Historical retrospective of the administrative-territorial division of the Russian Empire and regional administration in the work of K. I. Arsenyev "Statistical Essays of Russia"

Morozov Alexander Aleksandrovich Postgraduate student; Institute of Public Administration and Management ; Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA) 119071, Russia, Moscow, Vavilova str., 4, sq. 235 morozovmsu@yandex.ru

Konstantin Ivanovich Arsenyev is a well—known scientist and public figure of the first half of the XIX century, who did a lot in the field of statistical, geographical and historical study of Russia. He is the author of several historical works that have not yet lost their scientific value, a geography textbook, which for thirty years served as the only textbook on this subject and has gone through twenty editions ^{[7, p. 175]}, as well as fundamental works on statistics and zoning. Arsenyev taught history and statistics to the future Emperor Alexander II and was one of the founders of the Russian Geographical Society. For eighteen years, he headed the statistical department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and made a great contribution to the development of domestic statistical science, enriching it with a mass of new data, and he "can fairly be called one of the fathers of our official statistics" ^{[10, p. 174]}. Arsenyev was one of the first to develop the zoning of Russia taking into account the natural and economic characteristics of the regions and presented it in his fundamental work "Statistical Sketches of Russia", published in 1848. But the first attempt at zoning was made by him back in 1818 in the work "The outline of the statistics of the Russian state", where he proposed, "taking into consideration the difference in climate and soil quality ... to divide Russia for greater convenience into 10 spaces, one different from the other in one respect or another" ^{[1, p. 22]}. Arsenyev highlighted the following spaces: Northern (between the Gulf of Bothnia and the northern Ural Mountains), Alaunsky, Baltic (from the shores of the Gulf of Finland to Lithuania and Poland), Lowland (including Belarus and Lithuania), Carpathian, Steppe (from the Azov to the Caspian Sea), Oka (lands along the river Oke is the center of all European Russia), Volzhskoye (from Saratov to Yaroslavl), Uralskoye and Siberia ^{[1, pp. 22-26]}. This division of the country into spaces was contrary to the division into latitudinal climatic zones accepted at that time in the scientific community and caused a lively controversy ^[8]. Subsequently, this work of Arsenyev was recognized as useful "for anyone studying Russian social and literary trends of the first quarter of the XIX century." ^{[3, p. 785]}.

In the "Statistical Essays of Russia" Arsenyev amended his original version of the zoning of Russia, and also highlighted the history of state regional administration and administrative-territorial division of Russia. Arsenyev's book includes five essays. In the first two, the author examines the benefits and disadvantages of Russia's borders from different points of view, and also tells how the Russian territory, which occupied less than 8000 under Rurik, increased, and in 1848 already 367,112 square miles ^{[9, p. 66]}. In the third essay, the author introduces the reader to the history of state regional management in Russia, citing various decrees, instructions and other official acts on the management of provinces. Arsenyev also shows how the administrative structure of the country has changed, and provides tables (timesheets) with a list of provinces, provinces, governorates and counties in 1708, 1719, 1745, 1766, 1785 and 1795. In the table of provinces and regions of 1848 their territory and the number of inhabitants are indicated. The fourth essay is devoted to the description of the climate and natural resources of all provinces included in each of the 10 spaces allocated by the author himself. The last essay "surpasses all others in the wealth of statistical materials collected in it" ^{[4, p. 58]}. Arsenyev provides here for each of the 10 spaces data on the areas of arable land, meadows, forests, pastures, the average yield of bread and potatoes, the number of livestock and "in general everything necessary to determine the degree of development of arable farming, cattle breeding, hunting, navigation, forestry, fishing and other industries" ^{[4, p. 58; 9, p. 67]}.

Turning to the history of the territorial division of Russia, Arsenyev shows that initially this division occurred naturally, when in the XVI – XVII centuries the former appanage principalities became simple regions governed in a similar way, but taking into account local peculiarities. Peter I believed that "external security and the tranquility of the people within the state depend a lot on the correct and prudently arranged division of the state into parts" ^{[2, p. 60]}, and in 1708 By his decree, Russia was divided into 8 provinces: Moscow, Ingermanland (renamed St. Petersburg in 1710), Arkhangelsk, Kiev, Smolensk, Kazan, Azov and Siberian. This separation was dictated primarily by financial issues, "in order to better look at monetary fees" ^{[2, p. 60]}, as well as security considerations. The governors of the provinces appointed by the tsar were guided in their administration by both existing laws and customs established by time. In 1719 Peter the Great developed new rules for the administration of provinces and issued the "Instructions to the governors", which accurately outlined the duties of governors and governors. In the same year, the composition of the provinces was also changed. Now there are 11 of them: St. Petersburg, Moscow, Kiev, Azov, Revel, Riga, Arkhangelsk, Siberian, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod and Astrakhan. Provinces were divided into provinces, and provinces were divided into counties with cities, suburbs and villages. From the table of provinces of 1719, given by Arsenyev, it can be seen that only the Astrakhan and Revel provinces did not have provinces, and in the other nine provinces there were a total of 42 provinces, and most of them were in two metropolitan provinces – in St. Petersburg 11, and in Moscow 9 provinces ^{[2, p. 68]}. Arsenyev believed that the second division of Russia into provinces was more thoughtful, despite some shortcomings (for example, the addition of part of the cities of the abolished Smolensk province to the Riga province remote from them). Some provinces were governed by governors-general, others simply by governors paired with vice-governors, provinces were managed by provincial governors depending on the governors, to whom the city governors were subordinate, who ruled one city with its county. The border provinces and fortified cities were ruled by commandants and chief commandants, who had the authority of military commanders. All these leaders obeyed precise and definite instructions issued by Peter the Great in 1719. Such a structure of the country and thoughtful management served to "establish a better order in the management of heterogeneous parts of the State" and "turned out to be consistent with the requirements of the time and with the needs of the people" ^{[2, p. 78]}. By order of Catherine I, the instructions for the administration of provinces and provinces were revised, and in 1728 A "Mandate to governors and Voivodes" was issued, which had many similarities with previous instructions, but was significantly supplemented. So, in addition to the exact designation of the duties of the governors and governors, instructions were added on how best to perform these duties, and the powers of the governors were also significantly expanded — in addition to government and police, they also received judicial and financial power. The composition of the provinces also changed: Azov in 1725. It was renamed Voronezh in 1726. Smolenskaya was withdrawn from the Riga province in 1727. Velikiye Luki, Pskov, Belozersk, Novgorod and Tver provinces separated from St. Petersburg province and formed Novgorod Province, at the same time Uglitsky and Yaroslavl provinces were transferred to Moscow province from St. Petersburg, Solikamsk and Vyatka provinces (formerly in Siberian province) were transferred to Kazan province and Ufa Province was separated from it, which under Empress Anna, it became the Orenburg province. Three provinces were separated from the Kiev province, forming the Belgorod province, the Vyborg province, together with the new lands, became a province. All changes in the territorial structure were carried out for the convenience of management. Now there are 16 provinces. Catherine II, before making new changes in the composition of the provinces, wrote out deputies from all over the empire "in order to identify the needs and shortcomings of each county according to its position" and better understand the state of government, and also founded a special commission to draft a new code, which was tasked with "changing for the better the whole way of life of the State as a whole. to make a new distribution of its parts" ^{[2, pp. 90-91]}. In the first four years of her reign, Catherine II annexed 4 more new provinces to the previous 16. Provinces were divided into provinces and counties, or into counties and districts without provinces, or into regiments. From Arsenyev's report card of provinces, provinces and counties, it is clear how unevenly the population is distributed between the provinces, and some provinces even surpass the provinces in population ^{[2, p. 100]}. But despite such a difference in size and population, all provinces had the same staff of managers and officials, although in densely populated provinces the burden on officials was much greater. The Commission concluded that "the incorrect division of the state into parts and too great inequality of these parts are great obstacles to the proper course of government affairs and to the prosperity of the kingdom" ^{[2, p. 104]} and tried to correct this situation where possible. For example, the Arkhangelsk province, which was too large in size, was divided into two, some territories of the too long Novgorod province were transferred to other provinces, the Simbirsk province was separated from the Kazan province, three provinces were separated from the Moscow province, making them provinces. The Commission tried to ensure that the borders of the provinces were, if possible, at an equal distance from the provincial cities. In 1772 Russia received the whole of Belarus under the first partition of Poland, and in 1774 after the war with Turkey, the coast of the Sea of Azov. Thus, three more provinces were added: Pskov, Mogilev and Azov. By 1775, there were only 28 provinces in Russia. In the same year, an Institution for the Administration of provinces was issued, which approved a new order of provincial administration. The provinces were governed by sovereign governors or governors-general, who had unlimited executive power, but did not have legislative and judicial power. In 1785 There were 19 governor-general districts, most of which included two governorates, and the Moscow province was part of a separate district. The distribution of different parts of the Empire into provinces, taking into account their population and territory, was carried out until 1785. The population of the province should have been from 300 to 400 thousand people, and the county from 10 to 30 thousand, so that "the provinces could be decently managed" ^{[1, p. 159; 2, p. 117]}. In the last years of Catherine II's reign, Lithuania, Polish Ukraine and Courland were acquired, with the formation of eight new governorates. By the end of her reign, there were 49 governorates and two regions in Russia (the Taurida Region and the Land of the Don Cossacks). The main goal of the regional policy of that period was the uniform management of all parts of the state, both old and newly annexed, and the organization of the same office work throughout the country. Under Emperor Paul I, 41 provinces were formed instead of the previous 49 governorates and 2 regions. Arsenyev considered this transformation unsuccessful, since the provinces were unevenly divided and many cities were closed. The return of former rights to the newly annexed provinces also had negative consequences, which disrupted the unity of the provincial administration, which Catherine aspired to ^{[2, p. 139]} Emperor Alexander I recognized the need to increase the number of provinces. Penza and Olonets provinces were restored, Belarus and Lithuania were each divided into two provinces, two provinces were established in Little Russia — Chernihiv and Poltava. In 1802 Novorossiysk province is divided into three provinces by type of population and trade: Yekaterinoslav, Nikolaevskaya and Tavricheskaya. Astrakhan province is divided into two provinces for the convenience of management. In 1822 A radical transformation of the entire Siberian Region was carried out. In order to take into account the differences between this region and the central provinces when building a policy of regional governance, a "General institution for the administration of Siberia" was issued, which fully corresponded to the needs of the region, which helped to stop the unrest and ensured the free activity of various tribes and peoples inhabiting Siberia. Siberia was divided into two parts (Western and Eastern), each of which was governed by a special governor-General ^{[2, p. 143]}. At the beginning of the 19th century, many more transformations took place in the composition and borders of the provinces. But the most important change in the state regional policy was the abolition of the old laws governing provinces, adopted under Catherine II, as they no longer meet the requirements of the time. Arsenyev puts it this way: "New ideas and new needs arose; the old statutes could no longer have the same effect...in the present order of things, with the unusually rapid development of popular and governmental activities, it was impossible not to feel the need to update or cancel the old and to draw up new statutes in accordance with the concepts of the century and the desires of the well-intentioned and enlightened people in the state" ^{[2, p. 155]}. In 1837, new legislative provisions were adopted: "General order to civil governors", "Regulation on the procedure for the production of cases in provincial boards" and "Regulation on the zemstvo police", and in 1845 — "Establishment of provincial boards". Arsenyev characterizes the new laws on the management of provinces as fully consistent with the needs and ideas of the new generation. By the middle of the 19th century, there were 55 provinces and 3 regions in Russia ^{[2, p. 15]}.

Having introduced the reader to the history of the administrative-territorial division of Russia, the author proceeds to describe the climate and natural resources of all provinces and spaces. Taking into account the difference in climate and soil quality, he proposes to divide the country into ten spaces "different from each other in one way or another: Northern, Alaunian, Baltic, Lowland, Carpathian, Steppe, Central or Inner, Ural, Caucasian and Siberian" ^{[2, p. 163]}. In the last chapter, Arsenyev, according to the division of Russia into spaces proposed by himself, gives the most detailed characteristics of all the provinces included in each of these spaces: their climate; the suitability of the soil for agriculture and animal husbandry; the presence of forests and waterways; the size of the territory occupied by arable land, meadows and forests; the availability of natural resources; the development of industry and trade, local crafts.

K. I. Arsenyev's work "Statistical Sketches of Russia" was subsequently called "one of his most valuable works" ^{[7, p. 320]} In 1849, the book was awarded the prize of the Russian Imperial Geographical Society as the best work on statistics. Arsenyev managed to "enrich science with a mass of new data and shed light on the epochs that were reserved for science at that time" ^{[10, p. 175]}. His ideas served as the basis for the creation of the doctrine of zoning in the future. E. N. Pertsik believed that Arsenyev managed to capture "those regional differences that were formed in objective reality" ^[5]. Arsenyev's work is also interesting because it allows us to trace how the administrative-territorial division of Russia was improved from the beginning of the XVIII to the middle of the XIX century. and the state policy was changing in order to optimally manage the centralized state. The regional policy of the empire pursued, ultimately, the goals of the political and economic integration of the country, the establishment of its social, legal and administrative homogeneity. But the specific needs of the administration forced the government to continue to take into account the regional uniqueness of the territories ^{[6, p. 17]}. Arsenyev's scientific legacy was of interest both to his contemporaries and to subsequent generations of researchers, as evidenced by articles about him published since the second half of the XIX century. ^{[3; 4; 7; 9; 10; 11]}.

The scientific novelty of the work lies in the analysis of the possibilities of applying the scientific heritage of K. I. Arsenyev in the realities of modern Russia in the formation of regional policy and the administrative-territorial division of the country. A detailed analysis of Arsenyev's works gives us reason to believe that his practical and theoretical calculations are relevant and can be applied at the present stage of Russia's development. In 2022, four new regions were incorporated into the Russian Federation: Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), Zaporizhia and Kherson regions. The issue of building a management system in new regions is an important decision. To develop the most effective approach, it may be useful to refer to the experience of the Russian Empire and the conclusions drawn by Arsenyev. As a result of the annexation of Lithuania, Polish Ukraine and Courland during the reign of Catherine II, uniform administration of all parts of the state, both old and newly annexed, was approved. Arsenyev notes the negative consequences of the return of former rights to the newly annexed provinces under Paul I. Thus, it can be assumed that uniform management in the new regions of Russia is the most rational solution. It can also be noted that the goals of the regional policy of modern Russia largely correspond to the tasks once solved in the Russian Empire, such as the political and economic integration of the country and socio-economic homogeneity. The management system did not ignore the regional identity of the territories. Arsenyev proposed dividing the country into ten spaces, based on natural indicators such as climate and soil quality.

To assess the relevance of Arsenyev's proposed criteria for the administrative-territorial division of the country, it is important to trace the key trends of recent decades, among which urbanization and globalization should be noted. The consolidation of economic activity around large cities, the growth of the service sector, as well as the role of the oil and gas sector in modern Russia offset differences in climate and soil quality as the main criteria for the conditional division of the country. According to Rosstat calculations, the share of the oil and gas sector in the gross domestic product of the Russian Federation remains at a consistently high level throughout the history of calculations of this indicator and averages 17.4% for the period from 2017 to 2023 ^[12].

¹⁾ Excluding statistical information on the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), Zaporizhia and Kherson regions

Table 1. The share of the oil and gas sector in the GDP of the Russian Federation (in current prices, as a percentage). The table was finalized by the author using statistical data from Rosstat ^[12].

Thus, one of the possible criteria for the administrative-territorial division of the country can be proposed the distribution of the resource base of minerals. When using this criterion, natural factors will form the basis for dividing the territory of Russia, which can be described as using Arsenyev's ideas, taking into account the modern realities of our country. As an alternative criterion for the administrative-territorial division of Russia, large cities can be used as poles of growth. The increasing trends of urbanization are concentrating the labor resources of our country around large cities. A visual infographic of the concentration of economic activity in Russia can serve as a photograph of the country's territory at night.

Figure 1. Photographing the territory of Russia at night. The fragment of the infographic was selected by the author using an Internet resource ^[13]

A visual analysis of the infographics shown in Figure 1 demonstrates a high level of concentration of economic activity around large cities, primarily Moscow and St. Petersburg. The socio-economic inequality of Russia's regions is becoming obvious. For example, the territory of the Far East clearly requires stimulating development. Using the competitive advantages of the regions can be the key to the comprehensive development of the entire territory of Russia. The development of the regions and the emergence of new growth poles in the regions can serve as a locomotive for the socio-economic development of our country. The implementation of large–scale projects to create poles of growth can be observed in such examples as the innovative science city Innopolis - the satellite city of Kazan or the construction of the city "Sputnik" 30 km from Vladivostok, which was approved at the Eastern Economic Forum in September 2024.

Having analyzed Arsenyev's ideas in the field of administrative-territorial division and public administration in the Russian Empire, as well as assessing the relevance of the proposed concepts at the present stage of Russia's development, we can conclude that close attention is needed to the most important aspects of the scientific heritage of Russian scientists in the development of public policy.