Officialdom in the Russian Empire

Bureaucracy in the Russian Empire - a description of the state with officials (modernity - civil servants ) of the times of the Russian Empire .

Portrait of A. S. Stroganov in the robe of the gentleman of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called

The foundations of the organization of bureaucracy were laid by Peter I in the Table of Ranks . At the beginning of the XIX century, the number of ranks in the list was reduced from 14 to 12. The title extended to the wives and daughters of officials ^[1] . In addition to class employees, there were lower employees who did not have ranks (clerks, couriers, and so on).

At the beginning of the 20th century, the ministerial position corresponded to the rank of class II, his deputy - III and the like.

There were two ways to increase the rank: length of service (3-4 years), moreover, regardless of the availability of vacant seats; receiving a specific order (each order could receive only a certain rank). In this regard, there was a problem: there were fewer jobs than the public servants themselves. Although, on the other hand, they passed away before the length of service went through the entire hierarchy.

When applying for a service, there were requirements for education (except for the children of noblemen). There were quotas for the admission of Catholics, and Jews were accepted only with higher education ^[2] . Foreigners were not allowed to serve (except for employees of the "educational unit", "in mining", etc.)

In general, the total number of administrative employees in the Russian Empire in relation to the population at the beginning of the 20th century was only ⅓ of the corresponding indicator in France, and ½ - Germany. Many small administrative functions, up to the collection of taxes and the recruiting, were assigned to the local peasant self-government, which was not financed at all from the treasury. At the level of peasant volosts, there were absolutely no permanent representatives of the central government.

Obligatory uniforms (purchased by officials at their own expense), which designated the department, position, type of service, were also an external expression of belonging to the civil service, and for the provincial employees as the province.

The exemption of the nobility from compulsory service led to their mass evasion of public service and a decrease in the number of nobles in the bureaucracy. By the beginning of the 20th century, the share of nobles in officialdom was no more than 20–40%. However, the nobles remained dominant among the highest officials: in the second half of the 19th century, 100% of ministers, 98.2% of the members of the State Council, 95.4% of senators, 100% of governors, 88.2% of vice-governors were nobles % of prosecutors ^[3] .

The total number of Russian bureaucracies at the beginning of the 20th century is estimated, along with non-class officials, at 500 thousand people.

The servility to the authorities that was widespread among Russian officials was repeatedly ridiculed by many classics of Russian literature: Anton Chekhov (Fat and Thin, Chameleon ), Saltykov-Shchedrin (The History of a City , The Tale of How One Man Fed Two Generals "), Gogol (" Nose "," Overcoat ").