From Viceroy to Chief Administrator: comparative analysis of the powers of the head of the Caucasus Region before and after the regional administration reform of 1881-1883 (based on the legislation of the Russian Empire)

Saribekian David Arbakovich Graduate student; Faculty of History; Russian State University for the Humanities 125047, Russia, Moscow, Tverskoy district, Miusskaya pl., 6 david7-00@mail.ru

Introduction

The Caucasus (North and South) As a vast historical and geographical region, it was part of the Russian Empire for many decades. As you know, from the end of the XVIII century to the end of the XIX century. The process of joining it was complex and multi-stage in nature. For the same period of time, the Russian government faced another, no less difficult task – the organization of local government, which would meet the specifics of the region and at the same time integrate it into the imperial system. This task was implemented in different ways at different times.

However, in the early 1880s, unprecedented political and administrative transformations took place, as a result of which the civil administration of the Caucasus Region was centralized and unified with the general imperial system. The institute of viceroyalty was replaced by an administration headed by the commander-in-chief of the civilian unit in the Caucasus, which marked the elimination of the autonomous status of the outskirts, including the broad powers of its chief. These and other subjects related to the so-called period of administration in the history of the Caucasus (1882-1905), which are relevant and significant in the context of research on management practices and mechanisms of interaction between the center and the periphery in empire states, remain poorly understood from a fundamental point of view upon careful consideration of a number of aspects.

The issue of the powers of the new head of the Caucasus in one form or another is touched upon by many researchers both through the prism of history (S. S. Agasbekova ^[1], M. A. Volkhonsky ^[2], L. S. Gatagova and D. I. Ismailzade ^[3], E. V. Novikov ^[4], etc.) and from the perspective of law (M. A. Bazarnov ^[5], G. M. Davidyan ^[6], N. I. Krasnyakov ^[7-8], A. A. Nagaev ^[9] and others). However, this is the first time that the article has undertaken a detailed legal comparison of the rights and duties of the governor and the commander-in-chief in the context of reform based on relevant legislative acts, which is why it is so new. The purpose of the study is to determine exactly how the head of the region was limited in his powers and, based on this, to identify the specifics of the reform of 1881-1883.

The study was carried out using the historical and comparative method (identification of common and special features in related forms) based on the materials of the legislation of the Russian time of the corresponding period. The key documents are the provisions regulating the powers of the chiefs and fixed in the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire.: "Establishment of the administration of the Caucasian and Transcaucasian Territory" (1876) ^[10], "General Instructions to the Governors-General" (1876) ^[11] and "Establishment of the Administration of the Caucasian Territory" (1883) ^[12].

The main part

Perhaps the most famous "epoch" of the imperial Caucasus is the period of the so–called second viceroyalty, a system created in 1842-1846. in the conditions of the culminating stage of the Caucasian War. During this period, the administration of the region (North and South Caucasus) was brought to maximum autonomy: its head was an authoritative and sovereign chief, invested with the personal trust of the sovereign ^{[13, p. 20]}. Having received broad powers in the field of civil and military administration of the region, he soon became known as the Caucasian governor. The entire local government was subordinate to him, and he himself, being removed from the ministerial vertical, reported directly to the emperor. All these provisions were established, in particular, in the following documents: "The most highly approved order to the Chief Directorate of the Transcaucasian Territory" (12.11.1842) ^[14], the highest rescript addressed to Count M. S. Vorontsov "On strengthening the rights of the Chief Commander of the civil unit in the Caucasus" (30.01.1845) ^[15].

This situation required changes in the order of the supreme administration of the region: in 1845, the Caucasian Committee was formed on the basis of the Committee on Transcaucasian Affairs, designed instead of the Committee of Ministers to consider all cases in the Caucasus, the resolution of which exceeded the authority of the governor, ministers and chief governors; as well as issues requiring general measures throughout Russia, including across the Caucasus. These provisions were fixed in the following acts: "The Most highly approved Regulation on the Office of the Caucasian Committee" (02/3/1845) ^[16] and the decree "On submitting to the Caucasian Committee all cases on the Transcaucasian Territory and the Caucasian Region" (07/23/1845) ^[17]. Thus, the entire top management of the region was concentrated in the committee.

The foundation of the new system was completed by the "Highly approved rules on the relations of the Caucasian Governor" (6.01.1846) ^[18], which consolidated the status of the governor in the Caucasian region and Transcaucasian Territory and his place in the system of state institutions and in relation to the emperor.

As a result, a new but stable system was formed in the Caucasus, which existed with minor changes and additions for more than thirty-five years, and its legislative framework during this time was repeatedly codified and included in all editions of the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire (1855, 1857, 1869-1871, 1876). During this period, having inscribed in the history of the viceroys Prince M. S. Vorontsov (1844-1854), N. N. Muravyov-Kars (1854-1856), Prince A. I. Baryatinsky (1856-1862) and Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich (1862-1881), Russia managed to successfully end the war with the highlanders and complete the process of annexation of the North and South Caucasus, unite all its territories in a single macro-regional space, called the "Caucasian Region", to organize its new administrative and territorial structure and, eventually, to establish its place in the empire. All this suggests that the results of the viceroyalty system were significant, which made it possible to stabilize and strengthen Russia's position in the Caucasus, especially in the period after the Caucasian War (1860s - 1870s), when the region was as close as possible to inner Russia, albeit with certain nuances ^{[3, pp. 281, 305]}.

Nevertheless, with the advent of the era of Emperor Alexander III, a new turn was marked in the administration of the Caucasus. In 1881-1883, the government reorganized the administration of the region, subjecting its civil structure to centralization and unification with the general imperial system. The reasons for these transformations were political and economic in nature: the government, in which the relevant discussions and discussions had been conducted since at least the 1860s, thus sought to strengthen the integration of the region into the empire and reduce the costs of its autonomous structure ^{[2, p. 174]}. However, while the post of governor was held by Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich, who was the brother of Emperor Alexander II, intentions to transform the system were not realized ^{[2, p. 177],[8, p. 396]}.

However, with the death of Alexander II and the accession of Alexander III, the situation took a new turn: in connection with the transfer of Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich to the post of Chairman of the State Council and his resignation from the post of governor in 1881, the government made a final decision to reform the administration. By the Supreme decree of November 22, 1881, the post of Governor of the Caucasus was abolished, and instead a new post of Commander-in-Chief of the civil unit in the Caucasus with the rights of governor-General was established; in addition, the Caucasian Committee was abolished, and therefore the order of interaction between the commander-in-chief and the central institutions was also transferred to the grounds common to governors-general ^{[19, p. 88]}.

The further implementation of the reform in 1882 was accompanied by the appointment of the commander-in-Chief, Prince A. M. Dondukov-Korsakov and his participation in the transformations. For this purpose, at his request, a special time of the "transitional period" was allocated ^{[2, p. 186]}, during which part of the old powers of the governor were retained (for example, the right to announce in the region, in addition to the general order, all orders of the supreme authority, to cancel the decisions of provincial institutions, etc.), however, the Caucasian Committee, as well as a special the order of interaction of the governor with higher and central institutions, as well as the right to lead local departmental institutions, etc., were abolished - all these provisions, which already practically equated the commander-in-chief with the governor-generals, were fixed in the relevant decrees: "On the abolition of the Caucasian Committee" (29.01.1882) ^[20] and "On the establishment of local Administrations of the Caucasus" (29.01.1882) ^[21]. As a result, the prince made a tour of the entire Caucasus Region, familiarized himself with its current situation, and based on this presented to the emperor an "Outline of the political state of the Caucasus", where he outlined his own considerations on the issue of management reorganization, emphasizing the need to maintain internal stability in the region ^{[22, p. 114]}.

The reform ended on April 26, 1883, when legislative provisions were issued that completed the process of abolishing the old system (decree "On the Transformation of the Administration of the Caucasus and Transcaucasian Territory" ^[23]) and the establishment of a new one ("The Most highly approved Institution of the Administration of the Caucasus Region ¹" ^[24]). It was the latter document that became the basic law governing the operation of the new system. It was also codified and released in a new edition of the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire of the same year ^[12].

According to the new Institution, the administration of the Caucasus Region was headed by the commander-in-chief. His rights and duties in the internal administration of the region, as well as the procedure for interaction with the supreme power (the emperor) and with institutions of the highest, central and local levels were determined by the rules of the "General Instructions to the governors-General" from the "General Institution of the province" – the first part of the second volume of the Code of Laws of the Russian Empire (edition 1876) ^[11] as well as the regulations of the Institution itself; in border affairs, the commander-in-chief acted on the basis of special instructions from the emperor ^{[12, p. 2, art. 8]}.

Comparing the provisions of, on the one hand, the 1883 Institution and the 1876 Instructions, and, on the other, the "Institutions of the Caucasian and Transcaucasian Territories" (1876 edition) ^[10], the last edition regulating the structure of the former, viceroy model, it seems possible to compare the limits of power in both systems, which they legislatively regulated, and namely, the powers of their chief superiors.

Thus, the governor was proclaimed the chief commander of the Caucasian Territory, in whose person the supreme local administration of all civil and border affairs ^was concentrated ^{[10, p. 3, art. 9]}, and the governor-general, to whom the commander–in-chief was legislatively "oriented", was "the main guardian of the inviolability of the supreme rights of the autocracy, the benefits of the state and the precise execution laws and orders of the supreme government on all parts of the administration in the region entrusted to them" ^{[11, pp. 71-72, art. 415]}. This difference in wording largely determined the fundamental difference between the positions and the systems they headed.

Almost all local institutions and their officials were subordinate to the governor, and in his actions he was directly subordinate to the supreme authority, i.e. the emperor ^{[10, pp. 3, 4, articles 10, 13]}, whereas the commander-in-chief (Governor-General) had a generally established procedure for interacting with each of the three levels of government: the supreme authority (the emperor), "state institutions" (higher and central institutions) and "local institutions" (local institutions) ^{[11, p. 76, art. 445]}.

The possibilities of interaction with the monarch for the commander-in-chief were reduced to a minimum. If the governor-general was to directly represent to the emperor all the most important matters related to the civil administration of the region, drafts of new laws and regulations concerning all branches of government, etc. ^{[10, p. 5, art. 21]}, then the governor-general could enter with a presentation to the latter only on matters of special importance and in emergency situations, and representing the most important He was supposed to notify the ministers and chief administrators corresponding to the subject of the report ^{[11, pp. 76-77, articles 446-447]}.

By the way, notification of authorities, whether higher, central or local, was an obligatory element in many actions of the commander-in-chief, especially with regard to informing ministers and chief executives "by affiliation", i.e. those of them whose competencies were affected by this or that issue. This mechanism emphasized the dependence of the local chief on the central administration, once established in the general order for all the governors-general of internal Russia, and now extended to the Caucasus. This was precisely the essence of the reform of 1881-1883 – the transfer of managerial functions from the main local chief to the central government, which has now also been officially recorded. Orders of ministers and chief administrators on the main issues of internal management through the commander-in-chief (Governor-General) were transferred for execution to local institutions, and in emergency cases could be transferred directly to local authorities ^{[11, p. 77, art. 450]}. In the era of the viceroyalty, not a single such order, with some exceptions, could be submitted for execution without the consent of the viceroy (with notification of the chairman of the Caucasian Committee) ^{[10, pp. 6-7, art. 26]}.

At the same time, the Instruction, of course, allowed for mechanisms for the participation of the local chief in decision-making. It stipulated that no new measure or special order regarding "improvement, general benefit and public interest in the region" can be taken without the prior opinion of the Governor-General, and if the adoption of these measures or orders requires the creation of a new law or permission from the highest authority, then his opinion is always expressed ^{[11, p. 77, v. 451-452]}. Moreover, the Governor-General could also state his position in an "upward" process, i.e., the direction of representations from local institutions to central and higher ones ^{[11, p. 77, p. 449]}. However, all these assumptions obviously did not change the essence of the matter, because the concepts of "position" and "conclusion" did not imply "agreement", without which decisions could not be made.

At the local level, things were also ambiguous for the Governor-General. All places and officials who made up the provincial administration had to comply with its requirements, suggestions and instructions ^{[11, p. 78, art. 457]}. At the same time, there were mechanisms in which local institutions, on the contrary, acted as a deterrent to the power of the Governor-General. For example, in case of detection of riots and omissions, the latter had the right to make special orders on the spot, but with mandatory notification to the provincial authorities ^{[11, p. 78, art. 458]}. In a similar situation, the governor took measures by notifying the emperor ^{[10, pp. 4-5, art. 18]}.

In addition, in cases of inconveniences in important matters or upon receipt of a new law, the Governor-General could inform the Senate about this unanimously with all the convened local institutions and the Provincial government (however, if the supreme authority kept the law in force, it had to be executed) ^{[11, p. 78, art. 459]}, then as a governor, obviously, he could not do this. It is also worth noting that the governor could cancel the decisions of provincial government agencies and enforce his own orders ^{[10, p. 4, art. 16]}.

Thus, the basic range of powers of the Commander-in-Chief for the internal administration of the Caucasus was now based on the rules common to all governors-general, which from now on significantly limited the limits of the Caucasian chief's power. The commander-in-chief was deprived of the function of direct administration of the region, the possibility of personally resolving many important issues of local importance. His main function now was, in fact, to supervise and control the execution by local institutions of orders from higher and central institutions.

However, the local peculiarities of the Caucasus did not allow its management system to be completely rebuilt in the same way as it was in the management of the inner provinces of Russia. In this regard, it is necessary to turn again to the "Essay" by A.M. Dondukov-Korsakov in 1882: as already mentioned, in it the prince emphasized the need to maintain internal stability in the region, since, in his opinion, this was necessary for the successful introduction and implementation of the project of a new centralized administration in the Caucasus, taking into account its specifics. and the problems that persisted in it (crime, unresolved land relations, the issue of "trustworthiness" of some groups of the local population, etc.). Stability, according to the prince, could be achieved by combining the use of force against those who violate order and improving the socio-economic conditions of all categories of the population of the Caucasian Region ^{[22, pp. 116-118]}. All this pointed to the need to take into account the local conditions of the region, despite the reverse nature of the policy set by the government in relation to it. Undoubtedly, for this reason, in particular, in addition to the general rules, the commander-in-chief was given special rights, "derogations" based not on the Instructions of 1876, but on the Institution itself of 1883.

In particular, among other things, special rights were allowed in relation to the orders of higher institutions, although with a lot of nuances. So, if in the general imperial decrees of the Senate, which did not mention their extension to Transcaucasia and the native (i.e. inhabited by indigenous inhabitants) part of the Tersk and Kuban regions, the commander-in-chief saw an inconvenience for the named localities, then he had the right to inform the subject minister or the chief administrator within two months of receiving the decree ^{[12, p. 2, art. 9]}. The governor had the same option, but in a slightly different form: it was only about Transcaucasia, and he had to report the situation to the chairman of the Caucasian Committee within four months of receiving the decree ^{[10, p. 6, art. 25]}. This small but significant difference once again underlines the transfer of the order of interaction between the Caucasian chief and the center from a special to a generally established one.

In the case of central institutions, if the commander–in-chief saw an inconvenience in the general orders of ministers and chief administrators (already for the entire Caucasus region), he could also inform them about this, and in particularly important cases, suspend the orders on his own responsibility until further instructions were received; if the minister or chief administrator did not agree with the commander-in-chief, the case It was resolved in the Committee of Ministers ^{[12, p. 2, art. 10]}.

The possibility of influencing orders was also provided at the local level: in situations where a decision of a local institution or an official of an administrative department could violate the state or public interest, the commander-in-chief had the right to suspend its execution on his own responsibility, referring it to a higher authority in the order of subordination ^{[12, p. 3, art. 17]}.

Another significant departure for the commander-in-chief over and above the general rules was, of course, the right to expel the indigenous inhabitants of the Caucasus Region to certain places in the region or beyond if they participated in violent crimes (but subject to preliminary consideration by the Council of the Commander-in-Chief). Moreover, the commander-in-chief was given the right to take administrative measures to restore order under personal responsibility (with notification to the Minister of Internal Affairs) ^{[12, p. 6, articles 26-27]}.

Conclusion

An analysis and comparison of the powers of the governor and the commander-in-chief based on the materials of the legislation of the Russian Empire shows exactly how the new position was limited in powers compared to the one that preceded it. The governor, having a wide range of rights, could make decisions on the spot, reporting directly to the emperor. The commander-in-chief was deprived of the right to take the initiative in making major decisions on local issues. In fact, he could personally make only special and some other orders, and, as a rule, upon notification or coordination with the relevant authorities at different levels (depending on the scale of the measures taken). Thus, his administrative rights were limited ^{[8, p. 398]}, and his dependence on the central government was increased. Having become basically the governor-General, the head of the Caucasus henceforth acted more as a supervisor of all branches of public administration in the region, which marked the implementation of a new government policy that turned from the principles of autonomy to the mechanisms of centralization and unification in the administration of the region.

However, it is important to note that a number of additional rights have been granted to the commander-in-chief due to the needs of the region. This suggests that, despite the set policy, the specifics of the Caucasus nevertheless influenced the course of the reform of 1881-1883 and the structure of the region after it, including in the area of setting the limits of the power of the main local chief. This "duality" became the basis of the new centralized system and predetermined its work in the future.

¹ Hereafter, the designations "Caucasian Region" and "Caucasian and Transcaucasian Region" are identical.

² The military affairs of the region were managed by the governor and the commander-in-chief as Commander-in-Chief of the Caucasian Army and Commander of the troops of the Caucasian Military District, respectively.

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