Reforms of the reign of Ivan 4 briefly. Military reforms of Ivan IV the Terrible
NEP - " new economic policy» Soviet Russia represented economic liberalization under strict political control of the authorities. NEP has replaced war communism» (« old economic policy”- SEP) and had the main task: to overcome the political and economic crises of the spring of 1921. The main idea of the NEP was the restoration National economy for the subsequent transition to socialist construction.
By 1921 Civil War on the territory of the former Russian Empire generally ended. There were still battles with the unfinished White Guards and the Japanese occupiers on Far East(in the Far East), and in the RSFSR they already estimated the losses brought by military revolutionary upheavals:
Loss of territory- outside Soviet Russia and its allied socialist state formations were Poland, Finland, the Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia), Western Belarus and Ukraine, Bessarabia and the Kars region of Armenia.
Population loss as a result of wars, emigration, epidemics and a drop in the birth rate, it amounted to approximately 25 million people. Experts calculated that no more than 135 million people lived in the Soviet territories at that time.
Were thoroughly destroyed and fell into disrepair industrial areas: Donbass, Ural and Baku oil complex. There was a catastrophic shortage of raw materials and fuel for somehow working plants and factories.
The volume of industrial production decreased by about 5 times (metal smelting fell to the level of the beginning of the 18th century).
The volume of agricultural production has decreased by about 40%.
Inflation crossed all reasonable limits.
There was a growing shortage of consumer goods.
The intellectual potential of society has degraded. Many scientists, technicians and cultural figures emigrated, some were subjected to repression, up to physical destruction.
The peasants, outraged by the surplus appropriation and the atrocities of the food detachments, not only sabotaged the delivery of bread, but also everywhere raised armed rebellions. The farmers of the Tambov region, Don, Kuban, Ukraine, the Volga region and Siberia revolted. The rebels, often led by ideological SRs, put forward economic (the abolition of the surplus) and political demands:
- Changes in the agrarian policy of the Soviet authorities.
- Cancel the one-party dictate of the RCP(b).
- Elect and convene a Constituent Assembly.
Units and even formations of the Red Army were thrown to suppress the uprisings, but the wave of protests did not subside. In the Red Army, anti-Bolshevik sentiments also matured, which resulted on March 1, 1921 in the large-scale Kronstadt uprising. In the RCP(b) itself and the Supreme Council of National Economy, already since 1920, the voices of individual leaders (Trotsky, Rykov) were heard, calling for the abandonment of the surplus appraisal. The issue of changing the socio-economic course of the Soviet government is ripe.
Factors that influenced the adoption of the new economic policy
The introduction of the NEP in the Soviet state was not someone's whim, on the contrary, the NEP was due to a number of factors:
Political, economic, social and even ideological. The concept of the New Economic Policy was formulated in general terms by VI Lenin at the Tenth Congress of the RCP(b). The leader urged at this stage to change approaches to governing the country.
The concept that the driving force socialist revolution is the proletariat, unshakable. But the working peasantry is its ally, and the Soviet government must learn to "get along" with it.
The country should have a built-in system with a unified ideology suppressing any opposition to the existing government.
Only in such a situation could the NEP provide a solution to the economic problems that wars and revolutions confronted the young Soviet state.
General characteristics of the NEP
The NEP in the Soviet country is an ambiguous phenomenon, since it directly contradicted Marxist theory. When the policy of "war communism" failed, the "new economic policy" played the role of an unplanned detour on the road to building socialism. V. I. Lenin constantly emphasized the thesis: "NEP is a temporary phenomenon." Based on this, the NEP can be broadly characterized by the main parameters:
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The Soviet state allowed private capitalist relations in trade, small-scale and even in some enterprises of medium industry. At the same time, large-scale industry, transport and financial system regulated by the state. In relation to private capital, the NEP allowed the application of a formula of three elements: admission, containment and crowding out. What and at what moment to use the Soviet and party organs based on the emerging political expediency.
Chronological framework of the NEP
The New Economic Policy fell within the time frame from 1921 to 1931.
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Starting a process | The gradual curtailment of the system of war communism and the introduction of elements of the NEP. |
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1923, 1925, 1927 | Crises of the New Economic Policy | Emergence and intensification of the causes and signs of the tendency to curtail the NEP. |
Activation of the program termination process. | The actual departure from the NEP, a sharp increase in the critical attitude towards the "kulaks" and "Nepmen". |
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Complete collapse of the NEP. | The legal prohibition of private property has been formalized. |
In general, the NEP quickly restored and made the economic system of the Soviet Union relatively viable.
Pros and cons of the NEP
One of the most important negative aspects of the new economic policy, according to many analysts, was that during this period the industry (heavy industry) did not develop. This circumstance could have catastrophic consequences in this period of history for a country like the USSR. But besides this, in the NEP, not everything was assessed with the sign “plus”, there were also significant disadvantages.
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Restoration and development of commodity-money relations. | Mass unemployment (more than 2 million people). |
Development of small business in the fields of industry and services. | High prices for manufactured goods. Inflation. |
Some rise in the living standards of the industrial proletariat. | Low qualification of the majority of workers. |
The prevalence of "middle peasants" in social structure villages. | Exacerbation of the housing problem. |
Conditions have been created for the industrialization of the country. | Growth in the number of soviet employees (officials). Bureaucracy of the system. |
The reasons for many economic troubles that led to crises were the low competence of personnel and the inconsistency of the policy of the party and state structures.
Inevitable Crises
From the very beginning, the NEP showed the unstable economic growth characteristic of capitalist relations, which resulted in three crises:
The marketing crisis of 1923, as a result of the discrepancy between low prices for products Agriculture and high prices for manufactured consumer goods (price scissors).
The crisis of grain procurements in 1925, expressed in the preservation of mandatory state purchases at fixed prices, with a decrease in the volume of grain exports.
The acute crisis of grain procurements in 1927-1928, overcome with the help of administrative and legal measures. Closing of the New Economic Policy project.
Reasons for abandoning the NEP
The collapse of the NEP in the Soviet Union had a number of justifications:
- The New Economic Policy did not have a clear vision of the prospects for the development of the USSR.
- The instability of economic growth.
- Socio-economic flaws (property stratification, unemployment, specific crime, theft and drug addiction).
- The isolation of the Soviet economy from the world economy.
- Dissatisfaction with the NEP by a significant part of the proletariat.
- Disbelief in the success of the NEP by a significant part of the communists.
- The CPSU(b) risked losing its monopoly on power.
- The predominance of administrative methods of managing the national economy and non-economic coercion.
- Aggravation of the danger of military aggression against the USSR.
Results of the New Economic Policy
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The New Economic Policy and was not up to the end understood and accepted as a given by the authorities and the people of the country. To some extent, the measures of the NEP justified themselves, but negative sides there was more process. The main result was rapid recovery of the economic system to the level of readiness for the next stage in the construction of socialism - a large-scale industrialization.
Acceptance on X Congress of the RCP (b) the decision to replace the surplus appropriation with the tax in kind is the starting point in the transition from the policy of “war communism” to a new economic system, to the NEP.
V. I. Lenin and K. E. Voroshilov among the delegates of the X Congress of the RCP (b). 1921It is quite obvious that the introduction of a tax in kind is not the only characteristic of the NEP, which has become a definite feature for the Soviet country. system of political and economic measures carried out for nearly a decade. But these were the first steps, and taken very carefully. Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of March 29, 1921 No. Was installed grain tax in the amount of 240 million poods (with an average harvest) instead of 423 million poods when apportioned in 1920.
Peasants were able to sell their surplus products on the market.
For V.I. For Lenin, as for all Bolsheviks, this entailed a profound revision of his own ideas about the incompatibility of socialism and private trade. Already in May 1921, 2 months after the Tenth Congress, the Tenth Extraordinary Party Conference was convened to discuss a new course. There could no longer be any doubts - the course, as Lenin clarified, was taken "in earnest and for a long time." It was " reformist” method of action, the rejection of the revolutionary Red Guard attack on capital, this was the “admission” to socialism of the elements of the capitalist economy.
For the formation of a market and the establishment of commodity exchange, it was necessary to revive the industry, to increase the output of its products. There have been radical changes in the management of industry. Trusts were created - associations of homogeneous or interconnected enterprises that received complete economic and financial independence, up to the right to issue long-term bonded loans. By the end of 1922, about 90% of industrial enterprises were united in trusts.
S.L. Frank, L.P. Karsavin; historians A.A. Kizevetter, S.P. Melgunov, A.V. Florovsky; economist B.D. Brutskus and others.
Particular emphasis is placed on the elimination Menshevik and Socialist-Revolutionary parties, in 1922 arrests became massive. By this time RCP (b) remained the only legal political party in the country.
The New Economic Policy combined two contradictory trends from the very beginning: one - for the liberalization of the economy, the other - for the preservation of the monopoly communist party to power. These contradictions could not but see V.I. Lenin and other party leaders.
Established in the 20s. the NEP system, therefore, was supposed to contribute restoration and development of the national economy, which collapsed during the years of the imperialist and civil wars, but at the same time, this system initially contained internal inconsistency which inevitably led to deep crises directly arising from the nature and essence of NEP.
The first steps in the liberalization of the economy, the introduction of market relations contributed to the solution of the problem restoration of the national economy country devastated by civil war. A clear rise was indicated by the beginning of 1922. The implementation of the plan began GOELRO.
V.I.Lenin at the GOELRO map. VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets. December 1920 Hood. L. Shmatko. 1957
From the state of devastation began to emerge railway transport, the movement of trains was restored throughout the country. By 1925, large-scale industry reached the level of 1913. The Nizhegorodskaya, Shaturskaya, Yaroslavskaya, and Volkhovskaya hydroelectric power stations were put into operation.
Start of the 1st stage of the Kashirskaya GRES. 1922
The Putilov machine-building plant in Petrograd, and then the Kharkov and Kolomna plants began to produce tractors, the Moscow AMO plant - trucks.
For the period 1921 - 1924. the gross output of large-scale state industry more than doubled.
Rising in agriculture. In 1921 - 1922. the state received 233 million poods of grain, in 1922-1923 - 429.6 million, in 1923-1924 - 397, in 1925-1926 - 496 million poods. State procurement of butter increased 3.1 times, eggs - 6 times.
The transition to a tax in kind improved the socio-political situation in the countryside. In the information reports of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), relating to the summer of 1921, it was reported: “Peasants everywhere increase the area of sowing, armed uprisings have subsided, the attitude of the peasants is changing in favor of the Soviet regime.”
But the first successes were prevented by extreme disasters that hit the main grain regions of the country. 25 provinces of the Volga, Don, North Caucasus and Ukraine were hit by a severe drought, which, in the conditions of the post-war food crisis, led to a famine that claimed about 6% of the population. The fight against hunger was carried out as a broad state campaign involving enterprises, organizations, the Red Army, international organizations(ARA, Mezhrabpom).
In the famine-stricken areas, martial law was maintained, introduced there during the years of the civil war, there was a real threat of revolts, and banditry intensified.
On first plan advances new problem. The peasantry showed its dissatisfaction with the tax rate which turned out to be unbearable.
In the reports of the GPU for 1922 "On the political state of the Russian countryside," the extremely negative impact of the food tax on the financial situation of the peasants was noted. The local authorities took drastic measures against the debtors up to and including reprisals. In some provinces, an inventory of property, arrests and trials were carried out. Such measures met with active resistance from the peasants. So, for example, the inhabitants of one of the villages of the Tver province shot a detachment of Red Army soldiers who arrived to levy a tax.
According to the decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars "On a single tax in kind on agricultural products for 1922 - 1923." dated March 17, 1922, instead of a whole host of product taxes, single tax in kind, which assumed the unity of the salary sheet, pay periods and a common unit of calculation - a pood of rye.
IN May 1922 All-Russian Central Executive Committee accepted Basic Law on Labor Land Use, the content of which later, almost unchanged, formed the basis of the Land Code of the RSFSR, approved on October 30 and entered into force on December 1 of the same year. As part of state property on land, confirmed by the code, the peasants were given the freedom to choose forms of land use up to the organization of individual farms.
The development of individual farms in the countryside led to strengthening class stratification. As a result, small farms found themselves in a difficult situation. In 1922, the Central Committee of the RCP (b) began to receive information about the spread of the system of enslaving transactions in the countryside. This meant that the poor, in order to get a loan or inventory from the kulaks, were forced to pawn their crops “on the vine” for next to nothing. These phenomena are also the face of NEP in the countryside.
In general, the first years of NEP became a serious test of the new course, since the difficulties that arose were due not only to the consequences of a poor harvest in 1921, but also to the complexity of restructuring the entire system of economic relations in the country.
Spring 1922 erupted financial crisis directly related to the introduction of capitalist forms of economy.
Decrees of the Council of People's Commissars of 1921 on freedom of trade, on the denationalization of enterprises marked the rejection of the policy of "communist" distribution. This means that banknotes have returned to life as an integral part of free enterprise and trade. As M. Bulgakov wrote, at the end of 1921, “trillionaires” appeared in Moscow, i.e. people who had trillions of rubles. Astronomical figures became a reality because it became possible to buy goods with them, but this opportunity was limited by the constant depreciation of the ruble, which naturally narrowed the possibilities of free trade and the market.
At this time, a new Nepman entrepreneur, the “Soviet capitalist”, also showed himself, who, in the conditions of a commodity shortage, inevitably became an ordinary dealer and speculator.
Strastnaya (now Pushkinskaya) Square. 1920s
IN AND. Lenin, evaluating the speculation, said that "the car breaks out of the hands, it does not go quite the way the one who sits at the helm of this car imagines."
The communists admitted that old world broke in with buying and selling, clerks, speculators - with what they fought against just recently. Added problems with the state industry, which was removed from the state supply and actually left without working capital. As a result, workers either replenished the army of the unemployed, or did not receive wages for several months.
The situation in the industry has seriously deteriorated. in 1923 - early 1924., when there was a sharp decline in the growth of industrial production, which, in turn, led to the mass closure of enterprises, rising unemployment, the emergence of a strike movement that swept the whole country.
The reasons for the crisis that struck the country's economy in 1923 became the subject of discussion at XII Congress of the RCP (b) held in April 1923. “Price scissors crisis”- so they began to call him according to the famous diagram, which L.D. Trotsky, who spoke about that phenomenon, showed it to the congress delegates. The crisis was associated with a divergence in prices for industrial and agricultural goods (this was called “price scissors”). This happened because during the recovery period, the village was ahead in terms of the scale and pace of recovery. Handicraft and private production grew faster than large-scale industry. By the middle of 1923, agriculture was restored in relation to the pre-war level by 70%, and large-scale industry - by only 39%.
Discussion on the issue scissors” took place on October Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b) in 1923, a decision was made to lower the prices of manufactured goods, which, of course, prevented the deepening of the crisis, which posed a serious threat of a social explosion in the country.
The entire socio-political crisis that struck the USSR in 1923 cannot be limited only by the narrow framework of the “price scissors” problem. Unfortunately, the problem was even more serious than it might seem at first glance. Serious conflict between government and people, who was dissatisfied with the policy of power, the policy of the Communist Party. Both the working class and the peasantry expressed their protest both in the form of passive resistance and active actions against the Soviet regime.
IN 1923. many provinces of the country were covered strike movements. In the reports of the OGPU “On the political state of the USSR”, a whole range of reasons stood out: these are long-term delays wages, her low level, increasing production standards, downsizing, mass layoffs. The most acute disturbances took place at the textile enterprises of Moscow, at the metallurgical enterprises of the Urals, Primorye, Petrograd, at railway and water transport.
The year 1923 was also difficult for the peasantry. The defining moment in the mood of the peasantry was dissatisfaction with excessive high level single tax and “price scissors”. In some areas of the Primorsky and Transbaikal provinces, in the Mountain Republic ( North Caucasus) the peasants generally refused to pay the tax. Many peasants were forced to sell their livestock and even implements in order to pay the tax. There was a threat of famine. In the Murmansk, Pskov, Arkhangelsk provinces, surrogates have already begun to be eaten: moss, fish bones, straw. Banditry has become a real threat (in Siberia, Transbaikalia, the North Caucasus, Ukraine).
The socio-economic and political crisis could not but affect the position of the party.
On October 8, 1923, Trotsky outlined his point of view on the causes of the crisis and ways out of it. Trotsky's conviction that "chaos comes from above," that the crisis is based on subjective causes, was shared by many heads of economic departments and organizations.
This position of Trotsky was condemned by the majority of the members of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), and then he turned to the party masses. December 11, 1923 V " Pravda Trotsky's "Letter to Party Conferences" was published, where he accused the party of bureaucratic transformation. For a whole month from mid-December 1923 to mid-January 1924, 2-3 pages of Pravda were filled with debatable articles and materials.
The difficulties that arose as NEP developed and deepened in the first half of the 1920s inevitably led to internal party disputes. The emerging “ left direction”, defended by Trotsky and his supporters, actually reflected disbelief of a certain part of the communists in the prospects for NEP in the country.
At the VIII All-Union Party Conference, the results of the discussion were summed up and a detailed resolution was adopted condemning Trotsky and his supporters for their petty-bourgeois deviation. The accusations of factionalism, anti-Bolshevism, revisions of Leninism shook his authority, became the beginning of the collapse of his political career.
IN 1923 in connection with Lenin's illness, there is a gradual process of concentration of power in the hands of the main " triplets” Central Committee: Stalin, Kamenev and Zinoviev. In order to rule out opposition within the party in the future, the seventh point of the resolution "On the Unity of the Party", adopted at the Tenth Congress and until that time kept secret, was made public at the conference.
Farewell to V.I. Lenin. January 1924 Hood. S.Boim. 1952
While Lenin actually led the party, his authority in it was indisputable. Therefore, the struggle for power between representatives of the political currents that were emerging in connection with the transition to NEP could only have the character of hidden rivalry.
WITH 1922. when I.V. Stalin took office Secretary General RCP(b), he gradually placed his supporters in key positions in the party apparatus.
At the XIII Congress of the RCP (b) on May 23-31, 1924, two trends in the development of Soviet society were clearly noted: “one is capitalist, when capital accumulates at one pole, wage labor and poverty at the other; the other - through the most understandable, accessible forms of cooperation - to socialism.
WITH late 1924. the course starts facing the village”, elected by the party as a result of the increased dissatisfaction of the peasantry with the policy pursued, the emergence of mass demands for the creation of a peasant party (the so-called Peasant Union), which, unlike the RCP (b), would protect the interests of the peasants, resolve tax issues, and contribute to the deepening and expansion of private property in the countryside.
The developer and ideologist of the “village NEP” was N.I. Bukharin, who believed that it was necessary to move from a policy of tactical concessions to the peasantry to a sustainable course of economic reforms, because, as he said, “we have a NEP in the city, we have a NEP in relations between town and country, but we do not have a NEP in village."
With the rationale for a new turn in economic policy in the village, Bukharin spoke April 17, 1925. at a meeting of the Moscow party activists, a week later this report in the form of an article was published in Pravda. It was in this report that Bukharin uttered the famous phrase, addressing the entire peasantry with an appeal: “ Get rich!”.
This course was put into practice at the April 1925 Plenum of the Central Committee of the RCP (b), which stated that “together with the development of market relations in the countryside, as well as the strengthening of trade relations with the city and the external market, the strengthening of the bulk of the middle peasant farms with simultaneous growth (at least for the next few years) on one side of the prosperous strata of the countryside with the separation of capitalist elements (merchants) and on the other, farm laborers and the rural poor.
And in December 1925. took place XIV congress where the course was officially approved for the victory of socialism in the USSR.
The workers' delegations of Moscow and Donbass welcome the XIV Party Congress. Hood. Yu.Tsyganov
The congress called this “the main task of our party” and emphasized that “there is an economic offensive of the proletariat on the basis of the new economic policy and the advance of the economy of the USSR towards socialism, and the state socialist industry is increasingly becoming the vanguard of the national economy”, therefore, “it is necessary to set the task of the victory of socialist economic forms over private capital.
Thus, XIV Congress of the RCP (b) became a kind frontier in the reorientation of party policy towards strengthening socialist principles in economics.
Nevertheless, the beginning of the second half of the 1920s still took place under the sign of the preservation and development of NEP principles. But the grain procurement crisis in the winter of 1927-1928 created a real threat to plans for industrial construction, complicating the overall economic situation in the country.
In determining the fate of the NEP in the current economic conditions, two groups of the country's political leadership clashed. The first - Bukharin, Rykov, Pyatakov, Tomsky, Smilga and other supporters of the active growth of agriculture, the deepening of the NEP in the countryside, lost the ideological battle to the other - Stalin and his supporters (Molotov, Voroshilov, Kaganovich, etc.), who by that time had achieved a majority in the political leadership of the country.
In January 1928, Stalin proposed to expand the construction of collective farms and state farms in order to stabilize grain procurements. Stalin's speech in July 1928, published only a few years later, emphasized that politics NEP has reached a dead end that the bitterness of the class struggle is due to the ever more desperate resistance of the capitalist elements, that the peasantry will have to spend money on the needs of industrialization.
Bukharin, in his own words, “was horrified” by the General Secretary’s conclusions and tried to organize a controversy by publishing “Notes of an Economist” in Pravda on September 30, 1928, where he outlined the economic program of the opposition (Bukharin, Rykov, Tomsky compiled the so-called “ Right Opposition). The author of the article explained the crisis by errors in planning, pricing, unpreparedness of agricultural cooperation and advocated a return to economic and financial measures to influence the market under the NEP.
IN November 1928. The Plenum of the Central Committee unanimously condemned right bias”, and Bukharin, and Rykov, and Tomsky dissociated themselves from him, who were guided by the desire to preserve the unity of the party. In the same month, the party and state bodies decide on forcing collectivization processes.
In 1929, emergency measures were legalized in the Ukraine and the RSFSR to restrict the free sale of grain, the priority sale of grain under state obligations was established, and the policy of expropriating the merchant class as a class began to be implemented. The country is entering the first five-year plan, the plans of which provide for accelerated rates of industrialization and collectivization of the country. And in these plans already There is no place.
In the many years of struggle between socialist and market principles, victory was directed from above, the party leadership of the country, who made his final choice in favor of socialism.
However, attaching decisive importance to the subjective factor - the volitional actions of Stalin and his entourage, oriented towards accelerated socialist industrialization, cannot be the only explanation for the "death of NEP" in the USSR.
The actual practice of implementing this policy throughout the 20s. identifies and objective factor— i.e. those contradictions and crises that were inherent in the very nature of NEP. The interweaving of market and administrative command principles of management, maneuvering between the market and the directive economy led to a “turn” 1929. This year has become the end of the new economic policy carried out by the party and the government during the recovery period. There were undoubted successes at that time, and losses, and phenomena of stabilization, and internal crises. But the positive, constructive transformations of the 20s. undoubtedly connected with the more flexible strategy and tactics of the NEP compared to the policy of the total regime of the subsequent “Stalinist” decades.
Reforms of Ivan the Terrible- the transformations carried out by the Russian Tsar Ivan IV Vasilyevich in the 1550s - 1560s, mainly in the field of legislation, treasury management, local and central government, the armed forces and the church. The aim of the reforms was to further strengthen statehood and centralize power.
Kingdom wedding. Chosen council.
In January 1547, Ivan IV, having reached the age of majority, was officially married to the kingdom. The ceremony of taking the royal title took place in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin. From the hands of the Moscow Metropolitan Macarius, who developed the ritual of crowning the king, Ivan received the Monomakh's hat and other regalia of royal power. Thus, the divine origin of royal power was affirmed, and the authority of the church itself was strengthened.
Around 1549, from people close to the young Ivan, a new government was formed, called the Chosen Rada. The council was headed by A.F. Adashev, who came from a not very noble family. Princes D. Kurlyatev, M. Vorotynsky, Moscow Metropolitan Macarius and the priest of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kremlin Sylvester, the clerk of the Embassy Department I. Viskovaty participated in its work. The Rada existed until 1560 and was the body that carried out the reforms of Ivan IV.
Central and local government
During the period of the formation of a centralized state, the Boyar Duma played the role of a legislative and advisory body under the Grand Duke, and later under the Tsar. During the reign of Ivan the Terrible, the composition of the Boyar Duma was almost tripled in order to weaken the role of the boyar aristocracy in it.
The rise of the authority of the tsarist government, the strengthening of the clergy and the formation of powerful local landownership led to the emergence of a new body - the Zemsky Sobor. Zemsky Sobors met irregularly and dealt with the most important state affairs, primarily issues foreign policy and finance. During the period of kingdoms, new tsars were elected at Zemsky Sobors. First Zemsky Sobor was convened in 1549. He decided to draw up a new Code of Laws (approved in 1550) and formulated a program of reforms in the middle of the 16th century. The Zemsky Sobors included the Boyar Duma, the Consecrated Cathedral - representatives of the higher clergy, sometimes representatives of the nobility and the top tenants attended its meetings.
In the middle of the XVI century. the central governing bodies - orders - finally took shape. They were in charge of the industries government controlled or individual regions of the country. Military affairs were led by the Discharge Order (in charge of the local army), Pushkarsky (artillery), Streltsy (archers), Armory (arsenal). foreign affairs was in charge of the Ambassadorial order, state finances - the order of the Great Parish; state lands distributed to the nobles - Local order; serfs - serf order. There were orders that were in charge of certain territories: the order of the Siberian Palace, the order of the Kazan Palace. At the head of the order was a boyar or clerk - a major government official. The design of the order system made it possible to centralize the administration of the country.
On the ground began to be created one system management. The collection of taxes in individual lands was previously entrusted to the boyars-feeders, who "fed" at the expense of managing the lands. In 1556, feeding was eliminated. On the ground, management (investigation and court for especially important state cases) was transferred into the hands of elected representatives of the local population: lip elders (lip - district), elected from among the local nobles; zemstvo elders - from among the black-haired population where there was no noble land ownership; city clerks and favorite heads - in the cities.
Sudebnik 1550
The general trend towards centralization of the country and the state apparatus led to the publication of a new collection of laws - the Sudebnik of 1550. Taking the Sudebnik of Ivan III as a basis, the compilers made changes to it related to the strengthening of central power. It confirmed the right of the peasants to move on St. George's Day and the payment for the "elderly" was increased. The feudal lord was now responsible for the crimes of his peasants, which increased personal dependence on the master. For the first time, punishment for bribery was introduced.
Monetary reform
Monetary reform began under Ivan Vasilievich's mother, Elena Glinskaya. The Moscow ruble has become the main payment unit in the country. The right to collect trade duties passed into the hands of the state. The population of the country was obliged to bear the tax - a complex of natural and monetary duties. In the middle of the XVI century. A single unit of taxation was established for the entire state - a large plow. Depending on the fertility of the soil, as well as the social status of the owner of the land, the plow was 400-600 hectares of land.
Military reform
Much has been done to strengthen the armed forces of the country. The core of the army was the noble militia. Near Moscow, a “chosen thousand” was planted on the ground - 1070 provincial nobles, who, in the opinion of the tsar, were to become the mainstay of power.
The "Code of Service" was drawn up. According to him, the votchinnik or landowner could start service from the age of 15 and pass it on by inheritance. From 150 acres of land, both the boyar and the nobleman had to put up one warrior and appear at the reviews "horse, crowded and armed."
A big step forward in the organization of military forces was the creation in 1550 of a permanent archery army. At first, there were three thousand archers. In addition, foreigners began to be recruited into the army, the number of which was insignificant. Artillery was reinforced. The Cossacks were involved in carrying out the border service.
The boyars and nobles who made up the militia were called "service people in the fatherland", i.e. by origin. The other group consisted of "service people according to the device" (i.e., according to recruitment). In addition to archers, there were gunners, city guards, and Cossacks were close to them. The rear work (convoy, construction of fortifications) was carried out by the "staff" - a militia from among the black-eared, monastic peasants and townspeople.
At the time of military campaigns, localism was limited - the procedure for filling positions depending on the nobility and service career of the ancestors. In the middle of the XVI century. an official reference book was compiled - "The Sovereign Genealogy", which streamlined local disputes.
Stoglavy Cathedral
In 1551, on the initiative of the tsar and the metropolitan, the Council of the Russian Church met, which received the name Stoglavy, since its decisions were formulated in one hundred chapters. These decisions reflected the changes associated with the centralization of the state. The cathedral approved the adoption of the Code of Laws of 1550 and the reforms of Ivan the Terrible. From among the local saints revered in individual Russian lands, an all-Russian list was compiled. Ordered and unified church ritual throughout the country. Even art was subject to regulation. It was decided to leave in the hands of the church all the lands acquired by it earlier. In the future, churchmen could buy land and receive it as a gift only with the royal permission. Thus, in the issue of monastic landownership, the line on its restriction and control by the king won.
Results of reforms
Reforms of the middle of the XVI century. contributed to the strengthening of the Russian centralized state. They strengthened the power of the king, led to the reorganization of local and central government, strengthened the power of the country. At the same time, they created the prerequisites for solving the foreign policy tasks facing Russia.
However, Ivan IV himself was dissatisfied with the results of the reforms. More and more had to fight the rebellions and betrayals of the feudal nobility. Gradually, the king became firmly convinced that only the sole unlimited power of the ruler could lead the country to prosperity, and the "rule of the many" would lead it to death. Soon Ivan the Terrible would come up with the idea of an oprichnina.
2. Reforms of Ivan IV
The beginning of the reign of Ivan Vasilyevich was promising. By 1549, a circle of close people had formed around the tsar, which included Metropolitan Macarius, priest Sylvester, Prince A.M. Kurbsky, as well as clerks and clerks, who enjoyed great influence in the Boyar Duma and recognized the need for reforms. A.M. Kurbsky called this "near Duma" "The Chosen Rada." Since 1550, the Rada was headed by a young Kostroma nobleman A.F. Adashev. The elected council lasted 10 years. Under her leadership, comprehensive reforms were carried out in Russia, which in the scientific literature were called "Reforms of the middle of the 16th century."
The nobility was especially interested in carrying out reforms. The term "nobles" - people from the court of the Grand Duke - has been known since the 12th century. Initially, this was the name given to people who were in the military service under the prince and carried out various administrative and judicial assignments. In the thirteenth century nobles - the lowest stratum of the nobility. From the sixteenth century nobles for military service began to receive estates, later they were allowed to buy land.
One of the people close to the tsar, the nobleman I.S. Peresvetov, became the initiator of the reforms. He addressed the king with a number of messages in which he outlined the program of transformations. The ideal of the state system is the strong power of the king, the support of the king is the nobility.
Public Administration Reform. Among the reforms carried out, the most important place was occupied by the reforms of central and local government.
Central government reform. From time immemorial, the Boyar Duma has played an important role under the ruler as a legislative and advisory body. In order to weaken the role of the boyar aristocracy in the Duma, the tsar tripled its composition.
A new body of power arose - the Zemsky Sobor (council). The Zemsky Sobor began to include: the tsar, the Boyar Duma, the Consecrated Cathedral - a meeting of the highest clergy, representatives of the nobility, merchants and the top of the cities. In fact, the Zemsky Sobor became the people's representation (in the West - the parliament) under the government. Zemstvo sobors met irregularly, as needed, and for 150 years the most important state issues were resolved at them: foreign policy, finance, during the period of interregnums, the election of a new king took place.
The order system was further developed. Under Ivan IV, there were already more than 20 orders. The largest of them were the orders of Razryadny (military affairs), Pushkarsky (artillery), Streletsky (streltsy army), Armory (arsenal), Posolsky (foreign affairs), Grand Parish (finance), Local (state lands), Siberian Palace ( Siberian lands), etc. At the head of the order was a boyar or clerk - a major government official. Orders were in charge of administration, tax collection, and the courts.
Local government reform. A reform of local government was carried out, as a result of which zemstvo self-government developed locally. Now, elected zemstvo authorities are being established in the localities in the person of "zemstvo elders", who were chosen from wealthy townspeople and peasants. The general supervision of local government passed into the hands of the labial elders, who were in charge of the criminal court and performed the functions of the local police, and the city clerks, who dealt with issues of military-administrative and financial management in the counties.
The territory was divided into the following territorial units:
Guba (district) - headed by the labial headman (from the nobility);
Volost - zemstvo headman (from the black-haired population);
The city - represented an independent territorial unit - "a favorite head" (from local service people).
Before Ivan IV, the rulers of certain territories did not receive salaries from the treasury, but "fed" at the expense of the population. In 1556 the feeding system was abolished. The governors of the territories began to receive salaries from the treasury.
Thus, as a result of the reform of public administration in Russia, state power was formed - a class - a representative monarchy.
The monarchy at that historical moment was the most optimal state structure for Russia. It was the monarchy, which stood above the interests of various estates, social and national groups, that was able to unite the population of the whole country to solve problems that are very important for the whole people. The monarchy has become another supporting structure of Russian society. The Russian Orthodox Church provided enormous assistance to the monarchy, which had no other interests than the interests of the monarchy and the people.
military reform. In the middle of the XVI century. the young state, due to objective reasons, from the Volga to the Baltic, was surrounded by hostile countries. In this situation, the availability of combat-ready troops was extremely important. It is no coincidence that the most important of the reforms of the Chosen Rada was the military one.
The military forces of the country were reorganized. Due to the weak financial and economic situation, it was not possible to create a permanent army, but the first steps were taken in this direction.
The core of the army was the Noble Militia. On the lands of the Moscow region, a “chosen thousand” was planted - 1070 provincial nobles. They were given land - estates. For this, they had to serve the king and become his support. In the army, they were in a privileged position. Governors were appointed from among them, "heads" - lower officers, diplomats, administrators. In 1556, the "Code of Service" was drawn up for the first time, which regulated the passage of military service. In relation to military service, estates were equated with estates. Now the votchinnik or landowner could start service from the age of 15 and pass it on by inheritance. Due to the lack of money in the treasury, the government paid for the service with land. The nobleman received from 150 to 450 acres (1 acre - 1.09 hectares) of land. From every 150 acres of land, a boyar or nobleman had to supply one warrior with a horse and weapons. Now service people were divided into two main groups: service people "by fatherland" (by inheritance - boyars and nobles) and by "instrument" (by recruitment) - gunners, archers, etc.
In 1550, a permanent archery army was created. These are foot soldiers with firearms, who made up another corps of the army. At first there were 3000 archers. All free people could enter the archers. For the service, the archers received from the treasury a monetary salary, weapons and uniforms. But there was always not enough money in the treasury, so they were also paid with land. Archers were given collective land plots of land - "dachas". From the collective "cottage" each archer received an allotment for personal use. Sagittarians lived in settlements and in their free time were engaged in crafts and trade.
Cossacks - began to be used to carry out the border service. By this time, a special layer of Russian society began to take shape on the southern borders of Russia - the Cossacks (from the Turkic "Cossack" - a daring, free man).
Foreigners have become another integral part of the Russian army. But their number was small.
The rear work (convoy, construction of fortifications) was carried out by the "staff" - a militia from among the black-eared, monastic peasants and townspeople.
As a result of the military reform, Russia during the time of Ivan IV began to have such an army that it did not have before. The creation of a combat-ready army allowed Russia to solve the long-awaited strategic tasks of foreign policy.
Judicial reform. In 1550, she introduced a new set of laws - Sudebnik. The Code of Laws of Ivan III in 1497 was expanded, systematized and took into account what was new in judicial practice since 1497. Changes were made related to the strengthening of central power. The right of peasants to move from one feudal lord to another was confirmed, but only on St. George's Day (November 26), while the "old" (payment to the feudal lord for the use of his property during the transition) increased. In 1581, Ivan the Terrible introduced "reserved years" - the transition of a peasant to another feudal lord was temporarily stopped. For the first time, punishments were introduced for boyars and clerks-bribe-takers. The new code strengthened control over the judicial activities of governors and volostels: the most important cases began to be decided in Moscow by the tsar and the Boyar Duma, locally litigation the elders and kissers (elected people from local townspeople and black-haired (free) peasants) observed.
monetary reform. A single monetary unit, the Moscow ruble, was introduced throughout the country. The right to collect trade duties passed into the hands of the state. From now on, the entire population of the country had to carry a burden - a complex of in-kind and monetary duties. For the entire state, a single unit of taxation was established - a large plow. Depending on the fertility of the soil and the social status of the owner, a large plow was from 400 to 600 gazemli.
Church reform. The second power in the state was the Church. The centralization of the state required changes within the Church as well. In 1551, on the initiative of Metropolitan Macarius, the Council of the Russian Orthodox Church. In a special book - "Stoglav" (hence the name Stoglavy Cathedral) the decisions of this council are recorded, which for a long time become the code of Russian church law. An all-Russian list of saints was compiled, rituals throughout the country were streamlined and unified. Church art was subject to regulation: samples were approved, which were to be followed. As a model in painting, the work of Andrei Rublev was proclaimed, in architecture - the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin.
Thus, the circle of reforms conceived by Ivan the Terrible and his Rada, emphasizes S. F. Platonov, was very wide and, according to the plan, should renew all aspects of the life of the Muscovite state. But the government of Grozny could not quite successfully carry on the work of reform for the reason that there was no agreement and unanimity in itself. In 1560, after the death of Anastasia Romanovna, Ivan the Terrible's wife, Ivan Vasilyevich had a direct break with his advisers. Sylvester and Adashev were exiled, the boyars' attempts to return them led to repressions. If in the first years they did not reach bloody executions, then later, in connection with the departures of the boyars abroad, the persecution became decisive and cruel.
Key dates and events: 1547 - the wedding of Ivan IV to the kingdom; 1550 - the publication of the Sudebnik of Ivan IV, the restriction of locality, the organization of the archery army; 1556 - the abolition of the feeding system.
Response plan: 1) the beginning of the reign of Ivan IV; 2) the wedding of Ivan to the kingdom; 3) Elected Rada; 4) Sudebnik of 1550; 5) Stoglavy Cathedral; 6) formation of the order system; I 7) local government reform; 8) military reform; 9) restriction of localism; 10) the significance of the reforms.
At the beginning of the XVI century. Russia was faced with the task of strengthening united state. To do this, it was necessary to put an end to the remnants of decentralization, complete the formation of a single nationwide apparatus, and expand the country's territory (based primarily on the growing needs of the local system).
Basil III only outlined ways to solve these problems. After his death, power passed to the three-year-old son of the sovereign Ivan and his mother Elena Glinskaya. The weakening of the central government led to an intensification of the struggle between the boyar families of the Velsky, Shuisky and Glinsky. Elena Glinskaya managed to continue politics Basil III to strengthen centralization. She carried out a reform of local government (lip reform), in 1535 introduced a single monetary system. However, these actions displeased the boyar opposition, and the Grand Duchess was poisoned.
The first important decision of Ivan IV was the adoption in 1547 of the royal title. This was to emphasize the divine nature of his power, to equalize his status with the Horde khans, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, the Byzantine rulers of the past.
At the same time, under Ivan IV, the formation of institutions began - a class-representative monarchy. By this time, the main categories Russian society: boyar aristocracy, nobility, clergy, peasantry, townspeople. In the fight against the boyar opposition, the young tsar could only count on the nobility, which carried out administrative, military, diplomatic service and received land and money from the treasury for this.
In 1549, Ivan IV convened the first Zemsky Sobor in the history of Russia - an advisory body of representatives of the tribal aristocracy, nobles, clergy, merchants, townspeople, black-haired peasants. Was reforms announced. In their design the king relied on a circle of people close to him, called the Chosen One. It included Prince Andrei Kurbsky, nobleman Alexei Adashev, Metropolitan Macarius, Archpriest Sylvester, and others.
Adopted in 1550, the new all-Russian code of laws - Sudebnik - further strengthened the royal power. The previous terms for the transition of peasants from one owner to another (tied to St. George's Day) were preserved, and the payment for the "elderly" was increased. The special position of the nobility as a pillar of royal power was consolidated. Instead of the traditional militia, a regular archery army was created, which, in peacetime and free from service, was engaged in crafts and trade. The status of special state authorities was determined - orders that were in charge of specific administrative functions (the Ambassadorial order was responsible for contacts with foreign powers, the Robbery - for order and security, the petition - received complaints addressed to the tsar and checked them, etc.) . Localism was soon limited (occupation depending on the generosity and official status of the ancestors, and not on personal abilities). The content of the governors and their apparatus at the expense of the local population (feeding) in 1556 was replaced by a nationwide tax on the salaries of officials. The church was reformed.
At the Church Council of Stoglav held in 1551 (the decisions of which were summarized in one hundred chapters) approved the all-Russian pantheon of saints, church land ownership was transferred under the control of the king, measures were strengthened to strengthen morality among the clergy.
The reforms of the Elected Rada led to the fact that in short term the authority of the supreme power has noticeably grown in the country. New system management was more efficient and effective. All decisions taken in the 1550s were aimed at strengthening the central authority, which was based on the personal power of the king. The reforms created the necessary conditions for solving urgent foreign policy tasks.
In the existing system of state power, the tsar played a central role; the adoption of any fundamentally important decision depended solely on him. The weakness of the country's economic system, the many years of the Livonian War, the aggravation of the struggle against the boyar opposition created an objective need to strengthen the tsarist power. In 1553, Ivan IV suddenly fell seriously ill, his inner circle began to discuss the issue of an heir. However, the king recovered and, not trusting yesterday's assistants, began to listen less to their advice. They grew, and in 1560 the Elected Rada was dissolved. The reforms were over. Ivan IV switched to violent methods of implementing his policy.
In December 1564, the tsar suddenly left Moscow for Alexandrov Sloboda, taking his family, treasury, and court with him. In January 1565, he sent messages to the Boyar Duma that remained in Moscow and to the townspeople, in which he accused the boyars of treason and called the conditions for his return to the capital. All conditions have been accepted.
Upon his return, Ivan IV announced the establishment of a special state inheritance - the oprichnina, which included the most economically developed territories. All owners of patrimonial lands who were not part of the royal oprichnina were evicted from this inheritance to another part of the country that remained under the control of the Boyar Duma - the zemshchina. In the oprichny inheritance, the tsar formed his own authorities - a duma, orders, a court. A special (oprichnina) army was also organized, which turned into an instrument of political terror and repression, carried out under the leadership of the tsar's closest assistant, Malyuta Skuratov-Belsky.
The question of the essence of the oprichnina is debatable in Russian historical literature. IN last years the previously prevailing point of view that the oprichnina was necessary to strengthen the central government in the fight against the boyar opposition was revised. Within the framework of centralization, reforms of the Chosen Rada were also carried out, and it was they that led to positive results that had a long-term value. Oprichny terror equally punished both representatives of the boyar class, and the nobility, and other categories of the population. Therefore, the oprichnina cannot be assessed solely as an anti-boyar action.
As a result of the oprichnina, the despotic regime of the personal power of Ivan IV was established in the country, who during these years was nicknamed the Terrible. However, the terror proved far less effective than the reforms of the 1550s. As a result, in 1572 the tsar abolished the oprichnina, but at the same time the despotic regime was preserved.
The result of the oprichnina was the economic and political crisis of the 1570-80s, the ruin of peasant farms, which were the basis of the country's economy, a series of military defeats. In general, the oprichnina largely caused the crisis of power and the Time of Troubles at the beginning of the 17th century.
Foreign policy of Ivan the Terrible and its results
Key dates and events: 1552 - the capture of Kazan; 1556 - the capture of Astrakhan; 1558-1583 - Livonian war; 1581 - Yermak's campaign in Siberia.
Response plan: 1) goals and objectives of Russia's foreign policy in the second half of the 16th century; 2) trips to Kazan and Astrakhan; 3) Livonian war; 4) the beginning of the conquest of Siberia; 5) the results of Russia's foreign policy in the second half of the 16th century.
By the middle of the XVI century. Russia faced a number of foreign policy tasks. The young state was interested in access to the sea for the development of trade and political relations with Europe. The interests of expanding landownership demanded new territories and dependent peasants. In addition, the threat of raids from the Crimean and Kazan khans remained.
By this time, a rather favorable situation had developed for solving the problems of foreign policy. Kazan, Astrakhan and Siberian khanates were weakened. The Livonian Order, which at that time owned significant Baltic territories, also could not resist Russia. Finally, the reforms of the 1550s. led to the formation of a strong regular army and the necessary economic conditions.
In 1552, the Russian army, led by the tsar, went to conquer the Kazan Khanate. The resistance of the defenders of Kazan was broken after the digging and explosion of the fortress wall. In 1552-1557. followed by the annexation of the Bashkir lands, and in 1556 - the Astrakhan Khanate. In 1581, with the support of the merchants Stroganovs, a military expedition of the squad of ataman Ermak began with the aim of annexing the Siberian Khanate. In 1582, Western Siberia became part of Russia.
The Livonian War lasted twenty-five years (1558-1583). At the first stage, the Russian troops not only defeated the armed forces, the knights, but also achieved the collapse of the Livonian Order itself. However, it was precisely this circumstance that led to the entry into the war of Sweden and the unified Polish-Lithuanian state formed in 1569 - the Commonwealth. As a result, the situation changed, Russia was forced to fight a much stronger enemy. The introduction of the oprichnina regime weakened the position of the country, since the peasant farms, which formed the basis of the agrarian system, were ruined. In addition, the campaign of Ivan the Terrible against Novgorod (1570) bled the northwestern regions and made them vulnerable to the enemy. All this led to the fact that, having crushed the Livonian Order, Russia was forced to return all the lands occupied during the war. Moreover, she lost Narva, Yam, Koporye, Ivan-gorod, which had been available since the time of Ivan III..
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