lithuania, Belarus, and part of western Ukraine become Russian. St. Petersburg is also flourishing: by the end of the 18th century it had almost 220 thousand inhabitants. The Hermitage and Public Library were founded. Granite embankments of the Neva, Moika, and Fontanka are being built. The time of Catherine's rise is the end of the Baroque era: Rastrelli completes the Winter Palace and retires. Classicism bears fruit in architecture and literature. The Tauride and Marble palaces are being built, Gostiny Dvor, Bronze Horseman; Charles Cameron works at Catherine's favorite country residence - Tsarskoe Selo. “Felitsa” by Gavriil Derzhavin has been published, and the premiere of “Minor” by Fonvizin is taking place.

The throne is inherited by Paul I (1796-1801), son of Catherine II and Peter III. His mother did not like him, and Pavel reciprocated, honoring the memory of his murdered father. He dedicated his short reign to posthumous revenge on Catherine: he solemnly reburied Peter III in the Peter and Paul Cathedral, and legally prohibited women from ruling Russia. Suvorov's European campaigns became a notable foreign policy event. The emperor spent a lot of time in his summer residences - Pavlovsk and Gatchina. In St. Petersburg, from his reign, the Mikhailovsky Castle, the Bobrinsky Palace, and the Mikhailovsky Manege have come down to us. On the night of March 12, 1801, as a result of a palace coup, Pavel was killed in the Mikhailovsky Castle, the throne went to his son Alexander.

19th century

Alexander I(1801-1825) was raised by his grandmother-empress as the future ruler of Russia and was probably the most educated Russian emperor. We know his time from Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” and the first chapters of Pushkin’s “Eugene Onegin.” Actually, Alexander gave the capital a “strict, harmonious look.” Under him, a period began that would later be called the “golden age” of St. Petersburg culture: Batyushkov, Baratynsky, Pushkin, Rossi. Alexandra's Petersburg has been preserved in large Empire-style patches in the city center; during his reign the Kazan Cathedral, the Exchange, Smolny Institute. The population reaches 386 thousand people in 1818.

After four wars with the French and the burning of Moscow, Russian troops entered Paris in 1813. The guard, having traveled all over Western Europe, returns from abroad, full of freedom-loving ideas. Secret societies arise in the guards regiments stationed along the banks of the Fontanka. In November 1825, childless Alexander I dies. Formally, he should be succeeded by his brother Constantine, to whom the court and guard swear allegiance. However, Konstantin, who entered into an unequal marriage with Princess Lovich, knows about the will of the late Alexander: Nicholas, the third son of Paul, should become the next emperor. The re-oath is scheduled for December 14 - but Nikolai is unpopular in the guard, and members of the secret society, taking advantage of this, are plotting to stage a coup. At the decisive moment, only a quarter of the guards were on the side of the rebels. The Decembrists (as the rebels were later called) were surrounded on Senate Square by troops loyal to Nicholas. Arrests began; On July 13, 1826, five leaders of the uprising were hanged on the Kronverk rampart, and the rest were exiled to Siberia and the Caucasus.

Nicholas I becomes a full-fledged ruler for 30 years: 1825-1855. He thoroughly strengthened the power vertical. Loved everything military. Under him, the empire reached the zenith of its foreign policy power, but still, due to the technical backwardness of the army, the Crimean War of 1853-1856 was lost, and Russia found itself in a severe crisis. Railway communication begins to develop: in 1837, St. Petersburg was connected by tracks with Tsarskoye Selo, in 1851 - with Moscow, although this is not enough for a huge country. In the Nicholas era, Pushkin and Gogol created; “little man” and “little man” appear in books and on the streets extra person” – both are alien to the authorities and the huge soulless city. The design of the ensembles of central squares and Nevsky Prospekt is being completed, and Main Headquarters, Alexandrinsky Theatre, Mikhailovsky Palace. The population of St. Petersburg continues to grow. In 1855, the proud and scrupulous Nicholas, disgraced by defeat in the Crimean War, dies. Alexander II, raised by Vasily Zhukovsky, ascends the throne.

Alexander II(1855-1881) – father of the first perestroika. The 1860s became the era of “great reforms” - Alexander freed the peasants from slavery, proclaimed glasnost and the rule of law, softened censorship, introduced local self-government and jury trials. The first elected city duma appears in St. Petersburg, controlling the capital's budget. Warsaw, Baltiysky and Finlyandsky railway stations were opened, a water supply system was put into operation, and horse-drawn railway tracks were laid along the main streets. The scale of housing construction is indescribable; that part of the center that lies beyond the Fontanka is being actively built up. Opens Mariinskii Opera House. In 1881, St. Petersburg had 861 thousand inhabitants.

The era of Alexander II is also a time of great Russian art. Dostoevsky, Leskov, Goncharov, composers create in St. Petersburg Mighty bunch”; Here Mendeleev comes up with the periodic system, the Itinerants reform painting.

Reforms, as always happen, enrich the few. There is a murmur among the people. Police control is weakening. Attempts to “freeze” Russia and stop reforms cause even greater displeasure, first of all, among the intelligentsia and students. In 1861, the first anti-government leaflets appeared, and in the 1870s, unprecedented organizations of professional political terrorists emerged: “Land and Freedom” and “People’s Will”. After several unsuccessful attempts, Alexander II was killed near the Mikhailovsky Garden (March 1, 1881) - the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood was built on this site.

Alexander III(1881-1894), son of Alexander II, hated war and reforms, loved fishing and playing the trombone. He was an exemplary family man and patriot. He put an end to Narodnaya Volya terror, tightened censorship, introduced terrible cramming in gymnasiums and limited admission to universities. Moreover, since the early 1890s, the country has experienced rapid economic growth. In 1890, the population of St. Petersburg (with its suburbs) exceeded one million people. Of the greats, Saltykov-Shchedrin, Chekhov, and Tchaikovsky live in St. Petersburg. The architecture is dominated by the pseudo-Russian style.

Nicholas II became the last Russian emperor: he ascended the throne in 1894, abdicated in March 1917, was shot in Yekaterinburg in 1918, and reburied in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in 1998. As often happens with the sons of strong fathers, Nikolai was distinguished by a rather indecisive character. He had deeply conservative convictions, but throughout his reign he was forced to make concessions to the liberals of the intelligentsia and the increasingly aggressive proletariat. His reign began in the 1890s, a time of extraordinary economic growth, but this rise did not lead to political stability. Since 1901, terror has been renewed, now that of the Socialist Revolutionaries (the Socialist Revolutionaries are “socialist-revolutionaries”). Three ministers were killed. And then there was the unsuccessful war with Japan, which was crowned by the death of the Baltic Fleet in the Tsushima Strait. On January 9, 1905, crowds of workers going to the Tsar demanding improved living and working conditions were shot. The next day, barricades appeared in the city, the unrest continued at a crescendo and ended in October 1905 with a general political strike. On October 17, Nicholas II proclaims elections to the legislative chamber and democratic personal freedoms, and in May 1906 the State Duma meets in the Tauride Palace. The bloody revolution is calmed by the iron hand of Prime Minister Peter Stolypin, and the last period of brilliant old St. Petersburg, known as the “Silver Age,” begins.

By 1910 the city had almost 2 million inhabitants. The Petrogradskaya Side, Vasilyevsky Island, and Sands are finally being built up. The tram appears, gas street lighting is completely replaced by electric lighting, cars are on the roads, aviation is in fashion, and the telephone is becoming a part of everyday life. The most popular types sports - boxing, circus wrestling and football (the goalkeeper of the Tenishevsky School team is Vladimir Nabokov), the most mass art- cinematography. The heyday of the imperial ballet, modern architecture and retrospectivism. Painting evolves from Repin to Malevich, poetry - from Blok to Akhmatova and Khlebnikov.

In 1914, Russia became involved in the First world war, protracted and bloody. The German name Petersburg turns into Petrograd. Initial patriotism is gradually replaced by apathy. The idea of ​​a world without annexations and indemnities and the overthrow of the monarchy is becoming increasingly popular. Conspiracies are being woven in Masonic lodges, on the sidelines of the Duma, in the embassies of allied countries - England and France. In November 1916, a friend of the ruling couple, Grigory Rasputin, was killed in the Yusupov Palace, on February 23, 1917, an uncontrollable workers' revolt began, a garrison joined the rebels, two authorities emerged in the Tauride Palace: the Provisional Committee State Duma and Petrograd Soviet. On March 2, the sovereign abdicated the throne in favor of his brother, Grand Duke Mikhail, who also abdicated power the next day. From March to October 1917, Russia was ruled by the Provisional Government led by Georgy Lvov and then Alexander Kerensky.

In April, a train with Russian political emigrants, among whom is Vladimir Lenin, arrives from Switzerland to the Finlyandsky Station. By this time, the Bolsheviks led by him had already captured Kshesinskaya’s mansion, Kronstadt was in their hands, and the working outskirts and the 300,000-strong garrison increasingly sympathized with them. Since September, the Bolsheviks have led the Petrograd Soviet. This body, having moved to the Smolny Institute, is preparing to seize power in front of the demoralized Provisional Government. October 25 (November 7) Lenin proclaims to the whole country: “The socialist revolution has been accomplished.” By this time, the Red Guards were already in the Winter Palace, and the ministers of the Provisional Government were in the Trubetskoy bastion of the Peter and Paul Fortress. The first Bolshevik government, the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom), headed by Lenin, meets in Smolny.

Through terror and impudence, the Bolsheviks manage to strengthen their power and suppress all attempts at resistance. However, hungry Petrograd quickly became depopulated, the workers grumbled, the Finns stood on the Sestra River, and the Germans stood on Narva. In March 1918, the Council of People's Commissars moved to Moscow, Petrograd became a province. In 1921, the anti-Bolshevik rebellion in Kronstadt was suppressed. By this time, St. Petersburg had a little more than half a million inhabitants: the rest died, died in the battles of the Civil War, emigrated, fled to the countryside. From 1918 to 1925, the city was led by Grigory Zinoviev, Lenin’s hysterical and ambitious proconsul. In 1924, the leader of the revolution dies, and the city takes his name - it becomes Leningrad.

After Lenin's death, Zinoviev and Stalin actually usurped power in the country, but quickly quarreled. Joseph Stalin manages to outplay Zinoviev, and at the beginning of 1926, loyal Stalinist Sergei Kirov (ruled until 1934) was appointed head of Leningrad. In the 1920s, in a dilapidated city that had lost its metropolitan luster, there was the center of the Russian artistic avant-garde (Malevich, Filonov, Tatlin) and a new galaxy of writers (Kharms, Zoshchenko, Zabolotsky, Tynyanov). Shostakovich makes his debut, Akhmatova and Kuzmin are in full force.

In 1929, the “great turning point” began: the Academy of Sciences was destroyed, hundreds of churches were blown up or closed. After collectivization, crowds of peasants poured into the city; By the mid-1930s, the population in Leningrad exceeded the pre-revolutionary level and amounted to 2.5 million people. After Sergei Kirov was killed in Smolny at the end of 1934, purges on an unprecedented scale began. They are conducted by the new city mayor, Andrei Zhdanov. In 1935-1938, most of the nobles, Finns, Germans, Poles, clergy and almost all active participants were expelled from Leningrad or shot October revolution. The city is finally provincialized, the port loses its former significance. However, Leningrad culture turns out to be surprisingly tenacious: the Vasilyev brothers and Grigory Kozintsev work at Lenfilm, Nikolai Akimov works at the Comedy Theater; Akhmatova writes “Requiem”, Kharms writes stories about Pushkin.

In September 1941, troops of the German Army Group North cut off Leningrad from the world - the city was under siege. At first, Adolf Hitler wanted to take Leningrad by storm, but in early September he changed his mind and decided to starve it out. In the terrible blockade winter of 1941-1942, according to various estimates, 600-800 thousand people died from hunger and cold. The rest were saved by the famous “Road of Life” - an ice and water route on Lake Ladoga: along it they brought bread and evacuated people. The city was subjected to bombing and artillery shelling, the destruction was especially monstrous in the suburbs that found themselves on the front line: Peterhof, Tsarskoye Selo, Pavlovsk, Gatchina, Shlisselburg. Numerous attempts to break the blockade made by troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts in 1941-1942 only resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties. The blockade was broken in January 1943 on the southern shore of Ladoga: a “corridor” about 10 km wide was created. In January 1944, the Germans were driven hundreds of kilometers away from the city.

The city leadership, which did not surrender Leningrad to the fascists, quickly rose to the top: dozens of local party workers received major posts in Moscow or in the provinces. However, already in 1946 the city was again shown its place. The famous resolution “On the magazines “Zvezda” and “Leningrad” was adopted, in which Akhmatova and Zoshchenko were defamed. In 1948, Andrei Zhdanov dies, and in 1949, Stalin organizes the “Leningrad Affair,” which led to the execution of all the leaders of the city party organization of Zhdanov’s times.

But after Stalin's death (1953), life gradually returned to the banks of the Neva. In 1955, the metro was launched in Leningrad (later than in any other multimillion-dollar European city). By the mid-1960s, the population reached the pre-war level of 3.5 million people. The city outskirts are being built up - first the southern, then the northern. The main architectural ensemble of Zhdanov's time is Moskovsky Prospekt (Stalin Avenue). Under Stalin's last henchman, Adrianov, the restoration of the central parts of the city was completed and the gigantic Kirov Stadium was built. Under the next leader of the city, Frol Kozlov, mass construction of the outskirts began with “Khrushchev buildings,” five-story buildings made of precast reinforced concrete, named after the first secretary of the Central Committee, Nikita Khrushchev (1953-1964).

Since the mid-1950s, cultural institutions have been restored after the Stalinist pogrom. The Mariinsky Theater has choreographer Leonid Yakobson, the Bolshoi Drama Theater has director Georgy Tovstonogov, and both theaters have brilliant artists. The first books by Alexander Volodin, Andrei Bitov, and Alexander Kushner are published. Anna Akhmatova is becoming increasingly important.

Khrushchev's “thaw” in Leningrad began later and ended earlier than, for example, in Moscow. Since the mid-1960s, the most notable cultural developments have taken place in the underground. Leningrad becomes the center of samizdat. The largest poets and writers of the 1960s - Joseph Brodsky, Oleg Grigoriev, Viktor Krivulin, Sergei Dovlatov - were practically not published in their homeland. Only at “apartment exhibitions” could one see the works of Arefiev artists, Sterligov artists, and students of Nikolai Akimov. Starting with Alexey Khvostenko and ending with Viktor Tsoi, local rock also had a semi-underground character. Pre-perestroika relaxations have been felt since 1981, when the famous Leningrad rock club, “Partnership of Experimental visual arts” and the literary “Club 81”.

In 1987, Mikhail Gorbachev started perestroika. The party apparatus begins to lose its monopoly in all spheres of life. In 1989, Leningrad lost the communists in the first free elections. In 1991, the community collapsed Soviet Union. Anatoly Sobchak is elected the first mayor of the city. As a result of the referendum, the name St. Petersburg is returned to Leningrad.

The turn of the 1980-90s was the time of triumphs for Leningrad television: “600 Seconds” with Nevzorov and Sorokina, “Adam’s Apple” with Nabutov, “The Fifth Wheel” with Kurkova. A unique artistic squat is being created at 10 Pushkinskaya, previously banned films by Alexei German are being released, and pop mechanic Sergei Kuryokhin is touring Russia. But around 1992, general enthusiasm gradually gave way to despondency. Dirty, abandoned St. Petersburg is gaining a reputation as “Russian Chicago.”

The first post-Soviet cultural wave identified itself in the mid-1990s with the Tam-Tam club, from where “The King and the Clown”, Tequilajazz, and “Pilot” came out. Of the high-status arts, opera and ballet were the first to gain weight. The main artistic events are exhibitions in the Hermitage and the Marble Palace, a branch of the Russian Museum. MDT Lev Dodin takes the lead in the drama. By the 300th anniversary, the city is emerging from almost a century of depression and begins to look prettier. The Ushakovskaya interchange, the Ice Palace, and the Ladozhsky railway station are under construction; The Konstantinovsky Palace in Strelna is being restored as a Palace of Congresses.

XXI Century

At the beginning of the 21st century, St. Petersburg actually receives the status of a second capital. The volume of housing and office construction is increasing sharply. Part of the ring road was built and new capital-intensive projects were launched: the Western High-Speed ​​Diameter, the completion of the dam, the Chinese-Russian project “Baltic Pearl”, the Oryol Tunnel. Important new words in culture: the formal theater of Andrei Moguchy, the cartoons of Konstantin Bronzit, the music of Leonid Desyatnikov. Boris Grebenshchikov looms over the young rock musicians as a powerful old man.

Peter I. Painting by Valentin Serov. 1907

The etiquette of the Old Russian and then Great Russian nationality was formed as part of its ethnic traditions, which in general were little subject to foreign influences. However, during the time of Kievan Rus (the first third of the 12th century), Christian standards of life from Byzantium penetrated into the cities, displacing pagan and Scandinavian ones. The village largely preserved its original pagan culture (until the 19th century). During the period of feudal fragmentation (12th - late 15th centuries), after the Tatar-Mongol invasion of 1237-1241, eastern norms of behavior penetrated, for example, tougher punishments, despotism of the husband in the family, etc. They survived during the period of the centralized Moscow state ( 16-17 centuries). Peasant and city life differed little, but it was in the city that the concept of “ social life"connected with society and public service. In the 16th and 17th centuries, with the development of feudal relations, the norms of behavior of the higher (boyars, nobles) and lower (peasants, townspeople, etc.) classes became isolated.

Daily routine in pre-Petrine Rus'. The daily routine was coordinated with church services, it was based on the Byzantine counting of hours: 7 “day” and 17 “night” in winter, 17 “day” and 7 “night” in summer, the first “day” and “night” coincided with sunrise and sunset; at ten (the sixth hour of a normal day) mass was served, at twelve there was lunch, then sleep, evening chores until six, after six leisure and sleep. Morning and evening prayers are obligatory for all Russian believers; noble people usually attended mass and vespers; all believers attended matins on holidays. For peasants and ordinary city dwellers, the whole day depended on the nature and amount of work.

Family in pre-Petrine Rus'. The family in medieval Russian consciousness was the lower part of the hierarchy “God is the world, the tsar is the state, the husband is the family”; marriage was a church institution, the family was an extremely closed unit. The homeowner was the head of his “yard”; “children and household members” were almost his property. The “big family” living in the “yard”, consisting of several branches of relatives, was stable; only the head of the family had the right to separate some of them. The house was divided into female and male halves. The men's room was locked with a key by the head of the family. The women's half consisted of small rooms, towers and a garden for walking. The degree of seniority determined the position of each inhabitant of the house, the same applied to the servants, their number determined the nobility of the householder, who rewarded and punished at his own discretion. Economic functions in the house could be divided between the owner and wife. Often they took in orphans, who, like their own children, were in the complete power of the head of the family. Such an act was considered a godly deed. Divorces were rare and were carried out according to divorce papers and priestly verdicts; marriage ended with monasticism (sometimes forced); There were also “amicable” divorces, when the husband “let go” of his wife, which was condemned by the church. A marriage sanctified by the church could only be entered into three times.

Marriage and wedding in pre-Petrine Rus'. Marriages were concluded at the will of the parents. U ordinary people The wedding ceremony consisted of matchmaking, collusion and wedding with a feast. The initiative could come from both sides, matchmakers helped (formally it was impossible to see the bride before the matchmaking, and the husband before the wedding) and matchmakers - the groom's relatives. The matchmaker had the right to an inspection and a conversation with the bride in order to identify possible flaws; to the conspiracy, the bride's parents came to the groom, they beat his parents, everyone signed a “serial record” of two parts - the marriage contract and the dowry inventory; after which it was almost impossible to refuse the marriage, even with a “forgery” of the bride, whom the future husband saw only at the wedding. Early marriage protected people from the temptations of single life. Women were married from the age of 11-12, men from the age of 12-15; in peasant families, where the wife was seen primarily as a worker, the bride could be older than the groom. The bride was “cleaned up” by her friends, and in a noble family she was entertained by “dancers”; The feasting began the day before the wedding, and then continued for three more days, in one or both houses. The wedding took place in the evening (only the groom's relatives and the matchmaker were in the church). They feasted the next morning. After three changes of courses, the newlyweds were taken to bed in the “senior”, then the bride’s shirt was taken out to show the guests, fur coats were thrown over the newlyweds, and they were fed porridge; on the second day they gave gifts, and they gave gifts to the guests. The young people were called “prince” and “princess”. The ancient “ranks” were present at the wedding - the thousand, the imprisoned father or the imprisoned mother (for orphans), the nursery or equerry, the groomsmen; the ritual itself was supposed to attract God's blessing.

Family holidays in pre-Petrine Rus'. Among family events, christenings most often took place on the eighth day after birth; They were in a hurry to baptize the child, so that in case of death God would “take him to himself.” During the period of dual faith (i.e., the widespread spread of remnants of paganism), in addition to the Christian name, nicknames (Nezhdan, Wolf, Druzhina) were also widely used. Birthdays were not considered a holiday; only name days were celebrated solemnly; On the “Day of the Angel,” birthday cakes were sent to future guests, the higher the rank of the guest, and in the evening the birthday boy was given gifts at the feast. At housewarmings, the priest blessed the house, into which they brought bread and salt (a symbol of prosperity and salvation from the “evil eye”), and superstitious people - a black cat or chicken, as well as a dissolved kneading bowl; Afterwards there was a feast.

Funeral in pre-Petrine Rus'. It was believed that a Christian died a dignified death if he was conscious enough to read out his will, bless his relatives with an icon, free his slaves, make “contributions” to churches and monasteries, some accepted the schema; after death, holy water was placed on the window - “to wash and nourish the soul”; people with wealth hired mourners. They tried to bury it quickly (in the summer - within a day); Having lowered the coffin, they kissed the icon and ate kutya; after the funeral, a wake was held, then on the ninth day and on the fortieth; from the funeral to the 40-day commemoration, the Psalter was read, often at the grave, in church, and at home. In the popular consciousness, funerals were perceived as a marriage with death, and a wedding as a funeral of maiden freedom. Therefore, there are many similarities in the songs that accompanied these rituals.

Guest etiquette in pre-Petrine Rus'. Guest etiquette in Rus' took into account age and origin. The guests drove into the courtyard and then drove up to the porch; they walked across the courtyard to a higher person; It was not customary for elders to visit younger ones. An important person was invited by the owner himself or his relatives, less important ones - by relatives or servants; a noble guest was met at the porch or three meetings were arranged (servants at the gate, relatives in the courtyard and the owner at the porch), an equal - in the entryway, a junior - in the room.

The stick (or cane) remained in the entryway, they entered the room without a hat, carried it with a scarf inside in front of them in their hand, crossed themselves three times in the image, made three bows to the ground, then bowed to the owner (with a nod, at the waist, touching the ground with their hand, on their knees, touching their foreheads to the floor), equals stretched out their hands to each other; friends and relatives opened their arms, kissed the guest on the head, and pressed him to the chest. When visiting, you were not allowed to cough or blow your nose; the owner “reproached” himself in special verbal formulas, paid special compliments to the guest, calling him “breadwinner” and “benefactor”; They asked secular people about health, and clergy about salvation. When parting, they were baptized three times into the icons, bowed to them, kissed the owner, were baptized once, and the owner escorted the guest to the entryway or porch, according to his nobility. A sign of the highest trust in the guest was the appearance of the wife with a glass; the wife changed her outfits before treating each guest chosen by her husband, then they kissed her. If a guest was invited to dinner, the wife dined in her half.

The position of women in pre-Petrine Rus'. The relative freedom of the Slavic woman in the 10th-13th centuries was gradually replaced by its restrictions in all layers of society, but especially among the most well-born and wealthy. Before marriage, the girl was completely subordinate to her father, after marriage - to her husband. Never and under no circumstances did a decent woman appear unaccompanied; she rarely left the house, usually only to church. When talking with strangers, it was considered decent to cover your face with your sleeve.

In the home circle, from childhood, a woman was surrounded by numerous nurses - “mothers”, nannies, hay girls, often poor relatives and hangers-on. After getting married and becoming a housewife, a woman had to look after everyday life all numerous household members, get up earlier than everyone else, and go to bed later. The woman's social circle was extremely limited. The owner usually kept track of expenses, child care was delegated to trusted servants, the housewife took care of clothes and utensils, and distributed “lessons,” that is, work that all household members had to do in a day. Handicrafts, which were taught from an early age, were considered a worthy occupation. Very few were taught literacy. In Russia, the jeweler's profession was partly female. The hostess also took care of the souls of her charges - she taught them prayers and monitored morality.

The loss of virginity was a disgrace for the girl herself and the whole house: in the cities such sinners were tonsured into a monastery, in the villages they were disgraced, the gates were smeared with tar, but they could still count on a not very profitable marriage.

In a family, the owner, in order not to be subjected to universal condemnation, had to keep his wife and all household members in fear. Offenses were punished with a whip (the whip - “fool” hung on the husband’s belt). A detailed list of punishments is contained in the famous “Domostroy”, whose compilation is attributed to the associate of Ivan the Terrible, priest Sylvester. In property terms, a Russian woman was protected by law even at that time: she retained the rights to a dowry, the widow received at least a seventh of her husband’s property if there was no will in her favor, the wife and children of a convicted criminal retained rights to his property.

Food in pre-Petrine Rus'. Observance of fast days was given great importance. The lists of dishes were drawn up for almost a year. A good owner always had plenty of food supplies. Only the poorest people bought food at the market. The owner was supposed to persistently treat the guest, who had no right to refuse the treat. Often food from the feast was sent to those invited who for some reason did not come. The more a cook followed tradition, the more his art was valued.

Clothing in pre-Petrine Rus'. Clothing for men and women had the same lines, was never tailored to the figure, and consisted of several layers: underwear - home, middle and top. On the shirt, women wore a letnik, then an opashen (or sarafan, soul warmer, quilted jacket), a mantle (drawing), or a fur coat, and for men - a caftan, feryaz, opashen, fur coat (they were not supposed to walk without a belt). The names of men's and women's clothing were similar, but some women also had a “summer fur coat” (without fur). Women more often than men wore boots (shoes, boots) with high heels; girls always showed their hair from under their crowns (or headbands), married women they hid them under the hairline, on which they put on an ubrus (scarf), kika or kokoshnik. It was indecent for a woman to go out without rouge, antimony, or whitewash. At one time they followed the eastern fashion of blackening their teeth. Almost every family had elegant clothes (including expensive ones), stored for many years, and there were differences in social status indicated the headdress. Earrings, necklaces, rings, several icons and crosses on the neck were worn by both women and men. Clothes were often trimmed with pearls, semiprecious stones and precious threads (gold and silver). Women were supposed to hold a scarf in their hands, men wore a scarf not in their pocket, but in their hat.

Trips and travels in pre-Petrine Rus'. When traveling and traveling, they preferred sleigh and water routes, sleds and plows, since the roads were bad. In the summer, the old people rode in carriages and even in sleighs; the young people rode horses (white horses were the pinnacle of panache). A noble man was riding, surrounded by a retinue; servants were beating timpani to scare away passers-by on the road. Women's carts hid passengers, for whom there were small mica windows. When traveling, they covered themselves with a lot of clothes, took with them suley with wine, food supplies, replenishing them on the road. Furniture at that time was rare and expensive, even the most noble and rich carried it with them. Horses and coachmen could be hired for a fee.

Baths in pre-Petrine Rus'. The ancient Slavs had bathhouses (soaphouses) in the form of half-dugouts, heated in black. In the Middle Ages, they were heated 1-2 times a week; in summer, in urban settlements, authorities often prohibited washing, thus, due to the risk of fires. In these cases, they went to public paid, so-called “royal” baths, where men and women undressed in a common dressing room, and often washed together, and this custom lasted until the time of Catherine II, when the experienced J. Casanova, who observed this picture, noted that this does not come from depravity, but from purity of morals. The bathhouse was a favorite folk remedy from various ailments, births often took place here. It was not recommended to visit the bathhouse on an empty stomach; Be sure to wash and steam on Saturday in order to appear clean for Sunday matins.

Feasts in pre-Petrine Rus'. Feasts were organized by one person or by several owners at the same time - such feasts were called “brotherhood”. The owner prepared ahead of time, decorated the upper room (less often the entryway) with furs, carpets, and precious vessels; The guests were seated according to "rank". First they drank a glass of vodka, snacking on bread the owner had broken, then there were changes of dishes. The food was cut, precious knives were laid out for beauty, “torels” (plates) were intended for bones, only separate plates were placed in front of especially important guests, wooden spoons were used, and much less often, two-pronged forks. When the toast was pronounced, each of the guests went to the middle of the room and drank a glass. After some toasts they sang “many years.” Particular love and respect were evoked by those guests who ate and drank everything that the owner offered. At the feast, they clearly distinguished drunken swearing and fighting from a real insult, and did not impute it. On church holidays, feasts were held with the participation of clergy. They began after mass, the important guest sat in the “red corner”, and during the feast the priest or deacon often sang. If women were invited to a feast, they ate at a separate table in a special room. Brotherhoods were organized by peasants and townspeople in a pool for some holiday and were called after it - “fraternity Pokrovshchina” - on the holiday of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary, etc.

Entertainment in pre-Petrine Rus'. The harsh daily work in Russia with its difficult climate did not leave much time for entertainment. The favorite leisure activity of the upper circle of society was hunting: with hounds and falconry.

Church services were a public spectacle and action that instilled in the people a love of music; the song accompanied the Russian people everywhere and always. Before the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich, there was no theater; the number and nature of entertainment was strictly limited by the church, whose authority was unshakable. Christmastide was celebrated cheerfully with the obligatory mummers; Maslenitsa was the time for skating, round dances and festivities. Carnivals, so characteristic of Western Europe, did not take root in Russia because of the cold during Maslenitsa and because of the great severity of such fun Orthodox Church. At the court of Ivan the Terrible, for example, there was entertainment with “mashkars” (masks), but moral example Prince Repnin, who refused to put on a “mask” and was killed for it, became a significant figure for society. Since the baptism of Rus', the games of buffoons have been persecuted, as have games of cards, dice (“grain”), and even chess and checkers (“tavlei”). Pagan customs, often very overt, such as “running around vegetable gardens” with naked women at dusk, bonfires and games on Ivan Kupala, despite all attempts to eradicate them, lasted until the beginning of the 20th century. Winter activities - ice skating, sliding down icy mountains - entertained all segments of society. Fist fights were traditional: duels and “wall to wall”.

Autocracy in your country began to assert itself with Ivan III after 1480, when Muscovite Rus' became independent from the Great Turkic Horde. Until this time, there could be no talk of any autocratic rule, since Muscovite Rus' was just the lot of the Great Slavic Power (Rassepia), and then, for a short time, the lot of the Great Turkic Horde. The reader can learn more about the Great Slavic Power (Russia) in the third edition of my book “From the Aryans to the Rusichs.” Therefore, to determine the duration of autocracy, it is enough to subtract 1480 years from 1917 years, we get 437 years, which is significantly less than 500 years. However, these 437 years did not mark the undisputed dominance of the autocracy.

At the beginning of the 15th century, the Great Slavic Power (Rassepia) strained its strength in the fight against numerous external and internal enemies. In the west, ethnicity was expressed in the separation from it of the Great Turkic Horde, which from 1420 to 1480 retained its dominance over Moscow Russia. The fact of the weakening of the Great Slavic Power (Russia) and the separation of the Great Turkic Horde from it led to the initiation of the process of unification of the Horde Slavic-Cossack clans with the Slavic clans of Moscow Rus', as a result of which a powerful Moscow state was formed. The autocracy of Ivan III at this time was based on the idea of ​​unity of the Slavs and on countering the external threat emanating after 1480 from the Turko-Bulgar (Kazan) Khanate, the Great Turkic Horde and the Lithuanian state. Streltsy regiments, which were formed from the Slavic-Cossack element, played a major role in strengthening the Moscow state. The level of combat effectiveness of the Streltsy regiments at that time was the highest in the world, since the Horde system of training the armed forces had not yet been lost.

After the death of the Great Turkic Horde and the conquest of the Turkic-Bulgarian (Kazan) Khanate, the struggle between two trends in social development intensified in the Moscow state: democratic (Slavic-Cossack) and autocratic-absolutist (Western). In the Great Slavic Power (Russia) the Supreme Ruler was elected!] for a period of 7 years. Depending on how successfully he ruled the state, he was often left at the top of power for life. However, each time a new re-election did not occur after 7 years. The most famous families then nominated candidates. Now parties are nominating candidates. Admiral Kolchak, who took the title of Supreme Ruler, did not come up with anything himself. He relied on knowledge preserved in Siberia about the past history of Russia and its top leadership.

The time of Ivan the Terrible marks the beginning of this stage of struggle. Therefore, when official historians, describing the time of Ivan the Terrible, reduce everything to the boyar willfulness and negative character of this king, they are at least disingenuous. The main content of the period that began was the struggle between the two main tendencies of social development - democratic and autocratic-absolutist, and by chance it was at this time that autocratic circles began to look for support in the West, since it was in Europe that the autocratic-absolutist tendency then reached the peak of its development.

The annexation of Siberia at the end of the 16th century, which had previously been the center of the Great Slavic Power (Russia), significantly strengthened the democratic principle, which led to the intensification of its resistance to the autocratic absolutist principle. The result of the intensification of the struggle of these tendencies to the extreme was precisely the Time of Troubles. In addition, it must be borne in mind that the democratic tendency that prevailed in Siberia did not allow any serfdom. The fact is that the clan order in Siberia was preserved for a very long time. Therefore, the autocracy could not grant “Siberian lands to its nobility, since this could cause a civil war)” with unforeseen consequences.

But this struggle, at the same time, led to a weakening of the state, which external enemies inevitably took advantage of.
The Polish-Lithuanian intervention, although not immediately, forced these two trends to be reconciled and saved the country from collapse. However, the struggle did not end there. The Romanov dynasty, which established itself in power, descended from a boyar named Kobyla, a native of the Western Slavic lands. She maintained close ties with her Germanized relatives. Representatives of this dynasty understood well that the democratic Slavic-Cossack circles in the country were strong and that they would constantly prevent the strengthening of the yoke of autocracy. They also understood that they would not be able to deal with their opponents in one fell swoop. Therefore, they chose the gradual path of eradicating the democratic tendency, through the destruction of its historical, military, religious and economic traditions.

Since the Streltsy were the support of the democratic trend, the Romanovs began this struggle by organizing the armed forces. The archers served voluntarily and were recruited from free people of Slavic-Cossack origin. Naturally, this did not suit the Romanovs. And they turned to European experience)7 in building mercenary armies. In 1632, the first soldiers' mercenary regiment was formed. In 1639, a second mercenary regiment appeared. The reason was not that these regiments fought, but that these regiments could carry out any order from the authorities. They often fought much worse than the Streltsy regiments. To change this, the Romanovs began to gradually reduce spending on rifle regiments and increase spending on soldier mercenary regiments. Thus, in the army, gradually, in contrast to the archers, a new organizational structure-a mercenary army, into which foreigners could now be recruited, serving as a support for autocratic power in the fight against the Russian democratic tradition. Thanks to the creation of such an army, adventurers of various stripes and Freemasons, to whom the interests of the country and its people were completely alien, were registered for a long time at the Romanov court.

But the Romanovs also understood that the new armed force, although it made it easier for them to retain power, it could not yet change the mentality of the people. Therefore, the next step in strengthening the autocracy was to rely on Christianity, since it is the best support for absolute power. The fact is that at that time there was a struggle in the church between the Vedic and Christian worldviews. The Christian worldview was called Orthodox, and the Vedic worldview was called Orthodox. The overwhelming number of laity adhered to Orthodoxy. The Orthodox were precisely the support of the democratic tradition. This is where the first blow was struck. During the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, Nikon carried out a church reform, according to which the Christian Church was declared Orthodox, and all those who disagreed were heretics, subject to destruction. At this time, church chronicles began to be intensively rewritten, naturally, in accordance with the Christian worldview and the wishes of the reigning dynasty. However, the church reform - a forgery - was not the last in this series. At the same time, another forgery was carried out related to the name of the country. In this name they begin to use the name of the Great Slavic Power (Rasseniya). Moreover, it is simply distorted. Instead of Russenia, Russya appears, which under Negro I is already called Russia.

In parallel with these “reforms” there is an enslavement of the peasantry. All this could not help but stir up the masses. The support of the uprising was the Cossack settlements of the Don and the Urals, which then put into practice the Slavic-Cossack democratic tradition. The uprising of Stepan Razin in 1670-71 is another Civil War, equal in its meaning to the Time of Troubles. A significant part of the rifle regiments supported Razin. Because of this, the autocracy fielded mercenary regiments and local noble militia against the rebels. The fight was hard. However, thanks to better technical equipment7, the autocracy managed to win.

After this victory, autocratic absolutism strengthened significantly. The Romanovs realized that in the fight against their own people, foreigners are the best helpers. It is not surprising, therefore, that during the reign of Fyodor Alekseevich Romanov, foreigners were already at court in significant numbers. It was at this time, not without the prompting of foreign masons, that the bulk of the family books of the Russian nobility were collected and burned. These were the last mass sources of the history of the Russian people. At the same time, the number of soldier regiments was increased and the autocracy now relied entirely on them. Sagittarius were deprived of many privileges. All this could not but cause dissatisfaction with Sagittarius.

The rumor of the murder of Tsarevich Ivan stirred up the Streltsy, who rebelled in 1682 and captured Moscow. The leaders of the Streltsy, taking advantage of general discontent, tried to place the head (chief) of the Streletsky Prikaz, Prince I.A. Khovansky, at the head of the state. However, Regent Princess Sophia managed to deceive Prince Khovansky, who was captured and executed. Then many other prisoners were captured and executed. The Streltsy uprising was suppressed. The head of the Streletsky Prikaz became a supporter of Sophia F. Shaklovpty. It became clear to the autocracy, and especially to the foreigners who served it, that in order to put an end to the democratic tradition, it was necessary to carry out radical autocratic-absolutist reforms in the country. This became possible after the accession of Peter I, whose educators were Freemasons - the Swiss Gordon and the German Lefort.

It was they who instilled in Peter I a thirst for immense power, disrespect for everything national-Russian, and the desire to remake him on a European model. In 1689, Peter I, relying on part of the nobility, the Moscow Patriarch, Preobrazhentsy, Semyonovtsy and some Streltsy, carried out a coup d'état and removed the regent Tsarevna Sophia. The archers who supported her were defeated. About six thousand people were executed. Peter I personally chopped off heads. The leader of the Streltsy, F. Shaklovityp, was also executed. Thus, the last barrier on the path to autocratic absolutism was swept away. In this regard, the stories of official historians about the backwardness of Russia and the need for “progressive” reforms are nothing more than falsification, designed to hide the essence of the matter.

Historians consider the 17th century to be the beginning of a “new period” of Russian history. At this time, while preserving the prevailing feudal relations, the first elements of the capitalist structure emerged. Hence the complexity and inconsistency of all the socio-economic and political processes taking place in Russia, as well as acute social and ideological conflicts. It is not for nothing that the seventeenth century of Russian history is called the “rebellious century.”

The Polish-Lithuanian-Swedish intervention, the robberies of the Cossack atamans, caused enormous damage to the country's productive forces. The time of troubles, in which the broad masses were involved, led to the weakening of the state and the entire system of serfdom. But the government in every possible way encouraged the growth of landownership, again and again enslaving the peasants. Growing government spending led to higher taxes.

Thus, the feudal state not only pressed with excessive taxes, but also constrained the freedom of commercial and industrial activity, monopolizing entire areas of economic activity. Moreover, the enslavement of peasants did not at all contribute to their interest in the results of their labor. Peasants were tied to the land and, wielding primitive tools, used old production methods.

It is also important to note that the process of overcoming feudal fragmentation, due to the vast territory, took place much more slowly in the Russian lands than, for example, in England or France. Trade, industrial, cultural and, to a certain extent, diplomatic ties between Russia and Western countries were complicated due to Russia’s lack of convenient sea harbors in the Baltic. Competition from foreign merchants, which Russian merchants could not withstand, also had its effect. Industry and domestic trade in Russian cities could not develop successfully, because the main consumers - the wealthy noble classes - were grouped in the center of the state, in Moscow, or were settled on their estates and there they themselves produced everything they needed with the labor and skill of their peasants and slaves.

Cities gradually grew, but crafts and trade were poorly developed, so these cities were more like fortresses. But despite further development feudal relations, new aspects appeared in the socio-economic development of the country: handicraft manufactories appeared in the country, and then large-scale manufacturing, which at first mainly provided the army and navy. These are metallurgical manufactories in the Urals, Siberia, and Karelia.

Centers light industry were Moscow, Yaroslavl, Ukraine, Kazan, Kaluga. Just at the end of the first quarter of the XVIII century. There were 25 textile factories in the country.

But compared to other countries, Russia lagged far behind in its development. The reason for this lag was the lack of access to the sea, the lack of a regular combat-ready land army, and the outdated system of government. To ensure more intensive development, it was necessary to ensure merchants' access to the Western market, and for this it was necessary to win access to the Baltic Sea, which in turn required having a strong army and navy, and for this it was necessary to boost the country's economy, since all this required funds. This problem was solved to a greater extent in 1st quarter XVIII century by Peter I, who, having started a war with Sweden for access to the Baltic Sea, managed to simultaneously solve a whole range of interrelated issues and problems.

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