Creation of a Provision order and local bodies for providing troops in the XVIII century .

Tkachenko Il'ya Yur'evich Postgraduate student, the department of Russian History, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration 141014, Russia, Moskovskaya oblast', g. Mytishchi, ul. Very Voloshinoi, 56, kv. 21 iliaakm@gmail.com Other publications by this author

Literature reviewThe book of the father and son Buganovs, specialists in the XVIII century. provides an overview biography of the key figures of the Northern War and other wars of Russia of this century.

Most of the book is dedicated to Peter I both as a commander and head of state. A feature of the work can be considered the versatility of the events described: the Northern War is revealed by Peter, Menshikov and Sheremetev, which forms a complete picture of that period^[1].

A fundamental work in several volumes by Gordeev about the life and everyday life of such a type of troops as the Cossacks. This volume tells about the numerous wars waged by the Russian Empire during its history. The peculiarity of the text is that the author tells about the military history of the country through the prism of the Cossacks, interweaving between the wars the history of Cossack formations ^[3].

The work of I.G. Durov is a highly specialized study of the work of the rear in terms of food supply of the army and navy in the XVIII century. The author aims to study systematically the prerequisites for the need to create a centralized food supply, the impact of this on the economic life of the country, comparison with the foreign experience of that time ^[4].

The book by S.V. Karpushchenko tells about the organization of the daily life of the Russian army from the time of Peter I to the First World War. Barracks, clothing, food, leisure, even regimental cuisine recipes were included in the work. Essays created on the basis of archival materials and publications from "Military collections" published in pre-revolutionary times make up the content of the book ^[5].

The essays of the military historian A.A. Kersnovsky are among the most extensive and well-known studies on the history of the Russian army before the beginning of the last century. The work covers the period from Peter the Great to the First World War, well describes the identity of the Russian army, its features and differences from other armies of the world ^[6].

The famous historian Solovyov N.I. studies the economic part of the regular Peter's army, the costs of its maintenance, payment of salaries, supply of things and uniforms. This is one of the very first and widely known studies on the reforms of Peter the Great's army from the point of view of finance. The study is valuable because it exposes the cost of reforms, the burden of which fell on the peasantry ^[8].

List of decrees from the Cabinet of Peter I. The collection of decrees from the combined cabinets of Peter I and Catherine, located in the Russian State Archive of Ancient Acts, contains documents from the end of the XVII century to 1727 ^[9].

To mark the centenary of the ministries, Minister of War D. A. Skalon published the history of the history of the military department edited by the staff of the Archive of the General Staff, with the participation of military historians. The publication begins with a brief essay on the activities of the armed forces in Russia before the creation of the ministry, and ends with materials from the beginning of the XX century. The publication consists of several extensive volumes, each on a separate topic. In this work, the materials of Volume 5 devoted to the main quartermaster department are used ^[10].

A document regulating the duties of the colonel on the receipt and expenditure of funds, the maintenance of income and expense books, the provision of statements. It is an extensive instruction, not only about immediate duties, but also about working with the population, actions in case of emergency (gang attack), the main actions are arranged in the form of a short list of steps ^[11].

The Complete collection of laws of the Russian Empire edited by Speransky from 1649 to 1825 is the most complete collection of legislative acts arranged in chronological order, according to the numbers of approval of each act by the tsar. It included all kinds of legislative acts of pre-revolutionary Russia: manifestos, "institutions", regulations, regulations, charters, rescripts, "highly approved" opinions of the State Council, journals of the Committee and the Council of Ministers, personal decrees, etc. ^[12].

Prerequisites for the creation of a Provision OrderAt the end of the XVII century. the need for a radical reorganization of the Russian army has matured.

Instead of a huge and loose army that was recruited from time to time, Peter I creates a regular army and navy. Local troops and regiments of the foreign system are replaced by strictly organized military units and divisions according to certain staffing schedules, depending on their purpose. By the beginning of 1700, 29 infantry regiments had already been formed in Russia, comprising 3 strong divisions and 3 dragoon regiments^[6]. Four years later, the Russian army is replenished with artillery regiments^[2]. The regiment becomes the main combat and administrative-economic military unit. At the same time, the soldiers of the new army were given an annual salary of 11 rubles, as well as daily bread and welding issues. The tsar adopted an innovation from the Swedish army – cold steel, which was screwed to the firearm. At the same time, he categorically objected to the bright, decorated uniforms worn by soldiers of many European states. In the Russian army, uniforms were introduced convenient and simple. Despite the tremendous work on the military reconstruction of Russia, Pyotr Alekseevich did not take credit for the creation of a regular army. He believed that he had only brought the matter to an end and that "back in 1647, his father, Alexei Mikhailovich, began to use the regular army"^[5].

In the process of collecting and completing the team, the receptionists took a commission record from future recruits – a kind of promise that bound the recruits for the time of their delivery to the place of service. In the commission record, the datochnye promised: "To serve the Great Sovereign faithfully and over the treasury is bad and not to commit any tricks, not to sell a gun and a combat dress and not to lose, not to run from the service, not to trade wine and tobacco, not to play grain and cards and not to know thieves, and no bad and mischief not to repair, and not to get drunk, and if he takes into account the service incorrectly for our guarantee or makes a misdemeanor from the above mentioned, then they, the guarantors, will be penalized and severely punished, and for the lost combat dress to take the price twice" ^[5].

The creation of the regular army and navy of Russia required the centralization of their provision. The economic progress that had emerged in the country made it possible to transfer the armed forces to a permanent state food supply both in peacetime and in wartime. At the same time, Peter I used the experience of providing troops accumulated in previous centuries.

With colossal dynamism in the work, the tsar's concerns touched all the institutions of the military department and, in particular, the vast area of the provision of the army and navy. The formation of the All-Russian market by this time and the strengthening of foreign trade contributed to an increase in the area of crops on estates. Arable areas have significantly expanded and due to the development of new lands on the outskirts of the state, the volume of agricultural production has significantly increased. At that time, measures were planned and implemented that made it possible to create a fairly coherent system for providing troops with food and fodder.

In this regard, in the first half of the "bright days" on February 18, 1700, the tsar issued a "nominal" decree "On the management of all grain stocks of military men." "The Great Sovereign has indicated: "All the grain supplies for the dacha of His Great Sovereign to the military people, the collection and the dacha in Moscow and in the cities will be in charge of the circumnavigator Semyon Ivanov Yazykov… And to write it in all letters as a General Provision"^[9].

This decree meant the creation of a new institution within the military department of the state, where everything was determined that was necessary for the content body: its chief, staff and premises for its placement (workplace). The new order received its name from the title of its chief and became known as the Provision Order.

The device of the Provision orderThe purpose and activity of the Provision Order were determined by the following words: "all grain supplies for the dacha... to military people, to be in charge of collecting and giving in Moscow and in the cities" ^[9].

  The "stone" order, which was supposed to transfer its clerks and its premises to the Victualling Order, was also in Moscow and was in charge of construction in the capital.

The position of general of provisions was so responsible that the appointment to it was personally in charge of the tsar. At the same time, the chief proviantmaster himself already appointed his assistants, who locally procured bread and provided the troops with money for "welded" products.

At the same time, a Special (later Commissariat) Order was established. It was headed by the boyar Prince Yakov Fedorovich Dolgorukov. This order was in charge of the release of funds for armament, replenishment of the army with horses, provision of clothing and monetary allowances ^[12].

In the creation of these two most important orders for the army and navy, the tsar's preparation for a new war is seen based on the experience of the Azov campaigns. Peter clearly understood that it was impossible to wage a big war without centralized management of the provision of troops.

On the day of the publication of two decrees, on February 18, 1700, F.A. Apraksin was appointed "admiralty officer" (the highest naval quartermaster rank at that time) and "chief administrator of the structure and supply of ships" instead of A. Protasyev, who by that time "fell out of favor" of the sovereign. The tsar, in a letter to Vinius, his most educated adviser, highly valued by him, shares his thoughts, including that Protasyev was noticed stealing: "Only another cloud of doubt obscures our thought"^[25].

F.A. Apraksin had to do a lot of work to provide the fleet with everything necessary during the Northern War (1700-1721). During this period, a new theater of operations for fleets was being mastered – the Baltic. The entire system of basing and providing ships was being created anew.

So, with the creation of the central body for the state provision of the army and Navy – the Provision Order, the legal basis was laid for the organization of food supply for the regular armed forces of Russia. The disparate structure of providing troops with food through Discharge, Streletsky, Reitarsky and other orders was eliminated, which made it possible to significantly simplify and improve the management of the provision of formations and units. The structure of the Naval support management has also been somewhat improved.

In these innovations, the tsar used the domestic experience in providing troops accumulated in the XVI and XVII centuries, as well as the experience of the armies of foreign countries, including the Austrian one. This can be seen from the instructions of Peter I to the Duma clerk P.B. Voznitsin, whom the tsar "ordered to get and send to himself: the staff of the Caesar army service from Generalissimo to soldier, since who receives salaries in summer and winter, in wartime and peacetime, in campaigns and in apartments"^[4].

Having entrusted the immediate concerns of providing the troops with food and fodder to the Victualling Order, Peter the Great often personally directed its activities. The sovereign himself determined the means of supplying individual regiments, the locations of stores, calculated the need for "supplies", personally wrote decrees on the provision part, delving into all the details of the case. In the instruction to Prince Galitsin, for example, it says: "... it behooves you to order a good store in Kiev, so that on the road, where it is decent, to prepare provisions and fodder for the passage of troops"^[9].

It should be borne in mind that at first there were no definitively developed states of both troops and food supply management bodies at that time. However, in the preserved "order lists" there is evidence that by December 19, 1707, there were 66 proviantmasters "in Moscow and in the cities" in total. Moreover, they were painted both by places of work and by garrisons. Fyodor Vikulin "son of Panov" and Andrey Petrov "son of Shepelev" were in charge of the Moscow granaries: the first – the butchers, and the second – Kaluga. "At the reception and consumption of bread" in the cities: Kiev, Chernigov, Bryansk, Smolensk, Porechye, Novgorod, Pskov, Narva, St. Petersburg, Ladoga, Arkhangelsk, Korotoyak, Azov and Kursk there were 15 food masters. "There were 20 people in the cities to collect money for milking provisions and to send provisions to the specified places." The "account" in the order has 6 ranks. For the transportation of grain cargoes and in the service of the troops – 10 people. 13 proviantmasters "were out of work"^[10].

At the disposal of the Victualling Order, in addition to clerks, clerks and proviantmasters, there were also so-called courtiers, or "special messengers" (stolniki, nobles, tenants, etc.) who represented something like "ranks for assignments", who were sent to carry out food procurement or re-accounting of food and fodder. In some cases, special commissioners from the local government were appointed to work on the "food part".

From the first days of the existence of military-economic bodies, the development of a system for providing troops with food began. First of all, a warehouse (stores) is being created both in the places where troops are quartered, and in the operational areas of action of formations and units. Due to the fact that food supplies were created in the shortest possible time, military operations were not completely dependent on the availability of local food resources. Finally, at this time, control over the "proper distribution of holidays from the treasury to people" was initiated. And most importantly, on February 18, 1705, a decree of the tsar was issued, which determined the exact size of the bread salary for the lower ranks.

Of course, all the activities carried out did not exclude "food disorders". Often the warriors experienced a shortage of food. The main reason for this was the extremely unsatisfactory state of finances at the beginning of the XVIII century, while the established regular army was rapidly increasing in numbers and considerable material and monetary resources were required for its maintenance. For example, in 1701, the cost of maintaining the army amounted to 78%, and in 1703 it was already 85% of all state revenues^[8].

Only for three types of support for 1701-1708. huge amounts of money were spent on the needs of the military economy at that time (Table 1). 

Table 1. Expenditure of funds on the military economy from 1701 to 1708. (in rubles) ^[8].

As already mentioned, simultaneously with the formation of the regular army troops of the central (state) support bodies, a military economy is being created. The regiment, as a separate military unit, began to have its own farm, in which facilities are equipped for storing stocks of various property.

Trying to organize the provision of his troops as best as possible, the tsar ordered his employees to contact him "for the resolution of any current need." On the report of Count B.P. Sheremetyev from Pskov dated November 15, 1702 that he did not know what to do with dragoon horses and what to feed them? The sovereign wrote to him as follows: "I have been saying for a long time: write to me exactly what is needed; it will be done immediately"^[10].

The issues that the tsar had to solve were very different. For example, the same Count Sheremetyev wrote: "What is Your decree, My Lord, has taken place," Boris Petrovich asked Peter, "... in which tract and how much to put provisions, and how to carry it, whether this winter or spring and will carry it in the spring, also barns, what to put those provisions in, and people by whom and on what carts to carry" ^[10].

The details to which the Sovereign reached in his concerns about the food supply of the troops can be seen from the following calculations that he made personally. So, for 6 thousand people for a period of 4 months, the tsar determined: "crackers – 12,000 pounds – from the local province; butter 2,000 pounds – from the local governor, cereals 900 – from the Senate; beer 2 shares – from Riga, and the 3rd – from Revel; salt – from the store; ham or corned beef 3,000 pounds from two places; from the local province and from the admiralty." In some cases, the solution of military and economic issues "at the level of the Sovereign belonged to his closest associate - Menshikov"^[10].

The tsar skillfully used the reports of the proviantmasters in the organization of the troops' allowances. Both written and oral information in detail, outlining all the circumstances of the case, and with complete frankness about the non-fulfillment of decrees, about the "non-sending" of money for the purchase of provisions, as well as about the availability of food and fodder supplies in the troops, was brought to Peter I, and the sovereign reacted vividly to the existing problems in the organization of the nutrition of soldiers up to before the physical impact on the perpetrators, regardless of their rank and personal relationship.

The new administrative division of Russia, carried out in 1708-1710, played an important role in the creation of security agencies. This decision was made due to the current difficulties in providing the army and navy. There was not enough government money. The tsar, by his decree of March 2, 1705, determines that "landowners should be satisfied with the recruits taken from the villages with fodder bread, clothes and shoes"^[12].

However, this event did not solve the problem. The tsar is looking for new sources of replenishment of the treasury. Duties are introduced: from the sale of stamp paper, from tobacco buying. Fishing was "taken on the Sovereign", baths were taxed, a fourth part of the income of inns is taken into the treasury, the same is being done with respect to mills, horse, yoke and other duties are re-charged, an additional tavern fee (behavioral) is introduced and a duty is imposed on merchants' transactions with producers of goods and among themselves (a new levelling duty).

And these measures were not enough. Taxes were collected very difficult, more money was needed to procure food for the troops than was available. In 1705, the clerk Kurbatov, appointed chief inspector of the Town Hall, was ordered to "consider ... what else is possible to add to the army's feed without the burden of the people"^[8].

And in this case, new duties were introduced and one of them concerned the Cossacks. The tsar was forced to issue a decree "On the collection of duties on the goods of the Don Cossacks and Circassians against Russian merchants." It was prescribed to levy duties even when concluding transactions with Moscow merchants, which was previously not allowed.

Provinces were organized to strengthen the country's financial system and provide food for the army. The tsar decided to decentralize the financial system concentrated in Moscow and move it to the regions. In 1709, 8 provinces and 39 provinces were established, with governors at the head, and all the available regiments, in order to provide them more fully, were painted according to the following provinces (Table 2).

Table 2. Painting of troops in provinces^[8]

 At the same time, the Cossack formations were provided with all kinds of material resources at the expense of their cities (villages), and the royal "thanks" came to them bypassing the local authorities. So, for suppressing the rebellion of the Streltsy in Astrakhan, Peter I sent 5,000 rubles to the Don and another "2.368 rubles instead of Hamburg cloth, 230 pounds of gunpowder, 115 pounds of lead, 6,500 quarters of bread and 500 buckets of wine. The Kalmyks, who were in the service of the tsar, were sent 500 rubles of Taoist iron"^[3].

With the new administrative structure of the Russian state under the control of governors and voivodes, the value of the central distribution department was established behind the Provision Order. At the same time, it was determined that all fees and expenses for providing troops with food were transferred to the provincial cash registers. The troops receive the necessary material resources, as well as monetary salaries, from the provinces "without any worries about the government." At the same time, the administration of the provinces received, as it were, a "complete device".

The governor was invested with quite extensive power, besides other "persons", the chief commissar and chief proviantmaster were subordinate to him. The monetary part was assigned to the chief Commissioner. The chief proviantmaster was in charge of collecting food. The direct provision of personnel with food was assigned to the regimental proviantmaster, who was appointed from the province to each military unit. The procurement of food was the responsibility of the provincial chief of the proviantmaster, who was outside the military organization. He was obliged to prepare provisions from the peasants at prices approved by the governor and subsequently transfer the prepared provisions to the assigned troops.

This reform reduced the activities of Commissariat and Provision orders and deprived them of the necessary independence, which contradicted the centralized provision of troops. Since 1713 The victualling and Commissariat orders seem to share their functions with local security agencies.

In 1720, new states were introduced for the troops. The need for funds for their maintenance has increased significantly "from the elevation of salaries, from the assignment of rations to military ranks for the maintenance of regular horses"^[8]. In this regard, the state once again found itself in a difficult situation, since the expenditure "on armed force" absorbed 83% of all its income.

The tsar is also looking for new sources of replenishment of the treasury here. He decides to conduct a census of the population - "to take fairy tales from everyone (to give for a year), how many male souls in which village... To paint how many souls a soldier has with a share of the company and regimental headquarters, putting the average salary or what is no longer possible, and what should not be less"^[8].

The per capita census assigned the "walking people" to the landlords, thereby increasing the number of serfs. Land owners now have the opportunity to produce more food and fodder, so necessary for the army and navy. During this period, 40 rubles. 15.5 kopecks were spent on the maintenance of each dragoon, and an infantry soldier – 28 rubles. 04 kopecks per year. According to the results of the census, it was ordered: "The regiments in the provinces should be painted anew, for each infantry soldier 35.5, and for a mounted 50.25 male souls."

According to the published "Poster of June 26, 1724"^[12], it was prescribed to involve troops in collecting the poll tax assigned for their maintenance. The "Instructions to the Zemstvo Commissar and Colonel" indicated that the tax should be collected by the zemstvo commissar with the participation and under the supervision of the regimental commander. The Instructions set out in detail the duties of both the zemstvo commissar and the colonel to collect taxes from the population and the procedure for using funds in the regiment: they were intended to pay salaries to military personnel, pay for the cost of harvested food and fodder, in other words, "for wages, for provisions, for a uniform..."^[11].

All officers were also involved in the management of the regimental economy. The acquisition of certain material assets was carried out according to the "sentences of the officers of the unit." In the Instructions to the colonel it is written: "All contract and purchased items belong to him, the colonel, in a compartment with all the officers who are in the regiment, against the samples and what will be accepted, including giving receipts signed by all of them" ^[8].

During this period, all work on providing food both in the center and in the troops was placed under the control of collegial bodies. The issues of providing the army and navy in the center were decided by the Military Collegium. In the active army, everything related to the provision of formations and units was decided by the Military Council. In each province and province where the troops were stationed, provision commissions were created, which stood outside the military organization. Their task was to control how the chief Commissar and chief proviantmaster harvested food and fodder, checked prices, and also transferred food to the troops.

The next steps in the creation of the provision service were the development of Instructions to the Proviantmaster General and the approval of the staff of food establishments. Practically, with these two truly important documents, Peter the Great completed his creative work in the organization of military and economic departments. As a result, the Department for providing the army and Navy with food has adopted a coherent system:

– the proviantmaster General was put in charge of the food department. He carried out his "orders" through the central institution, which was the victualling office.;

– the executive bodies of the food department were: the army military and economic department, which included a provision institution, divisional chief food masters, regimental food masters, as well as the corresponding provincial chief food masters;

– the highest authority for military-economic departments was the department of the Military College, whose president was the associate of the tsar A.D. Menshikov. However, with the publication of the Instructions to the Proviantmaster General on January 20, 1724, this department turned out to be insubordinate to the general central administration;

– commissariat and provision departments existed and operated separately independently of each other and were not united under the authority of one chief.

ConclusionThe actions of the tsar to create and improve the provision department were ultimately crowned with success.

Instead of a disjointed old army, Peter the Great created a coherent system of food supply for the army and navy forces. By organizing new institutions and giving them the appropriate states, the sovereign at the same time laid the foundation for a proper management structure, dividing it into central administrative and executive bodies – military and local provincial. The decentralization of executive bodies and delegation of responsibilities in the province made it possible to manage supplies more efficiently in the vast expanses of a large country and reduce the burden on the treasury. Along with this, from the first days of the activity of the provision departments, the tsar paid special attention to recruiting them with reliable people, "who could be trusted in that." The new system of providing troops created by him made it possible to expand the capabilities of the Russian army, making it relevant to the challenges of the time. The army was now provided centrally, which made it possible to conduct combat operations without being tied to local sources of supply, which turned out to be extremely useful during the offensive campaigns of Peter's army.